Ruggles is forced to go to america and deal with the lack of social distinctions. Charles laughton as a famed gentlemans gentleman in ruggles of red gap, at the paramount. The story certainly never went where i expected and ruggles denseness to some of what was going on around him was always humorous. Released march 8th, 1935, ruggles of red gap stars charles laughton, mary boland, charlie ruggles, zasu pitts the movie has a runtime of about 1. Movie mirrors index ruggles of red gap 1935 b 90en. Monday, february 16 2 films for 1 admission ruggles of red gap 1935, leo mccarey worst case scenario for laughtons snobbish gentlemans gentleman. The film stars edward everett horton, ernest torrence, lois wilson, fritzi ridgeway, charles stanton ogle, louise dresser, anna lehr and william austin. The town ladies are quite taken by the sophisticated servant in disguise as he enamors them with fictitious stories of. Leo mccareys 1935 ruggles of red gap gets my vote for the most patriotic american movie ever made.
From left, zasu pitts, charles laughton, charles ruggles and maude eburne in ruggles of red gap. Ruggles of red gap by leo mccarey charles laughton, mary. Charles laughton, charles ruggles, mary boland, zasu pitts, charlie ruggles, roland young official content from universal studios. Ruggles of red gap masters of cinema dual format edition. Ruggles of red gap 1935 stream and watch online moviefone. Ruggles of red gap 1935 letterboxd social film discovery.
He has difficulty adjusting to the little town of red gap, but as egbert and his friends continually insist on treating ruggles as an equal, he begins to see the benefits of america. Of course, being zasu, she wasnt about to go into a final clinch with clark gable, but what leading man charles laughton may have lacked in looks, he more than made up for in talent. The two completed the play the man from home in 1906 in paris. An unexpected article in the local newspaper suddenly elevates ruggles position in society above even the flouds. Marmaduke ruggles and his experiences with life in the raw as dished out in dripping hunks in the. Presented for the first time on cd is the television cast recording of ruggles of red gap. Ruggles accompanies his new employers to the tiny, wild town of red gap, washington and finds himself assimilating to the american way of life. Film forum ruggles of red gap and if i had a million. Old west americans mary boland, charlie ruggles win a butler charles laughton in paris. In paris at the dawn of the 20th century, the earl of burnstead roland young accidentally loses his faithful valet, ruggles charles laughton, to gauche. Ma was a character in a separate wilson work but was brought over for this production and played delightfully by maude eburne.
Ruggles of red gap dvd las vegasclark county library. The laughton film, directed in a calm, restrained style by leo mccarey, is just about irresistible, even with its big scenelaughton, an english valet in the old west. Ruggles of red gap is a lost 1923 american western silent film directed by james cruze and written by anthony coldeway and walter woods, adapted from the novel by harry leon wilson. There are currently two videos available for the film, of which one and only one is a trailer, as listed below. Leo mccarey this mccarey classic stars charles laughton as a veddy proper english valet whos won in a poker game by a man from the wild west charlie ruggles, setting off a culture clash. A stuffy british butler, marmaduke ruggles, is traded in a poker game from an english duke to a wealthy and rowdy american, egbert floud.
Also not in the novel but in the movie is the presence of ma pettingill, egbert flouds supportive mother in law. It almost became, however, when work on another film threatened to pull ruggles from ruggles of red gap. Tcm 1935 best picture 3of4 ruggles of red gap intro. Stage door records ruggles of red gap television cast. Ruggles of red gap by harry leon wilson full text free. In the oscarnominated leo mccary film ruggles of red gap, the peerless charles laughton plays a thirdgeneration manservant lost by an english duke in a poker game to an uncouth but phenomenally wealthy american from red gap, wash.
Ruggles of red gap is a 1935 comedy film directed by leo mccarey and starring charles laughton, mary boland, charlie ruggles, and zasu pitts and featuring roland young and leila hyams. The movie also stars mary boland, charlie ruggles, zasu pitts, roland young and leila hyams. Nominated for a best picture academy award, ruggles of red gap stars charles laughton as a stuffy british butler, marmaduke ruggles, who is traded in a poker game from an english duke roland young to a wealthy and rowdy american, egbert floud charlie ruggles. Charles laughton, mary boland, charles ruggles, zasu pitts, roland young, leila hyams, maude eburne, lucien littlefield, leota lorraine, james burke, dell henderson, clarence wilson. Even though the original play only ran for 33 performances on broadway, it spawned two silent movies and then this 1935 talkie starring charles laughton. Adapted from the novel and play by harry leon wilson, a wife hopes an earls valet will give her husband culture, but in america the valet decides to become a selfmade man. The town ladies are quite taken by the sophisticated servant in disguise as he enamors them with.
Ruggles of red gap by harry leon wilson part 2 out of 6. Ruggles of red gap is thirties film comedy that still makes you feel good. Ruggles new home is red gap, washington, where he is introduced by egbert as colonel ruggles. With charles laughton, mary boland, charles ruggles, zasu pitts. An english valet brought to the american west assimilates into the american way of life.
May 27, 2012 back in the early part of the 20th century, hollywood really liked ruggles of red gap. Previous part 1 next part 3 but the other seemed obdurate. The story tells of english butler ruggles who comes to work for a nouveau riche. On the occasion of momas leo mccarey retrospective, screening july 1531, ive received permission to post an essay on mccareys great ruggles of red gap that was originally written for uk home video distributor masters of cinema s dvd release in 2012. Ruggles of red gap sets up its central conceit at a leisurely pace, installing the title character in his old west, nouveau riche setting with plenty of time for warmhearted jabs at the recalcitrant socialite egbert played to perfection by the coincidentally named charlie ruggles and his levelheaded wife, effie mary boland. In paris at the dawn of the 20th century, the earl of burnstead roland young accidentally loses his faithful valet, ruggles charles laughton, to.
Charles laughton as a famed gentlemans gentleman in. I always love seeing favourite films of people in the industry, as that tells a lot about their style and character, and in the case of one of my favourites edward norton, i was quite keen on checking this out. Ruggles of red gap wikipedia, a enciclopedia livre. Sidney toler, best known for playing charlie chan, was signed to replace him, until delays on ruggles made the original casting possible. Previously filmed in 1918 and 1923, harry leon wilsons novel achieved movie classic status when it was remade by leo mccarey in 1935. Nominated for a best picture academy awardr, ruggles of red gap stars charles laughton as a stuffy british butler, marmaduke ruggles, who is traded in a poker game from an english duke roland young to a wealthy and rowdy american, egbert floud charlie ruggles. He travels to the west and is mistakenly identified as a wealthy brit. Back in the early part of the 20th century, hollywood really liked ruggles of red gap. Ruggles of red gap 1935 zasu pitts got one of her best comic roles and a rare chance to snag the leading mans heart in the 1935 western comedy, ruggles of red gap. Harry leon wilson may 1, 1867 june 28, 1939 was an american novelist and dramatist best known for his novels ruggles of red gap and merton of the movies.
An english gentleman loses his stuffy manservant, ruggles, in a poker game with an unmannered cowboy and his wife. Ruggles of red gap was ruggles becomes the servant of an american couple after his employer uses him as a stake in a poker game. His novel bunker bean helped popularize the term flapper. It was based on the bestselling 1915 novel by harry leon wilson, adapted by humphrey pearson, with a screenplay by walter deleon and harlan thompson. Ruggles of red gap charles laughton comedy masterclass. Ruggles of red gap is a brilliantly inventive comedy film made in 1935, directed by leo mccarey and featuring a tourdeforce comedy masterclass from charles laughton. Ruggles of red gap 1935, directed by leo mccarey movie. Video archive for the film ruggles of red gap, which has a domestic theatrical release in the year of 1935. A laughtons favorite among all his parts, with his. The two farceurs worked so well together that they would subsequently costar in such memorable film comedies as six of a kind 1934, ruggles of red gap 1935, early to bed 1936, and boy trouble 1939. Was nominated for best actor for the private life of henry viii which he won, mutiny on the bounty and witness for the prosecution, which represent all three of his acting oscar nominations.
Charles laughton, mary boland, charles ruggles, zasu pitts, roland young, leila hyams, maude eburne. Tcm 1935 best picture 3of4 ruggles of red gap intro youtube. Its a pretty funny social comedy with ruggles stuck between various factions and social classes. Oct 18, 2014 ruggles of red gap trailer 1935 director. Broadcast by nbc on february 3rd 1957, the jule styne leo robin musical adaptation of harry leon wilsons novel starred michael redgrave as ruggles and jane powell. Ruggles of red gap dvd santa monica public library.
An unexpected article in the local newspaper suddenly elevates ruggles. With edward everett horton, ernest torrence, lois wilson, fritzi ridgeway. Paris 1908, and one english manservant, ruggles charles laughton, is about to. There are some pretty good laughs along the way but late in the film ruggles begins to recite lincolns gettysburg address when no one else in the. The actor had just won a best actor oscar for the private life of. The town ladies are quite taken by the sophisticated servant in disguise as he enamors them with fictitious stories of battles gone by. Ruggles of red gap the adaptation is literal in that it reproduces the effect of the original story with no forced interpolations and a full use of the material. Finally we get to washington state and the small rural town of red gap where ruggles continues his education in learning what it means to be unbound by silly formalities and comes into his own. Charles laughton as a famed gentlemans gentleman in ruggles. Separated from the english duke he works for in france, ruggles has a vision in his head of a wild west america.
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