#mel stuart

24/35

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

4/5

The first half of this movie still lags so badly. We know it’s a necessary problem of the structure, but that doesn’t mean they have to stretch it out more with lame bits like the computer. But then the second half is a superb 50 minutes of film. Gene Wilder’s performance is immaculate, apathetic to the plights of his guests as he takes them through gags, nightmares, and bizarre inventions. The production design takes you into a bizarre world where anything can happen, and each room is a surprise and a laugh. There’s a couple forgettable songs (does anybody like Cheer Up Charlie?), but when it gives us a classic like Pure Imagination, it’s easier to forgive the whiffs. For a while, it seems like the only limit is what can be imagined, and imagination is so big that by the end it’s burst out of the factory into the unfilmed infinitum of the sequel.

Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory (1971)