The Story Of Ruth (1960)

When a Moabite priestess (Elana Eden) in the service of a pagan god called Chemosh, who demands human sacrifice, meets a Jewish artisan (Tom Tryon), she begins to question her faith. Directed by Henry Koster (THE ROBE), this biblical epic is of the tasteful variety. Personally, I prefer a little vulgarity in my biblical epics, usually of the DeMille kind. Which is a roundabout way of saying, this is a slow moving movie with lots of sincerity. The film picks up somewhat in its second hour when the romance between Elana Eden and Stuart Whitman heats up. The beautiful Eden isn't much of an actress or perhaps it's her difficulty with the English language but she's doesn't have much to offer other than her beauty and sincerity which isn't enough to elevate this to anything other than your standard Sunday school bible fare. My favorite performance came from Viveca Lindfors as the high priestess, haughtily barking at everyone and the movie could have used more of her rather than the few minutes allotted. Surprisingly, the critics were very kind to the film. With Peggy Wood (THE SOUND OF MUSIC) as Naomi, Jeff Morrow, Thayer David, Les Tremayne and Ziva Rodann.