More about Wonka

To follow up on this post:

I finished watching the AMC "DVD" broadcast of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

I just wanted to add a few things about Grandpa Joe. Before, I pointed out my belief that Joe was a bad influence on Charlie by thinking only of his own fortune and convincing him to break the rules.

There's one more real instance of Joe's selfishness - at the end, when Wonka has given the factory to Charlie, the candymaker says the boy and his family can live there.

"And me???" Grandpa Joe asks, hungrily.

I never liked that line, nor the expression on Jack Albertson's face. It gave the impression that he was only thinking of himself, and his comfort.

But earlier, when Mr. Wonka tests Charlie's honesty in the office, Grandpa Joe vehemently comes to his grandson's defense. But, again, all the attention from Mr. Wonka is on Grandpa Joe, not Charlie. As if he knew it was Joe that would be the turning point. And Joe passed, as well.

Ah, another day another theory gone by the wayside...

Another interesting tidbit picked up from the commentary:

1) Wonka's first entrance into the courtyard of the Chocolate Factory,
2) The first step into the Candy Room

Both were the cast's genuine reactions to the scenes. Until they started filming Wilder's entrance, limping down the long path to the gates of the factory, nobody had met him yet. So the children's and parents' reactions were genuine.

Similarly, none in the cast had seen the Candy Room until they stepped into it as camera's were rolling, so their reactions to the mammoth chamber were genuine as well.