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Making Movies Wilder
Born June 11, 1933, as Jerry Silberman in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he would later change his name to Gene Wilder and become a comedic icon in movie classics “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” “Young Frankenstein,” “The Frisco Kid” and “Stir Crazy.” It all started when Gene was a kid. His mother had a heart attack. When she returned home her doctor leaned into Gene and told him never to upset his mother. If anything, make her laugh.
Wilder landed some TV roles before his first film break in “Bonnie & Clyde” playing an undertaker. Director Arthur Penn wasn’t planning on the featured role to be funny, but that’s what you got when you hired Gene Wilder. Wilder met Mel Brooks very early on as Brooks’ wife, Ann Bancroft, was performing in a play with Wilder. When Wilder ran into Brooks backstage, Gene noticed Brooks’ peacoat. Mel said he liked to call it a urine coat. Wilder busted a gut. The two men collaborated, laughed, and became best friends for decades.
Brooks had the idea for “The Producers” when they first met but didn’t have the financing. A few years later, Brooks got the money. The producer of the movie, “The Producers” didn’t want Wilder. He wanted a leading man. Brooks disregarded the producer and kept him from seeing dailies.“The Producers” was a huge hit.
Wilder and Brooks would eventually team up on “Blazing Saddles” and “Young Frankenstein.” Wilder wasn’t initially cast in “Blazing Saddles.” The actor playing the Waco Kid fell ill and could not continue. Brooks called up his muse, Wilder. There may have been a new sheriff in town, but Gene Wilder saved the movie. “Everything Gene did for me was angelic and supreme,” said Mel Brooks on American Masters PBS.
Gene Wilder found great comedic chemistry with comedian Richard Pryor in “Silver Streak.” Another electrifying comedic performance with the masterful duo of two innocent best friends sent to prison for robbing a bank in “Stir Crazy.” The combined comedic stylings and antics of Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor became even more legendary. Wilder and Pryor as Skip and Harry toughened themselves up for prison, saying out loud, “That’s right. That’s right. We bad.” Years later, Wilder and Pryor teamed up a third time on “See No Evil, Hear No Evil.” Wilder is also credited as a screenwriter.
“Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” wasn’t a box office smash due to its edgy, dark telling of a story about naughty, greedy children. The young fans who grew up with the movie and recognized its genius made it a cult classic. Wilder’s Wonka is one of the greatest and most memorable performances. When young Veruca states there’s no such thing as schnozzberries, Wonka explains it to her. “We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams.” This quote reminds its fans and humanity of the importance of storytelling. Artists and people in general need to keep dreaming big.
Wilder wasn’t just a charismatic, funny actor with piercing blue eyes. He was a comedic visionary. Wilder was playing with the idea of Frankenstein’s grandson, a serious surgeon, wanting nothing to do with his grandfather’s work in reanimating dead tissue. The young Frankenstein and rightful heir could no longer fight this resistance. It was his destiny! In collaboration with Mel Brooks, “Young Frankenstein” was cast with the funniest ensemble; Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, Cloris Leachman, Terri Garr, and Peter Boyle as the ‘monster.’ The biggest argument Wilder and Brooks had was whether to include the scene with his character and the monster, sharply dressed up in tuxes, top hats and canes, singing ‘Puttin’ On the Ritz.’ Brooks was more than thrilled to have lost that battle. It’s cinematic comedy gold!
Gene Wilder met Gilda Radner of “SNL” fame on the set of “Hanky Panky.” They fell in love and made the best of their short-lived time together. Radner’s time ran out due to cancer. Wilder found himself in love again years later after doing research for “See No Evil, Hear No Evil.” Karen Boyer was a clinical supervisor at the New York League for the Hard of Hearing. Boyer taught Wilder how to lip-read for his role as Dave who was deaf.
Gene Wilder was 83 years old when he died of Alzheimer’s disease in 2016. “Remembering Gene Wilder” is a documentary and a beautiful tribute to Gene Wilder touching on his magical gift of making people laugh. Not only did Wilder touch the lives of so many artists, but his comedic humanity will live on in his classic movies for years to come. Go see the documentary while it’s still in theaters.
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Life in a Day
“Life in a Day” is a collaboration of production companies, filmmakers and people with video clips gathered from all over the world, 190 countries, to express life as it was on July 24th, 2010. The project started with You Tube and soon involved Scott Free, LG and director Kevin Macdonald (“Last King of Scotland”) and editor Joseph Walker. Walker is truly the star of this film as it was his task to tackle 4,500 hours of footage and turn it into a 95 minute documentary.
One year to the day that all those videos were filmed, there was a preview screening in numerous cities. I attended the Las Vegas, NV screening at Rave Motion Pictures – Town Square. It was extra special as one of the many filmmakers was a local recent UNLV graduate, Andrea Walter, whom had her footage as a part of the film. She had some of her colleagues there for support. Immediately following the film screening, there was a Q & A played for the audience (Filmed earlier in the year at Sundance). I didn’t know this was part of the screening. Awesome! John Cooper, the Director at the Sundance Film Festival, moderated a panel of some of the filmmakers including Kevin Macdonald and Joseph Walker. Macdonald said there wasn’t any specific plan or theme for the film when they sent out 400 cameras to underdeveloped countries and had filmmakers just shoot whatever they wanted. The only thing that was shared was a few questions such as ‘What are you afraid of?” Many of the topics covered by the footage were very much about the universal building blocks of life; birth, death, sickness, marriage, family.
With a documentary you never know what you’re going to find in the footage. And with this film, there were hundreds of filmmakers and I use the term ‘filmmakers’ lightly as anyone with a camera and the internet could shoot and upload something to You Tube. And I’m sure the team of researchers saw there share of bad footage. Not to mention how many different formats they most likely received. The surprise is how amazing the clips were from all over the world. The filmmakers said that there were so many great clips that had to be cut from the film. The film is very touching. The team lead by its editor, Joseph Walker, found some great devices in the film to tie everything together and structure the film with strong storyline.
The film may turn some meat-eaters to vegetarians. Actually, the footage is not as bad as people say. The filmmakers also discussed the ending of the film as far as whether to go darker or lighter, but most of the footage they received were happy ones. It’s more than a great documentary. It’s a time capsule, a snapshot of our world. “Life in a Day” is a way to connect the world. See the film coming out late July/August. Get connected! Then grab a camera and make a movie!
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“Restrepo” and Remembrance
WOW! Just watched 2010 Sundance Grand Jury Prize award winning documentary, “Restrepo.” This mind-blowing film grabs you and never lets go. Seeing these boys fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan day-in, day-out and getting each other through the difficult times, losing soldiers, their comrades, their friends, is incredibly heartfelt. The footage is very real and extremely powerful! You feel somewhat like you’re there in the mountains with them as the cameras follow them everywhere. And who are these brave cameramen?
Who are these courageous filmmakers willing to put their lives on the line to be able to share the lives of these soldiers putting their lives on the line? Sebastian Junger wrote the book, The Perfect Storm, made into a movie starring George Clooney in 2000. Tim Hetherington was a celebrated cinematographer who worked mainly on documentaries. Hetherington was covering the war in Libya on April 20, 2011 when he was killed in a mortar strike. His legacy will not be forgotten as the men that fight these battles will not be forgotten. We like to think of our soldiers as strong warriors that never express their feelings. Seeing this film makes you understand the importance of soldiers sharing their emotions. How does it feel to lose a brother? The rest of the family has to move on. At war, the enemy doesn’t wait for grievances, but it’s important that these soldiers take moments to pray and remember the dead.
“Restrepo” is such an important film for so many reasons. The war is a decade old. Osama bin Laden is dead, but the war is not over. Americans forget what it’s like to not be at war. It’s now such a part of our every day lives that people shrug it off. It’s only when soldiers die or innocent civilians are killed that it makes the news. “Restrepo” is a great reminder of who’s fighting this war and the fact that we are still over there fighting. You can feel the fear the men and boys are going through. America needs to be reminded about the war. Many Americans don’t think too much about it as they don’t know anyone fighting in Afghanistan. This film brings it home to those Americans that don’t have a brother or a father overseas putting their lives on the line. Support the troops while they’re still there. Support filmmakers in making important films, bringing home the insight that makes us think differently and change us for the better.
Tim Hetherington RIP
In Your Head Productions 