Ruby Gentry Misses the Mark, to Say the Least.
By
Kristin Battestella
I
like Charlton Heston and I like Karl Malden, and thus I was willing to hold my
less than love for Jennifer Jones in check for the 1952 southern melodrama Ruby Gentry. Unfortunately, the clichés
and bad acting make this one a not so enjoyable hot mess.
Dr.
Jim Gentry’s (Malden)
invalid wife Letitia (Josephine Hutchinson) dies and he quickly marries the
poor, socially unacceptable Ruby (Jones). Of course, Ruby is in love with Boake
(Heston), of the once high and mighty Tackman family. Unfortunately, his family
disapproves of Ruby and he must marry rich to save their plantation. Once fate
has given Ruby the means to have her cruel way with the townsfolk who
previously despised her, however, then not even Boake can stand in her way.
Ruby Gentry starts
off on the wrong foot with unnecessary narration, a whole lot of telling
instead of showing, and flashbacks that suggest the story told before the movie
begins is the one we want to see. These tools and all the repeat dialogue
reiterating the social divides and back story seriously slow down the 80
minutes here and confuse the current events. What is the point of this tale and
where is it headed? Director King Vidor (The
Champ, War and Peace) takes too long to introduce the players and the
budding love triangles, yet Ruby Gentry
never fully clarifies its outlandish circumstances and incoherent plot. Is this
film about Ruby and Boake, Ruby and Jim, or Ruby’s bitchy takeover and lame
revenge? As soon as the audience remotely cares about a situation, Ruby Gentry haphazardly moves on to the
next soap operatic element. With Jennifer Jones at its fulcrum, Ruby Gentry patterns itself exactly like
Vidor and Jones’ Duel in the Sun, right
up to its ridiculously similar finale. Personally, I would have much rather
seen a film solely about Boake and Jim with an absentee Ruby haunting their
antagonism. It doesn’t seem like there would be a lot there, but it has to be
better then the feigned tawdry or would be classic comeuppance here.
Prior
to his Ben Hur and The Ten Commandments fame and glory, Charlton
Heston was very young, almost too young in Ruby
Gentry. Though not grown up in
appearance or southern dictation, Boake is still dangerous to encounter on a
dark, swampy night. He’s jonesing for Ruby, but it’s too creepy instead of
romantic or scandalous. Chuck Heston knocking on your backwoods bedroom door
late at night – it’s played too stalker for the viewer to enjoy this
increasingly ridiculous would be couple. We know this relationship won’t end
well thanks to this headstrong, cat scratching violence, and the turbulence grows
stupid fast. Boake is smart to not marry
the titular crazy. However, after they’ve apparently been getting it on, Ruby Gentry somehow switches to a rapacious
buildup before sending the duo hunting together where somebody else shoots at
them. I just don’t see the hair brained character motivations here.
Likewise,
the young Karl Malden (I Confess, Streets
of San Francisco,
On the Waterfront) doesn’t have much to do and what Jim Gentry does have is
all over the place. The good doctor seems a step above this backwater crowd,
yet there’s an amoral touch in his marrying Ruby while his first wife lies
barely cold. Unfortunately, the bizarre
narration takes over most of Malden’s
action, allowing no room for character development, and ultimately, a barely
there presence in the movie. Jim Gentry is hardly seen even liking Ruby, yet he
just has to have her so badly. Why? Likewise, Barney Phillips (12 O’clock High) as fellow doctor and
narrator Manfred is fairly pointless, and Ruby’s creepy guitar playing relation
James Anderson (To Kill a Mockingbird)
is too dirty and touchy feely. Ironically, Josephine Hutchinson’s (Son of Frankenstein) first Mrs. Gentry
is the nicest, classiest character – but she is done away with far too quickly
in Ruby Gentry.
I
admit to not being a fan of Jennifer Jones (The
Song of Bernadette, Love is a Many Splendored Thing). Film after film, I
see her woefully miscast against better leading men, and her Ruby looks and
sounds totally out of place against Malden and Heston. Granted, that may have
been intentional here. However, her southern accent and immature ways are
stereotypical, even offensive. The performance feels very inappropriate,
indeed, as if Jones is mocking slow persons and insulting southerners. How old
is Ruby supposed to be? To see her knowingly or unknowingly lead men on isn’t
alluring in any way. It’s uncomfortable
to watch these backwater men drooling and even feeling up what appears to be a special
needs minor. Unfortunately, this aspect fills the majority of Ruby Gentry, and those who were able to
get past the Duel in the Sun parallels
might be put off by this element. A more
skilled actress could have brought more conflict, sympathy, or even an Oscar
worthy performance, but as Ruby grows in her cruelty, Jones becomes more
annoying. What exactly is the audience supposed to like about Ruby? Temptation incarnate and wild or sexy my foot!
Though
fitting to the film, the looks old and invoked poor production really feels too
backwoods dusty for the audience to enjoy. The southern locales and wildlife scenery
are charming, yes, but Ruby Gentry
isn’t a colorful, sprawling epic looking the part of the torrid swamp. Cool
cars and too little too late upscale dressings and typical fifties finery can’t
save the cliché melodrama. The instrumental guitar chords, sweeping music, and
onscreen ballads are also misused thanks to some seriously over the top soap
opera crescendo cues. I must say, this exaggerated
fail doesn’t even qualify Ruby Gentry for
my beloved Hokey Heston category, for it’s neither corny enough nor badly
bemusing to enjoy. Once I realized the level of negativity in my composition, I
almost didn’t want to finish this review – that’s never happened before!
If
you like bad fifties films or need an example of run of the mill mid century
melodrama, this is it. Even bad old horror movies can be a lot of fun, but
after watching Ruby Gentry again, I
seriously wonder why this near pointless excursion was even attempted. Fans of the cast will especially cringe.
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