By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Published: | Updated:
Profile of Gene Wilder told by his nephew
Year: 2026
Certificate: 15
Gene Wilder has a certain kind of energy that makes you immediately want to know more about him. He was never terribly forthcoming in interviews though, which only made you want to know more. He died in 2016 and this documentary takes us into his life through the eyes of his nephew, Jordan Walker-Pearlman.
‘You’re meant to be funny. You can be other things, but you’re always going to be funny,’ remarked Mel Brooks of Wilder, who looked up to the Hollywood legend in the manner of a big brother. Walker-Pearlman sees the relationship slightly differently: ‘I say this lovingly, I think Mel wanted somebody to worship him, and Gene worshipped Mel.’ Whichever way you see it, the bond between the two men was very real, and the films they made have stuck around a long time partly because of it – imagine Blazing Saddles, The Producers and Young Frankenstein without Wilder. They didn’t always hit straight off, though – both The Producers and his later triumph, Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, were considered commercial failures at the start.
Walker-Pearlman’s very personal view of his uncle really lifts this profile, giving the clips and interview footage (some of it with Walker-Pearlman, who made a film about him in the 1990s) a kind of resonance they wouldn’t have otherwise. Still, if you like Wilder – and it’s hard not to – any footage of him is, frankly, watchable until well after the cows come home. (97 minutes)
