Ruby Gentry (1952)

How sad is this?

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Jennifer Jones and Charlton Heston both give steamed-up performances in this sexy melodrama. The beginning of the film starts off a little slow, but when Heston's character marries someone else, all the stops get pulled out. Of course, there are other actresses who could have played the role of Ruby: Ava Gardner and Gene Tierney quickly come to mind. What Miss Jones gives it, however, is a realistic tomboyish quality. For the first half of the film, she wears modest clothing (mostly denim) and acts rough and unsophisticated. She transforms herself into something more mature and glamorous when her character marries a wealthy man (played by Karl Malden). Miss Jones previously received direction from King Vidor on David Selznick's earlier production, DUEL IN THE SUN. Not too surprisingly, Mr. Vidor's direction is excellent, and without a doubt, he sets this production apart from his other films and from other run-of-the-mill melodramas.

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 where she gets looked over while pouring 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, it's like she's concentrating on a road map. Yet her performance is a great one, overall, because 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 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."

This film has Oscar winners, Jennifer Jones, Charlton Heston, and Karl Malden in an unusual love triangle. Jennifer Jones plays Ruby, the girl from the wrong side of the tracks who can play with the men. She's in love with Heston's character but he can't marry her because of the scandal. But it doesn't mean that he doesn't lust after her. As a girl, she went to Mr. Gentry's home for a couple of years. Years later, Gentry (played by Karl Malden) invites her to help care for his sick wife played by Josephine Hutchinson. When she dies, he offers a proposal of marriage to Ruby. In the small town of Braddock, North Carolina, Ruby's marriage to beloved Gentry doesn't sit too well with the country club. Anyway, Heston's character is still pining for Ruby. I have to say that I liked Jennifer Jones in this role as Ruby Gentry. She allowed her to develop into a complex character than just a cardboard cut-up of the studio system.

Although the late Jennifer Jones excelled at portraying sweet and benevolent ladies on screen (Sister Bernadette in "The Song of Bernadette," Jane Hilton, the epitomized all-American girl, in "Since You Went Away," the ghostly and angelic Jennie Appleton in "Portrait of Jennie," the perfect schoolmarm in "Good Morning, Miss Dove," for example), as her millions of fans all know, she also specialized in playing lustful, self-willed and oftentimes tempestuous women. 1946's "Duel in the Sun," with Jennifer as the hot-blooded Pearl Chavez, is a perfect example of that type, but a look at "Ruby Gentry," made six years later by the same director, King Vidor, shows that Jones could be just as effective in a much smaller picture, playing a similar role. "Duel" was mockingly referred to as "Lust in the Dust," and I suppose one could give "Ruby" the tagline "Romp in the Swamp." In this one, she starts out as Ruby Corey, born on "the wrong side of the tracks" (a so-called "swamp trotter") in the modern-day, fictitious town of Braddock, N.C. Although desperately in love with well-to-do Boake Tackman (played by Charlton Heston in one of his earlier roles), she marries the wealthiest man in town, Jim Gentry (the always marvelous Karl Malden), on the spiteful rebound. A marital tragedy strengthens Ruby's resolve to avenge herself on both the snobbish townspeople and on Boake himself, leading, "Duel in the Sun" style, to even more tragedy down the line. Jennifer, it must be said, is simply marvelous here; her poor-white Southern accent doesn't slip once and her chemistry with Heston is a thing to behold. The film also features atmospheric direction by Vidor and a lovely, memorable score by Heinz Roemheld. In all, a quality production, and yet another victory for the great Jennifer Jones.