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.

"Ruby Gentry" (1952) is an intense melodrama about a love-hate relationship, obsessive love, social class injustice, and revenge. Ruby (Jennifer Jones) is a sultry young woman who lives near a swamp in the small town of Braddock, North Carolina. She has black hair and a porcelain complexion. Her hourglass figure looks great in jeans and shirt. Most of the men in town desire her.Ruby is rejected by the townspeople because she is poor and from the wrong side of the tracks. She also intimidates people with her beauty, wild spirit and strong will. The tempestuous beauty is a hellcat one minute, and sweet the next. She endures many put-downs from the snobby townspeople. As the film progresses, Ruby changes from a wild-spirited but basically good person into a cold, powerful woman who takes vindictive revenge on the town.Ruby is obsessed with Boake Tackman (Charlton Heston), a handsome rogue from a local aristocratic family that became impoverished. They have a love-hate relationship, with a lot of passion and fighting. In one scene, Ruby the hellcat scratches Boake's face, but he doesn't seem to mind. However, Boake is driven by his ambition to restore his family's fortune by turning his land into a productive farm. He marries a local socialite, and then suggests that Ruby become his mistress. Ruby is insulted and angry.Jim Gentry (Karl Malden), a local rich man, pursues Ruby, and she marries him. Now she is "Ruby Gentry." ("Gentry" means upper class. A ruby is a gemstone symbolizing love and passion.) Jim is a kind and decent person, and Ruby truly loves him. However, at a party, Ruby's obsession with Boake leads her into a romantic encounter with him. (In this scene, she is wearing a beautiful chiffon ball gown, in the symbolic color of black.) Jim is at first outraged, but he loves Ruby so much that he forgives her completely.Jim tragically dies in a boat accident, and the angry townspeople falsely accuse Ruby of murdering him for his money. The nonstop noise of car horns blaring is nerve-wracking. Ruby is frightened by the torment of the townspeople.Ruby is now a rich, powerful woman, wearing elegant black dresses, hats and sunglasses. She takes revenge by foreclosing on numerous local companies, leaving behind many ruined businesses.However, Ruby still obsessively loves Boake, and offers to cancel his loan. Boake scorns Ruby, and she retaliates by flooding his farm with swamp water. Boake sadly watches as his small crops die in the flooded land. Ruby has coldly destroyed his dream.There is a creepy scene which strongly implies that Boake essentially rapes Ruby. Boake is angry, dangerous and anguished over his destroyed farm.The last part of the film takes place in the hellish swamp, where Ruby and Boake are chased by a madman through the muddy water. They eventually reconcile in a bittersweet scene.The ending is sad and moody. Ruby regrets her vindictive actions and seeks atonement. She becomes the captain of a small fishing boat, and lives as a recluse. Ruby looks like a thin man, wearing a man's uniform. She has lost her alluring glamor. The most beautiful woman in town is now an androgynous recluse.The sets and costumes are lavish. Jim Gentry's mansion contrasts with the wooden cabins in the swamp area. The swamp is eerie, filled with mist, twisted dark branches, and muddy water. The acting is excellent. Jennifer Jones looks beautiful in all of her outfits, including jeans, a white satin gown, a black chiffon ball gown, and a black dress with a black hat.This movie has interesting themes of obsessive love, ambition, a strange love-hate relationship, social class prejudice, revenge, women and power. I highly recommend this film.

...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.

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.