Ruggles of Red Gap

In Paris, the English valet Marmaduke Ruggles is lost by his master at a poker table. His new owners are newly rich people from Red Gap, out in the American west. Ruggles travels there with them, and nobody in the town understands the concept of a valet; everyone assumes he is a colonel and treats him as an equal. The subject is not cultural difference but what happens to someone treated as an equal for the first time. Ruggles has no idea what to do when he is not serving anyone, and the turning point is the moment he finds out. The most cited scene takes place in a bar: nobody can remember Lincoln's Gettysburg address, and Ruggles stands and recites the whole thing. The room falls silent. An English valet knowing the American idea of equality better than the Americans in that room is the film's entire argument. The form is classical comedy with hard emotional turns; Leo McCarey cuts the humour and moves abruptly into seriousness, and does it often. Charles Laughton plays Ruggles, at a time when he was known mostly for heavy roles. The film was nominated for best picture. The same story was filmed several times before and after, but this version is the one remembered. Mary Boland and Charles Ruggles play the new owners. Who it is for: viewers who like thirties American comedy and humour built on class. Who it is not for: anyone wanting pace; the film proceeds in episodes and some of them are slow now.