Remembering Gene Wilder

Ironically, this late comedic actor is probably most beloved for one film that was a flop when it first released and another that was a huge hit, but its director admits it would be almost impossible to produce in today’s “problematic” Puritanical climate. Those films are Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and Blazing Saddles. Of course, he also starred in Young Frankenstein, co-written with his good friend and creative collaborator, Mel Brooks. Fittingly, Brooks has much to say about his late comrade in Ron Frank’s documentary, Remembering Gene Wilder, which opens Friday in New York.

Frank incorporates extensive excerpts from Wilder’s narration of his memoir’s audio book, but Brooks is still one of the most prominent voices in the film. He met Wilder through his future wife Anne Bancroft, when they were both appearing on Broadway together. Both Brooks and Bancroft thought Wilder would be perfect for a film he was developing, which would become The Producers.

At the time, Willie Wonka was seen as a career setback, but he rebounded with Blazing Saddles. Then, Wilder started writing a treatment for Young Frankenstein, rather fortuitously meeting Marty Feldman and Pete Boyle through his new agent.

Frankly, it is rather amazing how huge Wilder looms in our collective cultural memory, based on less than 40 on-screen credits. Of course, there were the films co-starring Gilda Radner and his collaborations with Richard Pryor. Their final, under-appreciated film together, See No Evil, Hear No Evil introduced Wilder to his second wife Karen, who taught him lip-reading and coached him how to respectfully portray a deaf character.