Tillie and Gus

Plot

Tillie Winterbottom (Alison Skipworth) has just lost her waterfront saloon in Shanghai, China in a dice game, and her ex-husband Gus (W.C. Fields) is on trial for murder in Lone Gulch, Alaska, when they each receive word that Tillie's brother has died. Gus escapes and the two reunite in Seattle, then head for Danville to investigate the dead man's estate and the possibility of an inheritance.

Local Danville attorney Phineas Pratt (Clarence Wilson) claims the man died in debt, but he actually has swindled his daughter Mary Sheridan (Julie Bishop, billed under her real name, Jacqueline Wells) out of her rightful inheritance, including the family home, forcing her to move with her husband Tom Sheridan (Phillip Trent) and their infant son, King (Baby LeRoy) to a dilapidated ferry called the Fairy Queen—supposedly the one item left of the estate.

When Tillie and Gus arrive in Danville, they are mistaken for missionaries newly returned from Africa by their relatives. Tillie plans to sell the boat and split the profits, but they become suspicious when Pratt expresses an inordinate interest in acquiring the seemingly unseaworthy boat, and they decide to help Mary and Tom refurbish it. Pratt, who has just purchased his own boat, the Keystone, tries to eliminate the competition by convincing the state inspection board to deny the Sheridans a ferry franchise.

It is decided that the outcome of a Fourth of July boat race will determine who is awarded the franchise. Comic mayhem ensues when Gus does everything in his power to sabotage their rival, ultimately coming out ahead in the end. Tom tells Gus, "That ferryboat race was the world's biggest gamble," to which Gus replies, "Well, don't forget, Lady Godiva put everything she had on a horse!"

Cast

Critical reception

In his review in the New York Times, Mordaunt Hall described the film as "a cheery absurdity" and added, "Insane as are the doings in this concoction, they succeed in being really funny. It is the sort of thing admirably suited to Mr. Field's peculiar genius." Time observed, "Part parody of Tugboat Annie, part pure farce, Tillie and Gus is one of the pleasanter chapters in the long and happy career of W. C. Fields's famed unlighted cigar."