This essay edited by craig keller, who supplied the british english serves pretty well as an overview of. Charles laughton, mary boland, charlie ruggles, zasu pitts. Charles ruggles, zasu pitts, roland young, leila hyams. Jul 07, 2016 characterbased comedy though it may be, ruggles of red gap shows mccarey committed to the comic techniques of the silent era. Lincolns gettysburg address charles laughton youtube. Rentals include 30 days to start watching this video and 24 hours to finish once started. Ruggles of red gap by harry leon wilson free ebook. Ruggles of red gap was filmed for a fourth time in 1950 as the bob hopelucille ball musical fancy pants. Remade in all technicolor and in vistavision in 1956. He travels to the west and is mistakenly identified as a wealthy brit. Ruggles, beautifully underplayed by charles laughton, is the ultraobedient manservant to the bibulous earl of burnstead roland young. Ruggles of red gap is a lost 1918 american silent comedy film directed by lawrence c. Even the most leisurely, dialogueintensive scenes are often punctuated by bits of goofy physical business like ruggles fumbling the sugar bowl lid when he learns that george has gambled him away to the americans. Charles laughton had delivered the gettysburgh address in his 1935 movie ruggles of red gap, a comedy in which he played an english butler whod been transported to the wild west.
Windom and starring taylor holmes, a broadway stage actor. Charles laughton stars in this hilarious tale of marmaduke ruggles, a stuffy british. Previously filmed in 1918 and 1923, harry leon wilsons novel achieved movie classic status when it was remade by leo mccarey in 1935. Ruggles of red gap by leo mccarey charles laughton, mary. Movie mirrors index ruggles of red gap 1935 b 90en. Apr 04, 2014 ruggles of red gapcharles laughton, charlie ruggles, roland young, mary boland, zasu pitts, maude eburne, lucien littlefield, leila hyams 1935. A laughtons favorite among all his parts, with his. Ruggles of red gap by harry leon wilson and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at.
In the late thirties he opened see are kennels, a dog boarding kennel. Resettled in the wild west town of red gap, washington, ruggles proper bearing leads him to become mistaken for a british aristocrat and military hero, to the. The story certainly never went where i expected and ruggles denseness to some of what was going on around him was always humorous. Film forum ruggles of red gap and if i had a million. Ruggles of red gap sets up its central conceit at a leisurely pace, installing the title character in his old west, nouveau riche setting with plenty of time for warmhearted jabs at the recalcitrant socialite egbert played to perfection by the coincidentally named charlie ruggles and his levelheaded wife, effie mary boland. Sidney toler, best known for playing charlie chan, was signed to replace him, until delays on ruggles made the original casting possible. Charles laughton had delivered the gettysburgh address in his 1935 movie ruggles of red gap, a comedy in which he played an english butler whod been transported to. This engaging comedy is set in 1908 and stars charles laughton as ruggles, initially the manservant of mildmannered british blueblood burnstead roland young. Charles laughton the canterville ghost, under ten flags shows a pleasing comedic talent as the title character in leo mccareys ruggles of red gap. It almost became, however, when work on another film threatened to pull ruggles from ruggles of red gap. The film stars edward everett horton, ernest torrence, lois wilson, fritzi ridgeway, charles stanton ogle, louise dresser, anna lehr and william austin.
The film was the 1935 ruggles of red gap, one of those acknowledged classics from hollywoods height as the worlds movie capital that somehow id never got around to watching before. With edward everett horton, ernest torrence, lois wilson, fritzi ridgeway. It was first made into a silent film in 1918 and again in 1923 the latter with edward everett horton as ruggles. Ruggles at gettysburg last nights filmsoc offering was the 1935 leo mccarey duck soup, the awful truth comedy ruggles of red gap, in which charles laughton. Charles laughton as a famed gentlemans gentleman in ruggles. Leo mccarey nominated for best picture in 1935, this is a charming comedy of manners and a traditional easterntenderfootgoeswest storymore a comedy of manners than a western, though.
Ruggles of red gap is one of the great comedies of all time, a wonderful source of pleasure. It was based on the bestselling 1915 novel by harry leon wilson, adapted by humphrey pearson, with a screenplay by walter deleon and harlan thompson. Ruggles is forced to go to america and deal with the lack of social distinctions. In 1949, ruggles halted his film career to return to the stage and to move into television. Leo mccarey this mccarey classic stars charles laughton as a veddy proper english valet whos won in a poker game by a man from the wild west charlie ruggles, setting off a culture clash. Originally a best selling novel in 1915 by humorist harry leon wilson also author of bunker bean and merton of the movies, it was adapted into a broadway musical that same year and soon made its way to the movies. Charles laughton is brilliantly cast as marmaduke ruggles, the ultimate valet. Apr 25, 2011 charles laughton had delivered the gettysburgh address in his 1935 movie ruggles of red gap, a comedy in which he played an english butler whod been transported to the wild west. These events, and scifi novels and movies like silent running, were the seeds for biosphere 2.
Ruggles of red gap 1935 letterboxd social film discovery. In paris at the dawn of the 20th century, the earl of burnstead roland young accidentally loses his faithful valet, ruggles charles laughton, to gauche. Ruggles of red gap is an underseen film that i probably wouldnt have seen for some time had i not watched this video. Ruggles of red gap charles laughton comedy masterclass. Ruggles of red gap is a lost 1923 american western silent film directed by james cruze and written by anthony coldeway and walter woods, adapted from the. Charles laughton as a famed gentlemans gentleman in ruggles of red gap, at the paramount. It was based on harry leon wilsons novel ruggles of red gap cast. Harry leon wilsons novel ruggles of red gap was adapted for the broadway stage as a musical in 1915, the same year that it was published. Ruggles, beautifully underplayed by charles laughton, is the ultraobedient manservant to. It was first made into a silent film in 1918 and again in 1923 the latter with edward everett horton as. He was nominated for the academy award for best supporting actor for both the luck of the irish 1948 and guess whos coming to dinner 1967. In paris at the dawn of the 20th century, the earl of burnstead roland young accidentally loses his faithful valet, ruggles charles laughton, to.
The laughton film, directed in a calm, restrained style by leo mccarey, is just about irresistible, even with its big scenelaughton, an english valet in the old west. The film was released on october 7, 1923, by paramount pictures. Complete national film registry listing film registry. Cast and crew credits for ruggles of red gap, 1923, directed by james cruze, with edward everett horton, ernest torrence, lois wilson, at turner classic movies. Burnstead has lost ruggles in a poker game to egbert charles ruggles, a backslapping hick on vacation in europe but originally from the small west coast town of red gap. Complete national film registry listing sort films by title, year of release, and year inducted into the registry by using the up and down arrows at the top of each column. Cecil lauriston kellaway 22 august 1890 28 february 1973 was a britishsouth african character actor. Oct 18, 2014 ruggles of red gap trailer 1935 director. Charles laughton, mary boland, charles ruggles, zasu pitts, roland young, leila hyams, maude eburne, lucien littlefield, leota lorraine, james burke, leo mccarey, ruggles of red gap blu. He plays it straight and understated, and barely moves his head left or right.
Also not in the novel but in the movie is the presence of ma pettingill, egbert flouds supportive mother in law. During one of the earls nocturnal forays, nouveau riche american. I always love seeing favourite films of people in the industry, as that tells a lot about their style and character, and in the case of one of my favourites edward norton, i was quite keen on checking this out. The first film version was in 1918 with taylor holmes in the lead, and its 1923 remake saw persnickety edward everett horton as marmaduke ruggles, with direction by james cruze and strong players such as ernest torrence, louise dresser, william austin, and lillian leighton as support. Ruggles of red gapcharles laughton, charlie ruggles, roland young, mary boland, zasu pitts, maude eburne, lucien littlefield, leila hyams 1935. It was twice filmed as a silent movie, in 1918 and 1923, and would again be filmed in 1950, being called fancy pants, and starring bob hope and lucille ball. The novel, ruggles of red gap by harry leon wilson was published in 1915 and made into a broadway musical the same year. Ruggles of red gap is thirties film comedy that still makes you feel good. Ruggles of red gap 1935 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Ruggles is a british butler dont you know, red gap is the american shack of a town he comes to work in, having been won in a poker game.
The first film version was in 1918 with taylor holmes in the lead, and its 1923 remake saw persnickety edward everett horton as marmaduke. Its a pretty funny social comedy with ruggles stuck between various factions and social classes. Charles laughton as a famed gentlemans gentleman in. Previously filmed in 1918 and 1923, harry leon wilsons novel achieved movie classic. Ruggles of red gap is a lost 1923 american western silent film directed by james cruze and written by anthony coldeway and walter woods, adapted from the novel by harry leon wilson. It was produced by veteran film company essanay studios. Monday, february 16 2 films for 1 admission ruggles of red gap 1935, leo mccarey worst case scenario for laughtons snobbish gentlemans gentleman. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. Ruggles of red gap the adaptation is literal in that it reproduces the effect of the original story with no forced interpolations and a full use of the material.
List of paramount pictures films moviepedia fandom. It was based on a novel by harry leon wilson which was turned by humphrey pearson into a stage play first produced in 1915, and the first movie of it was. After initial incomprehension, he recites lincolns. Ruggles of red gap photoplay dj 1923 louise dresser. Paramount already owned the rights to the book from their 1923. He was the headline character in the tv series the ruggles 194952, a family comedy in which he played a character also called charlie ruggles, and was again the headline character in the daily sitcom the world of mr. Their films included mama loves papa 1933, six of a kind 1934 and ruggles of red gap 1935. Ruggles of red gap 1923 1h 20min comedy, western 7 october 1923 usa an english valet brought to the american west assimilates into the american way of life. Ruggles of red gap isnt about getting a bill passed or even, in the way of the man who. Charles laughton stars in this hilarious tale of marmaduke ruggles, a stuffy british butler, traded in a poker game from an english duke roland young to a wealthy and rowdy american, egbert floud charlie ruggles. Once in the highly fordian red gap itself, the movie stalls a bit on a. A laughtons favorite among all his parts, with his rendition of lincolns.
The first film version was in 1918 with taylor holmes in the lead, and its 1923. Media in category ruggles of red gap 1935 film this category contains only the following file. Adapted from the novel and play by harry leon wilson, a wife hopes an earls valet will give her husband culture, but in america the valet decides to become a selfmade man. Oct 01, 2005 free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. An english valet brought to the american west assimilates into the american way of life. With charles laughton, mary boland, charles ruggles, zasu pitts. On the occasion of momas leo mccarey retrospective, screening july 1531, ive received permission to post an essay on mccareys great ruggles of red gap that was originally written for uk home video distributor masters of cinema s dvd release in 2012. Ma was a character in a separate wilson work but was brought over for this production and played delightfully by maude eburne. Ruggles of red gap was ruggles becomes the servant of an american couple after his employer uses him as a stake in a poker game.
Sometimes he makes you laugh simply by moving his eyes, and in the early scenes you can see that his carefully arranged poker face is concealing. Also filmed in 1918 and 1923 and remade in 1950 as fancy pants starring bob hope, lucille ball and bruce cabot. Ruggles, beautifully underplayed by charles laughton, is the ultraobedient manservant to the bibulous earl of burnstead. In 1938 he portrayed big game hunter major horace applegate in bringing up baby, which is commonly cited as his bestremembered role. Ruggles of red gap is a 1935 comedy film directed by leo mccarey and starring charles laughton, mary boland, charlie ruggles, and zasu pitts and featuring roland young and leila hyams. Download pdf copies of the entire list of registry titles sorted alphabetically or by year of release. Charles laughton, charles ruggles, mary boland, zasu pitts, charlie ruggles, roland young official content from universal studios.
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