Movie

The Ruling Class

1972 · 154 min

A theatrical, unsettling satire that swings from absurd comedy to chilling horror, demanding attention as it skewers privilege and madness.

Directed by: Peter Medak
Genres: Comedy, Drama
Starring: Peter O'Toole, Alastair Sim, Arthur Lowe

Overview: 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.

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In the UKNo streaming, rental or purchase options known.

Directed by: Peter Medak
Genres: Comedy, Drama
Starring: Peter O'Toole, Alastair Sim, Arthur Lowe

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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone: darkstrength 3 of 3
satiricalstrength 3 of 3
absurdstrength 2 of 3
campystrength 2 of 3
Pacing: measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention: demanding, 4 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes: madness
class
power
corruption
identity
Places: single country house
big city
Era: contemporary
Audience: adult
Form: ensemble
nonlinear
Content intensity: Gore mild
Language strong
Violence strong
Sex strong

All scales, 0 to 10

Scales, 0 to 10
Scale	Value	0 to 10
Action	2
Horror	5
Humour	7
Realism	4
Romance	2
Tension	6
Darkness	9
Complexity	8
Emotional weight	8

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Where to watch in the UK

No UK streaming, rental or purchase options are known.

Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

Details

Genres: comedy, drama
Directed by: Peter Medak
Written by: Peter Barnes
Starring: Peter O'Toole, Alastair Sim, Arthur Lowe, Harry Andrews, Coral Browne, Michael Bryant, Nigel Green, William Mervyn
Music: John Cameron
Cinematography: Ken Hodges
Runtime: 154 min
Country: United Kingdom
Languages: German, English, French, Italian, Latin

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The Ruling Class

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