jarrodmcdonald-1 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.

showtrmp Inescapably wholesome Jennifer Jones tries once again to get low-down and trampy in this strange melodrama--it doesn't have the trashy splendor of her previous camp classic "Duel in the Sun", but the comparative restraint of "Ruby Gentry" somehow makes it seem even more absurd. Jones is supposed to be the daughter of a family of swamp-dwellers, but her hair, makeup, and costumes remain flawless from beginning to end--her idea of "backwoods tramp" is somewhere between Helen Hayes and Doris Day. She's caught in a doomed romance with rake Charlon Heston (just like the one with Gregory Peck in "Duel", although Heston is slightly more convincing)--the two of them spend their scenes twisting their bodies into increasingly distorted positions, mashing their mouths together, clawing at each other's hair, etc. Jones' fundamentalist brother occasionally blathers on at her about her "unforgivable sins", although the unforgivable career damage is not mentioned; the romance abruptly ends in an extended shootout scene in that pure-Hollywood "swamp". All of this happens because Ruby was "born on the wrong side of the tracks" (an offscreen narrator reminds us of this fact about seven hundred times). Next time, move the tracks.

RanchoTuVu A drama set in a small town in North Carolina that doggedly holds on to the strict social division between the classes, all the more so given the fact that powerful post war 20th century economic forces are changing everyone's fortunes, and now the old money (what's left of it) can only grasp onto the past in order to maintain their weakened grip on their obsolete social hierarchy. To threaten the social order more is saucy Jennifer Jones, who all the upper class guys lust after, a woman from the wrong side of the tracks with a born again brother (James Anderson) who throughout the film reminds her that her soul is doomed to eternal damnation as she tempts and pleases Charlton Heston, who's upper class family has only their good name left, and who is promised to only moderately attractive and far less sexy Tracy McCauliff (Phyllis Avery) who's family is still rich AND respected. It's quite a trade off. The best scene comes after Heston and Avery marry and are at the local country club for a dance, and Heston and Jones dance provocatively while Jone's husband, the rich and jealous Karl Malden, who she decided to marry after she lost out on Heston,can't believe that this is happening to him. The film falters somewhat as it lurches towards the end, but pacing wise and photographically (B&W by the great Russel Harlan) it's definitely worth checking out.

MARIO GAUCI With this I've started my tribute to Charlton Heston – being also one of six planned first viewings. The film isn't one of his most renowned efforts (coming also very early in his career), in spite of director Vidor's involvement; nonetheless, it's typical of the latter (whose twilight years were marked by a mostly lean period in his career) – a fairly risible romantic melodrama of the kind D.W. Griffith was making forty years earlier and which were concurrently being revitalized in the works of Tennessee Williams! RUBY GENTRY actually looks back to an earlier Vidor title involving a forbidden liaison sparking notoriety, death and revenge – DUEL IN THE SUN (1946), with which it shares leading lady Jennifer Jones – but, at least, that one was backed by Technicolor, an epic scope and a willing all-star cast; this, on the other hand, is unconvincing and rather half-hearted – though leading to a similarly absurd climax (with Heston and Jones attacked by the latter's religious fanatic brother).Following the death of his invalid wife (Josephine Hutchinson), meek but wealthy Karl Malden (who comes off best out of the main trio of stars) allows himself to be hitched by the tomboyish and backwoods Jones; the latter had herself been spurned by well-bred Heston, who prefers to marry into money for the sake of his dream project. However, the two lovers can't stay apart for long and the two men have a big fight over her at a party (which, curiously enough, takes place off-screen). The newlyweds set out to sea the next day in order to make up, but he's thrown overboard in an accident and drowns; the locals give Jones the cold shoulder (again, much of their abuse is intimated rather than shown), but she finds herself all of a sudden the beneficiary of Malden's vast fortune (owning shares in or else being owed by, it seems, the majority of the townspeople!); the last straw arrives when she willfully destroys Heston's irrigation enterprise. Ultimately, as I've said before, the film is shamelessly overstated – but, alas, not particularly entertaining: while the talent is clearly there, it's generally operating below-par.