Film historian Raymond Durgnat champions "Ruby Gentry" "as a truly great American film..."film noir" imbued with new fervor" that combines a radical social understanding with a Hollywood veneer and an intensely personal artistic statement. Vidor ranks "Ruby Gentry" among his most artistically gratifying works: “I had complete freedom in shooting it, and Selznick, who could have had an influence on Jennifer Jones, didn’t intervene. I think I succeeded in getting something out of Jennifer, something quite profound and subtle.” The swamp sequence where Ruby and her lover Boake hunt one another is "perhaps the best sequence [Vidor ever filmed." Ruby Gentry showcases the essential elements of Vidor's oeuvre depicting the extremes of passion inherent in humanity and nature. Vidor commented on these elements as follows: