Gene Wilder was a great actor and performer. He will be forever known for his great performances in “The Producers”, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”, “Blazing Saddles” and “Young Frankenstein”. We decided to share our light on his less-known performances as a director. His first steps as director was the very successful “The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother”.
The younger brother of the consulting detective tries to steal Sherlock’s glory by solving an important case assisted by an eccentric Scotland Yard detective and a lovely but suspicious actress. (IMDB)
After his phenomenal work on “Young Frankenstein”, Gene Wilder was convinced by producer Richard A. Roth to write a spoof of Sherlock Holmes. Wilder decided to invent the story of a third Holmes brother jealous of the success of Sherlock. Excited by his collaboration with Marty Feldman and Madeline Kahn on “Young Frankenstein” he decided to incorporate them in his movie. And it is a joy to watch them act together, the chemistry between the trio is fantastic to watch. Wilder inexperience as a director is palpable, because of the landing of some jokes, the uneven action and the editing. But the writing and the acting is great, which makes for a hilarious movie with the “kangaroo hop” as it’s best scene.
The film was a huge success and let Wilder to direct three other movies.
Gene Wilder was a born entertainer. His gentle persona mixed with over-the-top character made for some truly memorable moments of cinema.
