Director: Leo McCarey
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Top Billed Actors: Charles Laughton, Mary Boland, Charles Ruggles
Won 0 Oscars
Nominated for 1 more:
Outstanding Production - Paramount
Plot: A wife and husband (actor named Ruggles) win a valet (character named Ruggles) in a poker game so they make him come to America to recite Lincoln speeches.
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Top Billed Actors: Charles Laughton, Mary Boland, Charles Ruggles
Won 0 Oscars
Nominated for 1 more:
Outstanding Production - Paramount
Plot: A wife and husband (actor named Ruggles) win a valet (character named Ruggles) in a poker game so they make him come to America to recite Lincoln speeches.
Charles Laughton was busy in 1935. Ruggles of Red Gap (1935) is the first of three movies he stars in that were nominated for Best Picture at the 8th Awards. The movie he starred in for the 7th Awards, The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934) made it four in a row for Laughton-starring Best Picture nominees. He was on a roll during this time and his first comedic role could not slow him down. He shows glimpses of humor in The Private Life of Henry VIII. (1933), but for his first true comedy, he selected one of the best directors in the genre. Two years removed from directing Duck Soup (1933) with the Marx Brothers, Leo McCarey makes his first appearance in this project. He goes on to direct many more Best Picture nominees, and even a winner in 1944. But for 1935, we get a young, but experienced director, leading one of Hollywood's most revered actors in his debut comedy role.
The result is excellent comedy. For a movie from eight decades ago, many situations and jokes had me chuckling from start to finish. It is not as funny as, say, The Thin Man (1934), but Laughton does not disappoint. It is difficult to ascertain that this is his first foray into the genre of comedy. Each scene offers funny conditions that set up jokes in a successful manner. The interactions between Egbert Floud (played by Charles Ruggles), the man who begrudgingly employs the British man-servant, Ruggles (played by Charles Laughton), is often hysterical. Egbert doesn't like the idea of having a butler follow him around so he treats him like a friend while Ruggles is uncomfortable with his equal status while in America. However, we see thorough character development in the valet. By the film's end, he orates Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in a Western saloon to a chilling effect. This scene stuck with Laughton so much, that he recited the speech to the crew and fellow actors at the conclusion of filming his other movies in the '30s.
The film is not without its flaws however, albeit minor ones. There wasn't much music in the picture. The focus was clearly on progressing the story and attempting to make the viewers laugh in the process. This results in a lot of quiet scenes with only dialogue, even between scenes. There is some good diegetic music however, with a lovely actress singing on a piano and guitar. Some of the acting does not match Laughton's brilliance as well. Ruggles (the actor) is hit or miss. He has some very candid scenes that is acted beautifully but he falls down on others such as when he interacts with his American friend in Paris. His in-movie wife, Mary Boland, also overacts to a point of annoyance.
Overall, the film accomplishes what it sets out to do. The audience, from any decade afterwards, will certainly laugh throughout. Laughton continues to impress as he tackles his first comedic role. More music and a slight improvement in acting from certain characters would have propelled the movie even further.
My Score: 7/10
The result is excellent comedy. For a movie from eight decades ago, many situations and jokes had me chuckling from start to finish. It is not as funny as, say, The Thin Man (1934), but Laughton does not disappoint. It is difficult to ascertain that this is his first foray into the genre of comedy. Each scene offers funny conditions that set up jokes in a successful manner. The interactions between Egbert Floud (played by Charles Ruggles), the man who begrudgingly employs the British man-servant, Ruggles (played by Charles Laughton), is often hysterical. Egbert doesn't like the idea of having a butler follow him around so he treats him like a friend while Ruggles is uncomfortable with his equal status while in America. However, we see thorough character development in the valet. By the film's end, he orates Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in a Western saloon to a chilling effect. This scene stuck with Laughton so much, that he recited the speech to the crew and fellow actors at the conclusion of filming his other movies in the '30s.
The film is not without its flaws however, albeit minor ones. There wasn't much music in the picture. The focus was clearly on progressing the story and attempting to make the viewers laugh in the process. This results in a lot of quiet scenes with only dialogue, even between scenes. There is some good diegetic music however, with a lovely actress singing on a piano and guitar. Some of the acting does not match Laughton's brilliance as well. Ruggles (the actor) is hit or miss. He has some very candid scenes that is acted beautifully but he falls down on others such as when he interacts with his American friend in Paris. His in-movie wife, Mary Boland, also overacts to a point of annoyance.
Overall, the film accomplishes what it sets out to do. The audience, from any decade afterwards, will certainly laugh throughout. Laughton continues to impress as he tackles his first comedic role. More music and a slight improvement in acting from certain characters would have propelled the movie even further.
My Score: 7/10