Wonderful fun
Added 4/22/2009
I saw this movie on Turner Classic Movies last night, and just wanted to add my voice to the chorus of approval here.
Laughton produces a complex and memorable performance, with the mix of eccentricity and extreme sense of propriety that go with being the latest of a long line of "gentlemen's gentlemen".
The dramatic climax is Ruggles' rendition of the Gettysburg Address. According to the presenter on TCM, Laughton insisted on doing the speech in one take. He nailed it first time, but it took so much out of him that he had to rest for two days afterwards. I can believe that's true.
The supporting cast is uniformly wonderful, and this is a great comedy of manners from that genre's golden age. It's adapted from a 1915 novel, which became a Broadway musical and then several movie adaptations, but this is its classic incarnation.
[PeterReeve]
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A proper Brit adapts to new circumstances
Added 6/14/2005
Charles Laughton is sublime as Marmaduke Ruggles, long time British manservant to the Earl of Burnstead in the delightful comedy "Ruggles Of Red Gap. After years of servility Ruggles' services are won as a result of a poker bet to Egbert Floud of Red Gap, Washington played by Charlie Ruggles. Floud, a throwback to the days of the old West, is being cultured and refined while in Paris by his wife Effie played by a haughty and domineering Mary Boland.
The plan is for Ruggles to accompany the Flouds back to Red Gap. With much hidden trepidation, the genteel Laughton assents to his new assignment in the frontier like Red Gap. Egbert, who is not used to the idea of servitude treats Laughton with cordiality and equality which is unfamiliar to him.
When they arrive in Red Gap, Egbert's friendly attitude to Laughton has the locals perplexed. Laughton is refered to as "colonel" and the town believes that he is a retired English army officer. They treat him with respect. Even though Laughton realizes this is a ruse, he comes to appreciate this new set of circumstances and enjoys this new environment.
Laughton becomes accepted by the Flouds and Egbert's mom "Ma" Petingill played hysterically by Maude Eburne. They are planning to set him up in his own restaurant in town. Laughton however feels his new found existence crashing down around him when he receives correspondence from the Earl, telling him that he will be coming to Red Gap to reclaim his services.
All ends well when Laughton claims his independence and gets the blessing of the Earl to start a new life for himself in Red Gap.
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A great, boisterous comedy
Added 11/12/2002
Charles Laughton is magnificent in this priceless comedic role as a proper English butler who is won over by the egalitarianism and joyfulness of American life. The actor's subtlety and reserve, and flawless comic timing make this one a winner. Yay, Charles Laughton!
5 out of 5 people found this helpful.
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improbably profound
Added 4/3/2002
On first viewing this seems an unlikely choice for a conservative film list. Charles Laughton plays Marmaduke Ruggles, a proper British butler
whose dipsomaniacal master (Roland Young) loses him in a Paris poker game to a couple of social-climbing American rubes, Effie and Egbert
Floud. Mrs. Floud expects Ruggles to instruct her husband in proper manners and appropriate dress, but Mr. Floud sees him mostly as a partner in
crime, insisting that Ruggles sit and drink with him. For whatever reason, Laughton plays Ruggles with a kind of bug-eyed vacancy, staring off at
some point in space, perhaps to convey the sense that as a manservant he's not entitled to look anyone in the eyes, as if he were their equal. But
when the three travel back to Red Gap, Washington, Ruggles is greeted by the locals with democratic bonhomie and soon begins to think about
leaving service. Predictable zaniness and madcappery follow before Ruggles proves himself a worthy American and the equal of any man.This is all handled with the typical, sometimes delightful, gusto of Hollywood's Golden Age but hardly seems remarkable. Then comes a scene that
is so absurdly moving that it's nearly embarrassing. Sitting around the local saloon, Mr. Floud, his mother, and the other patrons try remembering the
words of the Gettysburg Address but are unable to do so. Then, quietly at first, but with mounting intensity, as all attention focuses on him, Ruggles
recites the speech from memory to a hushed and obviously transported room. Laughton imbues Lincoln's words with such feeling and such hope that
it's like hearing them for the first time. The realization that this menial, who has only arrived in America by sheerest chance, has been nurturing a
quintessentially American dream of freedom is improbably but profoundly touching and elevates a pretty good film into a classic. GRADE : A
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One of my all time favorites
Added 12/18/2001
Ruggles Of Red Gap is a film I have seen many times and look forward to viewing again many more. It really holds up to the passing years. In its own way it is the most patriotic of movies -- much more than Sands of Iwo Jima, etc. Ruggles undergoes a slow transformation from servant-class Brit, fearful of his new life "in a land of slavery" to an American enteprenuer, running the "Anglo-American Grill" in the boomtown he is taken to. In the process he discovers confidence, egalitarianism, and a bit of working class romance. A lovely comedy of manners, poking fun at class pretensions among the newly-rich and the enui of the upper crust. Laughton is delightful in a multi-layered characterization of a stone-faced gentleman's gentleman with a secret inner life that just begins to emerge with the encouragement of his new American friends. His quiet recitation of the Gettysburg Address is a truly magic moment in the history of American cinema. There is so much more to this film than the average 1930's comedy. It has its screwball element, yes, but there is a real heart to it. The dialogue is tops -- so many memorable lines -- and the acting is as good as it gets. If this film isn't a classic, nothing is.
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