King Ralph
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- King Ralph is also a nickname for Canadian politician Ralph Klein.
| King Ralph | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover |
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| Directed by | David S. Ward |
| Produced by | Sydney Pollack |
| Written by | Emlyn Williams (novel) David S. Ward (screenplay) |
| Starring | John Goodman, Peter O'Toole, John Hurt |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | February 15, 1991 |
| Running time | 97 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | Unknown |
| IMDb profile | |
King Ralph (first released on February 15, 1991) is a British film starring American actor John Goodman in the title role of Ralph Jones. The movie also starred Peter O'Toole as the King's private secretary Sir Cedric Willingham, Camille Coduri as Ralph's girlfriend Miranda Greene, and John Hurt as the British peer Percival Graves, who schemes to get Ralph removed so that Parliament will make Graves the new King. The story is vaguely based on that of the novel Headlong by Emlyn Williams, which is not a comedy but a serious and well-researched story; very little of the story, including the characters, survived the transition to the screen.
The film, effectively a well-conceived and executed variation on the 'fish out of water' theme, did not do as well at the box office as it might have, perhaps partly because of a poorly done co-promotion campaign with Burger King, which made the King seem malicious and destructive, rather than well-meaning but inexperienced.
Tagline: 'A comedy of majestic proportions'
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
In the film, the entire Wyndham family (based on the real-world House of Windsor), which in this film is the current ruling family of the Great Britain, dies in a freak electrical accident. (They had all been standing on a metal platform just after a rainstorm, and an electrical current killed them when their photo was taken). It had been the first time the entire family had been together in a number of years. As a result of the accident, it appears that there are no surviving members of the Wyndham family left.
The British government immediately commissions a search to find if there are any surviving Wyndham heirs left, in order to pass the title of monarch to them. After an extensive search, a researcher finally locates a living heir; his name is Ralph Jones. Willingham's assistant Duncan Phipps (Richard Griffiths) brings him the news. Willingham asks if Jones is everything they hope for, but Phipps responds, 'He has his strengths and weaknesses. You see, he's an American.' Willingham has a look of horror on his face as he tells Phipps to quickly list the strengths.
In Las Vegas, Ralph Jones is working as a lounge singer/piano player in one of the main casinos. He is a slob who watches football on a portable TV screen while working. Phipps and Inspector McGuire (Niall O'Brien) watch the performance, and applaud with enthusiasm when he finishes. When Ralph returns to his room, he finds out that the casino had just fired him and he's been replaced by a chimp. Ralph meets Phipps and McGuire, who inform him that he is now the new King of England.
At first, Ralph is skeptical over Phipps' claims and believes it to be a fraud. Phipps tells Ralph that his grandfather, the 1st Duke of Warren, had a brief affair with a hotel maid while visiting the States, and this affair produced a child, Ralph's father. But since his father and grandmother have died, Ralph is the only surviving Wyndham heir; Ralph is more concerned about his immediate future, and what he would do for money.
Finally, Phipps shows him the Duke's ring. It is an exact copy of the only other ring of this type known to exist, which the Duke had given to his grandmother. Ralph clearly remembers the ring his grandmother had, and is finally convinced when he sees the Duke's ring. Ralph is flown to London, where he meets Willingham for the first time, and begins the long period of adjustment to make him a proper British monarch.
Meanwhile, Lord Percival Graves (John Hurt), Prime Minister Sir Geffory Hale (James Villiers), and Willingham meet at 10 Downing Street to discuss Ralph's selection as King. Graves is opposed to the idea of an American on the throne, and he proposes that Parliament declare the Wyndham line to have ended, and make the House of Stuart the royal family once again; because Graves was part of the Stuart line, he would be next in line for the throne. Hale decides that Jones has royal blood, albeit diluted, and says that until Jones commits a grievous error, they and the country would have to live with Jones as their new King.
Shortly after his arrivial, Ralph leaves the palace and heads for a local strip club. There he sees an exotic dancer named Miranda Greene (Camille Coduri) - an English working-class commoner. She finds she's unable to perform in front of a bunch of men, and leaves the stage in embarrassment. Ralph, wanting to meet her, goes back to talk to her - at first she doesn't believe that he is the new King. Ralph proposes a deal: if he can prove that he is the King, Miranda has to go out with him at least once. Ralph soon makes good on that, when Miranda sees him on a newscast a short time later.
Graves also learns about the meeting between Miranda and Ralph, and decides to use her as a way to cause embarrassment to Ralph, and provide the excuse that Parliament needs to remove him from the throne. Graves offers Miranda £15,000 (GBP) to get Ralph in a compromising position, in which a picture of them could be taken; initially, Miranda takes the money, and soon goes to Buckingham Palace for her first date with Ralph. The two continue the relationship, and soon Ralph and Miranda find themselves falling in love with each other, at which point Miranda returns the money to Graves, and tells him that she wants no part of his schemes - but what she doesn't know is that Graves already has pictures. In order to protect Ralph, Miranda decides to break off the relationship with Ralph.
The English arrange for Ralph to marry the Finnish Princess Anna (Joely Richardson); Ralph soon receives Princess Anna, her father King Gustav (Julian Glover), and mother Queen Katherine (Judy Parfitt) on an official state visit. Ralph's courtship of the English commoner becomes public knowledge after Graves has photos, of Miranda and Ralph kissing, passed around at a royal ball given in honor of the Finnish royals. These photos, along with Ralph's wild rendition of "Good Golly, Miss Molly", cause a public scandal to erupt. The scandal not only ruins any possibility for marriage between Ralph and Anna, but also prevents new factories from being opened up and helping to combat a wave of early 1990s unemployment, as the Finnish government decides to give coveted contracts to a Japanese company.
After some soul-searching, Ralph comes to the conclusion that he is not ready to be King, and addresses Parliament. First, he apologizes for his recent actions, and informs Parliament that he has done a deal with the King of Zambezi to build that country's first motor car from parts made in Britain, thus creating British jobs. Ralph then reveals that Graves had been working to sabotage his succession to the throne, and has Graves arrested. Ralph tells the English people that he tried his best to be a good king, but that his best will never be good enough, and thus has decided to abdicate his throne; he then reveals that Willingham, too, has royal blood and is, in fact, the next closest in line for succession to the throne.
Willingham becomes King, and Ralph is recognised as 3rd Duke of Warren, who is free to pursue his romantic relationship with the English commoner, along with his dreams of being a rock n' roll star. Thanks to Willingham, Ralph bids a tearful goodbye to his new friends and his relative, Willingham, who puts Ralph on a lucrative annual salary, a nice countryside estate, and a state-of-the-art recording studio. In the end, a snapshot is shown in the future, where Miranda is shown with Ralph's baby son, whose name is furthermore shown to be 'Ralph II'. It appears as insinuation that the childless king Cedric will one day be succeeded by Ralph's issue on the throne.
[edit] Quotes
Graves: 'By what right can you order my arrest?!'
Ralph: 'By the Treason Act of 1702, forbidding interference in the proper succession of a Monarch! Enacted by...' (mutters to himself the British Monarchs mnemonic and counting them on his fingers) 'Charlie, Charlie, James again.' (Then looks up and announces:) 'William the Third!'
[edit] Trivia
- In reality, the scarcity of royals alluded to in the film is not possible. There are currently 901 legitimate heirs to the British and other Commonwealth thrones. The first of those who do not reside in the UK is 60th in the real line of succession, and belongs to the Royal Family of Norway. Even if the fictional Wyndham dynasty had a different genealogy, there would still be many heirs who do not belong to the extended royal family present in the photographing tragedy.
- Throughout the film Ralph is referred to as being King of England, however, no king of England has existed since the Act of Union in 1707. Instead, Ralph would be King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as well as, by separate but parallel law, King of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, and Saint Kitts and Nevis.
- Ralph would not be able to unilaterally declare his abdication to parliament. As demonstrated by the 1936 abdication crisis, a sovereign cannot abdicate the throne without the approval of each of his parliaments, as an alteration to the succession laws, in particular the Act of Settlement, must first be approved by all of the Commonwealth Realms.
- During his first date with Miranda, Ralph is playing Scrabble with her. When he plays the word 'Yo', she protests by saying that there is no such word. He answers that they are speaking the King's English, and he is the king, so if he says it, it's a word. (In the PC game version of Scrabble by Hasbro Interactive, 'Yo' is in fact a word that can be played during the game. Also, the official Scrabble website links to the Collins Word Exchange, which also verifies that yo is a valid word for Scrabble.)
- The film supposes that there is a Finnish royal family, but Finland only had Frederick Charles of Hesse temporarily. However, this may have been a deliberate move on the part of the film's makers, to avoid possibly offending anyone by portraying a fictionalised version of a real European royal family. The king of "Zambizi" was also fictionalised -- Zambizi is not a real country.
- The crown in the movie has a diamond called the "Star of India" on it. In real life, the actual Imperial State Crown used by British Monarchs has the second largest piece of the "Star of Africa," also called the Culinan Diamond. The first Star of Africa rests in the British royal sceptre, and is by far the largest cut diamond in the world.
- The movie claims that Edward VIII abdicated because he wished to marry a commoner. This is untrue, and Edward VIII's abdication was due to his wish to marry a divorcee, which at the time was not permissible for a British monarch as he was also head of the Church of England.
- The flags used as the British Royal Standard and the monarch's Coat of Arms are not copies of the actual things. As with many other details derived from real life in this movie, the standard used is slightly altered.
- Ralph is seen playing with Pembroke Welsh Corgis; the real British monarchs have kept the same dog breed for decades.
- As the end credits roll, Ralph and his new band 'The Dukettes' perform the song "Duke of Earl".
- In John Goodman's seventh appearance as host of Saturday Night Live, he made a joke of King Ralph. While sitting on a throne with a large seven on it, he said it reminded him of this movie which 'seven people went to see'.
- In John Goodman's tenth appearance on Saturday Night Live, he made another joke about King Ralph. This time he was being interviewed, in character as Linda Tripp, in relation to the Monica Lewinsky scandal. One of the questions asked to the Tripp character is, "What do you think of John Goodman's portrayal of you on Saturday Night Live?". Goodman responds with much praise for Goodman as an actor, when the interviewer responds, "But didn't you see King Ralph? It was awful!" The interviewer then asks Tripp, "Did you regret doing it?" Goodman suddenly breaks character and asks, "What King Ralph?"
