Peter Ostrum

Peter Ostrum does not compete with the scenery in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971). As Charlie, he treats the desire for chocolate seriously enough to sustain a story, without constantly reminding us that this is a child who deserves our sympathy. We cared about that small wish because he made it feel important to the boy, however trivial it might look to an adult. There is little fuss in the performance. That restraint is his chief contribution to a film with plenty of other attractions.

Mel Stuart's film gives him useful company in Jack Albertson, whose Grandpa Joe brings eagerness to scenes of poverty that could otherwise become dutiful. Ostrum does not have to supply all their warmth himself. Julie Dawn Cole's Veruca Salt offers a less appealing version of childish wanting, her bad temper making Charlie's modest desire easier to understand. And Gene Wilder makes the film funny, inviting and faintly alarming. Beside these more demonstrative performances, Ostrum gives us someone whose feelings need no decoding.

We recommend the film warmly, though the opening takes too long and some songs are not worth the interruption. Ostrum's sincerity cannot make every delay rewarding, and it would be overstating his achievement to credit him with all the pleasure the film provides. Wilder is the greater attraction, but Charlie could easily have become tiresomely virtuous in an effort to compete for our affection. Ostrum lets him want something without making goodness look like a performance for the adults watching.

This was Ostrum's only feature-film role, which limits what we can sensibly claim for him as an actor. He declined a three-picture contract offered by producer David L. Wolper. There is no need to turn that decision into a story about the performer he might have become. His quietness suits Charlie, without proving that it would have suited everything. Allow for the slow opening, and watch how little Ostrum needs to do beside Albertson.