Ruth Gruber, the American Icon You Don’t Know

Read Time:3 Minute, 23 Second

MOVIE REVIEW
Ahead of Time
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Genre: Documentary
Year Released: 2010, 2023 Film Movement re-release
Runtime: 1h 13m
Director(s): Bob Richman
Where To Watch: re-released to VOD & leading digital platforms on September 12, 2023

FILMMAKER ON FILM REVIEW: Ruth Gruber became the world’s youngest Ph.D. at age 20, became a journalist at age 24, and finally, she was recruited for a secret mission by the Roosevelt administration during World War II. Her words are poetic, historic, and ahead of her own time. This is a woman who went to Germany and pretended to be a German citizen, relinquishing the protections granted her by being an American, to be among other citizens at a Hitler rally just to try and truly understand who Hitler was and why he was beloved by so many.

AHEAD OF TIME is such an apt title for the biography of writer Ruth Gruber. In a time when women weren’t given the same opportunities and consideration as men, to say the least, she rose to iconic status writing about her home in Brooklyn, women’s issues, and Hitler and World War II. She became an informant of sorts, being the secret eyes and ears of Roosevelt, traveling the world gathering information for the President before the United States entered World War II. Oh, and at one point, the Republicans called her a Communist.

AHEAD OF TIME is a very sterile basic formula documentary that is elevated by its subject and research. It feels like a made-for-PBS project, and maybe that was the intent of director Robert Richman, but it feels way too monotone for modern viewers. I yearned for a narrative to break up the stock footage and talking head interviews, but it wasn’t meant to be. There are a few instances where the camera follows Gruber as she reconnects with old friends, and they reminisce, and there’s some footage from speaking engagements, but the only real narrative is following Gruber’s life from the early days in Brooklyn through iconic milestones of her life and career.

Sadly, because of the Ken Burns-y style of the production, AHEAD OF TIME is likely to only appeal to history buffs and some extremely hardcore documentary fans. Watching the film is made more difficult, above the monotone pace, by low-quality audio for most of the interviews. It literally sounds like the interview sound is taken right from the camera with no additional microphones. The bad audio stands in stark contrast to the deep research that includes substantial stock footage, photos, and letters.

It’s such a gift to have recordings of Ruth Gruber telling her story with others in her life who are still living. It’s a tough watch for most, but for the right crowd, AHEAD OF TIME is a fantastic historical document of an underappreciated icon in American history. Hopefully, this film finds its way into classrooms at the high school and university level because, above any flaws, it has something really important to say about Ruth Gruber but also about our world during World War II.

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[photo courtesy of FILM MOVEMENT]

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