Cult Flops - Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Paramount/Warner Bros, 1971
Starring Gene Wilder, Jack Albertson, Peter Ostrum, and Julie Dawn Cole
Directed by Mel Stuart
Music and Lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley

It'll probably be a surprise to many people to find this review under the "Cult Flops" banner. It wasn't a big hit with critics or audiences when it came out, who dismissed it as a bland children's film. It took constant showings on TV and cable and being a hit on video to turn it into one of the most beloved family musicals of all time. Does it deserve its popularity, or should it be sent down the garbage chute? Let's take a trip to Willy Wonka's famous factory to find out...

The Story: Charlie Bucket (Ostrum) is a poor boy who often passes by the massive chocolate factory owned by the mysterious Willy Wonka (Wilder) on his paper route. A tinker (Peter Capell) tells him ominously that "no one ever goes in, and no one ever goes out." His beloved old Grandpa Joe (Albertson) explains that Wonka closed the factory to visitors after spies stole his secrets. No one knows who is making the candy. The mystery creates an absolute riot when it's announced that five people who find a golden ticket in a Wonka bar will have a tour of the factory and win a lifetime supply of chocolate. Four of the tickets go to spoiled, selfish children who care more about the chocolate than the wonders in the factory. Charlie's shocked when he finally finds the fifth.

Not only does the trip turn out to be as wild as the factory's unpredictable owner, but one of Wonka's rivals, Slugworth (Gunter Meisner) goes to the kids with a scheme of his own. Charlie has to resist the temptations of both Slugworth and the factory...and in doing so, learns that the most important thing isn't having a sweet tooth, but a sweet and honest heart.

The Song and Dance: Gene Wilder gave one of his best and most iconic performances as the oddball title character. He's mostly pretty subdued, even when the kids are going down garbage chutes and falling into his chocolate river...at least until he gets angry at Charlie in the finale over his messing around with one of his concoctions in the factory. Albertson is equally good as cantankerous and energetic Grandpa Joe, who is quite thoroughly enjoying his first time out of bed in twenty years. Ostrum and the other children are all excellent as the main five who get involved with all the lunacy in the factory. I always thought Roy Kinnear and Leonard Stone were hilarious as Veruca and Violet's very different businessman fathers, and David Battely has fun with the small role of Charlie's goofy teacher.

Along with the performances and wonderful music, the movie has some of the most intricate sets and cinematography of the early 70's. No wonder everyone is amazed when they enter the Chocolate Room. The details there and in the Inventing Room later, as well as during the infamous "freak out" boat ride, are a delight to behold.

Favorite Number: Wilder's "Pure Imagination," performed in the Chocolate Room as the rest of the tour goers are enjoying the candy, is probably the most famous number from this movie today. (It's so associated with the film and the story, both stage musical versions pretty much had to include it.) The opening number "The Candy Man" had a hit cover by Sammy Davis Jr, who was a big fan of the song. My personal favorite number is "I've Got a Golden Ticket." Albertson and Ostrum are just having so much fun with their rollicking routine for that song, you can't help but sing along.

Trivia: One of the reasons for the film's initial failure was it was originally conceived partially by Quaker Oats to kick off a line of real-life Wonka bars. The candy didn't go over any better than the movie did. Rumor has it they actually melted on shelves. (Nestle would do far better with the Wonka brand over a decade later. It was a Christmas tradition in my family in the 90's and early 2000's to get a Wonka bar in our stockings in the hope of finding the golden ticket. We never found one, but at least the candy was pretty good.)

Road Dahl wrote an early draft of the film, but it was ultimately deemed to be too dark and reworked by others. He eventually disowned the movie, complaining about the additional songs, bumping up Wonka's role, and several of the scenes that hadn't been in the book.

If Violet and Veruca seem to be a bit nasty to each other, even for bratty kids, there was a reason for that. Julie Dawn Cole and Denise Nickerson, who played Violet, had major crushes on Peter Ostrum and spent most of the shoot trying to show off for him.

What I Don't Like: Dahl has a point about some of those additional scenes. The out-of-nowhere ending kind of ruins the interesting mystery they had going with Slugworth. The random scenes of people trying desperately by any means necessary to get those golden tickets are funny, but they also do nothing to advance the plot and are really kind of bizarre. (Especially the soap opera spoof with the woman whose husband was kidnapped and exchanged for Wonka bars.) There's a few sequences from the book that are missing, notably the entire segment about the Indian prince who wanted a chocolate factory.

As nifty as the sets are, some of the effects do show their age nowadays. Violet's face in the factory is really just a blue spotlight, everyone in the Chocolate Room is obviously eating candy out of plastic props, not mushrooms and giant fruit, and the parents are right that the Chocolate River looks more like the dirty water it was than anything edible. Not to mention, some of the kids come off as so likable, it's hard to hate them the way you should when they're finally taken out.

The Big Finale: While I do like the non-musical Tim Burton remake as well, this one still has plenty of it's own charms. Delightful performances (especially from Wilder and Albertson), a great script, amazing sets, and one of Bricusse and Newley's best scores makes this one confection that remains very sweet indeed.

Home Media: Alas, both the 40th and 45th anniversary editions seem to be out of print  on DVD and Blu-Ray at press time. Your best bet may be streaming services like Amazon Prime or if you're really into this movie, the Blu-Ray/DVD Collector's Edition combo.

40th Anniversary Blu-Ray/DVD Collector's Edition
Amazon Prime