Comedies of the ’80s and ’90s succeed with simple plots and blended unrealism. Bypassing the complex storylines and deep, interwoven fabrics of plot, they do the unthinkable; give the viewer 90 minutes of laughter. The 1991 comedy “King Ralph” succeeds with good acting, basic slapstick jokes, and a hysterical (albeit implausible) situation.
The dominoes are laid out in the opening scene when the entire Royal Family of England is all killed as the result of a highly comical freak accident. With the country now in a flux, Sir Cedric Charles Willingham (Peter O’Toole) conducts a scrupulous search of the archives to locate a bloodline heir to the throne. He is elated when his assistant Duncan Phipps (Richard Griffiths) is finally able to locate one. “Is he everything we might have imagined?” Cedric asks in his prestigious English accent. “Well, he has his strengths, and his weaknesses.” Duncan responds. “You see…he’s an American.” Cedric is mortified as he takes the news in and curtly replies “quickly Duncan the strengths.”
Duncan is sent to fetch the new heir, Ralph Jones (John Goodman) a piano player in a seedy Las Vegas lounge. Naturally, the uncouth Ralph is skeptical but Duncan is able to prove that he is in fact the next heir to the royal throne of England. The ecstatic Ralph is flown to Buckingham Palace for his new “job.” “How long you think you’ll be needing me?” He asks Duncan. “I never held a job for more than six months.” Duncan politely informs him that a king is a king for life, pleasing the recently fired Ralph. “No problem, my schedule is pretty open.”
The crude lounge singer is introduced to Cedric, who will be overseeing his transition to the monarchy. Ralph advises that, although he has never been to England before, he does own every Rolling Stones album. Cedric and Duncan – referred to as Ced and Dunc by Ralph, begin to teach the new king the ways of English aristocracy; pouring tea, riding horses, how to walk, and of course playing cricket. King Ralph is advised that though English law prohibits monarchs from solving problems, it doesn’t prohibit them from making them.
As Ralph begins training for the throne, Lord Percival Graves (John Hurt) begins calling for his abdication of power, calling the American born king an unmitigated catastrophe and referring to him as the “song and dance man from the colonies” who, because he is an American, is impervious to the necessary adjustments. Graves calls for the throne to be returned to the House of Stuart, which will put him as the next heir. They decide to stick with Ralph for now, since he has royal blood, no matter how badly diluted. Ralph escapes the confines of the palace for a night at a strip club and instantly falls for a dancer named Miranda Greene (Camille Coduri) when she refuses to remove her top on stage. Ralph begins a courtship of Miranda and Graves sees it as a chance to sabotage the new king.
“King Ralph” deals a bounty of hysterics, all of which are the result of an impossible situation and the bold contrast between the crude American lounge singer Ralph and the sophisticated English upper-classmen he now must rule over. Despite Ralph’s foolishness, his subjects are forced to be subservient and to honor his every command. The creation of the plot is born of its simplicity – it would be funny for an obnoxious sloppy Vegas lounge singer to be, not only made into a king, but to be the King of England (picture Roseanne Barr replacing Queen Elizabeth II) and thus the story is made.
The movie also features great one-liners and dialogue, from Ralph’s attempts to fit in with the completely different culture to great banter between polar opposites Goodman and O’Toole. One scene depicts Cedric giving Ralph a tour of historical English monarchs, and he references a portrait of King George III and explains he was in power during the “temper tantrum referred to as the Revolutionary War.” Ralph calls it sour grapes and gloats that “we kicked your ass.” “The loss is entirely yours” Cedric advises “or should I saw ours. Try to remember you’re one of us now.” Ralph responds the only way he knows how. “Okay, but I still say they kicked our ass.”
“King Ralph” is simple and funny. It’s a perfect rainy/sick day movie done in an era of film that mastered the art of simplicity.
– by Matt Christopher
