Ruby Gentry

Charlton Heston is at the height of his hunk stage and played an unusual type, against his rugged, frontier persona. Jennifer Jones is sultry and moody through several decades, backed by the haunting "Ruby" theme. Richard Hyman's harmonica is a perfect compliment to the two lead character types. I think it is even more effective in black and white than it could ever have been in color. Perhaps this element underscores the black and white social mores of the era. This movie is the first to really make me believe Jennifer Jones character is principally an emotionally grounded person, touchable by others. I usually find her too self contained to feel deeply. I have seen this movie several times, and thoroughly appreciate it each time.

I saw this when I was very young and it was quite risqué for 1952. Jennifer was beautiful and very seductive. The thought of a woman being shown on the screen engaged in seduction was far from the norm for my family. I went with my friend and was afraid to tell my Mother. I need to rent this and see if it still holds up after all this time. I'm sure Jennifer will as she was a wonderful actress. I love Charlton Heston because is a journeyman actor but he bugs me. He always seems to be the same person. Karl Malden is an actors actor and never gives a bad performance. The setting was typical of that time, poor girl seduces rich boy. The other one was rich girl falls for poor boy. Sure never happened in my life. What I remember most though was the music as It is so plaintive.. I have it downloaded and it is one of my favorites.

This well directed film by classic Hollywood filmmaker King Vidor delivers unsettling passions , emotion , meandering drama and resulting in sad tragedy . Enjoyable melodrama set down in the Carolina swamplands , where they have names like Ruby , Jud, Boake , Jewel , Cullen . Despite their different social stratum , white-trash girl Ruby (Jennifer Jones) and upper-class Boake (Charlton Heston) grew up together in the 1950s North Carolina. Ruby Corey lived with her poor family in the swamps while Boake Tackman lived in a mansion with maids . As long as their friendship stayed within the socially decent limits no one objected . In adulthood their friendship becomes a mutual romantic attraction resulting in a passional love story . But then things go wrong when she marries wealthy financer (Karl Malden) and to spite him she seeks a cold comeuppance. So dangerous...destructive...deadly to love! The swamp hellion who wrecked a town - Sin by Sin !. The story of Ruby Gentry, who wrecked a whole town -- man by man ...sin by sin.

Yet another overheated and turgid Hollywood melodrama about a doomed damsel in distress from the wrong side of the swamp . Ordinary plot about a crazy love story in which an easy-virtue Southerner Jones marrying rich Malden to spite Heston , the man she loves . Vintage Southern theme of revenge , nice filmmaking and interpreation loft it a notch . The picture is acceptable , though displays some artificial roles .As Jennifer Jones gives a throughly exaggerated performance as the sexy but poor young girl marries a rich man she doesn't love, but carries a torch for another man . As Jennifer Jones overacting while tosses her hairb tempestuously and making the sultry even if sometimes looks like a re-run from he early character as Perla in Duel in the sun. Along with the two top-drawer actors , Jones and Heston , appearing great secpndary players , such as : Karl Malden , Tom Tully , Barney Phillips , James Anderson , Josephine Hutchinson , among others.

It contains an atmospheric , evocative cinematography in black and white by Russell Harlan . As well as adequate and romantic musical score by classical composer Heinz Roemheld . The picture was competently directed by King Vidor , though it has some uneven scenes . Here King shows some his peculiar visual style . In addition , the picture went on to become a box office hit . King Vidor directed other enjoyable movies as Westerns :¨Duel in the sun¨ , ¨Northwest passage¨, ¨Billy the Kid¨ , and ¨Texas Rangers¨ . And made several classic movies as ¨War and peace¨ , ¨Comrade X¨ , ¨Stella Dallas¨ , ¨Fountainhead¨ , ¨Our daily bread¨ , ¨The citadel¨ , ¨The crowd¨ , ¨Big parade¨ and several others . Rating : 6.5/10 . The flick will appeal to Charlton Heston and Jennifer Jones fans .

This hormone driven drama should have provided fodder for a good prime time soap opera the way Joan Crawford's Flamingo Road was later turned into one for television. The characters and plot line are right up there with Dallas and Falcon Crest.

Jennifer Jones is driving all the men crazy here. First we have Charlton Heston who's the scion of the town's leading family. Good bloodlines, but a cash flow problem. He just wants a roll in the hay with her bad, but marry her and soil the family name, heaven forfend. Then we have Karl Malden, the town's richest man who stayed faithful to and invalid wife, but who also lusts for Jennifer and then marries her before the wife's body is cold. And we can't forget the Yankee doctor who comes to this North Carolina town and takes one look at Jennifer Jones in a tight blouse and he's hooked. Bernard Phillips who plays the doctor is the narrator and it's his eyes from which we see the action unfold. And we can't forget Jennifer's brother James Anderson, a wild religious fanatic who is constantly warning her about the wages of her sins, but there's more than a little hint of some incest he'd like to engage in.

Charlton Heston said in his memoirs that he enjoyed working with Jennifer Jones, Karl Malden and the rest of the cast, but David O. Selznick, Jen's husband and svengali was one royal pain.

The movie is trash, it don't pretend to be anything else, but it made a mint at the box office. If you liked Dallas, Falcon Crest, Dynasty, etc., you'll love Ruby Gentry.

Jennifer Jones is so big in this film she makes Charlton Heston appear to be underacting - no mean feat! Nonetheless she's a fascinating actress to watch, and the whole film is fresh. Does it seem like "real life" North Carolina? No, but I don't really think it matters. It's an effective, entertaining melodrama that was a big hit in its day.

Ruby Gentry was filmed on location (mostly in rural California), and what a nice, uncomplicated, outdoor feeling the film has. It's not studio-bound at all, even when the occasional use of process photography is obvious. Who could ever forget that amazing love scene played in the convertible careening down the beach, for example? You can almost feel the fresh sea air and smell the salt water. Heston and Jones, in this and other steamy scenes (at least for the time) make a surprisingly effective team.

Photographed in real light, Jennifer Jones looks just about five years too old for the part; she seems to compensate by overdoing the tomboy aspects, strutting about and speaking too loudly to people standing three feet away from her. Playing a tramp-ish character, a girl from the wrong side of the tracks, she's hardly as naturally sultry or sexy as, say, Ava Gardner. She works at it, and works a bit too hard, at times. A scene in which she pours coffee for a group of horny guys, where all she has to do is stand there looking good, is played with so many varied facial tics and expressions. She can't throw away a scene, or a moment.

Yet her performance is appropriate to the character and the film. She commands the screen and is never boring for a second. What's great about Jennifer Jones is her incredible sensitivity, so that when Ruby is slighted by the people of her town for her low social status, despite (and because of) her marriage to Karl Malden's wealthy character, her hurt and rage are palpable. She really lives the part. And this drives the film. She has a great deal of life on the screen.

Charlton Heston is great. Looser than usual, calling his girl, "baby." He doesn't seem to rely as much on his mellifluous voice this time. He plays a regular American guy. It's a shame he didn't get to demonstrate the casual quality of his Boake Teckman, here, in other roles. But I guess when you play Moses and Michelangelo you don't get that much of an opportunity.

Karl Malden was still pretty new to moviegoers at this time but he became very popular, very fast, after his Oscar winning role in Streetcar. In many ways he's always reminded me of Spencer Tracy with his sharp yet warm, human portrayals. Unfortunately he didn't have Tracy's good looks and wasn't in line for leading man parts. But that didn't stop him from becoming a top star. He blends into his part expertly and makes us forget he's acting. He just seems to be Jim Gentry.

The brilliant director King Vidor went through a long melodramatic period and it was most enjoyable. Ruby Gentry was a highlight.

The score (for harmonica and orchestra) is one of the most memorable things about the film, the theme music became a big hit called "Ruby."