OVP: Ruggles of Red Gap (1935)

Film: Ruggles of Red Gap (1935)
Stars: Charles Laughton, Mary Boland, Charlie Ruggles, ZaSu Pitts, Roland Young
Director: Leo McCarey
Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Picture)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 4/5 stars

It's not often that a film that's nearly eighty years old gets a new honor, so when the Library of Congress decided this past week that Ruggles of Red Gap would be one of the 25 films entered into the National Film Registry, I figured it was appropriate to make that our next OVP film.  In a lovely coincidence, we've actually investigated films from both Charles Laughton and Roland Young this past week, so it's a perfect way to tie the whole thing together.

(Spoilers Ahead) The film stars Laughton as Marmaduke Ruggles (the best moniker ever), a butler who has been lost by his stuffy and oblivious employer the Earl of Burnstead (Young) in a game of poker to a crass "new money" style pair of millionaires that live in a Western boomtown (Boland and Charlie Ruggles, whose name is a wonderful coincidence since this is based on a novel by Harry Leon Wilson).  The film follows Laughton's Ruggles, all manner and no feeling, as he makes a trek to the Old West, and must come to terms with his new employers and their ideas of what it is to be a servant.

The film works well because it's terribly silly.  The film has strong comedic supporting players in Boland, Ruggles, and Pitts, but Laughton would seemingly be miscast in a comedy.  After all, he was one of the great dramatic actors of his era.  This isn't the case though-Laughton makes a superb straight man and as a result lands all of his comedy.  It helps that Laughton had a distinguished air to begin with (he made a point of playing kings and doing Shakespeare and all that), and so not only are we seeing Marmaduke Ruggles completely out of place, we get to see Laughton himself feel out of place.  The movie consistently has him learning from his new friends, but also them learning a thing or two from him, particularly about being open-minded.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of the film is the ridiculous lengths the supporting players will go to get a laugh.  I personally adored Mary Boland as a social-climbing woman who clearly loves her husband but has gotten so set on how things are supposed to be that she can't always remember why she's getting there (it says something about this film that the later scenes don't feel like she's conceded, but merely found a way to compromise her vision with her husband's, which is a nice change of pace from all of the "women give up their careers for a man" pictures I've seen in the past month).  Roland Young is hilarious as a man who clearly hasn't had to work a traditional day in his life, living off of his inheritance and having a family of butlers taking care of him so long he doesn't realize how much he relies upon them.

The best part of the film, though, is Laughton as Ruggles.  His dry wit and comedic shock at his employers and the town are marvelous, and his use of the Gettysburg Address as a way to transform his character from one who serves others to one that serves himself is deeply patriotic and a bit cliche, but actually works with Laughton's theatricality.  1935 was really a high point in Laughton's career.  Not only was he starring in this, but he managed to have a leading role in two other Best Picture nominees, Les Miserables and Mutiny on the Bounty, the latter of which won the top prize and landed Laughton his second Best Actor nomination.  For an actor that I've always known about but never really studied, this is the first time I'm really excited about where his career will take me in the OVP (as he's got a LOT of nominated films).

Those are my thoughts on this movie-what about yours?  Is anyone else excited that the film might get a bit more press with its inclusion in the National Registry?  Where does it rank in your Best Picture lineup of 1935 (while I'm missing a few citations, I have to admit that it's very close to Top Hat in my estimation)?  And what do you think of Charles Laughton as a comedian?  Share your thoughts in the comments!