The Story of Ruth (1960)

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(318 ratings)

This Biblical epic stars Elana Eden as Ruth, who serves in the temple where the High Priestess (Viveca Lindfors) leads the worship of the Pagan idols of the people of Moab. When Ruth falls in love with Mahlon (Tom Tryon), a Hebrew, she must come to terms with his spiritual beliefs, but in time she… More This Biblical epic stars Elana Eden as Ruth, who serves in the temple where the High Priestess (Viveca Lindfors) leads the worship of the Pagan idols of the people of Moab. When Ruth falls in love with Mahlon (Tom Tryon), a Hebrew, she must come to terms with his spiritual beliefs, but in time she embraces his faith and converts to Judaism when they marry. Ruth travels with Mahlon and his mother Naomi (Peggy Wood) to their homeland of Bethlehem. Ruth suffers hardship and religious persecution, and when Mahlon dies, Ruth's faith is severely tested. But her belief in God survives this trial by fire, and in time Ruth finds a new love with Boaz (Stuart Whitman). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 2 hr. 12 min.
Directed By: Henry Koster
Genres: Drama, Classics

In Theaters: Jun 17, 1960 Wide
On DVD: Mar 14, 2006

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Featured Audience Ratings

Lukas M

"Fine retelling of the story of Ruth." If you're familar with the book of Ruth, you'll know that most of the characters are dead from the beginning. Therefore, liberties had to be taken to give the audience a grasp on Jewish and Moabite culture. Henry Koster does… More
"Fine retelling of the story of Ruth." If you're familar with the book of Ruth, you'll know that most of the characters are dead from the beginning. Therefore, liberties had to be taken to give the audience a grasp on Jewish and Moabite culture. Henry Koster does a very good job filling in the gaps--nothing hokey or heretical--and when Ruth joins Naomi, the film gets into the meat of the story. Elena Eden (who looks a lot like Haya Harareet from "Ben-Hur") has a pleasant Jewish accent and does an exceptional job as the pagan-turned-believer. She displays love, faith, beauty, devotion and courage and you don't wonder why Mahlon and Boaz fell in love with her. Peggy Wood plays Naomi with a sense of faith and conviction and Viveca Lindfords is paticulary good as the sinister high priestess of Chemosh. The pacing is a little slow for modern audiences, but all in all, "The Story of Ruth" is a sweet, heartwarming film that hits the highlights of the book and deserves to be included in the group of sword-and-sandal epics who do their job well.

Cast

            Stuart Whitman as Boaz

            Tom Tryon as Mahlon

            Peggy Wood as Naomi

            Viveca Lindfors as Eleilat

            Jeff Morrow as Tob

            Elana Eden as Ruth

            Thayer David as Hedak

            Les Tremayne as Elimelech

            Eduard Franz as Jehoam

            Lili Valenty as Kera

            John Gabriel as Chilion

            Ziva Rodann as Orpah

            Basil Ruysdael as Shammah

            John Banner as King of Moab

            Inez Pedroza as Iduma

            Sara Taft as Eska

            Jean Innes as Hagah

            Berry Kroeger as Huphim

            Jon Silo as Tacher

            Robert Adler
            
            A. Ben Astar
            
            Donald Diamond as Yomar

            Léo L. Fuchs as Sochin

            Charles Horvath
            
            Anthony Jochim
            
            Ralph Moody
            
            Charles Wagenheim
            
            Kelton Garwood
            
See full cast