Ruggles of Red Gap

Charles Laughton was an incomparable actor (did anyone else ever go over the top as much as he did, yet still give brilliant performances?), and he's at the peak of his form in this classic. Laughton is just right as the staid butler who is won in a poker game by a couple from the Old West, circa 1908. Everyone is excellent--Mary Boland and Charlie Ruggles were one of the more popular screen couples of the day, and you'll see why--but it is Laughton who steals the film. His recitation of the Gettysburg Address is a demonstration of his mastery. It should fall flat, but it plays beautifully. See it.

American comedy was at its strongest in the 1930s and '40s. Ruggles of Red Gap is a great representative of that era. There hasn't been an American movie in the past two, maybe three decades that's as funny as this one. Ruggles of Red Gap begins with one of the funniest premises imaginable: a British butler, Marmaduke Ruggles (Charles Laughton), is won from his lord (Roland Young) in a poker game by a wily American (Charlie Ruggles) whose pretentious wife (Mary Boland, Ruggles' constant co-star) wants the butler to teach him some manners. The first half-hour is easily the strongest section in the film, with Ruggles (I'll be referring to the actors) the fish-out-of-water in Paris, trying to sidestep his conniving wife and teach Laughton, steeped in the servant tradition, to let himself go and have some fun. When the two men are supposed to be at the Louvre, Ruggles drags his new manservant to a sidewalk establishment and orders them some beers. A fellow resident of Red Gap (the town in Washington State where Ruggles and Boland live, and to where they will later take Laughton) sees Ruggles there and they cause a huge scene with their Wild West antics. They even get poor Laughton drunk, for perhaps the first time in his life, and he learns the most useful of American phrases: "Yippee!" He also learns how to smile. Boland is at her strongest in the first section, as well. Her attempts to speak French are hilarious. "Trays amazing!" she bungles.

When the crew arrives in America, the film loses a bit of its steam, but not much. It has a great story, unlike many of the other great comedies being made at the time (which relied on caricatures like W.C. Fields and the Marx Brothers), and that keeps it entertaining. Laughton is such a delight to behold, and he meets up with a lovely woman played by the undervalued character actress Zasu Pitts, best remembered for her neurotic wife role in Erich von Stroheim's 1925 masterpiece Greed. I have only seen her in two non-Greed movies, counting Ruggles of Red Gap, but she's obviously a huge comic talent. Laughton may be the star, but Charlie Ruggles, also a semi-forgotten comic master, steals the movie from him. Boland is funniest when the film is in Paris, but she's still pretty good afterwards. Another scene stealer is Roland Young. I love his mumbling way of speaking. He comes back later in the movie and has a great scene where he learns to play the drums. Leo McCarey is one of comedy's finest directors in comedy's finest era. What a wonderful film this is! 9/10.

Some pretty good reviews have been turned in so far. I recommend "All's Right With the World" (telegonus from brighton, ma; 16 August 2002). Also, jayjerry regards it as "My All-Time Favorite" (jayjerry from Burbank, CA; 2 February 2007).

In "Making Your Way In A New World" (bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York; 6 October 2006) we get good background on Charles Laughton's personal interest in the story. In "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" (lugonian from Kissimmee, Florida; 18 December 2010) we are provided the film history of the story.

In "What did Lincoln say at Gettysburg, anyway?" (theowinthrop from United States; 20 May 2006) we get criticism of the pacing of some scenes, along with the gags that don't entirely work.

"Ruggles at Red Gap" starts out as a (not laugh-out loud) comedy about manners. As the story moves from Paris to the Western US, it acquires great depth by way of Laughton's extraordinary reciting of Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" to a saloon filled with cowboys who can't recall a word of it.

As freedom and liberation emerge as new themes, love also arrives. Laughton's Ruggles (convincing as a heterosexual) finds a widow (Zasu Pitts as Mrs. Judson) with whom a restaurant adventure is undertaken. Among the first patrons of this restaurant is his former Parisien employer (Roland Young as the Earl of Burnstead) who has found a very charming Washington socialite (Leila Hyams as Nell Kenner).

Acquiring richness until the satisfying finale, "Ruggles at Red Gap" should be regarded as among the best films about Americana. Three scenes are standouts: Laughton's exceptional Gettysburgh recitation, Roland Young's musical flirting scene with Leila Hyams and the restaurant sequence climaxed by a rousing finish.

Laughton's transformation from a dour and proper man servant to a more popular figure comes with the help of two instigators; i.e., wealthy ranchers Egbert (Charles Ruggels; yes that's confusing) and Effie Floud (Mary Boland). Egbert is a particularly corrupting influence on Ruggles by introducing him to drink and repeatedly insisting that they both share the same class.

Each cast member is superb. Leo McCarey is very interesting visually. Note how in this cinematic period how few closeups there are; how often there seems to be a bit much space above characters heads and how far away a group stands from the viewer's perspective, as if seen from a stage.

In real life in Washington State (around 1908) there probably would be more than one enemy for Ruggles to contend with; for being out of place, foppish, proper, literary and theatrical. As with many of the other films from the 1930s, common people are depicted idealistically.

Somehow McCarey made this beautiful, rich and rewarding commentary about liberty, finding love and gaining acceptance before he appeared as a friendly witness to the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) witch hunt. This is not explained by "Ruggles."

Marmaduke Ruggles travels to Red Gap, Washington (circa 1908) after the Floud family wins him in a poker game. Ruggles, afraid he will not adjust to wild western life, has his fears come true. When he arrives in town, the citizens think he is a retired British Army officer, and Ruggles has to go on pretending to be something he is not. Originally believing that all he can ever be is a valet, he gets the idea of opening the town's first restaurant with the help of the widow Judson. However, the return of Ruggles' former employer (the Earl of Burnstead) may make Ruggles think of going back into servitude, making think of what Lincoln said is true about all men being equal. While what I wrote seems to play like a drama, don't be fooled it is quite a witty comedy with Laughton giving one of his most best (and surprisingly) best performances actually doing much of it with facial expressions & body language. Everyone else in the cast gives great stereotypical acting jobs, and the script gives plenty of chances for everyone, especially thanks to McCarey's lively direction. Best scene is obviously Ruggles reciting the Gettysburg address in the saloon, another driving point in the film's theme of all men being created equal. Rating, 9.

Director Leo McCarey, in his heyday a famous director and rival of Frank Capra's, and now largely forgotten, made one of his best films, Ruggles Of Red Gap, adapted from Harry Leon Wilson's novel, in 1935. It tells the story of a meek English butler named Ruggles, who is "lost" in a poker game by his boss, an English earl. Living out west, in Washington state, he is gradually assimilated into American life, makes himself somewhat of a local celebrity, and falls in love along the way. That's about all there is to the story, and it's more than enough in director McCarey's capable hands.

As Ruggles, Charles Laughton is more restrained than he's ever been, and gives a fine comedic performance of rare delicacy. There's none of the usual hamming one expects of him. As his new "bosses", Egbert and Effie Floud, Charlie Ruggles and Mary Boland are wonderful as middle-aged denizens of the Pacific northwest. As Ruggles' girl, Prunella, Zasu Pitts is at her dithering best; while Roland Young is sly and stylish as the earl. The actors interact with exquisite timing, with no one missing a beat, as was nearly always the case with McCarey, who had a rare feeling for the way people actually behave,--as opposed to the way movie people do--which makes his films, when good, a special treat.

This movie is a classic, if a quiet one, and used to be far better known than it is today, which is a pity. Capra's films are shown all the time, while McCarey', aside from his two "Catholic" films of the mid-forties, Going My Way and Bells Of St. Mary's, tend by be neglected. There are no "big scenes" in this one, but an awful lot of brilliant little ones, as when Roland Young learns how to play the drums; or when Charle Laughton recites the Gettysburg Address, the latter the high point of the film, and its most famous moment. One can't help but think, after seeing this movie, that all's right with the world. It isn't, of course, and never has been, but it's awfully nice to feel that way without having to resort to drugs or alcohol. For that one can think Mr. McCarey.