A Few Words About A few words about...™ Ruby Gentry -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

King Vidor's 1952 Ruby Gentry has more than a passing similarity to the earlier huge production by David Selznick, Duel in the Sun.

A beautiful, young girl, born on the wrong side of the tracks, with desires to better herself, and playing with relationships, that somehow seem to go awry.

Kino Lorber's new Blu-ray of the film, starring Jennifer Jones (Mrs. Selznick), Charlton Heston, and Karl Malden, is a quality release, better than some of the other Disney/ABC titles.

Nice black & white imagery, with a wide gray scale, and more than clean enough for anyone's large screen. Nary a problem in sight.

Audio is also fine.

An interesting film, for those interested in Selznick, Jones or Heston.

Jones' father is played by Tom Tully, who many will recall from The Caine Mutiny.

Image - 4.25

Audio - 5

Pass / Fail - Pass

Recommended

 

[Robin9]

Post deleted. Now superseded.

 

[lark144]

I saw this film in 16mm back in the early 70's in someone's non air conditioned east village basement during a heat wave in August and I remember being totally thrown for a loop. The film was beyond crazy, similar, in some ways, as Mr. Harris notes, to another Freud-gone mad western partially directed by King Vidor entitled DUEL IN THE SUN, except (based on my memory of seeing RUBY GENTRY 45 years ago) there was a rigorousness, logic, and extraordinary style to this over the top insane undertaking. And I thought Jennifer Jones was amazing here (whereas in DUEL IN THE SUN she seems more like someone who has a stallion by the tail and is trying to hold on). In RUBY GENTRY, Ms. Jones' slightest glance burns, and the madness that consumes her from within is strictly held accountable and comprehensible to an audience.

Now I admit it's been more than 4 decades since I've seen this film, and many of the specifics have faded away, but I do remember that while watching this film it seemed like a weird cross between WRITTEN ON THE WIND & THE SEVENTH VICTIM, in other words, an over the top melodrama that seeps into psychological horror territory and some very deep Noir. It went to all kinds of places that I really didn't expect, nor did I really want to go there, yet I loved every minute of it,,,and unlike DUEL IN THE SUN, it seemed like a subtle (although the plot and the performances are anything but) clearly thought out and consistent visual masterwork. It's very possible that RUBY GENTRY isn't half as good as I remember, but I can't wait to see it. In fact, I'm going to order it right now. Thank you Mr. Harris.

 

[Thomas T]

I'm a huge fan of this film as I am of the magnificent Duel In The Sun. So looking forward to picking this up!

 

[lark144]

I'm a huge fan of this film as I am of the magnificent Duel In The Sun. So looking forward to picking this up!

I love DUEL IN THE SUN, but for me, it's a film of wonderful moments; whenever I put the disc in the player, I end up watching my favorite sequences, but have trouble sitting and watching the entire film from beginning to end. But there are many films that I can't do that to..for instance LAURA, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, ANATOMY OF A MURDER, THE DISCRETE CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE, VERTIGO, THE RED SHOES, THE LEOPARD, BLOW UP...I try to watch a sequence or two and I end up watching the whole film.

DUEL IN THE SUN is an unusual film for a Selznick Production. It's very heterogeneous, and the visual style and the pacing changes from scene to scene, whereas in most Selznick productions, the films, no matter how diverse the subject or individual the director, have a remarkable consistency of tone, visual style and point of view; from KING KONG to A TALE OF TWO CITIES to NOTHING SACRED to REBECCA. In a way, I kind of love the stylistic inconsistency of DUEL IN THE SUN; it kind of parallels the insanity of the plot, which really makes no sense at all, especially in terms of the characters, but so much is going on in the film, from thousands of extras on horses streaming down hilltops to the sound of pealing bells, to Gregory Peck's orange-tinged spurs whenever he is in the same room as Jennifer Jones, to all kinds of confusing and disparate happenings, all of course luminously photographed, that you just kind of keep watching in disbelief.But I've been looking at the film now for most of my life (at one point I owned a 16mm technicolor print) so that I mostly linger on the sequences I love. But I guess I should watch it all the way through sometime soon.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I'm a huge fan of this film as I am of the magnificent Duel In The Sun. So looking forward to picking this up!

Same here looking forward to seeing this again on Blu-ray.

 

[Matt Hough]

I watched this one this afternoon. Ruby is a close kissing cousin to Pearl Chavez in Duel in the Sun, but Jennifer Jones looks to be relishing every moment of her performance.

Transfer, apart from a blob of debris or two, looked very good. Blacks might have been a shade or two weaker than optimum, but overall it looked wonderful.

I've been having a mini-Jennifer Jones festival because last night I pulled Good Morning, Miss Dove off the shelf and wept my way through that one again.