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Storyline

When the Earl of Gurney dies in a cross-dressing accident, his schizophrenic son, Jack, inherits the Gurney estate. Jack is not the average nobleman; he sings and dances across the estate and thinks he is Jesus reincarnated. Believing that Jack is mentally unfit to own the estate, the Gurney family plots to steal Jack's inheritance. As their outrageous schemes fail, the family strives to cure Jack of his bizarre behavior, with disastrous results.

Released

1972-09-13
Revenue

n/a
Budget

n/a
Runtime

2hr 34m
Genre

Comedy, Drama
Status

Released
Language

Deutsch, English, Français, Italiano, Latin
7.2
Production

Keep Films

Crew

Peter Medak

Director

Peter Barnes

Screenplay

Jules Buck

Producer

Keywords:

schizophrenia great britain asylum delusion dark comedy country estate satire based on play or musical inheritance fight

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Cast

Peter O'Toole

Jack 14th Earl of Gurney

Alastair Sim

Bishop Lampton

Arthur Lowe

Tucker

Harry Andrews

13th Earl of Gurney

Coral Browne

Lady Claire Gurney

Michael Bryant

Dr. Herder

Nigel Green

McKyle

William Mervyn

Sir Charles Gurney

Carolyn Seymour

Grace Shelley

James Villiers

Dinsdale

Kay Walsh

Mrs. Piggott-Jones

Patsy Byrne

Mrs. Treadwell

Graham Crowden

Truscott

Hugh Burden

Matthew Peake

James Grout

Inspector Brockett

James Hazeldine

Fraser

Joan Cooper

Nurse Brice

Hugh Owens

Toastmaster

Henry Woolf

Inmate

Griffith Davies

Inmate

Oliver MacGreevy

Inmate

Neil Kennedy

Dr. Herder's Assistant

Cyril Appleton

McKyle's Assistant

Leslie Schofield

McKyle's Assistant

Declan Mulholland

Poacher

Ronald Adam

Lord

Julian D'Albie

Lord

Llewellyn Rees

Lord

Kenneth Benda

Lord Chancellor

Ernest Blyth

Lord (uncredited)

Terence Conoley

Lord (uncredited)

George Hilsdon

Lord (uncredited)

Margaret Lacey

Midwife (uncredited)

Mike Reynell

Gurney Village Pedestrian (uncredited)

Robert Rietti

Various Roles (voice) (uncredited)

Guy Standeven

Peer (uncredited)

John Tatham

Lord (uncredited)

Fred Wood

Corpse (uncredited)

Videos and Photos

Movie Reviews

Reviews for The Ruling Class

A Review by Geronimo1967 7

Written by Geronimo1967 on 2023-05-28

The isn't actually a very good film, I felt - but it is does feature an extraordinary performance from Peter O'Toole as the "Earl of Gurney"... read more

The isn't actually a very good film, I felt - but it is does feature an extraordinary performance from Peter O'Toole as the "Earl of Gurney", about to take his seat in the house of Lords after his father has an untimely accident involving a noose and a tutu. His family are horrified at the prospect. Why? Well, that's because the new peer happens to believe he is Jesus. He spends much of his day contemplating or sleeping erect on his cruciform ornament in the great hall whilst the remainder of his rather eccentric family, and their boozy butter "Tucker" (Arthur Lowe) go about their business. They decide the only way to deal with him is to marry him off, beget an heir, then parcel him off to the asylum so they can resume their ordinary lives... What's probably most notable about this very theatrical black comedy is that it deals with just about everything from religion to vivisection, blasphemy (for many) to insinuendo (that's insidious innuendo in case you didn't know) and almost certainly would not be made now, 50 years on - being about as politically incorrect as it conceivable to be. British cinema always seems to take rather dim view of the church when it comes to comedy, and here Alastair Sim nobly continues with that tradition; Lowe is super as the butler - who's inherited £30,00 from the deceased so is in clover (when he is sober) and the two performances from William Mervyn and Coral Browne as his principal protagonists are amusing as their dastardly scheme takes shape. Sadly, though, it's all way too intense a pace to sustain, and despite the Oscar-nominated efforts of the star, the story begins to run out of steam quite quickly and the joke to wear a bit thin. There is nothing at all subtle about the humour and after a while I just stopped laughing. It is a beautifully shot film, the former Astor residence of Cliveden providing the setting for the ancestral family home, and the score from John Cameron mixes the original with just about everything from sea shanty fo high opera to ably support this preposterous swipe at the class system. It is too long, indeed it is far too long, but at times it shows creative British film making at it's most innovative and amusing and fans of O'Toole will probably appreciate (as would he, I suspect) the wedding scenes near the end... Fun, but over-stretched.