King Ralph

As the only relative to take over the Royal throne, a down on his luck American slob must learn the ways of the English.

• Director: David S. Ward
• Genre:Comedy
• Runtime:93 minutes

Cast

John Goodman : Ralph Hampton Gainesworth Jones
Peter O’Toole : Sir Cedric Charles Willingham
John Hurt : Lord Percival Graves
Camille Coduri : Miranda Green
Richard Griffiths: Duncan Phipps

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 United Kingdom, is wiped out in a freak accident. The family is together for the first time in six years when they are electrocuted after the metal platforms they are standing on for a family photograph become wet during a storm. There are no known members of the Wyndham family left alive.

The British government immediately begins a search led by courtier Cedric Willingham to learn whether there are any surviving heirs to whom to pass the crown. A researcher finally locates a living heir named Ralph Jones (John Goodman), an American.

In Las Vegas, Ralph works as a lounge singer/piano player in one of the main casinos. He is an easygoing slob, singing the Don Ho piece Tiny Bubbles while watching an American football game on TV. Duncan Phipps and Inspector McGuire (Niall O’Brien) watch the performance and applaud with enthusiasm. When Ralph returns to his room, he discovers that he’s been fired for not performing to expected standards and replaced by a chimpanzee. Ralph meets Phipps and McGuire, who inform him that he is now king, though at first Ralph is skeptical over Phipps’ claims. Phipps explains that Ralph’s grandfather, the first Duke of Warren, had 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 finally convinced when seeing the Duke’s ring, an exact copy of one the Duke had given to his grandmother.

Ralph is flown to London, where he meets Willingham for the first time and begins the long period of adjustment instruction intended to turn him into a proper British monarch. Ralph also learns the hard way that the British monarch does not just “smile and wave”. Read more

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