Un marito per Tillie

Carol Burnett and Geraldine Page battle in an all-out throw-down that, as far as I can tell, didn't involve stunt doubles. They get their purses swinging. Garbage cans. Garden hose. But the funniest part of the movie might be the scene immediately preceding the fight, where Page struggles to avoid disclosing her real age. Burnett, who was surely America's greatest TV comic of the 70s and adored by millions, plays it straight down the line. Classy move.

In fact, as a kid in the 70s who watched The Carol Burnett Show with my family pretty much every week, this movie was a revelation. Burnett avoids all of her usual broad mugging that made her so popular. Whether it's in a comic scene or a dramatic scene, she has the acting chops. Watch her face - she speaks no words - as she sits back into her chair after receiving some tragic news. Most ''serious" actresses would have overplayed that scene to the point of pathos.

Walter Matthau shows once again that he had few peers when it came to moving seamlessly from comedy to drama and back to comedy again, often in the same scene.

Rene Auberjonois shows up as the gay friend. I don't know whether that portrayal would be considered overly broad in these perilous times, but he had me convinced. His proposal scene is heart-breaking on so many levels. I mean, this is 1972 we're talking about. It's still a long way from members of the Rainbow crowd being considered among the cool kids, so to speak.

I'm not sure the movie is as good as the sum of its parts. But for the individual performances it's well worth watching.

I'll treasure this movie for having given me of the my favourite lines, which I have used continually since first seeing this film... when on their first date... given a choice of beverages from Burnett, Matthau says 'whatever's the most trouble'.... that's pure Groucho... and of course the fight between Page and Burnett. A good woman on woman fight is rare in this type of film and the scene on the lawn with the hose is a gem,

I like to revisit this film every few years and still enjoy it immensely. Yeah, it degenerates to soap...too bad...if it hadn't this one might have been WAY up there in the ratings.

The main accomplishment of Pete 'n' Tillie is the skill put into it for hitting the symmetry amongst the hilarious and the heartbreaking, between moments of earnest gravitas and other moments of priceless high comedy and even slapstick. What happens in the story is supposed to happen. Life's like that. In one go, Pete 'n' Tillie is an entertainment feat, with its high comic panache, its dexterity with bittersweet dramaturgy and its star turns for its two tremendously talented leads. The special thing about this movie is the way it merges those two tonal styles, with even more subtlety and naturalism than the films of later periods.

Indeed, this is a sharp, surprisingly heartfelt and charming movie of the early '70s, with a skillfully lasting and subdued tone of melancholy. Writer-producer Julius J. Epstein has seized hold of priceless dialogue and a theme of togetherness. The title characters are two sardonically mileage-developing San Francisco pragmatists who meet at a party and like one another virtually in spite of themselves. Owing to their age, they're seasoned enough to realize that "love without irritation is just lust." They get going, wed, raise a bright son and experience a paralyzing family predicament whose subtle, poignant handling is the most appreciable thing about this offbeat love story beholden to George Stevens' superior Penny Serenade.

It's a straightforward comedy that soaks up tragedy without an awkward wrinkle. This owes to the always subtle, sophisticated and refined direction of Martin Ritt, normally helming much less sentimental material, shrewdly of course. Then there is Geraldine Page, as Burnett's well-heeled friend, whose succinct, horrified charade at a police station and the subsequent catfight pack that beautiful release of laughter after a tragic peak. Like most great comics, Burnett, held in rein by a somber, down-to-earth story, is impressive, even in graver moments that feel as if the material was contrived to the point of bathos. Matthau has given more cumbersome performances but none more disarming since The Odd Couple.

Walter Matthau and Carol Burnett are Pete and Tillie. They meet each other in their middle aged years. Pete is a smarmy rogue who likes Tillie, but has a smug way of showing it. Tillie feels that he is a bit of a dog himself, but she knows that she can't get anyone better than him. The courting of their relationship takes up about half of the film with a few dry laughs. Matthau delivers his lines so naturally, you know that if he was to do drama, it could only be tragicomedy. Burnett does well in a serious role and has one cathartic scene as she curses God for the loss of her 9 year old son. She has a wild fight scene with Geraldine Page that's pretty humorous. Only a small part of this story is dedicated to their parenthood as they soon learn their son is diagnosed with a terminal illness. The son dies. Tillie mourns. Pete takes it just limp. Not much emotion is shown in his performance , which I felt was understated correctness. Pete and Tillie soon separate and divorce amicably. It seems sad, but it's simply a slice of life look at two ordinary people who really don't have much in common. I like the concept that these old 70's Hollywood movies had in that they don't stress that all leading couples have to be beautiful or even attractive. Burnett and Matthau had their own charisma, which was shown in their talent. This is not a great film, but it's worth a look for innocuous entertainment.

Carol Burnett and Walter Matthau provide moving performances as a couple struggling through maintaining a marriage in the wake of a heart-wrenching tragedy. An ode to a more eloquent age, this film engrosses the viewers in a world of two people who did everything right, but end up with life turning horribly wrong. Carol Burnett and Walter Matthau are brilliant and a surprise for DS9 fans: there is a comical and touching performance by Rene Auberjonois (Odo).