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Cast

Peter O'Toole
as 14th Earl Of Gurney

Alastair Sim
as Bishop Lampton

Arthur Lowe
as Tucker

Harry Andrews
as 13th Earl Of Gurney

Coral Browne
as Lady Claire Gurney

Michael Bryant
as Dr. Herder

Nigel Green
as McKyle

William Mervyn
as Sir Charles Gurney

Carolyn Seymour
as Grace Shelley

James Villiers
as Dinsdale Gurney

Hugh Burden
as Matthew Peake

Graham Crowden
as Truscott

Kay Walsh
as Mrs. Piggot-Jones

Patsy Byrne
as Mrs. Treadwell

Joan Cooper
as Nurse Brice

James Grout
as Inspector

Margaret Lacey
as Midwife

James Hazeldine
as Detective Sgt. Fraser

Hugh Owens
as Toastmaster

Griffith Davies
as Inmate

Oliver MacGreevy
as Inmate

Henry Woolf
as Inmate

Neil Kennedy
as Dr. Herder's Assistant

Julian d'Albie
as Lord

Llewellyn Rees
as Lord

Ronald Adam
as Lord

Kenneth Benda
as Lord

Declan Mulholland
as Poacher

Cyril Appleton
as McKyle's Assistant

Leslie Schofield
as McKyle's Assistant

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News & Interviews for The Ruling Class

Critic Reviews for The Ruling Class

Audience Reviews for The Ruling Class

• Sep 15, 2019

  Both the movie and its source material were written at a time when merely being outrageous was considered subversive so several sequences feel like mediocre late period Monty Python sketches. Still, its worth seeing for O'Toole who holds the movie together with a hilarious and occasionally terrifying performance.
  

  Alec B Super Reviewer
• Mar 05, 2014

  This lightly known comedy is incredibly unorthodox and is really a hidden gem. The late Peter O'Toole is fabulous in his role as the heir to an Earldom and the Second Coming of Christ (in his own mind).
  

  John B Super Reviewer
• Jan 04, 2011

  I was surprised by how thrown-together this movie seems to be. It is definitely ambitious in its biting social commentary; but, in the end, it ends up falling victim to its own outlandish charm. What starts off as a funny and searing look at British artistocracy quicky spirals into an acid-trip of a movie that is as discombobulated as it is filled with acting talent that is severely misused. Mind-blowing potential; mind-numbing payoff.
  Rico Z Super Reviewer
• Jul 11, 2010

  Top performance from O'Toole, with exceptional supporting work, especially from renowned character actor Alastair Sim. Fantastic dialogue, but that is because the script is adapted from a stage play (and the adaptation done by the same writer); at moments it is easy to tell that this is a stage adaptation even if you didn't know because of the short asides into the camera and general elevated form of dialogue. The selected filming locations are exquisite and film beautifully. Next to O'Toole's performance, my favorite element of the film is that it chooses to overtly blur the line between an objective reality and the subjective reality Jack is experiencing by seamlessly sewing the two together when the situation warrants it. First two thirds of the film is a romping satire and mostly all-out fun, which contrasts with the quickly darkening melodrama of the final act. Some viewers will be jarred by this transition, just as some other viewers won't recognize that the supporting characters are being genuine when they suddenly align themselves with Jack (when the prior scheme had been to remove him from his inherited lordship and return him to permanent mental illness institution). Even if the relationship chemistries feel weak at times, the main character's struggle never feels false but indeed takes on a mythical quality. This is a movie where I WANT so badly to rate it four stars, but I just feel that the scene progression jumps over some long periods of time too easily and that perhaps the scenes picked to be in the film aren't always the most significant to Jack's life (but perhaps that is because many of the scenes are of his most critical moments so anything else will feel pointless in comparison). Some of the editing is a bit rough, but I reckon that's because this was this director's first big outing. Bottom line is that the writer Peter Barnes delivers an excellent satire of English society, perceptions of mental illness, the "eccentric wealthy" character-type, family quarrels, and of the abuse of power and privilege.
  _kelly . Super Reviewer

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