Esperto Contra Sabido

Tillie and Gus was the last film directed by Francis Martin. Alison Skipworth and W C Fields star in this tale of two swindlers who have come to help out their family after a relative has died. In this, we get to see a lot of Fields' tricks with props - the hat and cane bits, cards, rolling the coin along his knuckles. And of course, he teams up with Clarence Wilson (the lawyer) again, from several of his previous films. Gotta love the "make your own paint" bit, when he adds in a scoop of lead, (which we now know is poisonous when ingested) as directed by the radio host. Did people really mix up their own paint ?? Baby LeRoy steals the show once again (Fields would make four movies with him-- has an interesting bio on IMDb). In Tillie and Gus, it all comes down to the big race to see who gets the job as ferryboat for the town. While quite a good, plain, fun, simple story, it's not the usual hilarious, non-stop antics that we see in some of the other W C Fields flicks.

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

TILLIE AND GUS (Paramount, 1933), directed by Francis Martin, stars W.C. Fields and Alison Skipworth, in their second collaboration together following their hilarious "roadhog" segment from the episodic motion picture, IF I HAD A MILLION (1932). With Fields and Skipworth as Paramount's answer to MGM's own Wallace Beery and Marie Dressler, of MIN AND BILL (1930) and TUGBOAT ANNIE (1933) fame, the plot for TILLIE AND GUS could very well be Paramount's equivalent to TUGBOAT ANNIE (1933), however, the only difference is that there's no need in borrowing from MGM or calling this one TUGBOAT TILLIE, for example, considering how Paramount has Fields and Skipworth at the helm is all that's needed in keeping this 58 minute comedy afloat.

The story begins not with Tillie and Gus but with the introduction of a young married couple, Tom (Clifford Jones) and Mary Sheridan (Jacqueline Wells), along with their baby boy called "King" (Baby LeRoy) and their very smart pet duck, taking up residence in the town of Danbury. After the reading of the will by Mary's father, John Blake, who died bankrupt, Phineas Platt (Clarence Wilson), a family lawyer and a crooked one at that, loots the estate for himself, leaving the girl nothing but an old ferry boat, forcing Tom, a college student, from obtaining his engineering degree. Mary, who has notified her Aunt Tillie and Uncle Gus, working their separate ways as missionaries, of the situation, hopes they'll come over to guide them. Enter Augustus Q. Winterbottom (W.C. Fields), revealed not as a missionary as depicted, but a professional card sharp forced to leave Alaska by a judge (Edgar Kennedy) following a crooked game; and Tillie Winterbottom (Alison Skipworth), his ex-wife, owner of a Soo Chow Club in Shanghai, China, who, after received Mary's telegram, gambles away her place to the Swede (Ivan Linow), earning enough money to book passage to Danville. Once they meet at a train station in Seattle, where Gus addresses Tillie as "My Little Chickadee" (Fields' most famous catch phrase), the couple soon forget their differences, offering their assistance to the young couple by arranging a ferry boat race between the defunct Fairy Queen and Pratt's very own Keystone to the Old Town dock that's to take place on the 4th of July, with amusing results.

For Fields' first starring feature role since the silent era of 1928, TILLIE AND GUS offers great promise with fine comedy material (Fields and Skipworth as dedicated missionaries shown in their true surroundings; W.C. cheating suckers at cards and his mixing of paint while listening to the instructor on radio), offbeat one-liners (Tillie: "Do you like children?" Gus: "I do if they're properly cooked"), and a touch of suspense (Baby LeRoy in a mini-bathtub that falls off the deck and floating down the river), there's not enough to rank this the comedy classic as Fields' latter IT'S A GIFT (1934) and THE BANK DICK (1940). In some ways, it's a quiet comedy in the Will Rogers tradition, highlighted by both the steamboat race and the support of familiar faces as Edgar Kennedy, George Barbier, Barton MacLane, and of course Clarence Wilson, whose face is enough to frighten any child away from his property whenever ordering them to "scoot." Baby LeRoy, the year-old infant whose dialog consists of overdubbed baby noises, cries and laughter, makes one of Fields' better known advisories under the age of five.

Never distributed on video cassette, TILLIE AND GUS was one of the features presented on Turner Classic Movies in June 2001 with W.C. Fields as its "Star of the Month," before being placed to DVD a few years later. Although Fields and Skippy would be paired once more in SIX OF A KIND (1934), who else can play phony missionaries and he singing "Bringing in the Sheeves" as their lovable characters of Tillie and Gus? (**1/2)

"Tillie and Gus" is a must-see early Paramount effort by the great W.C. The Great Man is in top form, and is ably aided by Ms. Skipworth. I recently purchased the DVD of this film, and was taken aback during a quick sequence within the courtroom scene in the early part of the film. It has been noted, and can be verified upon viewing, that Edgar Kennedy let slip the "s" word, when uttering the exclamation "oh sh*t" in the Laurel & Hardy short, "A Perfect Day" and unless I'm mistaken, he utters the magic word much more blatantly during the courtroom scene in "Tillie and Gus" in which Kennedy plays the judge. Unless my ears deceive me, the exchange between High Card Harrington, the Judge and Gus goes: High Card: "Six shots" The Judge: "Six sh*ts" Gus: "Six Cigars." Everyone, please take a look at this scene and see if you hear what I heard! I watched it ten times in a row, and still can't believe it.

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