Ruggles of Red Gap (1935)

An English valet brought to the American west assimilates into the American way of life.

Director:

Leo McCarey

Writers:

Harry Leon Wilson (novel), Walter DeLeon (screenplay)

Stars:

Charles Laughton, Mary Boland, Charles Ruggles

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Charles Laughton	...	Ruggles
Mary Boland	...	Effie Floud
Charles Ruggles	...	Egbert Floud (as Charlie Ruggles)
Zasu Pitts	...	Prunella Judson (as ZaSu Pitts)
Roland Young	...	George--Earl of Burnstead
Leila Hyams	...	Nell Kenner
Maude Eburne	...	'Ma' Pettingill
Lucien Littlefield	...	Charles Belknap-Jackson
Leota Lorraine	...	Mrs. Belknap-Jackson
James Burke	...	Jeff Tuttle
Dell Henderson	...	Sam
Clarence Wilson	...	Jake Henshaw

Storyline

While visiting Paris in 1908, upper class Lord Burnstead loses his butler playing poker. Egbert and Effie Floud bring Ruggles back to Red Gap, Washington. Effie wants to take advantage of Ruggles' upper class background to influence Egbert's hick lifestyle. However, Egbert is more interested in partying and he takes Ruggles to the local 'beer bust'. When word gets out that "Colonel Ruggles is staying with his close friends" in the local paper, the butler becomes a town celebrity. After befriending Mrs. Judson, a widow who he impresses with his culinary skills, Ruggles decides to strike out on his own and open a restaurant. His transition from servant to independent man will depend on its success.

---

Plot Keywords:

valet | self discovery | washington state | culture clash | national film registry | 

---

Taglines:

SH-H-H-H! TONIGHT'S YOUR NIGHT TO HOWL! And howl you will at this funniest of all comedies...

---

Genres:

Comedy | Romance

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

8 March 1935 (USA)

Also Known As:

Det begyndte i Paris

Filming Locations:

Paramount Ranch - 2813 Cornell Road, Agoura, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to the autobiography of Elsa Lanchester, Charles Laughton's wife, Paramount bought the story and appointed Leo McCarey as director at Laughton's request. Before the film began shooting, Lanchester states, Laughton worked with McCarey and the film's writers on the script, and hired an old friend, 'Arthur MacRae', who later became a playwright in England, to add the "necessary Englishness" of Ruggles.

---

Goofs

When Effie tells Ruggles to take her husband to the art museums she shows him a book that he uses to record his impressions of the art he's viewed, when the camera angle changes the book has changed from her hands to her husbands hands without any pause in her lines.

---

Quotes

[Egbert is wearing a loud, checked suit]
Effie Floud: Take off those clothes.
Egbert Floud: No, sir, I won't do it! Effie, we might just as well have a showdown right here and now. What did Lincoln say at Gettysburg? Yeah, you don't know - well, I'll tell you. He said that all men are created equal. He didn't just mean a few men - he meant ALL men. And that includes me: I'm created equal.
Effie Floud: Equal to what?
Egbert Floud: Equal... equal to WHAT? Well, equal to... uh...
Egbert Floud: [to Ma Pettingill] ... She changed the subject on me.
Egbert Floud: [...]

---

Crazy Credits

Opening credits are shown over various silhouettes of a butler.

---

Connections

Referenced in Cinemania (2002)

---

Soundtracks

Mariette
(uncredited)
Music by Sterny and Arthur Courquin

User Reviews

Heartwarming and Sentimental Comedy of the 1930's

"Ruggles of Red Gap" is the kind of comedy film that is rarely made by Hollywood anymore: a film with the emphasis on characterization without the cheap and obvious jokes of today's films. The plot is a good one. The services of a third-generation English Butler (Charles Laughton) are won in a poker game to an American couple (a very funny Charlie Ruggles and Mary Boland) who reside in Red Gap, Washington. Ruggles' former employer, Lord Burnstead (a fine Roland Young) reluctantly gives him up to the couple but assures him that he will come back for him as soon as possible. Once in America, however, Ruggles gets a newfound sense of freedom and after being inadvertantly fired by the uncouth American couple, decides to open up his own restaurant with the help of a widow (Zasu Pitts) who he has much affection for. The movie was nominated for Best Picture and the performances are outstanding, particularly Charles Laughton as the butler/servant who sees freedoms and opportunities in America that he never would have had if he remained in England. The standout scene in the movie is when Laughton is in a local Red Gap bar and someone mentions Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. When no one in the bar can seem to remember what Lincoln said, Laughton (the Englishman)recites the speech in its entirety with enough emotion and dramatic flair to bring tears to one's eyes. The underlying theme of the movie is basically about Anglo American relations and the common ground and friendship between both nations. This is a "must see" for anyone still interested in how great Hollywood was in its heyday, and particularly how wonderful and original the comedies were in that early and Golden Age of film-making.