TV Guide: Gene Wilder

Listing: Silver Streak

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 20:00:00 -0400

Thu Oct 23 08:00 PM FMC

Listing: Sex, Losers and Videotape

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 11:00:00 -0400

Mon Oct 20 11:00 AM LIFE Gene Wilder returns as Will's endearingly eccentric boss, Mr. Stein, who, after a few too many cocktails, finds himself attracted to Karen. Meanwhile, Grace takes Jack's acting class and makes quite a scene during an improvisational exercise.

Listing: Young Frankenstein

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 20:00:00 -0400

Sat Oct 18 08:00 PM FMC

Listing: Alice in Wonderland

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 19:00:00 -0400

Sat Oct 18 07:00 PM ION

Listing: Stir Crazy

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 08:00:00 -0400

Wed Oct 15 08:00 AM AMC

Listing: See No Evil, Hear No Evil

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:00:00 -0400

Sat Oct 11 01:00 PM TVLAND

Video: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory - (Original Trailer)

TCM — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 07:12:25 -0400

Gene Wilder plays a mysterious candy man who gives children a surprising tour in Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory (1971).

Video: September 4, 1972

Hulu — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 01:14:30 -0400

Mark Spitz takes home the gold (seven times) Bob Barker comes on down What Gene Wilder movie is in theaters?

Video: Blazing Saddles - (Original Trailer)

TCM — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:09:28 -0400

A black man is appointed sheriff of a western town in Mel Brooks' riotous farce Blazing Saddles (1974) starring Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder.

Video: Role Model -- (TCM Promo) Gene Wilder and Alec Baldwin

TCM — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 14:21:37 -0400

Alec Baldwin and Gene Wilder appear in this promo for the TCM Original Event, Role Model, 2008.

Video: June 11, 1982

Hulu — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:36:52 -0400

Spielberg's E.T. lands in theaters everywhere Larry Holmes defeats Gerry Cooney with a TKO in Round 13 Gene Wilder turns 49

Video: Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 03:38:19 -0400

Promoted as a family musical by Paramount Pictures, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is more of a black comedy, perversely faithful to the spirit of Roald Dahl's original book {-Charlie and the Chocolate Factory}. Enigmatic candy manufacturer Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder) stages a contest by hiding five golden tickets in five of his scrumptious candy bars. Whoever comes up with these tickets will win a free tour of the Wonka factory, as well as a lifetime supply of candy. Four of the five winning children are insufferable brats: the fifth is a likeable young lad named Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum), who takes the tour in the company of his equally amiable grandfather (Jack Albertson). In the course of the tour, Willy Wonka punishes the four nastier children in various diabolical methods -- one kid is inflated and covered with blueberry dye, another ends up as a principal ingredient of the chocolate, and so on -- because these kids have violated the ethics of Wonka's factory. In the end, only Charlie and his g

Video: Alice In Wonderland

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 03:35:37 -0400

Originally produced for NBC television, this adaptation of the Lewis Carroll classic features an impressive cast, including Miranda Richardson, Martin Short, Ben Kingsley, Whoopi Goldberg, Gene Wilder, Peter Ustinov, and George Wendt. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide.

Video: See No Evil, Hear No Evil

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 01:34:47 -0400

The third pairing of comic actors Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder was much less successful than their previous team-ups, Silver Streak(1976) and Stir Crazy (1980). Wilder plays Dave, the deaf proprietor of a newsstand and employer of blind gambler Wally (Pryor). When Wally's bookie is shot and killed at the stand, Dave and Wally are arrested for the crime. Since the deaf Dave had his back turned and didn't see the crime, while the blind Wally only heard it, the clues they have to offer the police are slim: Dave's glimpse of a shapely leg and Wally's whiff of a perfume called Shalimar. It turns out the dead man was in possession of a coin that he dropped into Dave's tip box, which Wally is now carrying. The coin contains a valuable microchip sought by crime baron Sutherland (Anthony Zerbe), for whom hired killer Eve (Joan Severance) and her British partner Kirgo (Kevin Spacey) are working. Posing as lawyers, Eve and Kirgo spring Dave and Wally from jail, leading to a series of misadventures as the coin changes h

Video: Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 01:28:17 -0400

Woody Allen's in-name-only adaptation of the once notorious sexual reference guide by Dr. David Reuben contains seven episodes based on helpful questions answered in the book. In Do Aphrodisiacs Work?, Allen appears as a court jester who uses a love potion to spark the erotic interests of the Queen (Lynn Redgrave). What Is Sodomy? stars Gene Wilder as a doctor who throws away his marriage, career, and position in the community when he falls madly in love with an Armenian sheep named Daisy. Why Do Some Women Have Trouble Reaching Orgasm? is a parody of stylish Italian films of the '60s in which a slick playboy (Woody Allen) discovers his wife (Louise Lasser) can climax only when they make love in public places. In Are Transvestites Homosexuals?, Sam (Lou Jacobi) has his little secret revealed at a most inopportune moment. What Are Sex Researchers Actually Accomplishing? features John Carradine in a great parody of his mad-scientist roles as Dr. Bernardo, whose research into human sexuality has led to a fearsom

Video: Blazing Saddles

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 01:20:17 -0400

Vulgar, crude, and occasionally scandalous in its racial humor, this hilarious bad-taste spoof of Westerns, co-written by Richard Pryor, features Cleavon Little as the first black sheriff of a stunned town scheduled for demolition by an encroaching railroad. Little and co-star Gene Wilder have great chemistry, and the delightful supporting cast includes Harvey Korman, Slim Pickens, and Madeline Kahn as a chanteuse modelled on Marlene Dietrich. As in Young Frankenstein (1974), Silent Movie (1976), and High Anxiety (1977), director/writer Mel Brooks gives a burlesque spin to a classic Hollywood movie genre; in his own manic, Borscht Belt way, Brooks was a central player in revising classic genres in light of Seventies values and attitudes, an effort most often associated with such directors as Robert Altman and Peter Bogdanovich . Some of this film's sequences, notably a gaseous bean dinner around a campfire, have become comedy classics. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide.

Video: Another You

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 01:15:30 -0400

When con man Eddie Dash (Richard Pryor) is released from prison he's told to fulfill the required 100 hours of community service as the bodyguard/escort of a recently released mental patient (Gene Wilder). It's not too long before Wilder figures out a way to make a little dough at the expense of his impaired charge. Together they manage to get involved in an inheritance scam that's loaded with troubles and trials for all. It's apparent to most viewers that the Richard Pryor appearing in this film is a far cry from the actor most have seen previously; this is the first film undertaken by Pryor following a very serious illness. ~ All Movie Guide.

Video: Stir Crazy

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 01:08:21 -0400

After the excellent audience response to their teaming in Silver Streak, Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor reunited for this zany comedy. Wilder and Pryor play a couple of out-of-work numbskulls who take a promotional job that requires them to dress up like gigantic woodpeckers. Unfortunately, a pair of thieves, likewise decked out in woodpecker suits, pull off a bank job not long after Wilder and Pryor make their first public appearance. The boys are arrested and sentenced to 120 years each (at this point, we know we're not dealing with real life). After a concerted (and hilarious) effort to make the best of things in stir, Wilder and Pryor break out of jail, hoping to track down the genuine thieves. The mess never really works itself out, suggesting that perhaps the stars had a Stir Crazy II lurking in the recesses of their minds. Written by Bruce Jay Friedman and directed by Sidney Poitier, it never did spawn a sequel, though a TV series spin-off, starring Larry Riley and Joseph Guzaldo, briefly surfaced in 19

Video: Woman In Red, The

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 01:05:06 -0400

Gene Wilder's remake of this 1976 French comedy is a Hollywood version of what happens when Theodore (Wilder), an ordinary ad agency executive, is captivated by a gorgeous woman (Kelly Le Brock). The woman just happens to be standing on a grate when her skirt blows up over her waist (a scene first made famous by Marilyn Monroe in The Seven-Year Itch), and one glimpse is enough to change Theodore's whole life. Although he is married, he is willing to risk his happy relationship with his wife for a romp in the hay with the beautiful stranger. Unfortunately, even when he tracks down the object of his lust he is woefully inept at sneaking out on his wife to consummate his desire. Three of his male office mates help him as much as they can, but Ms. Milner (Gilda Radner) is really incensed when she finds out that the object of Theodore's attention is not herself. Stevie Wonder's score included his hit song I Just Called to Say I Love You, which received an Oscar nomination. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide.

Video: Funny About Love

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:56:05 -0400

The once-in-a-lifetime collaboration between star Gene Wilder and director Leonard Nimoy resulted in the charmingly haphazard and anachronistic Funny About Love. Wilder plays political cartoonist Duffy Bergman, who falls in love with much-younger Meg (Christine Lahti) during a book-signing session. Once married, the old clash of careers bugaboo arises: Meg wants to continue working as a chef in a fancy New York restaurant, while Duffy would prefer that she think about starting a family. When it seems as though Meg may be incapable of bearing children, the self-involved Duffy impregnates earthy college coed Daphne (Mary Stuart Masterson). How a happy ending can grow from this complication is a puzzlement. Funny About Love was based--extremely loosely--on a speech once delivered by Chicago Tribune columnist Bob Greene. The laughs tend to be sporadic, though Stephen Toblowsky scores high marks as a jocular fertility doctor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide.

Video: Frisco Kid, The

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:28:25 -0400

Robert Aldrich returns to the western-spoof genre he'd previously explored in Four for Texas with The Frisco Kid. Gene Wilder plays Polish rabbi Avram Belinsky, who intends to set up a congregation in San Francisco. Eminently unsuited for life in the Old West, poor Avram is victimized by everyone with whom he comes in contact. Salvation arrives in the unlikely form of taciturn bank robber Tommy (Harrison Ford). Incredibly, Tommy takes a liking to the feckless Avram, and together the two men embark on a series of seriocomic adventures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide.

Video: Haunted Honeymoon

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:27:10 -0400

Gene Wilder directed and wrote (along with Terence Marsh) this mild farce which is a pale reminder of Wilder's glory days in Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein. Wilder plays ham radio actor Larry Abbot, who takes his fiancee Vickie Pearle (Gilda Radner) out to meet his relations on a gloomy country estate before they are married. The creepy clan is lorded over by the bizarre Aunt Kate (Dom DeLuise), who keeps babbling about a local rampaging werewolf. As Larry and Vickie try to spend a quiet weekend in the mansion, they are assaulted with all manners of spooky goings-on -- the kind of routines that were already growing whiskers when Abbott and Costello first dusted them off over fifty years ago. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide.

Video: World's Greatest Lover, The

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:21:47 -0400

After writing, directing, and starring in The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother, Gene Wilder added the producer's hat to his three-headed beast in The World's Greatest Lover. Wilder plays Rudy Valentine, a Milwaukee baker who enters a talent search in the Hollywood of the 1920s, initiated by movie studio mogul Zitz (Dom DeLuise), to find a new Rudolph Valentino. He travels to Hollywood with his wife Annie (Carol Kane) in hopes of taking a screen test, but Annie falls in love with the real Valentino. Jealous of the Latin Lover, Rudy disguises himself as a sheik in an attempt to look like Valentino. Rudy then invites Annie to a rendezvous at the studio, where he tries to seduce his own wife. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide.

Video: Young Frankenstein

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:21:39 -0400

Lending his burlesque touch to 1970s genre revision, Mel Brooks followed his hit western Blazing Saddles with this parody of 1930s Universal horror movies. Determined to live down his family's reputation, Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (co-screenwriter Gene Wilder) insists on pronouncing his name Fronckensteen and denies interest in replicating his grandfather's experiments. But when he is lured by Frau Blucher (Cloris Leachman) to discover the tantalizingly titled journal How I Did It in his grandfather's castle, he cannot resist. With the help of voluptuous Inga (Teri Garr), wall-eyed assistant Igor (Marty Feldman), and a purloined brain, Frankenstein creates his monster (Peter Boyle). Igor, however, stole the wrong brain, and the monster tears off into the countryside, encountering a little girl and a blind hermit (Gene Hackman). Frankenstein finds the monster and trains him to do a little Puttin' On the Ritz soft-shoe, but the monster escapes again, this time seducing Frankenstein's uptight fianc e Elizabeth

Video: Silver Streak

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:19:50 -0400

While taking a train trip from L.A. to Chicago, mild-mannered George Caldwell (Gene Wilder) makes the acquaintance of Hilly Burns (Jill Clayburgh). As they indulge in a brief bit of spooning, Hilly tells George that her boss is on the verge of exposing a group of vicious art forgers. Later that evening, George sees the body of Hilly's boss being thrown off of the train. Detective Sweet (Ned Beatty) agrees to investigate, but he too is bumped off. The instigator of these outrages is master forger Roger Devereau (Patrick McGoohan), who, with his crony Mr. Whiney (Ray Walston) is planning a particularly diabolical crime. Worse still, they take Hilly prisoner so she can't tip off the cops. When George is also targeted for elimination, he manages in slapstick fashion to elude the killers. Falling off the train, he ends up being arrested on some trumped-up charge or other by a local sheriff. He makes his escape in the company of petty thief Grover Muldoon (Richard Pryor) -- and that's only the beginning. A box-offi

Video: Producers, The

Video Detective — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 23:52:37 -0400

Theatrical producer Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel) was once the toast of Broadway. Now he lives in his seedy office, cadging cash contributions from wealthy old ladies in exchange for sexual favors. Even worse, he's reduced to wearing a cardboard belt. Max's new accountant, Leo Bloom (Gene Wilder), the soul of honesty, suggests that Max produce a hit to try to recoup his losses, but Max knows that it's too late for that. Offhandedly, Leo muses that, if Max found investors for a flop, he could legally keep all the extra money. Suddenly, Max's eyes light up -- and in that moment, Leo Bloom is gloriously corruptible. I want everything I've ever seen in the movies! cries Leo as Max embraces him. Together, Max and Leo conspire to select the worst play, the worst playwright, the worst director, and the worst actor to collaborate on their guaranteed flop. That play is Springtime for Hitler, a delightful romp...with Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun. The playwright is Franz Liebkind (Kenneth Mars), an unreconstructed Nazi who