Tillie and Gus

Director: Francis Martin Francis Martin

Overview

Alison Skipworth and W.C. Fields play Tillie and Augustus Winterbottom, a husband-and-wife team of con artists. The larcenous couple is summoned to a small town by their niece (Jacqueline Wells) and her husband (Clifford Jones) when the niece's father dies. Hoping for a sizeable inheritance, Tillie and Gus discover that the legacy consists of one rundown ferry boat. When they notice that a local lawyer (Clarence Wilson) seems unusually interested in obtaining this seemingly worthless vessel, T and G decide to help their niece restore the boat and keep the ferry line running. The climax occurs during a boat race between Tillie & Gus and the duplicitous lawyer; the prize is a large cash settlement from a major ferry franchise. Disappointingly restrained for a W.C. Fields film, Tillie and Gus is still good for a few quiet chuckles.

Product Details

Release Date:	10/07/2014
UPC:	0025192184062
Original Release:	1933
Source:	ALLIED VAUGHN
Language:	English
Time:	0:58:00
Sales rank:	49,954

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

W.C. Fields	Augustus Winterbottom
Alison Skipworth	Tillie Winterbottom
Baby LeRoy	The 'King' Sheridan
Julie Bishop	Mary Blake Sheridan
Philip Trent	Tom Sheridan
Clarence Wilson	Phineas Pratt,Phineas Pratt, executor
George Barbier	Capt. Fogg
Barton MacLane	Commissioner McLennan
Edgar Kennedy	Judge Elmer
Bob McKenzie	Defense Attorney
Master Williams	High Card Harrington
William Irving	Man in Tall Silk Hat
Ivan Linow	The Swede
Lon Poff	Juror
James Burke	Juror
Ferris Taylor	Juror
Frank Hagney	Jury Foreman,Jury Foreman
Lew Kelly	Sourdough
Blackie Whiteford	Man at Bar
Harry Dunkinson	Bartender
Irving Bacon	Nosy Extra at Gambling Table
Billy Engle	Sailor
Herbert Evans	Butler
Brooks Benedict	Mr. Black
Walter Percival	Mr. Green
Cyril Ring	Mr. White
Ted Stanhope	Telegraph Clerk
Ed Brady	Barfly
Harry Schultz	Kibitzer
Jerry Jerome	Customer
Frank O'Connor	Reporter
Eddie Baker	Race Judge
Maurice Black	Bit
Clifford Jones	Tom Sheridan
George Bancroft	Actor

Technical Credits

Francis Martin

Walter de Leon

Douglas MacLean	Producer
Francis Martin	Director,Screenwriter
Walter de Leon	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Tillie and Gus is not one of the great W.C. Fields classics, but it's a modestly entertaining piece of foolishness. The story is perfunctory, one of those "good crooks defeat bad crooks" situations which exist more to hang routines on than to provide convincing drama, but it's the right kind of situation for the curmudgeonly Fields and his erstwhile partner, the delightfully craggy Alison Skipworth. It allows these two fine and very distinctive personalities the opportunity to do what they do best -- engage in battles, both overt and covert, against each other and in tandem against common foes. Fields and Skipworth are a remarkable team with a unique chemistry that involves a very unusual kind of love, one that can't quite extricate itself from mutual distaste and repulsion. Being a Fields film, there are naturally some set pieces for him, and the best of these -- the poker game, the disastrous painting attempt -- are truly hilarious. The rest of the film tends to settle for chuckles and smiles, even in the climactic riverboat race, which manages to be effective despite the lack of a real bring-down-the-house finale. Tillie and Gus never really reaches moments of transcendent hilarity that would make it a great comedy, but it's still a good deal of fun and well worth viewing.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler