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Ruggles of Red Gap (1935)
In director Leo McCarey's western comedy (with a sole
Best Picture nomination), it told about a clash of cultures and classes,
and also functioned as a fish-out-of-water tale and comedy of errors;
its tale was about a British manservant-valet who was mistakenly
identified as an important society figure in a turn-of-the-century
frontier town:
- the film opened in Paris in 1908, where
upper class British Lord George Van Bassingwell, the Earl of Burnstead
(Roland Young) was being attended to by his very proper, stuffy,
yet extremely efficient man-servant/butler Marmaduke "Bill" Ruggles
(Charles Laughton)
- in a separate scene, two nouveau
riche westerners who were visiting Paris (from Red Gap, Washington)
were introduced: the unmannered, boorish, unrefined, hick, and
millionaire lumber and rancher-cattle baron Egbert Floud (aka
"Sourdough") (Charlie Ruggles) and his dominating, society-conscious
wife Effie Floud (Mary Boland)
- Egbert argued with his socially-ambitious,
nagging, and pretentious wife Effie, who intended to have a British
valet refine their country-bumpkin lives and make them cultured:
("I'm going to turn you into a gentleman if it kills me...in Red Gap,
it will give us, er...tone, joie de vivre"); Egbert
was resistent: "I ain't gonna have no English valet....I got
about as much use for one of them as a pig has for side pockets"
- it was revealed that the Earl had unexpectedly
lost his British valet in the previous night's game of high-stakes
poker with the Flouds and he was now bound for America: ("You're
going out to America"): Ruggles
stoically accepted the sudden news, although was worried about
entering the "untamed" USA: "America, my lord, a
country of slavery"; the Earl hesitantly explained to
his faithful, proud and prim servant that he had lost him due to
his failure at bluffing at cards with Egbert: ("They
won you...We were playing this game of drawing poker, you see,
and it seems there's a thing called 'bluffing'. Though I say it,
myself, I'm particularly good at it... I didn't realize that they
were bluffing, too. I, uh, I had three of the eights against a
flush of clubs. So you really only lost by one eight...I do hope
you don't think I didn't lose you gamely as a gentleman should")
- once Ruggles left the Earl
and was in the company of his new owners - Effie greeted him: "I
do hope and trust you're going to like it with us, both here and
in Red Gap...our home town, you know, in the state of Washington.
It's a little, uh... bourgeoisie, I'm afraid, but I think you'll
find a few of us who still really care about what's happening in
the, haute monde"; she joined Ruggles and Egbert to purchase
new clothes ("a whole new outfit") for her husband in a posh, upscale
men's coiffeurs shop; after being dressed in formal 'morning clothes,'
Egbert reacted uncomfortably: "I look like that bantam rooster
I had before it was run over"
- to
bring culture to her husband while she shopped, Effie sent Ruggles
and Egbert off to see the art galleries (such as the Louvre Museum),
but the crass, loud and obnoxious American-born Egbert waywardly
directed the two of them instead to a local outdoor cafe where
he insisted that Ruggles sit down and join him - in the spirit
of egalitarianism: ("You're as good as I am, and I'm as good
as you are, ain't I?"); Ruggles was at first very reluctant:
("It is rather a shock to find oneself breaking the tradition of generations");
he also objected when Egbert kept calling him 'Colonel' instead
of Mr. Ruggles: ("If we were overheard, sir, people might
take us to be equals"), but Egbert wouldn't hear it: "Well,
listen. Where I come from, everybody is equal, see?"
- Egbert encouraged
Ruggles to become his drinking buddy: "Come on, Colonel, wrap
your paw around that there glass"; later after becoming soused
or "pickled," Ruggles unexpectedly burped out: "Yahoo!" - to Egbert's
surprise: "Well, by crikey, I didn't know he had it in him!"; the
valet also let out a series of caterwauled "Yippees"!;
afterwards, they visited an amusement park and went riding on a merry-go-round
- it was unlike the prim valet to behave so wildly for someone who
had traditionally lived his entire life by class system rules; upon
their return to Effie, Ruggles was completely inebriated - he collapsed
into Effie's arms before falling to the floor and laughing hysterically
Egbert and Ruggles Sitting Down for a Beer Together
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Ruggles: "Yahoo!"
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Ruggles on Merry-Go-Round
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- the next morning, Effie reprimanded Ruggles for his
crass behavior: "You don't look like a periodical souse...But I shall
forgive and forget. That's my nature"; in a short montage, Ruggles
fearfully imagined life in America at Red Gap - with double-exposed
images of Indians attacking a stagecoach
- with the Flouds, Ruggles
sailed back to America, and then via train arrived in the tiny
West Coast frontier boom-town of Red Gap, Washington ("the fastest-growin'
town in the West"); there they were met by Effie's snobby, aristocratic
and priggish brother-in-law Charles Belknap-Jackson (Lucien Littlefield)
and his wife (Leota Lorraine) (Effie's sister), and Egbert's saucy,
down-to-earth, cigarette-smoking mother-in-law "Ma" Pettingill
(Maude Eburne); Effie explained how she had acquired the English
manservant to "lend a continental flavor to the Floud mansion" - all of the Floud
family members lived in a huge mansion
Meeting Relatives in Red Gap
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Ruggles with Effie's Priggish Brother in Law
Charles Belknap-Jackson
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Ruggles with Egbert's Mother-in-Law 'Ma' Pettingill
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- Egbert, who continued to treat Ruggles as an equal,
introduced Ruggles as "Colonel" to
everyone in this land of opportunity - a title that was soon misinterpreted
by a newspaper reporter as Ruggles' designation as a retired
British Army colonel with a high social and military status
- while Ruggles was out on the town one evening with
Egbert, they came upon an outdoor garden party at the home of beautiful
barkeeper and dance-hall girl Nell Kenner (Leila Hyams), singing "By
the Light of the Silvery Moon"; Ruggles met up with widowed
Mrs. Prunella Judson (Zasu Pitts)), a humble townsmember who asked
for an evaluation of her meat sauce; when she became irked by his
suggestions on what spices would improve her renowned sauce, he tried
to calm her down: "Let's not have
an international row about it!" - he was quickly smitten
by her, and asked her to dance
- a misunderstand arose when Ruggles was reprimanded
at the dance by Belknap-Jackson for disobedience (for not following
orders given by Effie, although Egbert had commanded him to socialize
and "mix") - and he returned a swift kick to Belknap's backside; the next day,
Belknap-Jackson recommended that Ruggles be fired even though Ruggles
apologized: "I coarsely gave way to the brute in me"; Effie
chimed in: "In Paris, you led my poor husband astray. And now
you've started assaulting the family. Ruggles, you will have to go";
however, "Ma" noted that Ruggles had been lauded in the society pages of the morning's
newspaper - everyone in town regarded him as an honored guest rather
than as a lowly servant: "Colonel Marmaduke Ruggles, late of
the British Army, and an intimate friend of the Earl of Burnstead,
is at present an honored house guest of Mr and Mrs Egbert Floud!";
Ruggles' firing was immediately postponed
- later, Ruggles again spoke to skilled culinary artist
Mrs. Judson at her home - where he offered expert British advice
on making a proper cup of tea: ("Oh, no! Always bring the pot to the kettle. Never bring the kettle to
the pot...But you must listen to an Englishman about tea. If it were
coffee, I should be your pupil. But we're making tea, and when making
tea, always bring the pot to the kettle and never bring the kettle
to the pot"); and then, with "intense satisfaction," he mixed
up ingredients for baked scones to accompany the tea
- while the Flouds were on their way out of town to
their ranch, the stubbornly-spiteful Charles Belknap-Jackson
took the opportunity to 'discharge' Ruggles in their absence without
permission; about to leave town (on a 3 hours delayed train bound
for San Francisco), Ruggles entered into the town's Western barroom,
the Silver Dollar Saloon where he found Egbert and "Ma" having
a drink; Egbert reversed Belknap's directive, but Ruggles complained
that he no longer wished to be a servant - he was convinced
that he could fulfill his own dream to be free and become a
self-made man: "I can't go on posing as what I'm not, and I
don't wish to remain in service any longer, Sir. I want to make something
of myself. I would like to stand on my own two feet. This is a land,
sir, of great opportunity where all are created equal"; Egbert
concurred about the idea of equality: "Like Lincoln said that
day at Gettysburg. He hit the nail right on the nose when he said..." -
but then Egbert faltered and couldn't remember
the words; no one in the bar knew the speech either, but Ruggles proved that he had memorized
it by softly beginning to recite the words to Egbert: ("Four score
and seven years ago...")
- to answer everyone's confusion and lack of knowledge,
and after being asked by "Ma" to recite the entire address,
Ruggles showed the crowd how he was inspired by "what
Lincoln said at Gettysburg" - he seriously
and masterfully recited from memory the entire "Gettysburg Address" to
the audience - first softly and then reaching a higher volume as
more dumb-founded, undignified but subdued cowhands, bar-drinkers
and patrons moved closer and listened in (with multiple cutaway shots)
- it was the film's climactic high point
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Ruggles Reciting Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" in
Silver Dollar Saloon
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- with encouragement from Mrs. Judson and others, it
was suggested that Ruggles - to stand on his own two feet - open
a new restaurant in town; Prunella volunteered to aid in the kitchen,
and a business loan from Egbert and a building location owned by
"Ma" would help him get started; the name Anglo-American
Grille was finally decided upon; Ruggles would be freed
and liberated from his job duties to become an entrepreneur and attain
the American democratic dream of self-determination
- Ruggles claimed to Mrs. Judson that he was the first Ruggles in generations
to end subservience and become his own boss: ("My father was
a gentleman's gentleman, and his father before him. And from that
heritage of service miraculously there comes a man. A person of importance,
however small. A man whose decisions and whose future are in his
own hands")
- Effie and Egbert engaged in a dispute after he briefly
cited Lincoln's Gettysburg Address as the rationale for his equality
with women: ("Men are created equal to women!
That's why you have no right to order me around the way
you do. Abe Lincoln said so"); she retorted back: "He also
said, 'You can fool some of the people some of the time and All of
the people some of the time.' But you can't fool me, Egbert Floud,
ANY of the time, you striped bass!")
- due to an impending visit by Lord Burnstead, Ruggles
feared that the Earl would be reclaiming him and taking him back
to England to resume his hereditary life of servitude - he was
ready to give up his restaurant dream: ("It's heredity and loyalty,
and I suppose you could call it habit if you wanted to"), although
Mrs. Judson vehemently objected; Ruggles disappeared when the Earl
arrived, and Mrs. Judson feared that he may have suicidally jumped
into the river
- during his time in town, the
Earl met beautiful singer Nell at Effie's dinner party held in
his honor - Nell graciously helped him to tie his tie, and then when
she agreed that she didn't believe in love at first sight, he added: "That's
why I'd like to stay a little while, if I may"; in an improvised
music sequence, the Earl flirtatiously played drums to accompany Nell
while she sang "Pretty Baby" to him
- during the party, Ruggles reappeared and declared
his 'independence' from the Earl because of his new status as a free
man: ("Here in Red Gap I am considered important...When people think
you are someone, you begin to think you are. That's what I've been
fighting about with myself all day, my lord. Am I someone or am I
not?...Oh, I am someone, my lord"); and he
firmly announced that he wouldn't return to London, because he was
entering a trade (opening a restaurant)
- on opening night of the Grille, guests included Egbert,
Effie, Belknap-Jackson and many other society friends from town;
the late-arriving Earl took the occasion to announce his new engaged
bride, Nell Kenner ("She's going to be my countess"), but
was then insulted behind his back by Belknap-Jackson for marrying
beneath his class: ("Making a countess of a cheap dancer!"); Ruggles heard the insult, defended
his former master, grabbed the nasty Belknap-Jackson by the neck
and threw him out: ("I'm not forgetting that I am proprietor
of this place and as proprietor of this place I am politely asking
you to leave, sir"); afterwards in the kitchen, Ruggles feared
he had gone too far and ruined his business: ("So, I'm a failure")
- however, in the final scene, Ruggles' fears were
unfounded - the Earl delivered a speech in Ruggles' defense; Ruggles
was summoned from the kitchen and brought into the dining room, where
the entire crowd sang "He's a Jolly Good Fellow"; Egbert
suddenly realized that the song was for him!: "Why, you old plate of soup,
they're singing it for you!";
Ruggles was thankful and jubilant: "My friends, God Bless You
All!"
Announcement of Nell's Engagement to the
Earl
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Ruggles Ejecting Belknap-Jackson For His Insult
to the Earl
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A Song Dedicated to Ruggles: "For
He's a Jolly Good Fellow"
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Egbert and Effie Floud in Paris
The Earl with his Valet Ruggles
Ruggles Receiving the News of His Master's Loss of Him to
the Flouds - He Was Destined For America
The Earl with Egbert - Picking Up His New Valet
Ruggles with Effie
Drunken Ruggles Falling onto Effie After a Night on the Town with Egbert
Ruggles' Fears of America - Indians on the Attack
Nell Kenner - The Frontier Town's Dance-Hall Singer (Leila
Hyams)
Mrs. Prunella Judson
(Zasu Pitts)
Ruggles - At The Center of Society's Attention in Red Gap
Ruggles' Advice to Mrs. Judson About Making Tea
Ruggles' Desire to Be Free From Servanthood: "I would like to stand on my
own two feet"
Plans For a New Restaurant in Town
Ruggles Declaration to Mrs. Judson: "A man whose decisions
and whose future are in his own hands"
Egbert vs. Effie
Nell Tying the Earl's Tie
The Earl on Drums with Nell - "Pretty Baby"
Ruggles' Declaration of Independence From the Earl
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