Charlie Ruggles Movies
Whimsical, expressive comic actor Charles Ruggles was the son of a Los Angeles wholesale druggist. Intending to become a doctor, Ruggles was sidetracked into theatre, making his debut in a 1905 San Francisco stock company production of Nathan Hale. Because of his medium height and flexible facial and vocal expressions, Ruggles was able to play everything from teenagers to grandpas during his formative years in stock. In 1914, the actor first set foot on a Broadway stage in Help Wanted. One year later, he appeared in his first film, a now-lost adaptation of Ibsen's Peer Gynt. Though there would be a smattering of subsequent silent film appearances, Ruggles' heart remained in his stage work -- he starred in such long-running productions as The Passing Show of 1918 (1918), The Demi-Virgin (1921), Battling Butler (1923), and his biggest stage success, Queen High (1930). While appearing in the Rodgers and Hart musical Spring is Here (1929), Ruggles made his talking picture bow in Gentleman of the Press (1929), portraying the first in what would turn out to be a long line of drunken reporters. In 1932, Ruggles was teamed with Mary Boland in If I Had A Million. 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). By the late 1930s, Ruggles was securely established as one of Hollywood's favorite befuddled comedy-relief players, though in such films as Exclusive (1937) and The Parson of Panamint (1941) he proved equally expert at straight dramatics. In 1949, Ruggles began a 12-year movie moratorium, returning to the stage and distinguishing himself in television. He headlined two early TV series, The Ruggles and The World of Mr. Sweeney, and lent his vocal skills (sans screen credit) to the "Aesop and Son" component of the classic cartoon weeklies "Rocky and His Friends" (1959-61) and "The Bullwinkle Show" (1961-62). He returned to films in 1961, recreating his award-winning Broadway role in The Pleasure of His Company. Ruggles' best-remembered TV work of the 1960s included his recurring role as Mrs. Drysdale's rakish father in the popular sitcom "The Beverly Hillbillies." With the Disney film Follow Me, Boys! (1966) and the 1967 TV staging of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel, Ruggles quietly brought his six-decade acting career to a close. A few years before his death in December of 1970, Ruggles was asked by a reporter what his future plans were. With the wry smile, twinkling eyes, and self-effacing humor that characterized his best screen work, Charlie Ruggles answered, "Forest Lawn, I guess. After you've played everything I have, there ain't no more." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1946
In later years, director Fred Zinneman seldom referred to My Brother Talks to Horses as one of his career highpoints. Even so, this leisurely period comedy has its moments, most of them delivered by precocious Jackie "Butch" Jenkins as the title character. Living with his family in Baltimore, 9-year-old Lewie Penrose (Jenkins) claims that he can converse with horses-and also pick the winners of upcoming races. When it appears as though Lewie is telling the truth, he attracts the interest of gambler Rich Roeder (Charles Ruggles), who needs a "sure thing" in the upcoming Preakness. Meanwhile, Lewie's older brother John (Peter Lawford) carries on a romance with the lovely Martha (Beverly Tyler). An unexpected tragedy slows down the film in the home stretch, but otherwise My Brother Talks to Horses is a pleasant second-echelon MGM production. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Lawford, Beverly Tyler, (more)
- 1946
In this romantic melodrama, Bette Davis plays twin sisters for the first time (she would do so again in 1964's Dead Ringer). Kate Bosworth (Davis) is a sincere, demure girl and talented artist. Her twin sister Pat (also Davis) is a flamboyant, man-hungry manipulator. Orphans, the girls' guardian is their cousin, Freddie Lindley (Charles Ruggles), with whom Kate elects to spend a summer on Martha's Vineyard. There, she meets Bill Emerson (Glenn Ford), a handsome engineer spending a summer vacation as a lighthouse inspector. Kate falls deeply in love with Bill, but when Pat shows up, he goes for the more exciting sister, eventually marrying her. Devastated, Kate throws herself into her art, but she becomes discouraged under the tutelage of an abusive master, Karnock (Dane Clark). A sailing accident gives Kate the chance to take her sister's place -- but can she fool Bill into believing that this sweet, innocent woman is his philandering, scheming wife? A Stolen Life (1946), a remake of an earlier picture by the same name that had been produced by Paramount only seven years earlier starring Elisabeth Bergner in the twins role, was nominated for a Best Special Effects Oscar. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bette Davis, Glenn Ford, (more)
- 1946
If the Perfect Marriage in this romantic comedy were truly perfect, there wouldn't be any story, would there? Outwardly an ideal couple, Maggie and Dale Williams (Loretta Young, David Niven) have grown tired of one another after 10 years. Petty squabbles lead to major battles, exacerbated by the well-meaning interference of friends and relatives. Caught in the middle is Maggie and Dale's daughter Cookie (Nona Griffith), who loves both parents equally and doesn't want to choose between them-which may very well happen if things get any worse. Leonard Spigelgass' screenplay, based on a play by Samson Raphaelson, is a lot closer to real life than most films of the period. Funny though the disagreements between the Williamses may be, there is an underlying pain and harshness to their bickering, which even the reasonably happy ending cannot altogether dissipate. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Loretta Young, David Niven, (more)
- 1946
Producer/director William A. Wellman also co-scripted this biopic devoted to John J. Montgomery (Glenn Ford), the unsung 19th-century innovator of glider design. Montgomery's invention of a gold separator proves lucrative, but he pours its profits into financing his legal battles over patent infringement. The gliders created by Montgomery attract attention but no money, and he begins a relationship with Regina Cleary (Janet Blair), which helps sustain him. But when Montgomery becomes afflicted with vertigo and can no longer fly, he sickens and dies. ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernando Alvarado, Conrad Binyon, (more)
Her Favorite Patient is the TV title for Bedside Manner, an improbable comedy directed by future master of "realism" Andrew L. Stone. Ruth Hussey plays a big-city doctor who travels to a small town to assist her surgeon uncle (Charlie Ruggles). The townsfolk resist the notion of a female physician, but she wins them over by proving to be an expert on all things medical. Test pilot John Carroll, love-struck by Ms. Hussey, fakes a head injury so that he can remain at her side. Despite her high I.Q., Hussey can't see through Carroll's ruse...or perhaps she prefers not to. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Carroll, Ruth Hussey, (more)
- 1945
Incendiary Blonde is a highly entertaining if historically suspect biopic of "Queen of the Nightclubs" Texas Guinan. As played (or overplayed) by Betty Hutton, Guinan is a hoydenish Texas gal whose showbiz career gets under way when she joins a Wild West show in 1909. A favorite with male patrons because of her salty vocabulary and what-the-hell attitude, Guinan rises to fame as a Broadway musical-comedy star and movie actress, only to crash-land after an unhappy marriage to her manager Tim Callahan (Bill Goodwin). Taking advantage of Prohibition, Guinan opens the first of several nightclubs, fending off the Feds while welcome her customers with an insouciant "Hello, sucker!" Naturally, Betty Hutton is given several opportunities to sing and dance, which she does with her usual unbridled enthusiasm. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Betty Hutton, Arturo de Cordova, (more)
- 1944
The wartime housing shortage in Washington DC is the basis for this comedy. Several attractive young ladies rent a single DC apartment, causing no end of complications to their various professional and private lives. Also moving in (due to a misunderstanding) is a young newlywed (Jane Wyman), whose flustered husband (Jack Carson) is denied access to the apartment. The funniest of the female roommates is a visiting Russian sniper, played con brio by Eve Arden. The Doughgirls is based on the popular Broadway play by Joseph A. Fields (with uncredited assistance by George S. Kaufman). Three Stooges fans are advised to keep an eye out for Curly Joe DeRita as an unhappy schlemiel who can't find a place to sleep. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann Sheridan, Alexis Smith, (more)
- 1944
Based on a play by Phoebe and Henry Ephron, Three Is a Family is a 1940s farce that frequently substitutes noise for humor. Charlie Ruggles plays a hubby whose bungled business schemes force his wife Fay Bainter to enter the workplace. The couple's daughter Marjorie Reynolds shows up with her twin babies in tow. Son Arthur Lake arrives with his pregnant wife (Jeff Donnell). And overbearing maiden aunt Helen Broderick also decides to move in. Because his wife is away at work, poor old Charlie Ruggles is not only housekeeper, but nursemaid and servant as well. If you like diaper and bottle-warmer jokes, you'll love Three is a Family. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marjorie Reynolds, Charlie Ruggles, (more)
- 1944
Our Hearts Were Young and Gay was based on the lighthearted joint autobiography of actress Cornelia Otis Skinner and humorist Emily Kimbrough. Gail Russell and Diana Lynn star respectively as Cornelia and Emily, two innocent but fun-loving young girls at loose in the Roaring 20s. The story concerns the girls' first trip abroad to London and Paris, and the various misadventures encountered therein. The more amusing moments involve a pair of rabbit-skin capes that begin shedding at the most inopportune moments, and a lengthy episode in which the girls are stranded atop Notre Dame Cathedral at midnight. And of course there's romance, in the form of handsome young doctor Tom Newhall (Bill Edwards) and college "Lothario" Avery Moore (James Brown). Also appearing are Charlie Ruggles as Cornelia's actor-father Otis Skinner and Dorothy Gish (whose talkie film appearances were sadly infrequent) as Mrs. Skinner. So well-received was Our Hearts Were Young and Gay that Paramount commissioned a 1946 sequel, Our Hearts Were Growing Up . ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gail Russell, Diana Lynn, (more)
- 1943
Lois Andrews, best known in 1943 as the ex-wife of comedian Georgie Jessel, plays the title character in this cinemadaptation of Joseph P. McEvoy's popular comic strip Dixie Dugan. Swept up in the war effort, Dixie gets a job as secretary to government official Roger Hudson (James Ellison). Though Roger pursues her romantically, Dixie remains faithful to her defense-plant-worker fiancee Matt Hogan (Eddie Foy Jr.) Both Roger and Matt believe that a woman's place is in the home, but Dixie proves that their chauvinism is out of place during the National Emergency. Lois Andrews' inexperience is modified somewhat by the assured performances of Charlotte Greenwood and Charlie Ruggles as Dixie's parents. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Ellison, Charlotte Greenwood, (more)
- 1942
In this remake of the 1925 silent film, the breakup of a lifelong friendship between two German millionaires is chronicled. The trouble begins as WW II erupts. One of the men becomes sympathetic to the U.S. while the other becomes a Nazi sympathizer. They spend most of the film arguing about political philosophy. The trouble really starts when the Nazi millionaire is tricked into paying for German sabotage operations. One of the vehicles he inadvertently destroys carries his own son. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Winninger, Charlie Ruggles, (more)
- 1941
First filmed in 1916, Peter B. Kyne's novel Parson of Panamint provided an excellent showcase for Charles Ruggles in this 1941 remake. As he looks over the dusty, deserted remains of the western "boom town" of Panamint, grizzled old prospector Chuckawalla Bill Redfield (Ruggles) recalls the town's glory days. Looming large in Chuckawalla's reminiscences is the day that young and apparently mild-mannerd minister Philip Pharo (Phillip Terry) rode into town. In his own gentle but forceful fashion, Pharo managed to bring the town's lawless element into line, mollify the local bluenoses, and win the heart of likeable dance-hall girl Mary Mallory (Ellen Drew). The highlight of a film is a tense murder trial, brought about by the killing of gambling boss and all-around villain Bob Deming (Joseph Schildkraut). Almost as easy-going as its protagonist, Parson of Panamint is a most unusual western; if it doesn't completely come off, at least it deserves an E for Effort. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlie Ruggles, Ellen Drew, (more)
- 1941
Ann Sheridan and her then-husband George Brent did their expected box-office duty in the Warner Bros. comedy Honeymoon for Three. Brent plays confirmed-bachelor novelist Kenneth Bixby, who wards off marriage-minded females by pretending to be married to his secretary Anne Rogers (Sheridan). Complications begin piling up when Bixby is arduously pursued by his old flame Julie (Ona Massen), now wed to provincial stuffed-shirt Harvey Wilson (Charles Ruggles). The supporting cast includes such Warners "regulars" as star-to-be Jane Wyman and future producer William T. Orr (who happened to be Jack Warner's son-in-law), not to mention Walter Catlett as a funny waiter. Honeymoon for Three was based on the venerable stage play by George Haight and Alan Scott. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann Sheridan, George Brent, (more)
- 1941
Taking a vacation from her "Blondie" movies, Penny Singleton plays an Eastern girl who follows Horace Greeley's advice and heads westward. She arrives in a flea-bitten frontier town where Marshal Glenn Ford is trying to rid the community of the vicious Pecos Pete. Singleton vies with saloon gal Ann Miller over Glenn Ford's affections, and along the way both actresses perform a few musical numbers. In the end, Singleton helps Ford lasso the villain. Go West, Young Lady takes great pains to avoid originality, especially in a knock-down, drag-out fight scene between Penny Singleton and Ann Miller which was clearly inspired by the Marlene Dietrich-Una Merkel battle in Destry Rides Again (39). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penny Singleton, Glenn Ford, (more)
- 1941
The real-life marriage between Dick Powell and Joan Blondell was already on the rocks when they costarred in Model Wife. The story is "Working Girl Plot No. 6": Blondell's employer frowns upon married women working. She's married to Powell. The marriage must remain secret. The boss has a "thing" for Blondell. So does every other man. Powell fumes. Complications. Movie ends happily. And that's Model Wife, the second and last of the Powell/Blondell vehicles of the 1940s (the other film was titled, significantly, I Want a Divorce). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Blondell, Dick Powell, (more)
- 1941
Ubiquitous 20th Century-Fox contractee Lynn Bari is the heroine of The Perfect Snob. Carefully raised by her social-climbing mother Martha (Charlotte Greenwood) to seek out a millionaire husband, debutante Chris Mason (Bari) throws herself at wealthy Freddie Browning (Alan Mowbray) during a Hawaiian vacation. But Chris secretly intends to follow the advise of her doctor father (Charles Ruggles) and marry for love rather than money. In this spirit, she pledges her troth to the handsome but apparently impoverished Mike Lord (Cornel Wilde). Much to everyone's surprise and delight, Mike turns out to be the owner of a thriving sugar plantation! Still several years removed from film stardom, Anthony Quinn goes through the "other man"paces generally reserved for Ralph Bellamy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlie Ruggles, Charlotte Greenwood, (more)
- 1940
The success of 1938's Kentucky prompted 20th Century-Fox to come up with the similar (though not entirely identical) horse-racing opus Maryland. After her husband (Russell Hicks) is killed during a fox hunt, Maryland matriarch Charlotte Danfield (Fay Bainter) forbids her son Lee (John Payne) from ever riding or even owning a horse. Lee obedient only until he meets lovely Linda Stewart (Brenda Joyce), the daughter of his father's ex-trainer William Stewart (Walter Brennan, doing a virtual reprise of his Kentucky characterization). In concert with Linda, Lee enters his horse in the fabled Maryland Hunt, an annual steeplechase event. The outcome of the race is instrumental in weakening Charlotte Danfield's anti-equestrian stance, but Stewart, alas, isn't around long enough to fully bask in his restored glory. Much of Maryland was filmed on location, gorgeously lensed in Technicolor by George Barnes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Brennan, Fay Bainter, (more)
- 1940
Imagine the dismay of those hapless TV station managers who've booked the 1940 Martha Raye vehicle The Farmer's Daughter in the belief that they've actually gotten hold of the same-named 1947 Loretta Young picture. Hardly in the same league as its namesake, the 1940 film casts Raye as Patience Bingham, a starstruck rural gal who hopes to land a part in a musical show being staged in a reconverted barn. The show is being financed by millionaire Nicksie North (Charlie Ruggles) as a vehicle for his untalented girl friend Clarice Sheldon (Gertrude Michael). That's right, folks: Clarice walks off the show on opening night, forcing her understudy-who else but Patience?--to appear in her stead. As a bonus, Patience lands leading man Dennis Crane (Richard Denning) as a husband, to the surprise of no one but Dennis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martha Raye, Charlie Ruggles, (more)
- 1940
S.N. Behrman's hit Broadway show about a guy who writes hit Broadway shows comes to the screen in this comedy. Gaylord Esterbrook (James Stewart) is a reporter from Minnesota who writes a play about life in New York City -- a place he's never visited. To his surprise, a Big Apple producer wants to stage Gaylord's show and asks him to come to New York immediately. While Gaylord hardly seems like a Big City sophisticate, his regular-guy charm makes a big impression on leading lady Linda (Rosalind Russell), who is tired of jaded braggarts like her director, Morgan (Allyn Joslyn). Gaylord and Linda get married, and he becomes one of the most successful playwrights in town, but his new popularity goes to his head, and Linda wonders what happened to the man she married. However, Gaylord's career takes a turn for the worse when he meets Amanda (Genevieve Tobin), a snooty high society type who convinces him that he ought to be writing the Great American Tragedy instead of crowd-pleasing comedies. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Stewart, Rosalind Russell, (more)
- 1940
Dispensing with the melodramatic excesses of Universal's previous "Invisible Man" films, 1941's The Invisible Woman aims strictly for laughs. Virginia Bruce stars as Kitty Carroll, an outspoken department store model fired from her job by tyrannical Mr. Growley (Charles Lane). Intrigued by an ad in the personal columns requesting the services of an "adventurous woman", Kitty offers her services to eccentric scientist Professor Gibbs (John Barrymore, doing a dead-on impression of his brother Lionel). Much to the dismay of his timorous butler George (Charles Ruggles), his housekeeper Mrs. Jackson (Margaret Hamilton), and his nephew-financier Richard Russell (John Howard), Gibbs has been experimenting with an invisibility formula, and Kitty turns out to be a most willing guinea pig. Cloaked in her new invisibility, our heroine gets even with her old nemesis Growley and sets out for new escapades, while Gibbs and his entourage anxiously search for the girl lest harm befall her. The whole affair ends up in the Mexican refuge of gangster Blackie (Oscar Homolka), who hopes to use Gibbs' formula for his own nefarious purposes. Given the fact that Blackie is saddled with such moronic henchmen as Bill (Ed Brophy) and Frankie (Shemp Howard), he doesn't stand a chance against the resourceful Kitty, who thoughtfully permits the nonplussed Richard into thinking that he's rescuing her. Shakespeare it isn't, but The Invisible Woman is consistently funny and inventive, enhanced by Universal's usual excellent special effects. Future leading lady Maria Montez shows up as one of the models in the early scenes, along with former Warner Bros. star Anne Nagel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Virginia Bruce, John Barrymore, (more)
- 1940
This zany comedy-mystery gets under way when wiseguy reporter Jimmie Daniels (Robert Paige) and tipsy sports editor Buzz Nelson (Charlie Ruggles) become joint owners of an oversized truck. Examining the contents, Jimmie and Buzz discover that the trunk contains a dead body. When mystery woman Margaret Nichols (Janice Logan) shows up to claim the trunk for herself, she is immediately suspected of murder. It turns out, however, that Margaret is an insurance investigator, tracking down a fortune in stolen loot. Forced to go on the lam from the cops, Jimmie and Margaret take refuge in the country home of daffy scientist Jarvis Woodruff (Lawrence Grossmith), where the mystery of the troublesome body is finally solved. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlie Ruggles, Janice Logan, (more)
- 1940
Communism-the American variety-is given a hilarious going-over in 20th Century-Fox's Public Deb No. 1. Spoiled society girl Penny Cooper (Brenda Joyce) impulsively lends her voice to a Communist rally, which earns her a public spanking by 100% All-American waiter Alan Blake (George Murphy). Impressed by Blake's boldness, Penny's ulcerated father, soup tycoon Millburn Cooper (Charlie Ruggles), hires the young man as a vice-president, hoping in this way to keep his daughter in line. Murphy manages to win Joyce from her socialite boyfriend Bruce Fairchild (who else but Ralph Bellamy?), but she refuses to abandon her Communist ideology until she is disillusioned by Russia's invasion of Finland. The heroine's rejection of the Red cause is symbolized by an (implicit) act of defecation performed by a passing dog on a crumpled Communist pamphlet. When originally released, the film was titled Elsa Maxwell's Public Deb No. 1, in recognition of the presence in the cast of famed New York social arbiter and partygiver Elsa Maxwell, who in the film's silliest scene shows up at a costume party dressed as Benjamin Franklin! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Murphy, Brenda Joyce, (more)
- 1939
Irene Dunne plays an impulsive society girl; Fred MacMurray plays a no-frills prizefighter. They marry (just like Jack Dempsey and his many trophy wives) in the waning days of the Roaring 20s. MacMurray begins training so diligently for the championship that he neglects his wife and son (Billy Cook). Fed up, mother and child walk out. Ten years later, MacMurray, looking not one scintilla older, finally gets his championship bid. He also regains his family, after all concerned promise to pay more attention to one another. Invitation to Happiness is what Variety used to call a "Four-Hanky Picture." Sidebar: The director was Wesley Ruggles, who refused to allow a certain member of the supporting cast--Wesley's big brother Charlie Ruggles--to inject any "funny stuff." Charlie begged for one brief comic sequence, and Wesley complied; he just didn't bother to tell Charlie that the scene would be cut even before the first preview. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Irene Dunne, Fred MacMurray, (more)
- 1939
In this domestic comedy, a husband and wife manage an apartment building owned by the husband's pal. Meanwhile they must also begin caring for an orphaned lad. They take a shine to the boy and desire to adopt him, but first they must convince his grandfather who is not impressed by their eccentricities. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Boland, Charlie Ruggles, (more)
- 1939
In this romantic musical, a Russian prince sees a lovely singer in a town cafe and falls head-over-heels. Realizing that he cannot be seen with her in royal garb, he masquerades as a worker. Later he secretly arranges for her to sing at the Imperial Opera. Unfortunately, his father the emperor is wounded that night by the wicked Reds. The girl's father is among the would-be assassins. Years pass. Just before the dawn of WWII, the girl and her family are exiled to Siberia while the former prince heads for Paris to become a famous nightcub singer. When revolution erupts in Russia, the girl is freed and the lovers are eventually reunited. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nelson Eddy, Ilona Massey, (more)
