Candyman is a documentary that debuted January 2010, at the Slamdance Film Festival. This film shows us an in depth look at the rise and fall of David Klein.

When the show opens, we are introduced to the candyman, David Klein. He began his career by studying economics at the University of California, then went on to earn himself a law degree but failed to take the bar exam. David quickly learned that his heart was not into law, but into candy. He developed a special recipe using natural purées for flavoring Jelly Belly Jellybeans in 1976. 

He met with owners of the Herman Goelitz Candy Company and made a deal with them to make a batch of his jellybeans for him. David started selling his flavored jellybeans out of a small ice cream parlor, in Alhambra, California. He was getting $2.00/lb. for them when he first started selling them. He developed eight juicy flavors, before he decided to sell his fabulous business to his co-partner. 

David goes on to show the world how he attempted making several different types of candy but unfortunately they fell through. He has admitted to his mistake of selling his famous Jelly Belly Jellybeans, which he only received $4.8 million. He not only sold his special recipe and trademark, but he sold his heart and soul, as well.

Afterthought

This story is very sad, indeed, but it is also a true reality. Many people have been scammed out of their inventions, businesses, and ideas. Nikola Tesla, Burt Shavitz Burt’s Bees, Karl Benz, and Louis Le Prince are some examples of such occurrences. It is a shame that small people become such large prey for big, rich companies. David has yet to overcome this travesty and probably never will.

Review

If you like true but sad documentaries, you should definitely sit down and watch this very unfortunate true story. If you want to purchase some real jellybeans made by a candy making genius, you should automatically skip Jelly Belly jellybeans and go straight for those Beyond Gourmet jellybeans, because these are David Klein’s signature brand. These delightful candies can be purchased from his personal online store, just search for it. This documentary deserves a 7 out of 10.