Charles Laughton recites President Lincoln's 'Gettysburg Address' - "Ruggles of Red Gap" (1935)

In 1935, Charles Laughton appeared in his first major comedy role as the Earl of Burnstead's butler, Marmaduke Ruggles. One day he is informed by his employer that he's been won in a poker game by a rich American couple and is to be transported to their Wild West home in Red Gap. Although he is still their butler, he becomes a fixture in Red Gap society and is referred to as a 'Colonel Ruggles.' He avidly reads about United States history and its Presidents and as a result decides to tell his new employers that he wants to leave them and start up on his own. This takes place in a saloon and to the astonishment of the assembled patrons, he is able to recite President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address from memory. It is a famous moment in Laughton''s film career and this clip of that speech comes from the 'Eureka' DVD/Blu-ray release. (Catalogue No. EKA70043).
In his 1987 TV Tribute to Laughton, Simon Callow remarked that "he gave half-a-dozen of the most memorable performances ever committed to celluloid." These included the King in "The Private Life of Henry VIII," Captain Bligh in "Mutiny on the Bounty" and Quasimodo in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" in the 1930s, as well those in his later years, such as "Witness for the Prosecution" and "Spartacus" ... • Simon Callow's Charles...
Here is another famous moment in Laughton's career, from his last movie "Advise and Consent" in which he played Southern senator "Seab" Cooley. For both personal and professional reasons, here he's forcefully rejecting the President's nomination of Robert A. Leffingwell (Henry Fonda) as the US Secretary of State ... • 'Advise and Consent' -...
Two years after appearing in "Ruggles of Red Gap," Laughton went into the recording studio and made a 78rpm disc of the 'Gettysburg Address' ... Here it is ...
• Lincoln's Gettysburg A...

[@091053JG]

One of the greatest actors of all time, giving one of the greatest speeches of all time.

[@grimalkin188]

Just when you think you've seen it all. This guy "is" acting personified.

[@tomzeeh4955]

Beautiful scene and beautiful job by Charles Laughton, one of my favorites. And, oh yeah, Abraham Lincoln, my favorite president and American by a long shot.

[@elizabethcsicsery-ronay1633]

What a voice! Mesmerising, it uplifts you and calms you. Greatest actor of them all.

[@Hernal03]

And what is a voice without the words that give it shape. And what is an actor without the writer. Let us not forget Lincoln and his wonderfully moving words. How many presidents in modern times could even come close to such eloquence and poetry.

[@adam28xx]

Wow, thank you!

[@cheri238]

Great actor, Charles Laughton

[@loge10]

Beautifully done post of a great scene with one of the greatest actors. I appreciate that you gave context (including the movie poster at beginning and end) by playing the whole scene, starting with Ruggles announcing that he wanted to leave "service", not just with him starting his recitation.
Also appreciate your historical context in your description.

[@adam28xx]

Thank you for your kind remarks! ... If it was of interest, here's a Laughton Filmography which I uploaded some years ago ...
ua-cam.com/video/ltIt0lHcKSM/v-deo.html

[@allison1908]

Beautifully recited by a great actor. An interesting bit of set design, at 3:16 you can see a picture of Lincoln on the wall as the saloon patrons approach Ruggles. Thank you for sharing.

[@Telstar62a]

I seem to remember reading that this was so popular that they cut a record of Laughton's performance, and he did speaking engagements where he performed several famous speeches.

[@adam28xx]

You remember correctly about the old 78rpm record and here it is ...
ua-cam.com/video/oOUg3B-EwrE/v-deo.html

[@Flowerchild778]

Brings tears to my eyes, hearing the accent from which the words come

[@somestupidwithaflaregun3788]

A great film with great performances by Laughton and Zazu Pitts. This was my intro to that wonderful comedic actress. I’ve been looking for a good rendition of The Gettysburg Address and remembered this. Timely posting, thanks!

[@adam28xx]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@peterzang]

Nobody cries and nobody claps. That’s the way you do it.

[@SquatCobbler-Cry]

"I'll buy a drink" 🇺🇸

[@SquatCobbler-Cry]

ua-cam.com/video/921z4LAHvak/v-deo.htmlsi=xU8E0nTRzQS1BI2c

[@laurahoward5426]

A fabulous movie with this solemn scene....🤩🤩🤩

[@vada7259]

Thank you! One of the best scenes of all time...

[@Animatronicbear]

Wow. Choked me up. Beautiful!

[@vivacepianostudio]

Thanks for uploading!

[@gennarojg3]

Laughton was more loyal to his adopted nation that no one knows today. Listen and understand what it means to be a Citizen of the United States.

[@johnwayne3101]

Sad what we've become. We are failing our fallon Soldiers. 😢

[@Hernal03]

Not only with our _fallen_ soldiers but in just about every other way as well. Once example being schooling. The English language has never been written or spoken in such an inept fashion as it is in this day and age.

[@elizabethcsicsery-ronay1633]

fallen

[@aquamarine99911]

@@Hernal03 No cap.

[@two_owls]

@@Hernal03 I would caution you against judging today's use of language too harshly. Most of what's been said and written, in any language, is trash. What we remember and preserve from the past is the best, the most memorable, the most influential stuff - with the occasional bit of rubbish here and there. This gives us in the present a bias against the contemporary, because in the *now* we are awash in the good and the bad. We think ourselves mediocre, and the past noble, but it's all equal in the end.

[@henryruggles7523]

💖👍

[@smartwimbush3965]

2:20

[@hicks727]

Google it.