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Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)
With:
Gene Wilder, Peter Ostrum, Jack Albertson, Roy Kinnear, Julie Dawn Cole, Leonard Stone, Denise Nickerson, Dodo Denney, Paris
Themmen
With the Tim Burton version of
Roald Dahl’s masterpiece coming our way on dvd in about a month it’s the perfect time to revisit the old musical
version. Surprisingly, the film was a flop at the box office on its release and apparently, Roald Dahl was so unhappy with
it that he insisted the film shouldn’t carry the title of the book. Frankly, it’s hard to see what all the fuss
was about. Sure Mel Stuart took many liberties with the story and turned it into a musical but you can’t deny the result
is a real success. Gene Wilder is superb as the chocolatier Willy Wonka and light-years away from Johnny Depp’s campy
interpretation. Wilder’s Wonka is mischievous, very clever, occasionally creepy and temperamental: he knows exactly
what he’s doing and is clearly in perfect control of the whole situation. Depp’s Wonka, however, has definitely
spent too much time inside the factory which accounts for his snow-white skin, the sensitivity of his eyes to sunlight and
his obvious mental and physical detachment from the outside world. You get a feeling he’s not completely all there in
the head: a troubled childhood and too much time inside the factory has left him child-like and unpredictable. Charlie, in
the Wilder version, is played by Peter Ostrum who does his best but is not exactly a very loveable character compared to the
pure and generous Charlie of the Burton version. As a musical, the 1971 film works perfectly and is one of my personal favourites:
the unforgettable and devilishly catchy Oompa Loompa songs are classics. All the other songs are good too although why Veruca
Salt got her song and none of the other kids did remains a mystery to this day. The rest of the cast is impressive and the
child actors are surprisingly good, especially Veruca. As for the look of the film, it may not be quite as stunning as the
new version, obviously, but it’s still a joy to watch: the sets, costumes, the whole thing is bursting with originality,
colours and Alice in Wonderland-ish madness (the psychedelic tunnel scene is still hilariously creepy). What this musical
version of the Dahl tale has a lot of, it must be said, is heart. It’s been called corny, syrupy, sugary…but to
me, it’s just very chocolaty, in other words, sure it’s sentimental but it’s never cheesy and always touching.
The ending is, admittedly, a little too ‘goody-goody’ and abrupt but Tim Burton certainly made sure he fixed that
little problem. In my opinion, both film versions of the book are equally good but in different ways: if you want heart, catchy
songs and a perfectly sane (if creepy) Wonka, then the 1971 is for you. If you want a visual treat filled with laughs, dark
irony, toe-tapping music and a Pee Wee-esque, unhinged Wonka then I suggest the 2005 version. Overall, Willy Wonka and the
Chocolate Factory is a beautifully done musical fantasy for anyone with a sweet tooth. Absolutely scrumptious!
Overall:
***** /5
The
Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
With:
Rick Moranis, Steve Martin, Bill Murray, John Candy, Christopher Guest
In the 60s, a
little black comedy about a weird talking plant from another world appeared. The off-beat B-movie in question was famously
filmed in about a day and contained a cameo appearance from a young Jack Nicholson. Years later, a musical based on the story was created and pretty soon Frank Oz (Housesitter, voice of Yoda) was making
a new, wacky film adaptation of the musical. Rick Moranis is the geeky, clumsy loser Seymour Krolborn, who works in Mr Mushnik’s
little down-and-out flower shop located on the slums of Skid Row. Also working there is the quirky, simple cutie Audrey who
has a tiny, squeaky voice and whom Seymour secretly loves. He even names the new unusual plant he found one day, after an
unexpected solar eclipse, after her: Audrey II. As soon as the plant is placed at the window of the store, people start flocking
inside to have a look at it and Muschnik’s once derelict business starts to pick up dramatically. Everything goes well
until Seymour discovers that his plant doesn’t need water or sunshine or some special recipe to grow: what it needs
is fresh blood. And so the poor little man starts feeding Audrey II blood (from his fingers mostly) and it just grows and
grows. After a while, it even starts to talk (and, of course, sing) and persuades Seymour to kill Audrey’s sadistic,
brutal, unhinged dentist boyfriend (a wonderful Steve Martin) in order to feed it to it. At first, Seymour is outraged at
such a request but when he sees the dentist in question hitting his beloved Audrey, this quickly changes. But he is not a
killer and technically he never actually murders anyone during the film but somehow, the evil plant never goes hungry. There’s
much to like about the original film but there’s even more to like about this superb version. Not only is the all-star
cast absolutely spot-on, with the much missed Rick Moranis (Honey I Shrunk the Kids) perfect as Krolborn and Steve Martin
stealing the show as the nitrus-oxyde-sniffing dentist who portrays himself on Elvis. There are also some excellent cameos
from the likes of John Candy, James Belushi, Christopher Guest and, of course, Bill Murray (hilarious as the masochistic patient-Nicholson’s
part in the original). Frank Oz’s direction is impressive, visually extremely appealing and colourful and it’s
undoubtedly his best film to date. And that’s not even mentioning the superb catchy songs, the best ones being Skid
Row, Dentist! and Suddenly Seymour. A few great songs from the musical have sadly been left out but there’s enough here
to satisfy everyone, even the most faithful fans of the show. Overall, The Little Shop of Horrors is a stylish cult classic
black comedy and my personal favourite musical. It’s a real joy to watch (and sing along to) from start to finish and
I think the word “masterpiece” should be applied to it more often.
Overall: ***** /5
Everyone Says I Love You (1996)
With:
Woody Allen, Goldie Hawn, Alan Alda, Julia Roberts, Drew Barrymore, Edward Norton, Tim Roth, Natalie Portman,
Lukas Haas
Woody Allen leads an all-star cast into his first and only musical so far. The story revolves around a vast, wealthy New York
family and the relationships taking place at its heart. Woody is Joe Berlin, whose girlfriend has just left him and who is
a neurotic mess as a result of that. His ex-wife Steffi (Hawn) and her friendly husband Bob (Alda) are there to support him
as they have all remained good friends. And of course there’s his daughter, with whom he gets to spend some time in
Venice, where he meets an attractive married woman (Roberts). His daughter happens to know all the woman’s deepest secrets
and fantasies so Woody has something to work with and soon finds himself pretending to adore art, Bora-Bora and jogging, amongst
other things. Meanwhile, neurotic goody-goody Holden (Norton) is planning to ask his slightly naïve girlfriend Skylar (Barrymore)
to marry him but things keep going a little awry as she swallows the engagement ring not once but twice and meets a shady,
if oddly charming, ex-con (Roth) who starts coming on to her. Allen apparently didn’t tell the actors they were playing
in a musical until after they’d signed on as he wasn’t interested in having professional singers. The intention
was to make the whole thing feel more believable and in a way it works. There are some very satisfying and catchy musical
numbers in Everyone Says I Love You, the “I’m Through With Love” bit at the end being the highlight, it’s
simply magical. Everyone does their best singing wise, Hawn and Alda being the best and Roberts and Barrymore (who is dubbed)
being the worst. Even Woody himself gives it a go! This is a film which feels pretty experimental, which isn’t a bad
thing really. There’s much to enjoy apart from the great songs and musical part of the film. Woody Allen’s character
is the source of most of the laughs and his “adventures” in Venice are the best and funniest bits of the film.
The whole thing is pleasant, light-hearted fun and is very original. Most of the performances are great except perhaps Barrymore
and Norton (whose Woody imitation can be deeply irritating) who don’t have any chemistry between them and feel a bit
like fishes out of water at times. There’s a clumsy bit here in there such as the frankly unbelievable relationship
between Woody and Julia Roberts, but overall, Everyone Says I Love You is a very enjoyable musical comedy with an impressive
cast and some great music. Not the best Woody Allen film obviously but a good effort nevertheless. Give it a go, or two.
Overall:
***1/2 /5
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