Rant #1,744: Gene, Gene, the Comedy Machine

Something short and sweet today.

Yesterday, thinking about this column, I had to decide who I was going to write about today, two famous people who made headlines yesterday, both very sad occurrences.

I had to choose between disgraced politician Anthony Weiner, who is still disgraced beyond any reasonable explanation, and comic actor Gene Wilder, who passed away from Alzheimer's Disease.

Well, it was no contest.

Why write about the sordid details of a total idiot when I can write about somebody who brought us nothing but happiness?

Gene Wilder was the last of the great comic actors, as far as I am concerned, the last of the breed who flourished during the pre-Internet period.

Today, movie comedy is bottom of the barrel, goes after cheap laughs, and, well, isn't very funny.

Gene Wilder was funny.

This unlikely leading man helmed several classic comedies, including "The Producers," "Young Frankenstein" and "Blazing Saddles," and right there, you have three of the funniest movies every made.

Yes, there were scatological references in these films, and perhaps they set the pace and opened the door for today's so-called humor, but when Wilder teamed up with Mel Brooks, well, anything was possible, and the impossible became the possible, and the funny, so to speak.

Wilder did a number of other films, including "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," but let's be honest about it; he will always be remembered for his association with Brooks. If Woody Allen used various actors to be his own personal doppleganger in his film, Brooks did too, and Wilder was the guy.

He also had an interesting movie association with Richard Pryor, putting out a couple of movies as sort of a modern-day "Abbott and Costello" with the famed comic.

He could play more dramatic roles, too, and proved he could do so in "Bonnie and Clyde," but once a comedian, always a comedian, and broad comedy was really his niche.

He starred in many other films, including "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother," and his marriage to Gilda Radner seemed to be one made in comedy heaven.

She died young, he persevered, but then he, too, kind of faded from view.

Then yesterday, we learned he had Alzheimer's Disease, and it became clearer why we hadn't heard from Wilder in quite a while.

I remember waiting on line for seemingly hours to see "Young Frankenstein" in one of our local theaters when it came out. It was a bitter cold night, and being that this was a single-screen theater, there was only a limited amount of seating.

And we had to wait outside on line to get into the theater.

I was waiting to see the movie with two friends, and right before we were to go into the theater, they closed off the line.

They did tell us that due to the popularity of the film, they were scheduling a midnight screening, and we could come back if we wanted to, but our place was not secure on the line.

So we took turns, one of us waiting on line, the other two going back to the heat of my car.

We did this for two hours, until the movie let out and we could get in ... and boy, was it worth the effort!

"Young Frankenstein" was a classic, and every time I remember that film, I remember that I waited in the bitter cold to see it.

Wilder not only starred in the movie as "Dr. Frankenstein," who denies his lineage until he can't anymore, but he also co-wrote the movie with Brooks. The excellent supporting cast--everyone from Marty Feldman to Teri Garr to Cloris Leachman--made this a true comedy classic.

And the film revolved around Wilder and his characterization of a truly tortured soul.

What more can I say about Wilder? His passing came as something of a shock, but based on what he had, he is in a better place now.

Gene Wilder made me laugh, and laugh and laugh some more.

That is all one could ask.

He will be missed.