Review of Ruby Gentry

Introduction

The story begins with Ruby (Jennifer Jones) as the captain of a fishing boat. Dr. Saul Manfred (Barney Phillips) acts as the narrator and explains, as the film unravels in flashback, how she ended up there. Dr. Manfred and Jim Gentry (Karl Malden) drive up to a cabin in the woods to spend time with friends. One of those is Ruby who doesn`t pay much attention to either man, in love as she is with Boake Tackman (Charlton Heston). Ruby is a southern beauty who accentuates her figure with skin-tight jeans and can seemingly have the pick of any man but only has eyes for Boake, who she has loved for years.

When Boake rebuffs her, deciding instead to marry the wealthy Tracy McAuliffe (Phyllis Avery), she accepts the proposal of the recently widowed Jim Gentry, the richest man in town. He dies shortly after their marriage, leaving her his vast fortune and the resources for her to exact her revenge on the town`s inhabitants who suspect her of murder, but reserving particular retribution for Boake.

Video

A nice fullscreen transfer, showcasing the fine cinematography.

Audio

Clear Dolby Digital 2.0 mono.

Features

None - but this is a vanilla disc.

Conclusion

This is the sort of film that would have a matinee showing on terrestrial TV, easy watching melodrama, handsomely photographed and with a fine performance by Jennifer Jones. At 79 minutes, there`s a lot packed in and neither Karl Malden nor Chuck Heston enjoy a great deal of screen time, with Jennifer Jones` character unsurprisingly the focus of the film.

The fact that the film is called `Ruby Gentry` and you know early on that Jim Gentry has been in love with Ruby since he first saw her gives away one of the major plot points. Nevertheless, this is an involving but relatively undemanding film, which I happily sat through, but am in no rush to watch again.

This is one of a series of low-price DVDs from Fremantle Media, with no extra features, subtitles or scene selections. If the film interests you, then the £4.99 RRP (and available for less), means it`s perhaps worth a punt.