mspolk2006 I have loved this movie for a long time, it was something that I saw when I was young and just loved. The story of Ruth and Naomi is one that my mother always said was a great example of what love really is. Ruth leaves behind all her life in Moab to follow Naomi to a country and a people that she knows perhaps little or nothing about.I have seen that some people review or make comments about it not being 'biblical' and I think that it doesn't detract from the point that the movie brings across. Sometimes people want to make the heroes and heroines of the Bible too holy, they were people, struggling with life as we do now. The faith of Ruth and the love that she and Naomi share is so apparent in this movie.This movie takes license with where Ruth comes from, having her sold in childhood to the local religion that sacrifices children every year to their god. There is nothing to state where Ruth came from in the Bible only that she was married to Mahlon and that he and his father and brother died.This movie is so beautiful and well filmed, Elena Eden, is so beautiful as Ruth and Peggy Wood as Naomi. The movie, I have always found after it's first 45 minutes, seems to revolve around these two women. Naomi's protective love of Ruth and vice versa, their loyalty to each other and how the bitterness of Naomi's loss is healed by the things that happen to the both of them.The story is slightly changed, but the story has the point of who Ruth is, a woman who was born worshiping a foreign god and who came to understand and love Jehovah.It is a great movie and I have always thought that if nothing else is accurate about it, the fact that placing your faith in God will always be rewarded.Also, when Naomi prays for Ruth, it is probably one of the most beautiful and selfless prayers ever. It is the kind of prayer that a Mother prays for her daughter, it always give me chills to hear it. My dearly departed mother, prayed for me like that once and I am still reaping the blessings to this day.

Sonofamoviegeek What is it about Hollywood and the Sandal Epic? There are wonderful, human stories in the Bible and the Classics that don't need any embellishment or additional material to make interesting, even great movies. Take "The Story of Ruth" as an example. The real Ruth is a small book (4 chapters) in the Bible with enough material to make a full length movie without the imaginative script writing that "The Story of Ruth" incorporates. There's sex and seduction, (And it came to pass at midnight, that the man was afraid, and turned himself: and, behold, a woman lay at his feet. And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth thine handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman; Ruth 3: 8-9), intrigue (Boaz manipulates his rival into renouncing his claim to Ruth and Naomi's land; Ruth 4: 1-9) and love and faith (for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God; Ruth 1: 16).Instead of sticking to a good story, the movie invents a Ruth who serves as a Priestess of a pagan god, which only serves as a reason to hold a courtroom drama. There are also two klutzy secret agents from the Moab Mossad whose demise is taken straight from the Apocryphal story of "Daniel and Susanna". Traditionally, Ruth is thought to have been a redhead, as were most Moabites. While Elana Eden is a stunning beauty, her hair is the wrong color and too stylishly coiffed for a poor woman of 900 BCE with the occupation of gleaner. In the Bible, Boaz is certainly not the dumb pushover that Stuart Whitman portrays.All of this is likely due to the movie's release in 1960. It's quite possible that Hollywood, in its wisdom, decided that the real Ruth was too raunchy a commodity at the time. Perhaps, instead of this fantasy, someone in our more enlightened era will make a movie that is realistic and follows the original.

Dejael (*May contain spoilers*) This fine 20th Century Fox production directed by Henry Koster (The ROBE, 1953) is a timeless classic of hope, faith and inspiration based on the book of Ruth in the Bible. The characters are well defined, the cast is superb, and the writing of the script is both literate and meaningful, handling this subject with a deft sensitivity. Add to that the elaborate production values of the Fox studio, color, and wide-screen CinemaScope, an uplifting, rousing music score, and you have a well-mounted film of style and substance. Pretty young Elana Eden shines in her only starring role as Ruth, the Moabite girl who loves a Jew named Mahlon (handsome, stalwart Tom Tryon), marrying him moments before his untimely death, and befriends his elder kinswoman Naomi (Peggy Wood in a finely crafted performance) who embraces her as Ruth becomes part of the family. Now Ruth must choose between the beguiling but mischievous Tobit (Jeff Morrow sparkles in a fine character role), or handsome young stud Boaz (burly Stuart Whitman in an outstanding part) as they both vie for her affections. The film's story is a true celebration of life overcoming the adversities of death and sorrow, and faith overcoming the difficulties of calamities and complications due to ethnic barriers (the Jews were not normally allowed to associate with the Moabites). It also illustrates the conflicts caused by pagan idolatry. The marriage of Ruth to Boaz is a triumph of faith and love, for through this union would come the lineage of King David of Israel, and ultimately, the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, a thousand years later. Highly recommended Biblical classic is literate and faithful to the original story in the Bible.

Thornfield2 *Some spoilers*When I was a kid my mom stumbled across this little gem at the video store and I have loved it ever since. This priceless little saga is based on the biblical heroine, Ruth, and with a dash of imagination, an attractive cast, and excellent writing you get real treat indeed. Ruth, a Moabitess, (remarkable performance by Elana Eden;her only film appearance)begins a friendship with Malone, a Jew, and in doing so she begins to accept his strange beliefs and fall in love with him. She embraces his faith and gives up everything for them and her love for Malone. It is at his death however, (she weds him seconds before he dies) she begins to know his mother, Naomi (Peggy Wood, really shines in this role) and then she goes back with her to Naomi's native land, Jerusalem. Ruth never really had a mother and begins to love Naomi as her own mother. Things really heat up, when Ruth meets two kinsfolk of Naomi's; Toab and Boaz (Walt Whitman was just great)just shortly after their arrival. The two men then vie for her. In the meantime, she also must face the prejudices of the people and she's also(little does she know) being persued by Moabite soldiers who are coming to take her back to Moab to be punished. Plenty of action, suspense and romance. This movie is very entertaining and I cherish it to this day.