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- 1939
It may sound like a teenage-romance comedy, but Boy Trouble is actually a sentimental effort about middle-aged parents. Charlie Ruggles stars as a small town shopkeeper whose wife (Mary Boland) adopts a pair of rambunctious orphan boys (Donald O'Connor, Billy Lee). Ruggles is at first hostile towards this invasion of his peace and quiet, but his paternal feelings are aroused when the children become victims of a scarlet fever epidemic. The screenwriters for Boy Trouble were satirist S. J. Perelman and his wife Laura, hardly the most logical candidates for this domestic comedy/drama. The film was meant to launch a B-series titled The Fitch Family, but didn't do well enough at the box office to justify any sequels. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlie Ruggles, Mary Boland, (more)
Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant star in this inspired comedy about a madcap heiress with a pet leopard who meets an absent-minded paleontologist and unwittingly makes a fiasco of both their lives. David Huxley (Grant) is the stuffy paleontologist who needs to finish an exhibit on dinosaurs and thus land a $1 million grant for his museum. At a golf outing with his potential benefactors, Huxley is spotted by Susan Vance (Hepburn) who decides that she must have the reserved scientist at all costs. She uses her pet leopard, Baby, to trick him into driving to her Connecticut home, where a dog wanders into Huxley's room and steals the vital last bone that he needs to complete his project. The real trouble begins when another leopard escapes from the local zoo and Baby is mistaken for it, leading Huxley and Susan into a series of harebrained and increasingly more insane schemes to save the cat from the authorities. Inevitably, the two end up in the local jail, where things get even more out of hand: Susan pretends to be the gun moll to David's diabolical, supposedly wanted criminal. Naturally, the mismatched pair falls in love through all the lunacy. Director Howard Hawks delivers a funny, fast-paced, and offbeat story, enlivened by animated performances from the two leads, in what has become a definitive screwball comedy. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, (more)
- 1938
Boy soprano Bobby Breen dons a pair of skates in the oddball musical Breaking the Ice. Escaping his super-strict Mennonite relatives, our hero gets a job singing at a Philadelphia ice-skating rink. Here he tries to earn enough money to help his beloved widowed mother (Dolores Costello) wrest herself free of those selfsame relatives. The plot requires canary-voiced Breen to share the spotlight with six-year-old skating sensation Irene Dare. Within a year, Breaking the Ice producer Sol Lesser attempted to launch another series of family musicals built around the talents of little Ms. Dare, but the first entry in this project--Everything's on Ice--was also the last. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bobby Breen, Charlie Ruggles, (more)
- 1938
In this comedy, a milquetoast clerk is betrothed to the socialite whose aunt holds a big account with his company. When the agency owner hears that the generous aunt is preparing to close her account and give all the money to the happy couple, the boss decides to stop the wedding. To do so, he hires the seductive blonde wife of a vaudevillian friend to play a "practical joke" upon the hapless clerk. The joke almost succeeds when he comes very close to losing his beloved. Fortunately, the gal is loyal and totally trusting. The marriage takes place and all is well. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlie Ruggles, Richard Lane, (more)
- 1938
In this frothy comedy-drama, a businesswoman owns a successful service bureau for the filthy rich. Her service does everything from handling mundane finances to putting on weddings. Her most recent client wants her to prevent his rube of a nephew from coming to New York to visit him. She does her best and in the end, falls in love with the bumpkin after charming him away from his countrified girl friend. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Constance Bennett, Vincent Price, (more)
- 1937
In this drama, a Boy Scout leader hosts a local gossip show. Trouble ensues when he predicts a politician's murder just before it occurs. He is arrested by the DA, but before getting to jail, he is abducted by irate gangsters--the real killers. Fortunately, his loyal Scout troop rallies to his rescue. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlie Ruggles, Alice Brady, (more)
- 1937
Frances Farmer plays the daughter of an honest and ethical newspaper publisher (Charlie Ruggles). She wants to become a reporter herself, but when her Dad refuses to give her an easy break, Frances goes to work for a rival "tell all" tabloid. Her irresponsible reporting causes a highly respected citizen to commit suicide, and also loses her the respect of her father. But when Frances gets "over her head" in tracking down a killer, her father comes to the rescue. Taking a bullet meant for his daughter, Ruggles dies in her arms, but not before advising her in how to report this late-breaking event: "Write it simply and clearly and keep the paragraphs short." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred MacMurray, Frances Farmer, (more)
- 1937
Department store owner Elliot Dinwiddy (Charlie Ruggles) never makes a decision without first consulting his astrologer Dr. Wakefield (Andrew Tombes). Problem is, Dinwiddy's dependence upon the stars to dictate his fate has a negative trickle-down effect on his impending marriage to his secretary Myrtle Tweep (Marjorie Gateson) -- and on the romance between store employees Terry Keith (Johnny Downs) and Caroline Wilson (Eleanor Whitley). Most of the plot is forgotten during the climactic floor-show celebrating the 25th anniversary of Dinwiddy's store, with specialties from pantomimist Ben Blue (cast as night watchman Luke) and Jack Benny Show regulars Kenny Baker and Phil Harris. The film's best moment finds store detective Dugan (Romo Vincent) cutting loose with a Charles Laughton impression. The film editor for Turn off the Moon was Edward Dmytryk, who later went on to a prestigious directorial career. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlie Ruggles, Eleanore Whitney, (more)
- 1936
In this bedroom farce, a writer rails against marriage and touts the benefits of staying single. He then convinces his friend that only relationships based on struggle and strife are worth having. His friend is married so the writer suggests he start trouble by trying to make her jealous. The naive fellow does so by sleeping with a faded French actress. This is the woman the writer wanted. The philanderer then returns home fully expecting his beloved wife to forgive him with open arms. Things don't turn out that way at all. To make it worse, the writer is also very angry at him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlie Ruggles, Mary Boland, (more)
- 1936
In one of the best Charlie Ruggles-Mary Boland vehicles of the 1930s, Ruggles plays a mild mannered husband prone to sleepwalking. His nocturnal prowlings cause no end of embarrassment for his wife (Mary Boland), especially since Ruggles is a more aggressive personality when asleep. Eventually, Ruggles' midnight wandering gets him mixed up with gangsters. It looks bad for our stars, but Ruggles and Boland manage to wriggle out of the dilemma and into a happy ending. Early to Bed was scripted by versatile character actor Lucien Littlefield, who plays a small part in this film and had previously appeared with Ruggles and Boland in the memorable Ruggles of Red Gap (36). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Boland, Charlie Ruggles, (more)
- 1936
It's a black night in Hollywood when matinee idol Neil DuBeck (Rod LaRoque) is murdered at the preview of his latest film. Director E. Gordon Smith (Ian Keith), who has long harbored a deep hatred for DuBeck, is the main suspect -- until he too is killed, along with a movie-studio watchman (Spencer Charters). Closing down the studio and refusing to let anyone leave, police lieutenant McKane (Thomas Jackson) sifts through the clues, but it's up to actors Johnny Morgan (Reginald Denny) and Peggy Madison (Frances Drake) to solve the mystery, applying a few tricks they've learned at the movies. Director Robert Florey enlivens Preview Murder Mystery with scores of delightful inside jokes, ranging from an elaborate takeoff of Cabinet of Dr. Caligari to a "television camera" which looks like a reconverted movie projector. Several Paramount contractees appear briefly in guest roles, while a host of silent screen favorites (Jack Mulhall, Bryant Washburn, Chester Conklin, Wilfrid Lucas et. al.) show up in nostalgic bit parts. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Reginald Denny, Frances Drake, (more)
- 1936
Anything Goes is a fun-filled but hardly faithful adaptation of the same-named Cole Porter Broadway musical, with additional songs by Hoagy Carmichael, among many many others. Set on a luxury liner, the story gets under way when Moonface Mullins (Charlie Ruggles), Public Enemy No. 13, slips on board disguised as a bishop. As he weaves in and out of the story, Billy Crocker (Bing Crosby) romances Hope Harcourt (Ida Lupino), titled Englishman Evelyn Oakleigh (Arthur Treacher) also pursues Hope, and brassy entertainer Reno Sweeney (Ethel Merman) chases after Sir Evelyn. Critics in 1934 complained that the original Broadway production's Victor Moore was replaced by Charlie Ruggles, but none could fault Ethel Merman's rendition of "I Get a Kick Out of You", nor her duet with Bing Crosby, "You're the Top" (the only two songs retained from the Porter score!) Anything Goes was remade in 1956, again with Bing Crosby, and again with little fidelity to the original (this remake required MCA Television to retitle the 1936 version as Tops is the Limit). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bing Crosby, Ethel Merman, (more)
- 1936
A remake of 1928's Glorious Betsy (itself based on a stage play by Rida Johnson Young), Hearts Divided is based, believe it or not, on a true story. Marion Davies stars as 19th-century Baltimore belle Betsy Patterson, who falls in love with Jerome Bonaparte (Dick Powell) -- the younger brother of Napoleon Bonaparte (Claude Rains) himself. Though in real life Betsy and Jerome were married, for the purposes of the film they are parted before the nuptials, as part of Napoleon's long-range plans to place a Bonaparte at the head of every European nation. The Richard Rodgers-Lorenz Hart musical score emphasizes the artificiality of the whole endeavor, which despite its basis in fact is never believable for a single moment. The film's brevity (70 minutes) is its principal redeeming factor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dick Powell, Marion Davies, (more)
- 1936
In this crime comedy, a street-savvy gangster involves himself with a Miami socialite. Together, they conspire to turn her familial mansion into a secret gambling casino. The hood is convinced her beauty will draw customers and with the ensuing profits, the two will be able to pay their debts. Unbeknownst to him, his own gang members, fearing that he will abandon his "roots" in favor of the high-life, are conspiring to break up his partnership with the girl. They hire two grifters to impersonate a British colonel and his niece; they then try to convince the hood that he and the high-society dame are a bad match. When the gangster meets the "niece," he falls head-over-heels in love and forgets all about the socialite. When she, who is really after his money, returns his affections, the gang suddenly realizes that their scheme has backfired. Fortunately, by the story's end, the hood figures it all out and returns to the loyal socialite whose love remained undaunted. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Raft, Ida Lupino, (more)
- 1935
MGM regularly churned out films in the 1930s that were all "star power" and very little plot. No More Ladies is a good example of this. Joan Crawford marries bon vivant Robert Montgomery, hoping to mend his wastrel ways. Montgomery refuses to assumes the proper responsibilities of a husband, so Crawford tries to make him jealous by taking up with Franchot Tone. Everyone involved has limitless money, beautiful clothes and all the time in the world to spend on the trivialities of the plotline. Depression era audiences loved to see good-looking people in sumptuous sets, so No More Ladies was a success. The fact that, when asked, these audiences couldn't remember a single thing about the story was beside the point. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Crawford, Robert Montgomery, (more)
- 1935
No relation to the 1951 Cary Grant film of the same name, People Will Talk was another of Paramount's moneymaking comedies starring Charles Ruggles and Mary Boland. This time the middle-aged pair try to patch up the marriage of their daughter (Leila Hyams) and son-in-law (Dean Jagger, with hair). They do this to quell the local gossip mongers, who have been set abuzz by the fact that daughter has come home alone. Ruggles and Boland stage a fake fight, hoping to shame their daughter into returning to her husband--and, as expected, the phony quarrel turns into the genuine article. People Will Talk was coscripted by Broadwayite Herbert Fields, the son of famed 1890s comedian Lew Fields and brother of lyricist Dorothy Fields. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlie Ruggles, Leila Hyams, (more)
- 1935
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
- Starring:
- Charles Laughton, Mary Boland, (more)
- 1934
Harry Beaumont, a director-composer most closely associated with MGM's musical product, does a nice job handling the tongue-in-cheek melodramatics of Murder in the Private Car. Charlie Ruggles goes through his standard drunken-detective act as amateur gumshoe Scott, who stumbles onto a dead body when he wanders into the wrong train car. Despite the fact that the private car can only be locked from the inside, several more murders occur within its walls. This means plenty of trouble for heroine Ruth (Mary Carlisle), who'd rented the car for a cross-country journey of vital importance. Before this particular odyssey is over and the murderer is revealed, the private car, with Ruth trapped inside, is separated from the rest of the train and sent hurtling backward down the tracks, loaded with dynamite! Perhaps Harry Beaumont missed his calling: judging by Murder in the Private Car, he should have specialized in serials. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlie Ruggles, Una Merkel, (more)
- 1934
The "six" are Charlie Ruggles, Mary Boland, George Burns, Gracie Allen, W.C. Fields, and Alison Skipworth, who star in this cross-country comedy. Planning a motor vacation to California, J. Pinkham Whinney (Ruggles) and Flora Whinney (Boland) advertise for a couple to help drive and share expenses. That couple turns out to be George Edwards (Burns) and Gracie De Vore (Allen), accompanied by Allen's surly Great Dane. Whinney is driven to near-insanity by Edwards' intrusiveness and stupidity, but the worst is yet to come: thanks to a crooked co-worker, Whinney has been accused of stealing bank funds and is now an unwitting fugitive from justice. Sheriff Hoxley (W.C. Fields, who spends a priceless ten minutes explaining why he's called "Honest John") joins forces with hotel proprietor Mrs. "Duchess" K. Rumford (Alison Skipworth) in hopes of capturing Whinney and claiming the reward. After a zany night of everybody in the cast running in and out of hotel rooms, the real crook is captured and Whinney and Flora prepare to enjoy what's left of their vacation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlie Ruggles, Mary Boland, (more)
- 1934
In this British comedy, a mild mannered editorial writer for a right-wing newspaper becomes fed up with the constant badgering of his domineering, self-righteous editor. The writer decides that there is more to life than kow-towing to his supervisor, and so sets off looking for fun and adventure. He really goes over the edge after he is insulted by a lowly soda jerk. This leads the milquetoast writer and his good friend to go on a Bacchanalian spree filled with gambling, drinking, and even involvement with the underworld. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlie Ruggles, Ann Dvorak, (more)
Goodbye Love is a lampoon of what was once designated the "alimony racket." Refusing to meet his wife's exorbitant alimony demands, Sidney Blackmer volunteers to go to jail, where he finds that his cellmate is his own valet (Charlie Ruggles), incarcerated because he can't make his alimony payments. Finally able to raise enough money to secure his freedom, Ruggles heads to Atlantic City, where he makes the acquaintance of a gold-digger Veree Teasdale. Eventually Teasdale marries Blackmer for the express purpose of later divorcing him and claiming his bank account. When Blackmer learns the truth, he enlists the aid of Ruggles and newspaperman Ray Walker to get even with both his past and present wife. The frivolous storyline requires Charlie Ruggles to pose as a British nobleman and a big-game hunter, which he does with his usual comic aplomb. The final production of Jefferson Pictures Corporation, Goodbye Love was released by RKO Radio. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Veree Teasdale, Mayo Methot, (more)
- 1934
Radio tenor Lanny Ross made a game but unsuccessful bid for film stardom in Paramount's Melody in Spring. Though Ross, cast as one John Craddock, is given top billing, the picture belongs to the delightful screen team of Charlie Ruggles and Mary Boland as Warren and Mary Blodgett, sponsors of a popular network radio program. On vacation in Switzerland, the Blodgetts make the acquaintance of Craddock, who falls in love with the couple's pretty daughter Jane (Ann Sothern). The main plot concerns Blodgett's quest for a rare Swiss antique clock, which results in chaos for all concerned. Everything turns out all right, as Jane throws over her stuffy fiancé in favor of Craddock, who finds success as the star of the Blodgett's weekly radio tunefest. The inimitable Hermann Bing and the three Gale sisters --Joan, Jane and June -- dominate the supporting cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lanny Ross, Mary Boland, (more)
- 1934
Pursuit of Happiness was adapted from the risque stage comedy by Lawrence Langner and Armina Marshall. Set during the American revolution, the film centers around the quaint 18th century custom of "bundling"--that is, having unmarried men and women share the same bed during cold weather, albeit fully clothed and with a wooden plank separating the bedmates. Joan Bennett is the American heroine, an innkeeper's daughter, and Francis Lederer the Hessian hero, who has deserted the English cause to experience American freedom--most notably the bundling practice. As Bennett's parents, Charlie Ruggles and Mary Boland perform their usual domestic comedy in period costume. TV Guide listings frequently confuse the 1934 Pursuit of Happiness with an altogether different 1971 TV-movie of the same name. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Francis Lederer, Joan Bennett, (more)
- 1933
In this comedy, a Tennessee lad, enrolled in art school wins a scholarship to paint in Paris. He is thrilled until he arrives and discovers that his style is hopelessly passe and is considered trashy. The enterprising artist immediately changes style and begins painting highly abstract moderns. His masterpiece wins an award and he becomes terribly popular. No one seems to notice that the beloved work is hanging upside down. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Farrell, Charlie Ruggles, (more)
- 1933
In this suspenseful mystery, a murderous psychopath aboard a luxury liner begins a series of grisly but creative murders. One victim is found in a refrigerator, one is poisoned. Still others are shot and stabbed. In the end, he dumps a lifeboat filled with sailors into the sea where they drown. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
