Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #82484 in DVD

Customer Reviews

The Slow Burn of Democracy
Leo McCarey was a competent director of sentimental stories, and a good director of melodramas, but it was in the genre of gag-based comedies that he truly excelled. Having overseen the best Laurel and Hardy shorts (where the dictionary definition of the "slow burn" is perfectly illustrated), he went on to direct Harold Lloyd in his best talkie (THE MILKY WAY) and the Marx Brothers in their best and most subversive film, DUCK SOUP. Although, at first blush, RUGGLES OF RED GAP is a picture of unmitigated American chauvinism, it is, on subsequent viewings, a film with undertones at least as subversive as that of DUCK SOUP.

The plot is simple: in 1908, an English valet, Ruggles (Charles Laughton) is the stake in an ill-advised poker game between his master, a down-at-heels Earl, becoming the servant of a cartoonishly vulgar American (Charles Ruggles) from Red Gap, Washington. In America, Ruggles becomes, through inaccurate press reportage, "a personage," and for the first time in his life he realizes he is not merely "a gentleman's gentleman," but an actual man, able to "stand on his own two feet." Along the way, a burgeoning class system within America's nouveau riche is exposed, along with the ignorance most Americans carry with regard to the founding principles that made their nation a great democracy in the first place.

What is so enjoyable about this movie is watching the gradations of Laughton's performance as he slowly accepts the process of democratization. Laughton, as Marmaduke Ruggles, elevates the "slow burn"--in which the audience is in on a cataclysmic piece of news, and is eagerly anticipating the comic reaction--to Tantric longevity in his priceless facial reactions to his changing environment. Mary Boland, as Effie Floud, provides some of the most hilarious Franglais this side of Punch Magazine, and Roland Young, as the Earl, mutters some of the most delicious innuendo ever heard during the years of the Hays Production Code.

This Region 5 (Taiwan) DVD is currently the only available form available in a digital format. The highlights tend to burn out at times, especially in the first reel, set in Paris, where the lighting strategy is more flat. After the move to America, the lighting is more modeled and the picture deficits become less and less noticeable.

I hope this will soon be available in a restored version; until then, catch it on TV, or buy the disc if you have the right equipment--it is on a par with SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS and ONE, TWO, THREE as one of the great American comedies.

Five Star Movie that Deserves a Criterion Release
Ruggles of Red Gap has long been a favorite family movie. Another reviewer has given a great plot synopsis here, so I won't repeat it. (This is a comedy set in the west, but not at all a western comedy.)

I would add that this is a warm, funny movie with quotable lines & a superb cast. This is a just plain funny movie, on a par with My Man Godfrey, but set, of course, earlier. Criterion has released a wonderful restored version of Godfrey; I wish they'd do the same with this classic. It's just a delightful movie!! The problem with this import, which I have, is that it's not a great copy and is even missing part of scene between Pitts and Laughton. (I know this by comparing it with a taped copy that I have.) So, until someone restores this movie and puts out a good copy of it, this particular import is the only alternative for anyone who wants a dvd version of it. Five stars for the movie; about 2-3 for the actual dvd.

OK until a restored official release is available
Yes, this is an Asian Region 5 DVD which won't play on all players, although there are multi-region players out there. Some computer DVD drives can also get around the regional encoding. That said, it's an OK transfer, a little on the choppy side. I don't think anything is really missing except the last two seconds of a scene where Laughton and Zasu Pitts discuss their common fondness for cooking and goldfish. There just seem to be a couple of instances where a scene jumped to the next when it probably should have faded to the next. No big deal. Also, they have removed the nice old Paramount logo from the opening and closing shots. However, since it is affordably priced and it is the only option currently available in digital format, I recommend buying it. Hopefully someone will bring out a nice restored version, but until then, this is still better than VHS or the increasingly rare showings on TV.