Ruby Gentry Reviews

The best thing about this sordid melodrama is Roemheld's subtle score; nothing else about the movie is subtle. There are so many story "conveniences" that it's soon unbelievable, as though written by Tennessee Williams but edited by Irwin Allen. Jones is the daughter of Tully, the manager of a hunting lodge next to a swamp. She meets Heston, the poor scion of a once-rich local family. They fall in love, but when Heston's pleas for financing his new ventures fall on the deaf ears of Malden, a wealthy man who controls the area, Heston decides that a marriage of convenience might be just the ticket. Heston marries Avery, the rich daughter of Cane. Jones is miffed at being rejected and she weds Malden when his crippled wife, Hutchinson, dies. The local snobs won't accept Jones into their society because she's from dirt-poor people. Malden knows that Jones and Heston once had an affair and he is jealous. Malden dies in a boating accident, but Jones is suspected of having done him in and is shunned by everyone. She is now the heiress to all of Malden's wealth and exacts revenge by calling in loans, foreclosing properties, etc. Heston's lands are flooded and he rapes Jones. This suddenly brings the two of them together again, much to the consternation of Jones' brother, a religious zealot, Anderson. He wants to save her soul and thinks she can find salvation only if she stays away from Heston. Anderson, in his fervor, kills Heston, then is himself killed by Jones, and she is left alone, a rich woman who will probably be able to buy her way out of all this.