Tillie and Gus (1933)

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. Product Description

For W.C. Fields Fans

I agree with the other reviewers here, this is probably primarily for the true W.C. Fields fan. It has great old character actors Clarence Wilson (the villain) and Edgar Kennedy (the Judge in the opening sketch.)

The story involves Wilson playing a shyster lawyer who cheats Field's niece (Julie Bishop) out of her entire inheritance including the house she grew up in and finally even her ferry boat and franchise. In order to keep the franchise and prove that their steamboat is capable, they are compelled to race Wilson's new boat.

It was the kind of melodrama that worked in an earlier era but by the 1930's had become corny and funny, thus an apt comic vehicle for Fields, the curmudgeon without a peer.

Alison Skipworth and Fields play gamblers masquerading as missionaries. They receive letters about the death of the their brother. Fields sings "Bringing in the Sheep" after a successful poker game to raise funds for the trip. Skipworth tells the Travelers Aid Lady that, while in China, she "filled them with spirits," and "relieved them of their worldly possessions." They had good on screen chemistry in this film as they had in their "Road Hogs" segment in "If I had a Million." The rivalry between the two doesn't reach the comic heights reached in Field's work with his best leading lady, Kathleen Howard, in "It's a Gift."

Field's best sketch in this movie is the paint mixing routine following instructions on the radio. Here he is "helped" by his nemesis, Baby LeRoy who turns the radio dial. (It can't be a Fields film without either Baby LeRoy or Evelyn Del Rio playing children "reeking of lollipops.") This movie is the one where he speaks his most famous line about liking children: "I like them well cooked."

W.C. Fields is one of my favorite comedians.
July 10, 2008

Classic Fields!

I've not had the pleasure of meeting Greg Horn, who contributed the only other review (so far) of this DVD, but he is clearly a W. C. Fields admirer, and I would second his recommendation of this DVD wholeheartedly. "Tillie and Gus" is often given short shrift by movie critics, but I love it. It may not be in the same league as "It's a Gift" or "The Bank Dick," but it nevertheless offers a virtually nonstop barrage of wonderfully comedic scenes from start to finish. The scene with Fields on trial in the courtroom, the poker game on the train, the paint-mixing episode, the brief nighttime encounter on the dock between Tillie and Captain Fogg, and the final boat race are all memorable -- superbly paced and acted. W. C. Fields and Alison Skipworth were a perfect cinematic match, as this movie demonstrates throughout. They play off each other wonderfully. There is great character-acting too, from Clarence Wilson (as the crooked lawyer Phineas Pratt) and Edgar Kennedy (briefly, as the trial judge). Even the pet goose earns his keep!

This DVD does remain an amateur production, and I don't think it's the best we can hope for. Picture quality is excellent, but I noticed a slight decrease in the audio level as the movie progressed. Although I found myself periodically increasing the volume on my TV, I thought that perhaps I was imagining a problem that wasn't there -- but when the movie ended and I then started it over again from the beginning, the volume level was uncomfortably high. It's a flaw I can live with easily, at least until a better transfer (from Universal?) materializes some day. In the meantime, go for this one. We Fields fans have been awaiting a "Tillie and Gus" on DVD for far too long, and it's great to have this one available, audio flaw notwithstanding. March 7, 2008

Tillie And Gus, classic Fields!

First off, it's a DVD-R, region 0, it's not a manufacturer's DVD, zero extra's, reasonably cheap CD case photo. My rating of 3 star is due to this alone and not the quality of the movie or transfer which are both very good.

That being said and out of the way I'm thrilled to see a good transfer of Tillie And Gus on DVD finally. I have a copy I made off digital cable a few years back with an S-VHS tape recorder and although that copy is very good, this DVD is much better. Not sure what their source material was but the picture is very clear, sound is very good too. Pausing the opening titles shows no artifacts around the titles edges which a low quality copy will always have.

Moving on to the movie itself, this is yet another rarely seen Fields movie that is very, very good. W.C.'s scene of mixing paint is a must see, it's classic Field's. This DVD seller also has Field's Mississippi and If I Had A Million on DVD.

Hopefully Universal or whoever has the rights to the official release of the yet to be released to DVD Field's movies will get Mississippi, Tillie and Gus, Million Dollar Legs, & Her Majesty Love all out soon on a third Field's collection as well as the following bit part Field's movies: Tales Of Manhattan, Alice In Wonderland (1933) Song Of The Open Road, Mrs. Wiggs Of The Cabbage Patch, Sensations Of 1945, Follow The Boys as well as the silents The Old Army Game, Running Wild & Sally Of The Sawdust(uncut please, I have it uncut on tape it should be 124 minutes, NOT 113,110, or 92 minutes as most tapes/DVD's are).

Overall yet another great Field's movie that I can heartily recommend for your viewing pleasure.
January 5, 2008

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