n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

I really enjoyed this film---didn't know what the story was going to be beforehand, so it was really a great soap opera---the kind Hollywood used to make.Did you ever watch a film today and say to yourself, "That was predictable!" Well, I never once was able to say that about this film! It was all over the map, maybe not a great masterpiece..but very well acted and cast, and looked gorgeous.Jennifer Jones was one sexy lady! If you want to see a real actress at work, then this film is for you!Why can't Hollywood remake a film like this one---maybe it is too "adult" for today's audiences!

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."

Wow, what a trashy movie! This is NOT necessarily meant as a criticism, as the film makers were obviously trying to make an overwrought and sexy soap opera-style film. Subtle this is not--and if you like films like PEYTON PLACE or A DUEL IN THE SUN or TV shows such as "Dynasty" or "Falcon Crest", then you may enjoy RUBY GENTRY.Ruby (Jennifer Jones) is a sexy southern girl from the wrong side of the tracks. She's in love with one man (Charlton Heston) but her heart is broken when he marries another simply because this other woman offers him an advancement in society. On the rebound, Ruby marries a nice and very wealthy guy (Karl Malden). However, at a big social event, Ruby shows a lot of attention to her old beau and people begin to talk. Now Ruby did NOT cheat on her husband and there is no indication that she didn't care for him--but people talk. And, when the husband dies accidentally in a boating accident, people suspect Ruby killed him. In fact, they are vicious towards her. So, in a wonderful turn of events, the now wealthy Ruby sets out to use her husband's money to destroy the town. Later, she works her best to try to win back her old beau--even though he is already married and seemed like a jerk.I am not sure why Miss Jones did these sort of movies. Despite becoming famous for playing the angelic lead in SONG OF BERNADETTE, she went on to play quite a few slutty characters--such as in this film, DUEL IN THE SUN, INDISCRETION and MADAM BOVARY. Frankly, I didn't like her in these films and preferred her other roles--mostly because she wasn't all that convincing in these sort of films. RUBY GENTRY is a bit better than these other films, but it still is far from her best work. I think part of this is just because she just didn't seem slutty enough and seemed more suited to films such as PORTRAIT OF JENNY. She looked rather sweet and such roles would have worked better with actresses who specialized in these sort of films like Lana Turner or Joan Crawford. The other problem is that although I enjoy a good potboiler, these films of Miss Jones weren't particularly good films--especially DUEL IN THE SUN and INDISCRETION. Why her lover, David O. Selznick, pushed her into these roles is beyond me.Despite these complaints, there was quite a bit to like about RUBY GENTRY. The idea of a poor girl becoming rich and using this new wealth to destroy the town that persecuted her is great. Too bad, then, that after doing so much to get revenge that the film become bogged down with the silly affair with Heston late in the film. The affair made little sense and tended to deflate the juicy plot. And, sadly, almost as soon as the affair began, the film just ended very abruptly! The film is a real mixed bag. It's a decent time-passer soap but could have been so much more.

...in romantic pairings .Their love/hate relationship compares favorably with the one depicted in "duel in the sun" which featured Jones too.This actress epitomizes romantic passion ,and no one equaled her in this field (as a French I can tell she was the best Madame Bovary I had ever seen).Ruby was born on the wrong side ,that's what we are told at the very beginning of this story of sound and fury.In the Vidor family,she is akin to Pearl in "duel in the sun" ,to "Stella Dallas" and even to Rosa in "beyond the forest".Like Rosa ,she dreams of the social ladder but unlike her,she can love and it's her downfall.Raised in a family with a fanatical brother who brandishes his Bible like a gun,she will never be able to get out of the swamp ,even with all the money in the world "You can't buy your way out of the swamp".Even when she uses it to destroy everything and all her fellow men's lives,she can still hear this pump ,which is like a beating heart.The movie is actually a long flashback ,which reinforces what the first lines are saying: Ruby was not born in the right place at the right time.