I have always liked biblical epics and thought that I'd seen them all, but while watching a feature on them I saw listed "The Story of Ruth." I knew nothing of this story of the Old Testament, so I purchased the DVD. The film, made in 1960, shortly after the release of "Ben Hur" was not an epic in the sense of 'a cast of thousands' with big name stars, but rather a simply told story, both moving and charmingly portrayed by a cast who excelled in their respective roles and brilliantly directed by Henry Coaster, with a literate script by Norman Corwin. Stuart Whitman was never better than in his role as Boaz and newcomer Elana Eden was stunningly beautiful and very impressive as Ruth. In fact, it surprises me that her career waned after "Story of Ruth." The always great Peggy Wood was Oscar worthy as Naomi and the rest of the players were also well cast. Franz Waxman's score was moving and added a reverence to the entire film. It seemed pretty accurate for the most part. I wondered if there was any truth to the fact that Ruth was sold to the Moabites by her father, as my sources (Biblical dictionaries) are pretty concise. To summarize, I must say that I really enjoyed this film!
Review of The Story of Ruth
