After being "lost" in a game of poker to a wealthy but indecorous American, gentleman's gentleman Marmaduke Ruggles finds himself in the throes of culture shock as he resettles in the wild west with his new employers. Steeped in the tradition of the European class system he is at first aghast at the lack of boundaries between servant and employer but soon begins to adapt to the land of opportunity.

Ruggles of Red Gap is a non-stop good natured screwball satire that fills every minute of its running time with comic situations played with gusto by a cast of broad lovable characters. Leo Mccarey's lightening paced direction insures that there is never a dull moment as he good naturedly takes pokes at pretense, hypocrisy and ugly Americans on the continent while slyly celebrating the fruits of Democracy and the American way.

Charles Laughton in the midst of a year (Bligh in Mutiny, Jalvert in Les Misrabelais) that would have made any actor's career distinguished is howlingly funny as Ruggles. Whether stiffly attempting to maintain decorum, mutely observing or getting drunk with the boys Laughton's antics remain uproariously comic. Then in the middle of all the zaniness McCarey injects sober relief by having Laughton recite Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in a bar. In the voice of Laughton it deftly avoids mawkish mood killing and soars, soberly driving home McCarey's paradoxically subversive but patriotic rights of man theme.

Ably assisting Laughton's tour de force Charles Ruggles, Marie Boland, Zasu Pitts and Roland Young produce their fair share of laughs while McCarey's swift and tight direction gallops along in perfect stride. Ruggles of Red Gap is one of the best made comedies to come out of the thirties.