# The Ruling Class
**The Ruling Class** is a 1972 British black comedy directed by Peter Medak, adapted by playwright Peter Barnes from his own satirical stage play, in which [Peter O'Toole](https://www.edgepedia.org/peter-otoole) plays Jack, the 14th Earl of Gurney, a paranoid schizophrenic aristocrat who believes he is Jesus Christ.[1](https://www.criterion.com/films/678-the-ruling-class) After being "cured" of this delusion, Jack comes to believe he is [Jack the Ripper](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-the-ripper).[1](https://www.criterion.com/films/678-the-ruling-class) The film is a darkly comic indictment of Britain's class system and organized religion, mixing insanity, sadistic sarcasm, and black comedy with touches of the Hollywood musical.[1](https://www.criterion.com/films/678-the-ruling-class)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original release | 1972, United Kingdom; 154 minutes, color, 1.77:1, English[1](https://www.criterion.com/films/678-the-ruling-class) |
| Source | Peter Barnes's satirical play, first performed at the Nottingham Playhouse in 1968, transferred to the West End the following year[2](https://www.neilpearsonrarebooks.com/signed-and-inscribed-items/the-ruling-class-detail) |
| Director and writers | Directed by Peter Medak; screenplay by Peter Barnes; produced by Jules Buck and Jack Hawkins for Keep Films[1](https://www.criterion.com/films/678-the-ruling-class) |
| Lead performance | Peter O'Toole as Jack, 14th Earl of Gurney; Academy Award nomination for Best Actor[3](https://www.laemmle.com/film/ruling-class) |
| Festival | Britain's official entry at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival; Palme d'Or nominee[4](https://hame.ca/otoole/articles/rulingabs.html) • [3](https://www.laemmle.com/film/ruling-class) |
| Reception | 83% Tomatometer (12 reviews) and 85% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes; 7.2/10 on IMDb (7.4k votes)[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ruling_class) |
| Later revival | Restaged in 2015 by Jamie Lloyd at Trafalgar Studios, winning James McAvoy an Evening Standard Best Actor award[6](https://app.standard.co.uk/culture/theatre/peter-barnes-playwright-monologues-b918321.html) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The 13th Earl of Gurney ([Harry Andrews](https://www.edgepedia.org/harry-andrews)) dies in a cross-dressing accident, and his estate and title pass to his son Jack (Peter O'Toole), who has spent the previous eight years in a lunatic asylum and believes he is Jesus Christ.[4](https://hame.ca/otoole/articles/rulingabs.html) • [5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ruling_class) Jack sings and dances across the estate, and his explanation of his identity is simple: "When I pray to him, I find I'm talking to myself."[7](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-05-26-ol-62350-story.html)
Apart from thirty thousand pounds left to the butler Tucker ([Arthur Lowe](https://www.edgepedia.org/arthur-lowe)), who promptly begins drinking and insulting the family, the title and estate pass entirely to Jack.[4](https://hame.ca/otoole/articles/rulingabs.html) Believing Jack mentally unfit to own the estate, his relatives plot to steal his inheritance and to have him declared insane; as their schemes fail, the family tries to cure him of his behavior, with disastrous results.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ruling_class) Jack's psychologist, Dr. Herder (Michael Bryant), theorizes that since Jack suffers from delusions of grandeur, he must, as an English aristocrat, believe himself the one person grander than himself, God.[7](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-05-26-ol-62350-story.html)
The cure succeeds only by replacing one delusion with another: Jack emerges believing he is Jack the Ripper, and the film ends with him holding court in the [House of Lords](https://www.edgepedia.org/house-of-lords).[1](https://www.criterion.com/films/678-the-ruling-class) • [8](https://www.roku.com/whats-on/movies/the-ruling-class?id=7c06961c4314597193710d2e140eb792) When Jack gives an impromptu sermon declaring that God's love "makes all men equal," his uncle (William Mervyn) declares, "He's not only mad, he's Bolshevik," a line that captures the film's target, the way the upper crust defines insanity.[7](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-05-26-ol-62350-story.html)
## From stage to screen
Peter Barnes's satirical state-of-the-nation play, an attack on the church and the British aristocracy, had its first performance at the Nottingham Playhouse in 1968 and transferred to the West End the following year.[2](https://www.neilpearsonrarebooks.com/signed-and-inscribed-items/the-ruling-class-detail) • [9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jul-02-me-barnes2-story.html) Peter O'Toole bought the film rights through Keep Films, his own production company, and together with his coproducers Jules Buck and [Jack Hawkins](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-hawkins) he financed the picture by selling its distribution rights in advance to [United Artists](https://www.edgepedia.org/united-artists).[2](https://www.neilpearsonrarebooks.com/signed-and-inscribed-items/the-ruling-class-detail) • [10](https://www.rjbuffalo.com/Ch23.html) Barnes adapted his own play, expanding it by about 30 minutes, and the film ended up at 154 minutes plus an intermission.[2](https://www.neilpearsonrarebooks.com/signed-and-inscribed-items/the-ruling-class-detail) • [10](https://www.rjbuffalo.com/Ch23.html)
The supporting cast featured [Alastair Sim](https://www.edgepedia.org/alastair-sim) as Bishop Lampton, Arthur Lowe as Tucker, Coral Browne as Lady Claire, Harry Andrews as the 13th Earl, Michael Bryant as Dr. Herder, [Nigel Green](https://www.edgepedia.org/nigel-green) as McKyle, William Mervyn as Sir Charles, Carolyn Seymour as Grace, and Graham Crowden as Dr. Truscott, "the man from the loony bin" sent to assess the Earl's sanity.[2](https://www.neilpearsonrarebooks.com/signed-and-inscribed-items/the-ruling-class-detail) • [1](https://www.criterion.com/films/678-the-ruling-class) John Cameron wrote the music, Ken Hodges was the cinematographer, and Ray Lovejoy the editor.[1](https://www.criterion.com/films/678-the-ruling-class)
## Release and reception
The film was Britain's official entry at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival.[4](https://hame.ca/otoole/articles/rulingabs.html) British critics in May 1972 frequently objected to its length, with reviewers in *The Tablet*, the *Monthly Film Bulletin*, *The Evening News*, *The Guardian*, and others calling it a film "of inordinate length."[11](https://www.research.herts.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/9812211/Mark_Broughton_PhD_thesis.pdf) The American theatrical release was dated September 13, 1972.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ruling_class)
The film was trimmed to 148 minutes for its US release and later cut to 141 minutes to fit on a single videocassette, then the longest available.[12](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069198/) Roger Ebert, the film critic of the *Chicago Sun-Times* and winner of the 1975 [Pulitzer Prize](https://www.edgepedia.org/pulitzer-prize) for criticism, gave the original 1972 version three stars but rated the restored uncut re-release half a star less, finding that the restored scenes increased the film's gloom and aimlessness.[13](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-ruling-class-1972) O'Toole himself called the film "a comedy with tragic relief," and [Leonard Maltin](https://www.edgepedia.org/leonard-maltin) described it as a "hilarious, irreverent black comedy" overflowing with crazy ideas, people bursting into song, and boisterously funny characterizations.[3](https://www.laemmle.com/film/ruling-class)
O'Toole earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for the role, his second Oscar nomination, and the film was nominated for the [Palme d'Or](https://www.edgepedia.org/palme-dor) at Cannes.[3](https://www.laemmle.com/film/ruling-class) • [6](https://app.standard.co.uk/culture/theatre/peter-barnes-playwright-monologues-b918321.html) The critic Harold Hobson rated *The Ruling Class* the fourth most important premiere of his reviewing life, alongside *Waiting for Godot*, *Look Back in Anger*, and *The Birthday Party*.[14](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/jan/29/james-mcavoy-in-the-ruling-class-what-the-critics-said)
## Style and themes
The film satirizes British aristocracy and Christianity in boldly sacrilegious images, oscillating between traditional narrative and musical numbers that interrupt the drama with song and dance.[15](https://www.perisphere.org/2023/07/02/the-ruling-class-arrogance-in-aristocracy/) • [16](https://www.wamc.org/arts-culture/2022-05-03/has-the-ruling-class-maintained-its-status-as-a-cult-film?_amp=true) Its music draws on British music hall numbers, [Tin Pan Alley](https://www.edgepedia.org/tin-pan-alley) songs, touches of opera, and touches of burlesque.[16](https://www.wamc.org/arts-culture/2022-05-03/has-the-ruling-class-maintained-its-status-as-a-cult-film?_amp=true) The unusual construction, combining strong social and political messaging with abrupt shifts into song and dance, is a main reason some 1970s film viewers took it up as a cult favorite.[16](https://www.wamc.org/arts-culture/2022-05-03/has-the-ruling-class-maintained-its-status-as-a-cult-film?_amp=true)
Scholarship on the film has emphasized its ideological dimension. A chapter of *British Film* ([Cambridge University Press](https://www.edgepedia.org/cambridge-university-press), 2004) treats it as a film about class and ideology, written at a moment when film theory and cultural studies were centrally concerned with explaining why people accept the existing social hierarchy.[17](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/british-film/ruling-class-ideology-and-the-school-movie/CFD4389C4BB0A854921E00CADBA9AB9E) Work on the film's settings argues that a film attacking the aristocracy denies even the aesthetic pedigree of the ruling class's landscapes, using country house locations against the class they housed.[18](https://uhra.herts.ac.uk/id/eprint/15079/)
## Home video and revival
[The Criterion Collection](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-criterion-collection) released the film as Spine #132 with a director-approved special edition: a restored digital master of the original full-length version supervised by Peter Medak, an audio commentary featuring O'Toole, Medak, and Barnes, Medak's 16mm home movies shot on location, production stills, and an essay by Ian Christie.[1](https://www.criterion.com/films/678-the-ruling-class) In 2015, Jamie Lloyd revived the play at Trafalgar Studios with James McAvoy, who won the Evening Standard Best Actor award; critics compared McAvoy's "astonishing physical bravura" to O'Toole's in the 1972 film.[6](https://app.standard.co.uk/culture/theatre/peter-barnes-playwright-monologues-b918321.html) • [14](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/jan/29/james-mcavoy-in-the-ruling-class-what-the-critics-said)
## References
1. [The Ruling Class, The Criterion Collection](https://www.criterion.com/films/678-the-ruling-class)
2. [The Ruling Class screenplay, Neil Pearson Rare Books](https://www.neilpearsonrarebooks.com/signed-and-inscribed-items/the-ruling-class-detail)
3. [The Ruling Class, Laemmle Theatres](https://www.laemmle.com/film/ruling-class)
4. [Abstract for The Ruling Class from Magill's Survey of Cinema](https://hame.ca/otoole/articles/rulingabs.html)
5. [The Ruling Class, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ruling_class)
6. [Peter Barnes playwright: the razor-sharp master of the monologue returns at last, Evening Standard](https://app.standard.co.uk/culture/theatre/peter-barnes-playwright-monologues-b918321.html)
7. ['Ruling Class' Has an Heir of Holy Madness About It, Los Angeles Times (1994)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-05-26-ol-62350-story.html)
8. [The Ruling Class, Roku](https://www.roku.com/whats-on/movies/the-ruling-class?id=7c06961c4314597193710d2e140eb792)
9. [Peter Barnes, 73; Wrote 'The Ruling Class', Los Angeles Times (2004)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jul-02-me-barnes2-story.html)
10. [The Ruling Class, rjbuffalo.com](https://www.rjbuffalo.com/Ch23.html)
11. [Mark Broughton, Spirits of Place (PhD thesis, University of Hertfordshire)](https://www.research.herts.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/9812211/Mark_Broughton_PhD_thesis.pdf)
12. [The Ruling Class (1972), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069198/)
13. [The Ruling Class movie review, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-ruling-class-1972)
14. [James McAvoy in The Ruling Class – what the critics said, The Guardian (2015)](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/jan/29/james-mcavoy-in-the-ruling-class-what-the-critics-said)
15. [The Ruling Class: Arrogance in Aristocracy, Perisphere (2023)](https://www.perisphere.org/2023/07/02/the-ruling-class-arrogance-in-aristocracy/)
16. [Has The Ruling Class maintained its status as a cult film?, WAMC (2022)](https://www.wamc.org/arts-culture/2022-05-03/has-the-ruling-class-maintained-its-status-as-a-cult-film?_amp=true)
17. [The Ruling Class: Ideology and the School Movie, in British Film (Cambridge University Press, 2004)](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/british-film/ruling-class-ideology-and-the-school-movie/CFD4389C4BB0A854921E00CADBA9AB9E)
18. [Landscape and Dialectical Atavism in The Ruling Class, University of Hertfordshire](https://uhra.herts.ac.uk/id/eprint/15079/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Black comedy and satire films › Released 1939 to 1997*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license