Even with Johnny Depp's darker portrayal of Willy Wonka of more recent vintage out there, what Gene Wilder did with the part stands out as the definitive Wonka for our times. I'm willing to bet that more families rent this one than Johnny Depp's.

In Roald Dahl's children's fantasy the great candymaker Willy Wonka locked up his candy factory because of industrial spying by his competitors. No one goes in or out except the raw material and the candy. Now however it's worldwide news that Wonka is opening his giant River Rouge GM like plant for five lucky adolescent tourists. They will be determined by five lucky golden tickets found in Wonka Bars.

That fifth one goes to Peter Ostrum who takes the tour with his grandfather Jack Albertson. The other kids who are showing various degrees of spoiled also have adult companions.

The four other kids, well they don't quite finish the trip. As they rather colorfully drop out Gene Wilder has some snarky comments. Accompanied by the pygmy tribe of Oompa-Loompas who Willy Wonka moved from their Pacific island home to work in his factory. This part I thought was truly stretching it as these little guys look a whole lot like slaves working on the old plantation.

The film got an Oscar nomination for Best Musical Scoring and the song The Candy Man became a big old hit for Sammy Davis, Jr.

After almost 50 years the Candy Man can and is still doing it.

I have always liked this film. Despite the new film (which I like even more), I still enjoy the old fashioned aspects of this film. For 1971, it's pretty good children's fare--much better than crap from the same era (such as CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG and DR. DOOLITTLE). Some may find all the singing annoying or complain that the songs are not the ones Roald Dahl wrote in the book (which appear in the remake), I still found them catchy and cute. In fact, I have no major complaints other than the stupid sequence where they are on the boat. All the awful and pointless images projected across the screen look cheap and gratuitous--unlike the rest of the film.

However, I think that the BEST thing to do is to watch this and the recent remake and think of them as totally different movies. The 1971 film is a bit saccharine and kitschy but is still fun and memorable. The new Johnny Depp version is much darker and full of modern special effects. And, as a result they are so different, it's worth watching them both and DON'T compare them--just enjoy.

This is a hugely enjoyable film, based upon the book by Roald Dahl. The film does have a number of merits, especially the flawless performance of Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka, a characterisation that is charming and funny at the same time. Another standout is Jack Albertson as Grandpa Joe, his scenes with Charlie were lovingly realised, but in his song, he was just hilarious, and his singing voice was remarkably good. However, whereas Peter Ostrum is perfectly agreeable in terms of acting as Charlie, he is let down by his lack of any real singing ability. Though the film does look beautiful with excellent cinematography and colourful sets, and the supporting characters like the Oompa Loompas, the odiously spoilt Veruca Salt, television addict Mike Tevee and the rather disgusting Violet Bueragarde, are very well done, and the actors are further advantaged by a wonderful sparkling script. The songs are lovely, especially Oompa Loompa, Imagination and I want it Now, though I will say I felt Cheer Up Charlie was rather tedious and slowed the film down quite considerably. Overall, a beautiful film, and I do think it is underrated. 8/10 Bethany Cox.