King Ralph (1991)
Actors:
Robin Demetriou (miscellaneous crew),
Sydney Pollack (producer),
James Newton Howard (composer),
James Villiers (actor),
John Hurt (actor),
Emlyn Williams (writer),
Joely Richardson (actress),
Leslie Phillips (actor),
Julian Glover (actor),
John Goodman (actor),
Roger Ashton-Griffiths (actor),
Richard Griffiths (actor),
Peter O'Toole (actor),
Diana Dill (miscellaneous crew),
Judy Parfitt (actress),
Plot: When an accident obliterates the British royal family and most of its branches, a desperate geneological search discovers the next king: Ralph, a sleazy American lounge singer. Can Ralph measure up to the job, even with the help of loyal aristocrat Willingham?
Keywords: 1990s, airplane, american, american-abroad, american-in-the-uk, arrest, banquet, barbecue, baseball-cap, baseball-hat
Genres:
Comedy,
Romance,
Taglines: A comedy of majestic proportions When Ralph becomes royalty, laughter reigns! A great tragedy has befallen the royal family leaving only one heir to the throne...
Quotes:
Phipps: Sir Cedric! Sir Cedric! Good news. We've finally found an heir!::Sir Cedric Willingham: That's wonderful, Duncan. Who is he?::Phipps: His name is Jones. Ralph Jones.::Sir Cedric Willingham: Is he everything we've hoped for?::Phipps: [embarrassed] Well. He has his strengths and his weaknesses. You see, he's::[uncomfortable pause]::Phipps: American.::Sir Cedric Willingham: Quickly, Duncan! The strengths!
Sir Cedric Willingham: Your majesty, may I present the Sovereign King Mulamboa of Zambezi.::Ralph Jones: [seeing that the king is black, using a Eubonics dialect] Hey, homes! Whas happenin'! Gimme quintet, brother!::King Mulamboa: I do not comprehend, Your Majesty!::Ralph Jones: Uh, welcome, Your Majesty. On behalf of the people of the United Kingdom... [uncomfortable silence]::Ralph Jones: Uh, do you wanna go get a beer?
Hale: [Ralph has referred to Princess Anna as a 'fox'] I'm glad you find her so. Best wishes in your fox hunting.::King Gustav: Fox hunting? You like fox hunting, yes.::Ralph Jones: Well, I don't get out much lately. But I used to go out almost every evening. One club or another.::King Gustav: Really? That often? You must have collected several tails.::Ralph Jones: [shocked] Well, I admit I slept with a few. But I'm not like that anymore. Nowadays you can't be too careful. You don't know who they've been with.::King Gustav: No, I suppose not.::Ralph Jones: Yeah, once I got a steady girl, that put an end to it.::King Gustav: She did not like fox hunting?::Ralph Jones: Of course not! Anna's not into it, is she?::King Gustav: Oh, yes! She loves it! Most royals do.
Lord Percival Graves: [after Ralph accuses Graves of undermining him] This is an OUTRAGE! A VILE piece of slander! I demand to know the source of these allegations!::Ralph Jones: We have the signed confession of a royal page, Gordon Halliwell, who worked with Lord Graves.::Lord Percival Graves: I know NO SUCH MAN!::Ralph Jones: And several cheques made out to the photographers who took the pictures, signed by Lord Graves. Whose fingerprints were also on the photographs.::Lord Percival Graves: So! I saw them at the ball!::Ralph Jones: And Scotland Yard found the negatives at his house this morning.::Lord Percival Graves: [realizes he's been caught] By what right can you order my arrest!::Ralph Jones: By the Treason Act of 1702 forbidding interference in the proper succesion of a monarch. Enacted by...::[pause, as he recites the Order of the Kings poem to himself]::Ralph Jones: William III!::various Members of Parliament: [staggered throughout Parliament as Lord Graves is escorted out by Scotland Yard] SHAME! SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!::Dysentery: [watching on TV] That's right! String him up! Wanker!
Sir Cedric Willingham: It is far easier to whisper advice from cover than to risk it's merit at the point of attack.
Sir Cedric Willingham: We'll put the velour industry on full standby.
Sir Cedric Willingham: How's it going, Your Majesty?::Ralph Jones: Great. We've got nothing in common and she's got a voice like a tuba. If she had her way, we'd have sex on a bed of nails on national television. But at least the party stinks.
Sir Cedric Willingham: It's I who should be thanking you. You showed me how to be a king.::Ralph Jones: Me? I was a lousy king.::Sir Cedric Willingham: On the contrary. You are a good and decent man, and you've acted honorably. I shall try to follow your example.::Ralph Jones: Thank you, Ced.
Sir Cedric Willingham: It's not enough simply to be the king. You must look and act like one.
[reciting some rules of etiquette to Ralph on videotape]::Phipps: When in public, a royal personage must refrain from chewing gum, using profanity, picking his nose, scratching his p... p... p... p... private parts and staring down the bust lines of visiting female dignitaries.::Ralph Jones: What the hell! That's everything!