I DVR'ed "Ruggles of Red Gap" (1935) when it aired on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) earlier this week under the assumption I'd never seen it before. From the moment I pressed play until the end credits I recognized every scene, so I guess that shot down that theory, while it the same time Ruggles still played fresh for me.
Up til now my main thought about "Ruggles of Red Gap" has always been, how's Charles Laughton play the Ruggles character when Charlie Ruggles is billed in this movie? How confusing. But after what is surely my second, and certainly my definitive viewing of Ruggles, what stands out most is just how funny Charles Laughton can be as well as how strong and forgotten this comedy gem is. Only 780 votes cast on the IMDb? A very strong 8.1/10 rating, which implies lots of 9's and 10's, but still a much smaller than expected sample size.
The cast of "Ruggles of Red Gap" is filled with some great comedy stars of the era ... and Charles Laughton, whose casting sticks out like a sore thumb but works oh so well.
Set in 1908, Charles Laughton plays Marmaduke Ruggles, a gentleman's gentleman, who has always been just plain Ruggles to his master, the British Earl of Burnstead. (If you're like me and either American or born within the last 50 years, a gentleman's gentleman roughly translates to valet, or to notch it down one more level, man servant or butler). Since the Earl is played by Roland Young he is far from respectable and so the film opens with his breaking the news to Ruggles that his ownership has been transferred to the Floud's as, ahem, the results of a poker game with Egbert Floud.
Through Laughton's masterful eye rolling and puckered lips we pretty quickly get the idea that being handed over to the Floud's is not a step up in society. No, the Floud's are first off, American, and second off Egbert is check-wearing Charlie Ruggles who's married to aspiring socialite Effie, played by Mary Boland. "Ruggles of Red Gap" is one of 14 movies pairing Ruggles and Boland together in the 1930's.
Upon returning from Europe to untamed Red Gap in the state of Washington we meet the rest of the cast including Maude Eburne as earthy Ma Pettingill, lovely pre-code starlet Leila Hyams as the somewhat castigated Nell Kenner.
Nell seems to be a good girl who simply likes to host parties and sing for her crowd of friends, but I'm pretty sure this is the production code's way of identifying her as the town madam. In fact, Wes D. Gehring's 2005 title "Leo McCarey: from Marx to McCarthy" echoes my belief, so even if I'm incorrect in my assumption I don't feel alone.
McCarey, director of comedy legends such as Laurel & Hardy and the Marx Brothers, would later win the first of three Oscars for the fantasic Irene Dunne-Cary Grant picture "The Awful Truth" (1937), picked up two more statues for both writing and directing of 1944's "Going My Way" with Bing Crosby, and find himself nominated another five times. Oscar wasn't quite ready for McCarey by 1935's Ruggles, but the film itself was nominated for Best Picture, which wound up being awarded to "Mutiny on the Bounty" (1935) that year.
Back to the picture itself, rounding out the main cast is the cook at Nell's place, Prunella Judson, played by ZaSu Pitts, who is 
long from her masterful performance as Trina in "Greed" (1924) and well into the run of goofy comedy roles she's mostly remembered for today. In fact, I hate to say this because I have such an appreciation for Pitts' terrifying performance as Trina McTeague, but hers is the one role in "Ruggles of Red Gap" that I really would have liked recast. Her Prunella is just a little too silly for me and her performance seemed least natural of anyone's here.
It's on the American frontier in the company of these freespirits that Laughton's Ruggles comes to appreciate his own independence. Slowly casting off the chains of his voluntary, but at the same time inherited, position of servitude, the hitherto stuffy and complacent Ruggles is slowly pulled from his state of supposed satisfaction partially through the good intentions of Egbert and Ma and especially through his feelings for Pitts' Prunella.
Another big help in setting Ruggles free was the mistaken impression spread throughout Red Gap by reporter Jake Henshaw (Clarence Wilson) that Ruggles was a British Colonel. Once that rumor spreads, which is basically as immediately as it is uttered, Ruggles' main foils, Boland's Effie and her brother Charles Belknap-Jackson (Lucien Littlefield) are forced to relent on their plan to fire Ruggles and send him away.
Belknap-Jackson did in fact get so far as handing Ruggles his walking papers, but in the films most poignant moment, Ruggles is reassured of his position by Egbert and Ma at the town saloon when Egbert asks "What was it that Lincoln said at Gettysburg?"
Ma doesn't know. The bartender doesn't know. None of the patrons can remember either.
As the camera pans down the bar with the question being asked again and again, the answer is not revealed until we swing back to Laughton's Ruggles who stands proudly mumbling Lincoln's Gettysburg Address to which Egbert declares, "That's it!" Egbert gets Ruggles to speak up and recite the Address clearly while all in the bar lumber towards the British servant to take in the important words and watch Ruggles reborn.
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Ruggles plans to break free by opening a restaurant, a goal Prunella helps him towards as their relationship moves forward. Meanwhile, the Floud's receive word that the Earl of Burnstead is coming to Red Gap to take Ruggles home. Luckily Roland Young likes to have some fun and escapes the Flouds for one of Nell's parties where his immediate attraction to the hostess leads to a scene of them bonding over Nell's vocals and the Earl's aspiring but pathetic accompanying work on the drums.
"Ruggles of Red Gap" culminates with a succesful opening of the restaurant, a kick in the pants for stuck-up Belknap-Jackson, a wedding ring and a seat at the table for Nell, and a rousing rendition of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow," whose final bars are sung off-key by Ruggles ... for himself.
Charles Laughton, who I most often recall in far more serious roles such as Captain Bligh or Quasimodo, blew me away with comedy stylings largely rendered through facial expressions so, well, expressive, that it occurred to me that no less a comedy genius than Jackie Gleason likely absorbed some of these mannerisms for the characters he'd unleash on television 15-20 years later. Now that is a comparison I never expected to make and think it speaks volumes for the talent of Charles Laughton, who in 1935 is at the peak of his powers.
Featured collectibles: Each of the top 3 images are of tobacco cards issued in Great Britain. From the very top at the right Charles Laughton is pictured with Zasu Pitts in a scene from "Ruggles of Red Gap" on card #8 of 96 from the 1935 Carreras "Famous Film Stars" set. Next at the left are Mary Boland and Charlie Ruggles, also on a card depicting them in this movie. Card #41 of 48 it's from the 1935 Gallaher "Film Partners" set. Next at the right is Red Gap's Nell Kenner aka Leila Hyams, shown here on card #14 of 50 from the 1932 B.A.T. (British American Tobacco) "Cinema Artistes" set.
The final image is an American issue, a 1940 8" X 10" premium photo from Standard Oil which I believe carries the A.C.C. (American Card Catalog) designation UO24. Sepia image on front, issued on a study stock with some text about Laughton on back as well as the notation "Your Standard Oil Dealer." Not an easy find.
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