Tillie's Tomato Surprise (1915) : distribution, intrigue et streaming

Released in 1915, Tillie's Tomato Surprise is a comédie film directed by Howell Hansel, running about 66 minutes.

What it’s about. Tillie Todd gives her rich Aunt Sally a dime-store tomato pincushion for her birthday, claiming that it is the product of her own hard labor. However, Cousin Percy, also competing for Sally's favor, snidely exposes the deception. While testing his latest invention, Tillie's paramour, The Bat, makes a crash landing at Aunt Sally's birthday celebration. Inspired, eccentric Sally takes to the air herself, but after several days' absence she is declared dead. Aunt Sally bequeaths Tillie the tomato pincushion, giving most of the estate to her pet monkey, Jim, and after Jim's death, to Percy. Wanting to speed up his inheritance, Percy kidnaps Jim and connives to frame Tillie for his apparent death. The police relentlessly pursue Tillie until Aunt Sally finally returns. Disgusted at her inability to rid herself of the ugly pincushion, which Percy nastily keeps returning to her, Tillie rips it apart with her teeth, only to discover that it is filled with 10,000 dollar bills.

Who’s in it. Tillie's Tomato Surprise stars Marie Dressler, Eleanor Fairbanks, Sarah McVicker and Clara Lambert, among others.

Where to watch. Streaming options change often. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Tillie's Tomato Surprise page.

If you liked it. Fans of Tillie's Tomato Surprise tend to enjoy Forrest Gump, Parasite, La vie est belle and Fight Club.