Tillie and Gus

"Tillie And Gus" is a "Sleeper" for W.C. Fields. It is not one of his movies that he is best remembered for, but it has several components that make it a great curiosity. First of all, Fields is teamed up again with Alison Skipworth, the craggy character actress, who in her earlier stage career in England was known to be a great beauty. She is also as far as I'm concerned, Fields' greatest female co-star. She interacts with him well as she did in "If I Had A Million" and "Six of A Kind". The two are formerly man and wife in this saga, working as "missionaries" on different locations who are found out for their flim-flam ways and sent packing back home where they are summoned to the dockside of a niece, her husband and infant son (Baby Leroy), who are being swindled out of their inheritance by shyster lawyer Phineas Pratt. The niece owns a run-down riverboat, threatened to be put in mothballs by a newer boat. A race is run to determine which boat has superiority over the other, and who keeps the river franchise. Fields' and Skipworth's goals is to help win the race, receive the money to thwart Pratt, and to kick the bum out! Memorable scenes include The "Missionaries" working together to refix a poker game on the train to their benefit, and Fields' memorable line to the question "You like children?". "Only if they are properly cooked", he says. This film is seldom seen on television and never seen as a video. The rights to this and many other Fields' films are buried in the vaults of Universal Pictures. It should be released for all of us to see again.

A light comedy, certainly, not on par with Fields' classics such as The Bank Dick, It's a Gift, and That Old-Fashioned Way, but Tillie and Gus is still a fine 1930s comedy. And Fields is in top form, with several great set pieces - a crooked card game, making paint, and throwing firewood down to the boiler room. Alison Skipworth is also quite good. The only major disappointment is Baby LeRoy, who, in his first pairing with Fields, was probably just too young. He's still cute and mischievous, but he and Fields never go at it in the same way as they do in That Old-Fashioned Way and It's a Gift. Even more creepy is the fact that Baby LeRoy's voice had to be dubbed, probably because he wouldn't make the required noises. This makes him seem like the antichrist - even more so. 8/10

Let's get this over with right now: I'm a lifetime W. C. Fields fan. Having read every recognized biography about him, I believe Fields's comedic genius as a performer and writer should be lionized in 24K gold and featured at the Smithsonian. We shall not see another bombastic comedian like Fields for many decades to come, which is precisely why his films continue to entertain and delight old and new generations of movie fans.

The Tillie and Gus plot is thin and straightforward but holds up substantially (in 2021) even though it was first released more than 88 years ago in 1933. Tillie and Augustus find mean old Phineas Pratt attempting to cheat a young couple out of her father's inheritance, including the rights of a ferry franchise and a ferry boat. The only way to keep the franchise is to win a race against Pratt's boat. And we're off!

No spoilers here. Watch this film as soon as possible. This is the way comedy was meant to be seen, heard, and enjoyed.

During his early years in talkies, W. C. Fields was searching for the right on-screen personality to attract a national audience. After two feature sound films where he had to share credit with other headliners and four shorts, the former vaudeville star finally found his niche in October 1933's "Tillie and Gus." One two-reeler example of his adversarial relationship with viewers, produced by Mack Sennet, now employed by Paramount Pictures, was 1932's 'The Dentist.' Fields is a hot-tempered dentist who abuses his patients and staff, cheats at golf, and assaults his caddies.

One film historian noted,"Fields must have known that 'The Dentist, presented a serious flaw for a comedy image that was intended to endure." "Tillie and Gus" showcased his warmer side, albeit still somewhat crusty personality. Some say the movie was inspired by Marie Dressler and Wallace Beery's 1933's "Tugboat Annie." Fields is teamed up with veteran actress Alison Skipworth as Tillie, who had a similar build to Dressler. Tillie and Gus are both con artists in Asia posing as missionaries. The two get wind that Tillie's brother died and may have left her an inheritance. Arriving in Northern California, the two noticed the executor of the brother's will, Phineas Pratt (Clarence Wilson), has swindled everything from the family, except an old steamboat. They decide to get even by rehabbing the boat and staking everything they have on a thrill-a-second steamboat race.

Time Magazine appreciated the turn of direction of Fields playing a kinder, more benevolent character who saves Baby LeRoy from drowning. Fields recalls one scene where the year-old baby was crying repeatedly. "I quietly removed the nipple from Baby LeRoy's bottle, dropped in a couple of noggins of gin, and returned it to Baby LeRoy," he said. "After sucking on the pacifier for a few minutes, he staggered through the scene like a Barrymore." The script makes fun of the fact Fields wasn't exactly enthralled with children and babies. Tillie asks Gus upon meeting her baby grandson for the first time, "Do you like children?" Gus replies, "I do if they're properly cooked."

Actress Skipworth, after her appearance with Fields in 1932's "If I Had A Million," displayed an on-screen chemistry with the comedian, playing in four movies together. Skipworth's acting career stretched back to 1894 when she appeared in her native-London stage at 31. Her film debut was in 1912, but she favored live acting until talkies arrived. Her busy movie career ended in 1938, but she lived until 1952.

For Fields, "Tillie and Gus" shaped the screen persona for the 53-year-old actor. His fans, old and new, appreciated his wit so much more without the abrasive behavior of his past characters.

TILLIE AND GUS was one of three films (four with the "all star" ALICE IN WONDERLAND) where he appeared with Alison Skipworth. It was the only time in his talking films where Fields was actually built into a co-starring situation with a partner. The only similar situation he faced were in those now obscure silent comedies he made in the late 1920s co-starring Chester Conklin. But here, in SIX OF A KIND (where pairs of male/female partners were enhanced by Burns and Allen and Charlie Ruggles and Mary Boland), and IF I HAD A MILLION (in the "road hog" sequence) the chemistry and balance between "Uncle Claude" and "Skippy" was amply demonstrated. Skipworth was nobody's fool in her comic roles, and here she fully demonstrates that she is capable of confronting her thoroughly untrustworthy partner, and even (occasionally) controlling him.

Fields and Skipworth are married relatives of a young woman (Julie Bishop) who has inherited some property, including an old ferry boat. Unfortunately, the estate is in the hands of a crooked lawyer (Clarence Wilson), who is trying to gain legal ownership by every trick he knows. Fields and Skipworth return to assist their niece, her husband (Philip Trent) and their baby son (Baby Leroy - his first film with Fields). Despite Fields' grumblings, his own dislike for Wilson makes him stick it out to assist the young people.

The film is funny, but in episodes. At the beginning we see Fields, before he returns to the town where Bishop is) facing a trial in another jurisdiction. His repartee with the Judge (the great Edgar Kennedy) is a marvel. Another high spot (in a bit that other comedians have used - like Lou Costello on his television show), is when Fields is trying to repair part of the ferry boat, listening to instructions on the radio, but in leaving the room misses an important piece of information that the radio repairman is now discussing another thing to repair, and so Fields gets hopelessly befuddled trying to understand the logic of what he is accomplishing by these instructions.

Skipworth had a nice moment or two also. Wilson has purchased a modern ferry boat to drive the old one out of business. George Barbier is it's captain. Skipworth goes at night to spy out the new craft, and possibly find some way to damage it. Barbier, also on the watch sees her, and goes down to confront this interloper.

Barbier: "Do you know who I am?" Skipworth: "No! Isn't there somebody around to tell you?" Barbier hesitates - he did not anticipate that answer. He continues. Barbier: "I'm the Captain of the "Keystone"." Skipworth (looking him over): "Then what are you worried about?!" Barbier, slightly confused about the way the conversation has gone, but deciding to try once more. Barbier: "You don't understand...." Skipworth (without missing a beat): "I'm not the one who is lost!"

TILLY AND GUS is truly a very amusing movie to watch