Tillie Wakes Up

2157. TILLIE WAKES UP (1917-USA). With MARIE DRESSLER, JOHNNY HINES. Marie Dressler was one Of the most revered stage and screen comediennes Of the century’s first three decades. She made her motion picture debut back in 1914 in “Tillie’s Punctured Romance,” the first feature-length comedy ever made in America. In it she was cast as the title character, an unsophisticated and overÂweight old maid. Dressier had originally played Tillie on the stage and was to reprise the character twice more on screen. Here Tillie is wed to Henry Tinkelpaw, a piker who married her solely because he needed a place to eat and sleep. Enter one J. Mortimer Pipkins, the original henpecked husband. J. Mortimer fantasizes about standing up to his wife but can never get beyond telling Off her dress dummy. Coincidentally, Tillie and J. Mortimer decide to rebel against their respective mates at the same time by sneaking Off for a good time on the town. Could these two comically desperate individuals somehow be the solution to each other’s problems? They and several other characters become amusingly intertwined, resulting in a barrel-full Of buffoonery and Mack Sennett-style visuÂal slapstick. A healthy portion Of the film takes place in an amusement park where the various attracÂtions become clever comic props for Dressier and her fellow actors. “Silent” film with music score. 47 minutes. ÒSilentÓ Comedy