Il maggiordomo

I thought I saw everything until I saw Charles Laughton do comedy. His range is phenomenal. In one film he is playing Captain Bligh, and here he plays a shy, insecure British butler who ends up out west. Some scenes, although subtle, are hilarious. Laughton, besides being an actor, gave performances in oral reading and recital. Here he does a recital of the Gettysburg Address that is just fantastic. I mean, who would think something every grade school kid had to memorize could be moving. But it is. This movie is for anyone who really appreciates a truly gifted actor.

"Ruggles of Red Gap" is one of Leo McCarey's greatest masterpieces, a witty and trenchant commedia dell'arte, based on a 1915 play by Harry Leon Wilson. It stars the charismatic Charles Laughton as the well-mannered, eccentric English manservant Marmaduke Ruggles who is hilariously Americanized in an American Wild West town of Red Gap, Washington. Ruggles is the devoted servant of the Earl of Burnstead, George Van Bassingwell (Roland Young), who unfortunately loses his efficient servant in a poker game to a wealthy American cattle baron Egbert Floud (Charles Ruggles). Marmaduke leaves his master and moves to Red Gap, where he opens a restaurant and learns to admire the wild west and American mannerisms.

Charles Laughton is nothing short of perfection in one of his wittiest and warmest roles. His extraordinary recital of Lincoln's Gettysburg address to a barroom of speechless cowboys, along with Roland Young and Leila Hyams hysterical rendering of "Pretty Baby," is unforgettable. A must-see!

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.

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."

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.