In 1908 the Earl of Burnstead (Roland Young) gambles away his eminently correct English manservant, Marmaduke Ruggles (Charles Laughton). Ruggles' new masters, crude nouveau riche American millionaires Egbert and Effie Floud (Charlie Ruggles and Mary Boland), bring Ruggles back to Red Gap, Washington (state), a remote American West boomtown. Mistaken for a wealthy retired Englishman colonel, Ruggles becomes a celebrity in the small town. As Ruggles attempts to adjust to his unfamiliar new community, he learns to live life on his own terms, achieving a fulfilling independence as a result.