IMA, IMAX to salute Gene Wilder this weekend
The Indianapolis Museum of Art and IMAX Theatre at Indiana State Museum are teaming up this weekend to honor Gene Wilder, the legendary actor who passed away Sunday at 83 from complications from Alzheimer's disease.
At 7 p.m. Friday, The Toby at the IMA (4000 Michigan Road) will screen Mel Brooks's 1974 horror spoof "Young Frankenstein." Wilder both co-wrote the script and stars as the grandson of the infamous Baron Von Frankenstein — sorry: FRONK-en-steen — who tries to reproduce his ancestor's experiments. (Wilder received a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar nomination for his work.)
Classic movies to cleanse the palate
At 11 a.m. Saturday, the IMAX Theater (650 W. Washington St.) will show the family classic "Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory." Wilder stars as the reclusive candy man who invites five contest-winners — all kids, to make the moralizing more impactful — in to his factory. Besides spawning the "Condescending Wonka" meme and the argument that Grandpa Joe is evil, this 1971 musical gave us two iconic songs: "Candyman" and "Pure Imagination."
At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, the tribute comes to a close at the IMAX Theater with Mel Brooks's western satire "Blazing Saddles," co-starring Wilder as The Waco Kid (most people call him "Jim"), the supportive deputy to Sheriff Bart (Cleavon Little) in the tiny town of Rock Ridge. With a script co-written by Brooks with a number of writers — most famously, Richard Pryor and future "The In-Laws" scribe Andrew Bergman — it legitimately couldn't be made today, especially by a major studio, due to its racial and sexual themes.
Tickets for each movie are $5 a piece and are available online. As a special treat for those feeling gnoshy, the IMAX Theater concession stand will have Wonka candy for purchase during the screening of "Willy Wonka."
• "Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory"
• "Blazing Saddles"
Call Star online editor Channing King at (317) 444-8073. Follow him @ChanningKing