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Tillie and Gus

  • 1933
  • Approved
  • 58m
IMDb RATING
6.9/10
559
YOUR RATING
W.C. Fields, Baby LeRoy, and Alison Skipworth in Tillie and Gus (1933)
Comedy

Tillie and Augustus Winterbottom are thought to be missionaries when they arrive to find Phineas Pratt trying cheat the Sheridans out of her father's inheritance, including a ferry franchise... Read allTillie and Augustus Winterbottom are thought to be missionaries when they arrive to find Phineas Pratt trying cheat the Sheridans out of her father's inheritance, including a ferry franchise and a boat. The only way to keep the franchise is to win a race against Pratt's boat.Tillie and Augustus Winterbottom are thought to be missionaries when they arrive to find Phineas Pratt trying cheat the Sheridans out of her father's inheritance, including a ferry franchise and a boat. The only way to keep the franchise is to win a race against Pratt's boat.

  • Director
    • Francis Martin
  • Writers
    • Walter DeLeon
    • Francis Martin
    • Rupert Hughes
  • Stars
    • W.C. Fields
    • Alison Skipworth
    • Baby LeRoy
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.9/10
    559
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Francis Martin
    • Writers
      • Walter DeLeon
      • Francis Martin
      • Rupert Hughes
    • Stars
      • W.C. Fields
      • Alison Skipworth
      • Baby LeRoy
    • 14User reviews
    • 7Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos11

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    Top cast39

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    W.C. Fields
    W.C. Fields
    • Augustus Winterbottom
    Alison Skipworth
    Alison Skipworth
    • Tillie Winterbottom
    Baby LeRoy
    Baby LeRoy
    • The 'King'
    Julie Bishop
    Julie Bishop
    • Mary Sheridan
    • (as Jacqueline Wells)
    Phillip Trent
    • Tom Sheridan
    • (as Clifford Jones)
    Clarence Wilson
    Clarence Wilson
    • Phineas Pratt
    George Barbier
    George Barbier
    • Captain Fogg
    Barton MacLane
    Barton MacLane
    • Commissioner McLennan
    Edgar Kennedy
    Edgar Kennedy
    • Judge
    Robert McKenzie
    Robert McKenzie
    • Defense Attorney
    Ivan Linow
    Ivan Linow
    • The Swede
    Irving Bacon
    Irving Bacon
    • Nosy Man at Gambling Table
    • (uncredited)
    Eddie Baker
    Eddie Baker
    • Riverboat Race Judge
    • (uncredited)
    Brooks Benedict
    Brooks Benedict
    • Poker Player
    • (uncredited)
    Maurice Black
    Maurice Black
    • Bit Part
    • (uncredited)
    Ed Brady
    Ed Brady
    • Barfly
    • (uncredited)
    James Burke
    James Burke
    • Juror
    • (uncredited)
    Eugene Burr
    • Bit Part
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Francis Martin
    • Writers
      • Walter DeLeon
      • Francis Martin
      • Rupert Hughes
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews14

    6.9559
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    Featured reviews

    9duguidb

    One of Fields' "sleepers", Tillie and Gus is a great curiosity.

    "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.
    8theowinthrop

    The One Attempt at Pairing in Fields' Talkie Career

    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
    7ksf-2

    plain, simple W C Fields film.

    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.
    7jraskin-1

    Edgar Strikes Again

    "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.
    10Sunsphxsuns

    SHOULD BE RATED 11 STARS

    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.

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    Related interests

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    Comedy

    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      W.C. Fields wrote nearly all of his own dialogue to this film as well as several entire sequences in which he appeared, despite frequent objections from the director. After the success of this film, an exhibitor at Paramount announced that the comedian would be permitted full creative control to his following productions.
    • Quotes

      Tillie Winterbottom: Do you like children?

      Augustus Q. Winterbottom: I do if they're properly cooked.

    • Connections
      Featured in L'univers du rire (1982)
    • Soundtracks
      Long, Long Ago
      (1883) (uncredited)

      Music by Thomas Haynes Bayley

      Played by an unidentified pianist in Tillie's bar in Shanghai

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • October 13, 1933 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Grabben hela dan
    • Filming locations
      • Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA(Studio)
    • Production company
      • Paramount Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

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    • Runtime
      • 58m
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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