Reviews

While Tim Burton has claimed that his remake is closer to the book, it is purely superficial. Mel Stuart did add some original songs, changed the title, and swapped the nut room for the room with the golden geese, but the integrity and heart is intact. (granted that Burton did add his own subplot about wonka's childhood) Roald Dahl's books are not simply dark fantasies or absurdist romps, but are moreover sensitive and warm in a rather odd way. Dahl's conception of Willy Wonka is more reflected by Gene Wilder, who grounds himself in both worlds of fantasy and reality and moreover is warm, caring and somewhat aloof. This is something that Depp couldn't channel in his interpretation, and actually helps to cause Burton's film a breakdown. There is a quality to the original that cannot be reproduced. It is a far simpler film that doesn't try to be high and mighty. The acting is superb, the effects are simple nearly seamless, and the screenplay is dead on. This film has attained the status of a classic without trying very hard, and will not be forgotten. It needs no on screen antecedents, and I feel that the remake was made more or less to cash in on Burton's swiftly declining originality, and the fruits of the box office. Simply put, the original is far more genuine.

I have seen this film many times, and I find myself being drawn into it the more I watch it. Yeah, many of the performances are overdone, and Rupert Julian was a hack of a director, but you will NEVER forget Chaney's performance. In a film of big dramatics, Chaney brings nuance, rhythm, and subtleties to his performance like no one else. ...And by the way, Chaney did not direct the Bal Masque sequence. Whoever posted that is gravely mistaken. However, according to Scott McQueen, Chaney did have a hand in some of the unmasking scene, and one brief insert shot. All I can say is, get the Milestone/Photoplay edition of the film. The quality of it is a revelation, and one of the best restorations of a silent film I have ever seen. If only Turner would release more of the Chaney films in their holdings, especially some of the Browning films. Oh, well maybe someday.