A Place in the Sun (1951)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

George Stevens

Writers:

Theodore Dreiser (novel)
Patrick Kearney (play)

Release Date:

11 October 1951 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Love that paid the severest of all penalties!

Plot:

Young up-and-comer George Eastman is thrust into the blue collar life of a rich uncle's family business...

Plot Keywords:

Boat Accident | Socialite | Death | Understanding | Working Class

Awards:

Won 6 Oscars. Another 7 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Montgomery Clift	...	George Eastman
Elizabeth Taylor	...	Angela Vickers
Shelley Winters	...	Alice Tripp
Anne Revere	...	Hannah Eastman
Keefe Brasselle	...	Earl Eastman
Fred Clark	...	Bellows, defense attorney
Raymond Burr	...	Dist. Atty. R. Frank Marlowe
Herbert Heyes	...	Charles Eastman
Shepperd Strudwick	...	Anthony 'Tony' Vickers
Frieda Inescort	...	Mrs. Ann Vickers
Kathryn Givney	...	Louise Eastman
Walter Sande	...	Art Jansen, George's Attorney
Ted de Corsia	...	Judge R.S. Oldendorff
John Ridgely	...	Coroner
Lois Chartrand	...	Marsha

Also Known As:

The Lovers (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Finland:K-11 (re-rating) (1986) | West Germany:12 (f) | Australia:G (original DVD rating) | Australia:PG (DVD re-rating) | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #14461)

Filming Locations:

Lake Tahoe, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Elizabeth Taylor's and Montgomery Clift's beach idyll was actually filmed in October at Lake Tahoe, California. Crew members had hosed snow off the ground prior to filming.

Goofs:

Continuity: George Eastman walks out of Loon Lake with his clothes and hair soaking wet and minutes later when he stumbles upon the boy scout camp he is all dry.

Quotes:

Charles Eastman: If he's innocent, I'll get the best defence I can get for him. If he *is* guilty, I won't spend a single cent to save him from the electric chair!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

Soundtrack:

Mona Lisa

When Social Worlds Collide

Poor and uneducated George Eastman (Montgomery Clift) unwittingly sets a trap for himself when he takes an entry-level job at his rich uncle's factory, which has a prohibition on male employees dating female employees. He just can't resist one of the girls in his department, the pitiful and whiny Alice Tripp (wonderfully played by Shelley Winters). Eventually, George gets a promotion and is invited into the upper echelon of his uncle's social world, where he meets wealthy and beautiful Angela Vickers (a breathless Elizabeth Taylor). Naturally, he falls in love with Angela. But a complication with Alice leaves him unable to break off his relationship with her.

That's the setup for this George Stevens-directed film that plays rather like a modern Greek tragedy. Everything about "A Place In The Sun" is high quality: the production design, the lavish Edith Head costumes, the wonderful editing, and that great B&W cinematography with those marvelous close-up shots, and overlapping dissolves that cleverly advance the plot.

All three principal actors do a splendid job. And they get solid support from a top notch secondary cast that includes Raymond Burr and the interesting Anne Revere.

The story clearly plays up social class differences, with the haughty rich looking down their noses at common workers. The film's tone varies from romantic, to sad, to suspenseful. At mysterious Loon Lake where significant events occur, the cinematic atmosphere is heavy with anticipation. It's like something out of a Hitchcock thriller.

I've never cared much for sad love stories, and the film does seem a tad dated. Still, it's so well made it can be appreciated by most everyone but the terminally shallow. It has a powerful ending, one that accentuates the acting accomplishments of Clift and especially of Taylor. "A Place In The Sun" was nominated for nine academy awards, and winner of six. I'd say this is one time when Oscar voters got it right.