Customer Reviews

Ruggles of Red Gap (Amazon.com Exclusive)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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

Whether you are a fan of Laughton's or not is of no consequence--you will enjoy RUGGLES OF RED GAP. His transformation from subservient valet to independent man is as engrossing and entertaining as it gets. I admit, I wasn't too sure I could imagine him in a comedic role, but he plays Ruggles superbly! His supporting cast shines as he does: Mary Boland, Zasu Pitts, and Charles Ruggles are terrific! The way Ruggles recites the Gettysberg Address at the end of the movie is unforgetable, and when all the patrons of his diner begin to sing "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow," and tears fill up in his eyes, well...it just doesn't get any better than this! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

When I first heard of the 1935 film "Ruggles of Red Gap", I thought it was a movie about the life of actor Charlie Ruggles. Since Charlie Ruggles was one of Hollywood's most talented performers of that era, I knew the movie couldn't be bad. Charlie stars in this film but ironically doesn't play "Ruggles". He and Mary Boland play the ever bickering Mr. and Mrs. Floud, who win a servant (played by Charles Laughton) in a poker game. The movie is extremely hilarious from beginning to end with one comical act after another. My favorite was the scene in which Effie Floud insisted on "refining" her husband Egbert, with new clothes, a haircut and trimmed moustache. After finally being forced into a new suit, Egbert grumbles, "I look like that bantam rooster I had before it was run over." In which Effie retorts, "When you came in here you looked like that bantam rooster AFTER he was run over!" It's a sidesplitting hour and a half laugh track in the spirit of "Bringing Up Baby" and "The Awful Truth".

Today, Abraham Lincoln's birthday, is an especially appropriate day to write my reaction to my viewing last night of "Ruggles of Red Gap." The movie is a surprisingly moving tribute to the American spirit as Charles Laughton, playing the stolid English manservant Marmaduke Ruggles, slowly embraces the rugged individualism and free spirit possessed by the residents of Red Gap, Washington, after he becomes the gentleman's gentleman to a decidely ungentlemanly frontier millionaire, Egbert Floud. The comedy of the film comes from broad physical gags, witty dialogue, and carefully observed personality traits, such as the pretentious behavior of Mrs. Floud, a "society lady" just one step removed from the saloon. Laughton's recitation of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is full of feeling, and we are as engrossed in how strongly he's taken its words to heart as the bar patrons who stop everything to listen to him. Laughton, without a tinge of hokum, portrays Ruggles as a representative of all immigrants who come to America in search of a better life, as well as a man of considerable personal charm and depth. This film is a gem in every way.

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.

Yes, this is an Asian Region 5 DVD which won't play on all players, although there are multi-region players out there. Some computer DVD drives can also get around the regional encoding. That said, it's an OK transfer, a little on the choppy side. I don't think anything is really missing except the last two seconds of a scene where Laughton and Zasu Pitts discuss their common fondness for cooking and goldfish. There just seem to be a couple of instances where a scene jumped to the next when it probably should have faded to the next. No big deal. Also, they have removed the nice old Paramount logo from the opening and closing shots. However, since it is affordably priced and it is the only option currently available in digital format, I recommend buying it. Hopefully someone will bring out a nice restored version, but until then, this is still better than VHS or the increasingly rare showings on TV.

Leo McCarey was a competent director of sentimental stories, and a good director of melodramas, but it was in the genre of gag-based comedies that he truly excelled. Having overseen the best Laurel and Hardy shorts (where the dictionary definition of the "slow burn" is perfectly illustrated), he went on to direct Harold Lloyd in his best talkie (THE MILKY WAY) and the Marx Brothers in their best and most subversive film, DUCK SOUP. Although, at first blush, RUGGLES OF RED GAP is a picture of unmitigated American chauvinism, it is, on subsequent viewings, a film with undertones at least as subversive as that of DUCK SOUP.

The plot is simple: in 1908, an English valet, Ruggles (Charles Laughton) is the stake in an ill-advised poker game between his master, a down-at-heels Earl, becoming the servant of a cartoonishly vulgar American (Charles Ruggles) from Red Gap, Washington. In America, Ruggles becomes, through inaccurate press reportage, "a personage," and for the first time in his life he realizes he is not merely "a gentleman's gentleman," but an actual man, able to "stand on his own two feet." Along the way, a burgeoning class system within America's nouveau riche is exposed, along with the ignorance most Americans carry with regard to the founding principles that made their nation a great democracy in the first place.

What is so enjoyable about this movie is watching the gradations of Laughton's performance as he slowly accepts the process of democratization. Laughton, as Marmaduke Ruggles, elevates the "slow burn"--in which the audience is in on a cataclysmic piece of news, and is eagerly anticipating the comic reaction--to Tantric longevity in his priceless facial reactions to his changing environment. Mary Boland, as Effie Floud, provides some of the most hilarious Franglais this side of Punch Magazine, and Roland Young, as the Earl, mutters some of the most delicious innuendo ever heard during the years of the Hays Production Code.

This Region 5 (Taiwan) DVD is currently the only available form available in a digital format. The highlights tend to burn out at times, especially in the first reel, set in Paris, where the lighting strategy is more flat. After the move to America, the lighting is more modeled and the picture deficits become less and less noticeable.

I hope this will soon be available in a restored version; until then, catch it on TV, or buy the disc if you have the right equipment--it is on a par with SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS and ONE, TWO, THREE as one of the great American comedies.

Ruggles of Red Gap is available on DVD. The cover art is depicted as here, but it is from Hollywood's Attic. It just came out this year, and the transfer is excellent. The picture and sound are great. There are no extras. This movie is one of Charles Laughton's cheeriest and most comic performances. Highly recommended.

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!

This is a first class transfer from the Universal vaults. I have no problems with Studios releasing movies in this way - especially when the titles in question are otherwise lost to us or only available from pirates in the most awful quality.
So I accept this type of issue as it is and not as a comparison of how DVD's are normally released.
The sales potential for a 1935 B/W movie is limited - however with Laughton(probably the greatest screen actor of them all) giving a wonderful comedic performance in a typical Leo McCarey movie is just not possible to resist.
This is a long forgotten gem of a movie - probably because it did not get Alist casting. However the casting is superb from top to bottom.
Picture and sound Quality are excellent - I would grade this release as 95/100.
I recommend this release completely.
Mark Hood (Germany)