Rent Ruggles of Red Gap (1935)

Engaging comedy from the 1930s [B&W, well restored on Blu-ray] - Ruggles of Red Gap review by Mr Aquarium

Delightful topsy-turvy comedy, with a wonderful performance from the great Charles Laughton. His butler manages to be at first quietly disdainful of all, but then gradually excited by the chance to throw off his subservience; imagine Jeeves losing control and then being transplanted to a barely-tamed US frontier town...

Laughton Comedy. - Ruggles of Red Gap review by Steve

This is a vehicle for Charles Laughton's ripe comic talents.  He is Ruggles, a valet won in a game of poker by a tycoon from the US west, (Charles Ruggles, channeling Walter Brennan) from an English aristocrat (Roland Young).  It's a fish-out-of-water comedy, but there is also a little propaganda, as the inhibited servant finds freedom and equality in the new world.

There is plenty of Ernst Lubitsch in the premise (and Young and Ruggles are among his regulars) but Leo McCarey paints with a broader brush and a heavier touch. He even has Laughton quite solemnly reciting the Gettysburg Address!

 The earlier scenes are the funniest, as the wife of Laughton's new employer (Mary Boland) tries to get Ruggles to gentrify her reluctant spouse, mocking the (supposed) vulgar pretensions of Americans abroad. Eventually, Ruggles finds dignity in the American west and escapes the control of those in who would exploit his compliance.  

Laughton and Young give most unusual performances, almost catatonic, so inhibited are they in their feudal relationship. They are both damaged by their dependence on each other and their fatalistic belief that this is inevitable. Laughton's acting is a matter of personal taste, but this is his best comedy.