Last night I watched an hour-long interview with Gene Wilder on AMC (American Movie Classics is fast becoming one of my favorite channels.) Gene Wilder had been a popular actor since before I was born, and I grew up seeing him in movies like Young Frankenstein and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I always liked his work. That amazing mixture of clowning, madness, and heart wrenching drama that he represents to me just doesn't exist anymore. His big heart, blue eyes, and frizzled blond hair haven't changed with his age, though he seems considerably more frail than in the past. Thanks, no doubt, to a bout with cancer. Seeing him discuss Madeline Kahn, Mel Brooks, and deceased former wife/SNL legend Gilda Radner sent me down nostalgia lane in a big way. If there is an actor working today comparable, I don't know who it is.
After the interview, AMC played The Producers, commercial-free and uncut. I've never seen this movie before, and I'm very glad I watched it. Not least because I now understand the clip of "Springtime for Hitler" that they constantly play on The Stephanie Miller Show.
You know, as a younger man and even as a child, I was very impressed by foul-mouthed artists like Eddie Murphy and Sam Kinnison. I wanted all the boundaries pushed as far as possible. Watching this sixties movie, free of cursing and nudity but loaded with adult themes, made me feel very uncomfortable with the time I live in. I've heard, here and there, throughout my life, older folks lament the loss of gentility and respect in our culture. As the South Park-loving guy I am, I've generally farted in their general direction, but seeing the spirit behind Wilder's blue eyes, after seeing the genius of Mel Brooks at his articulate best, I'm not so sure anymore. I watched Family Guy this morning (at familyguynow.com, check it out!) as I made my breakfast, before work. I laughed at the sick Quagmire jokes. I wonder, can we have both? I keep thinking of that part in The Little Prince, where Wilder is the fox, speaking about how wild things can't be owned. That part really chokes me up.
Gene Wilder has written a couple of novels in the last couple of years. I think I will check one out at the library and, if I like it, I'll buy the other one.
I didn' t know where to put this in, but I also wanted to mention what a philanthropist Wilder is.
Oh yeah, and this part really impressed me:
Gene was talking about Gilda Radner and two things really got to me.
#1. He said that Gilda wanted to get married for a year or two before he did. She talked about it often, but he wasn't into it. He said that she was too dependent and that she needed to be her own first, so she wouldn't end up subsumed by his will. Then, when it was his birthday, they were going to Paris to celebrate. Her beloved little dog, at the airport, got into some rat poison somehow and she decided to stay behind and take it to the vet (saving its life). She told Gene to go on and enjoy himself because he deserved it. She said, "You know I love you and I know you love me, so go ahead and have a great time." He said that that is when he knew their love was true and he proposed to her as soon as he returned. I think that is a beautiful story.
#2. He said that he always thought Gilda would pull through her ovarian cancer. Maybe it's the way he said it, or the context, but those words revealed to me a great deal of how terribly painful her death was for him.
Cheers, Gene Wilder!
