Meet Mel Stuart: The Wonk Who Brought Us Wonka

How many can name the director of the first, best, and as far as I’m concerned only version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)? Well, now you can, but how many could do it without looking it up? The gent was named Mel Stuart (Stuart Solomon, 1928-2012) and his body of work is quite an unlikely hodge-podge of genres, with nothing else remotely like Willy Wonka in the mix (not that there is anything else like Willy Wonka).

Stuart had started out in advertising, moving from there to long-time employment as a director, producer, and writer with David L. Wolper Productions. Most of his early work was documentary, and of a political or socially progressive nature. Most notably he directed the Making of the President series with journalist Theodore H. White, covering the elections of 1960, 1964, and 1968. John F. Kennedy was a consuming topic for him. He also directed Four Days in November (1964), about the assassination; The Unfinished Journey of Robert Kennedy (1970); and the tv drama Ruby and Oswald (1978) with Michael Lerner and Frederick Forest in the title roles of Jack Ruby and Lee Harvey Oswald. (It was from Ruby’s biographer Danny Fingeroth that I learned that Stuart was Stan Lee’s cousin!) Black culture was also a frequent subject (but don’t confuse him with actor Mel Stewart. We’ll be paying him tribute in a few weeks). For television Stuart directed The Rafer Johnson Story (1961, about the Olympic medalist), Biography of a Rookie: The Willie Davis Story (1963, about the pro baseball player); the concert film Wattstax (1973), and episodes of Wolper’s series Get Christie Love! (1974-75) starring Teresa Graves. There was also a documentary about D-Day (1962), and a multi-part screen adaptation of William Shirer’sThe Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (1968).

The turn toward narrative came toward the late ’60s. Wolper broke with his previous tv distributor and decided to branch off on his own so that he could make theatrical films. The first one that Stuart directed was the comedy If This is Tuesday, It Must Be Belgium (1969), which boasted a slew of European locations and a large ensemble of recognizable actors, including Ian McShane, Suzanne Pleshette, Mildred Natwick, Murray Hamilton, Sandy Baron, Michael Constantine, Norman Fell, Peggy Cass, Marty Ingels, Pamela Britton, and Patricia Routledge. This was followed by the Robert Kaufman comedy I Love My Wife (1970), starring Elliott Gould and Brenda Vacarro (one of the five flops Gould starred in between MASH and The Long Goodbye.)

The inspiration to make a film of Roald Dahl’s book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory came from Stuart’s tween daughter Madeline (who went on to became a famous interior designer). Stuart brought the idea to Wolper, who got backing from a candy company which changed its name to Wonka and even started manufacturing a Wonka bar. It’s a good think the movie turned out to be a hit. I don’t know that it’s brilliantly directed per se, but it’s ingeniously produced, with the cast, the art direction, and the songs being among the strongest elements.

Sometimes you only get one Golden Ticket. Stuart only directed a few theatrical films after this, and they’re pretty obscure. Most notable is One is a Lonely Number (1972) with Trish van Devere (just prior to Day of the Dolphin), Melvyn Douglas (during the same busy period when he made I Never Sang for My Father and The Candidate), Janet Leigh (same year as The Night of the Lepus), and ubiquitous ’70s actor Monte Markham. Much later came Mean Dog Blues (1978) with Gregg Henry (best known from De Palma films like Body Double), Kay Lenz, George Kennedy, Scatman Crothers, Tina Louise, Gregory Sierra, and William Windom. There was also a Born Free rip-off called The White Lions (1981) with Michael York and Glynnis O’Connor.

However, TV was very good to the director throughout the same years. He directed the TV variety special Love from A to Z (1974) with Liza Minnelli and Charles Aznavour; as well as the TV movie pilot Brenda Starr (1976), based on the comic strip, starring Jill St. John; the terrific historical drama The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Scandal (1979); Sophia Loren: Her Own Story (1980); as well as episodes of shows like Kaufman’s Here We Go Again; Welcome Back Kotter; The Chisholms; and Ripley’s Believe It or Not. He continued to direct and produce documentaries for tv and straight to video through the end of his life.