Ruggles of Red Gap (1935)
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Previously filmed in 1918 and 1923, Harry Leon Wilson's novel achieved movie classic status when it was remade by Leo McCarey in 1935. The story opens in Paris, circa 1908. Ruggles, beautifully underplayed by Charles Laughton, is the ultra-obedient manservant to the bibulous Earl of Burnstead (Roland Young). During one of the Earl's nocturnal forays, nouveau riche American cattle baron Egbert Floud (Charles Ruggles) wins Ruggles in a poker game. Terrified at the prospect of being bundled off to the Wild West, Ruggles' resolve is weakened somewhat when he and the raucous but ingratiating Egbert spend a wild night on the town. (The besotted butler's periodic exclamations of "Whoopee!" are priceless.) Back in the frontier "boom town" of Red Gap, a misunderstanding obliges Egbert's social-climbing wife Effie (Mary Boland) to pass off Ruggles as an aristocratic British army officer, immediately arousing the suspicions of priggish social arbiter Charles Belknap-Jackson (Lucien Littlefield). The longer he spends in America, the more Ruggles grows to like the concept of democracy and self-determination. Of the film's many highlights, two are standouts: the scene in which Ruggles silences a rowdy saloon crowd with his recitation of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, and the droll, semi-improvised vignette in which dancehall girl Nell Kenner (Leila Hyams) teaches the Earl of Burnstead how to play the drums. Ruggles of Red Gap was filmed for a fourth time in 1950 as the Bob Hope-Lucille Ball musical Fancy Pants. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Complete Cast:
- Charles Laughton - Marmaduke Ruggles
- Charlie Ruggles - Egbert Floud
- Roland Young - Earl of Burnstead
- Maude Eburne - Ma Pettingill
- Leota Lorraine - Mrs. Belknap-Jackson
- Clarence H. Wilson - Jake Henshaw
- Brenda Fowler - Judy Ballard
- Charles Fallon - Waiter in Paris Cafe
- Frank Rice - Hank
- Edward J. Le Saint - Patron
- Frank O'Connor - Station Agent
- George Burton - Buck Squires
- Jack Norton - Barfly
- Albert Petit - Waiter at Carousel
- Armand Kaliz - Clothing Salesman
- Charles "Heinie" Conklin - Waiter
- Henry Roquemore - Frank Patron
- Rafael Storm - Clothing Salesman
- Victor Potel - Curly
- Mary Boland - Effie Floud
- ZaSu Pitts - Mrs. Judson
- Leila Hyams - Nell Kenner
- Lucien Littlefield - Charles Belknap-Jackson
- James Burke - Jeff Tuttle
- Augusta Anderson - Mrs. Wallaby
- Sarah Edwards - Mrs. Myron Carey
- Alice Ardell - Lisette
- Libby Taylor - Servant
- Harry Bowen - Photographer
- Dell Henderson - Sam
- Ernie S. Adams - Dishwasher
- Genaro Spagnoli - Frank the Cabman
- Jim Welch - Man in Saloon
- Harry Bernard - Bartender
- Rolfe Sedan - Barber
- William Welsh - Eddie
- Lee Kohlmar - Red Gap Jailer
- Willie Fung - Chinese Servant
- Director(s):
- Leo McCarey
- Writer(s):
- Walter de Leon, Harlan Thompson, Humphrey Pearson
- Producer(s):
- Arthur Hornblow, Jr.
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- 1935 - Ruggles of Red Gap - Film Daily - 10 Best Films
- 1935 - Ruggles of Red Gap - New York Film Critics Circle - Best Actor
- 1935 - Ruggles of Red Gap - New York Times - 10 Best Films
