Arka Evren

FILM · 1972 · UK

The Ruling Class

21 archived facts 3 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026

16 Interesting Facts About The Ruling Class

  1. #003

    Alastair Sim modelled his characterization of Bishop Lampton on the Archbishop of All England (the leading religious figure of the Church of England), Michael Ramsey (later Baron Ramsey of Canterbury). Portraits of Ramsey in the National Gallery bear a resemblance to the physical aspects of Sim's character.

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  2. #004

    The film's writer, Peter Barnes, went to school in Stroud, just outside Bristol. There is also a mental hospital in the village of Barrow Gurney, just outside Bristol; "Barrow Gurney" has long been associated with mental illness in the local dialect. The naming of the central family in the play "Gurney" seems to be more than a coincidence.

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  3. #005

    In the DVD commentary, Peter O'Toole says that he did the horse-riding display during the hunt himself, because he owned a racehorse, Red Eric, a good horse that won several races and is now retired, and he dreamed of riding a real thoroughbred racehorse at a gallop.

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  4. #007

    Peter O'Toole performed Jack's leap from the cross himself.

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  5. #008

    Jack's (Peter O'Toole) first speech in the House of Lords as the Earl of Gurney ends with a near-perfect quotation of three passages from the King James Bible: Deuteronomy 20:3, Deuteronomy 20:4 and Ezekiel 7:9. ("Approach today to battle against your enemies. Let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them. For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you. And mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity. I will recompense their way upon them and their doings. And they shall know that I am the Lord that smiteth.").

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  6. #009

    The English country house that serves as the setting for much of the film originally belonged to an outspoken opponent of capital punishment (Jack is an outspoken advocate of it).

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  7. #010

    It was banned by the South African apartheid censorship board.

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  8. #012

    Peter O'Toole's first scene appears after 20 minutes of the film.

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  9. #013

    Peter O'Toole had previously played a psychopathic Jack the Ripper-style killer in The Night of the Generals (1967).

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  10. #014

    Peter O'Toole and Coral Browne had previously appeared together in The Night of the Generals (1967).

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  11. #015

    The film was produced by Jack Hawkins, who does not appear in it.

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  12. #016

    Peter O'Toole and Arthur Lowe had previously appeared together in The Day They Robbed the Bank of England (1960).

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  13. #017

    This film is part of spine number 132 of the Criterion Collection.

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  14. #018

    Coral Browne, Harry Andrews and Arthur Lowe appeared the following year in Theatre of Blood (1973), and Jack Hawkins, who produced the film, also appeared in Theatre of Blood.

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  15. #019

    James Villiers (Dinsdale) and Graham Crowden (Truscott) appeared in the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only (1981).

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  16. #020

    Peter O'Toole and Peter Medak were previously to have worked together on Figures in a Landscape (1970), but they were replaced by Robert Shaw and Joseph Losey respectively.

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