One Of Willy Wonka's Most Memorable Scenes Was An Absolute Nightmare To Shoot

Paramount

Most Gen-Xers know Mel Stuart's 1971 musical movie "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" by heart and will — perhaps recoiling in disgust — remember the scene where Augustus Gloop (Michael Böllner) falls into a river of chocolate. It seems that moment was equally revolting to film.

The scene in question occurs about halfway through the movie, by which point Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder) has opened the doors to his ultra-secretive chocolate factory to five sweepstakes-winning children. Wonka is a zany eccentric who seems to grow rare and exotic chocolate plants that produce fully manufactured candy. One of the first stops on the factory tour is a stroll through his candy garden, and the contest winners are allowed to feast on all the unusual edible flora their stomachs can handle. This sequence alone makes "Willy Wonka" one of the best food movies of all time.

Running through the middle of the garden is Wonka's chocolate river. He explains that a river is the best way to keep chocolate mixed, and it is the one thing that is verboten to touch. It should be noted that the chocolate river, from a production standpoint, looks more like mud or sewage than chocolate. It's watery and unappealing. Augustus, however, cannot help spooning some of the chocolate river into his mouth. He then slips and falls into the water, splashing around for a bit before being sucked into a drainage pipe.

According to Polygon's 2021 oral history of this scene, that river was as gross in person as it looked on camera. Böllner recalled having to film this moment for a long stretch, forcing him to repeatedly fall into, in his words, "stinky water." Also, it was cold. So, much less fun that actually swimming in liquid chocolate.

Paramount

Michael Böllner added that he had to fall into a deep aperture under the water every time he dove into the river. The aperture, however, wasn't very large, and he repeatedly risked slamming his head into the solid river floor. As he put it:

"It was actually not chocolate. It was terribly cold. It was stinky water! And it was all day long, jumping in and jumping out, and being around with wet clothes. [...] The river was just 10 centimeters deep. And there was a hole about a square meter that I had to hit. So, I was very scared that I would not hit the square meter and would punch my head in the ground of the chocolate river." 

Böllner didn't say what, exactly, the river smelled like, but its brackish, near-translucent brown might make one suspect that it was colored with paint. Julie Dawn Cole, who played the spoiled Veruca Salt in "Willy Wonka," also recalled poor Böllner's experience falling into that river all day. According to her, the water was not the least bit fresh, remaining stagnant for weeks. What's more, it seems that the film's cast and/or crew kept using it as a means of disposing of their drinks (which may very well explain the odor):

"Michael had to fall into this disgusting stuff that had been sitting there for three weeks. It had the lights on it, and people were emptying their coffee cup dregs into it." 

So, Böllner had to splash into an unseen trough covered by three-week-old brown coffee water. Movie magic!

Paramount

At the end of the chocolate river scene, Augustus, as mentioned, is sucked up a transparent pipe. His body blocks the pipe, though, and one can see his screaming face through the glass while chocolate pressure builds up beneath him. To film this moment, Michael Böllner had to be lowered into a tube, about six feet long in actuality, that was then filled with chocolate water. Naturally, Böllner did not enjoy this, either, explaining: 

"It was a really tough thing because they took about two meters tube around me and filled it up with water up to my mouth. So, I couldn't move anything. I couldn't do anything. I just had to rely on the guys that were around me that don't drop me."

Peter Ostrum, who played Charlie Bucket, the protagonist of "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory," also commented on the whole river scene, recalling that it looked utterly miserable. He knew the water was cold and gross, so he was merely relieved he didn't have to do the stunt himself. To quote him directly:

"When I saw Michael do take after take after take of falling in the cold river, that cold, dirty river, I just thought, 'I'm glad that's him and not me!'" 

Indeed, this scene is but one of many reasons why folks of a certain age remember "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" as being delightful nightmare fuel. That and Willy Wonka is quite the twisted trickster in the film (something you can partly thank Gene Wilder himself for). As for its young stars, they all largely went on to enjoy various careers outside of acting. Luckily, none of them ever had to deal with brackish fake rivers again.