A Place in the Sun (1951) User Reviews

Ahead of it's time and deserving of all praise.

[SmileysWorld · 8/10 · 10 November 2006]

This film is very different from anything of it's time that I have ever seen.A man has a one night stand with a coworker and gets her pregnant.THEN he meets the woman of his dreams,the woman with everything;charm,good looks and Daddy's money.We then have a man who is torn between choosing to have it all and doing the right thing.The result of his struggles ends up very tragically as you will see.I was very taken aback by the film's sexual overtones,though it was only hinted at,of course.With the barrage of remakes in recent years,I am surprised it has not been remade with stronger sexual content.This is a very enjoyable film with good performances all around,particularly those of Shelley Winters and Monty Clift.Liz Taylor's strong screen presence is also a delight.A definite thumbs up.

As a Film, This is Haunting, Tragic Romanticism...

[Don-102 · 9/10 · 4 April 1999]

George Stevens' A PLACE IN THE SUN is a poetic film, filled with tender moments, sadness, and pending doom. Having not read the book, I had the pleasure of seeing the material for the first time, which is preferable if you see a film based on a "classic" novel. Montgomery Clift is his usual mysterious self as he has a scandalous relationship with the homely Shelly Winters and falls instantly in love with a spellbindingly beautiful Liz Taylor, who was only 19 when the picture was made. She glows with energy and a sense of optimism about life, a stark contrast to Clift, whom Taylor has also fallen for. Rumor has it they had an actual affair while making the movie. This is not for all tastes, for it is slow, and Clift is not all that appealing. The idea of dropping a lesser life (with Winters) and pursuing the good life with Taylor is what makes it work and the lengths to which Clift will go are staggering.

George Stevens has a gift for "painting" a movie on-screen. Just see GIANT, also with Taylor, or SHANE, the other two parts of his "American Trilogy". The scenes on the lake and the way the mood of the movie is painted is quite simply amazing. He also uses slow dissolves that leave a ghostly image on-screen between scenes. This all adds to the atmospheric touch of tragedy that will ensue. Poor Shelly Winters. She always gets a raw deal in films. There are times when you almost sympathize with Clift. Imagine living the life of a socialite with the girl of your dreams and a good job with your family. A life with Winters would be dismal according to Clift and us. What's right is right, however. An unnecessary court room saga closes the picture to ensure the viewer's sense of justice. This must've been pretty controversial stuff back in the early-50's

A PLACE IN THE SUN truly is an American tragedy, a portrait of young lives gone wrong with post-WWII optimism as a backdrop. Clift and Taylor shine together, and provide film fans with a romance never to be forgotten. The finale is emotionally draining during Taylor's expression of undying love. Unfortunately, Clift cannot have it all. A beautiful piece of classical Hollywood film-making with a mix of method acting (Clift) and a love story we wish could work.

RATING: 8 of 10

A Place in Movie History

[edwagreen · 9/10 · 2 January 2006]

Standout film which was a remake of An American Tragedy with the late Sylvia Sidney.

The film was remade in 1951 with Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor and Shelley Winters.

The culture of rich vs. poor is explored in this film. Lonely drifter Clift meets Ms. Winters first and then in a chance meeting, meets the wealthy Ms. Taylor. Her wealth and position in society is what most affects Clift.

Eager to leave Shelley, he soon discovers that she is pregnant. This part, as the impoverished pregnant girl with nowhere to go, was the best part and performance by Miss Winters. We feel for her as she tries to maintain a grip on the Clift character. She brings to the part a nervousness rarely seen in motion pictures. Had she been nominated for best supporting actress, she would have possessed 3 Oscars in that category. Instead, she was nominated for lead actress and lost to Vivien Leigh in A Streetcar Named Desire.

Clift is perfect as the drifter;he was Oscar nominated for it. His scenes in the court, where he maintains that the drowning of Miss Winters was an accident, are real and leave a vivid reminder in the minds of the viewers.

The film also marked a breakout performance for Miss Taylor. Up until then, possibly with the exception of 1949's Elephant Walk, her roles were mostly childish in non-dramatic films.

The viewer is put in the moral dilemma of whether or not Clift made an attempt to save the drowning Ms. Winters. Capital punishment becomes a question as always.

Anne Revere is effective in an all too brief role as Clift's bible-reading mother.

All emotional stops are put out in the final scene when Taylor visits a condemned Clift in prison.

****. A superb production.

Cinematic joy.

[hitchcockthelegend · 10/10 · 8 November 2008]

George Eastman takes up friendly offer from his uncle to go work in the highly prosperous Eastman bathing-suit factory. Formerly a bell hop at a hotel, and born out of a relatively poor, but religiously devout home, George is spellbound by how the upper crust live. As he starts to climb the social ladder he becomes besotted with his cousin's beautiful partner, Angela Vickers. While at the same time neglecting his girlfriend and mother of his unborn child, Alice Tripp. The outcome of George's confused emotions will have devastating effects on everyone involved...

A Place In The Sun is one of those revered, yet seemingly divisive classic pictures that I believe deserves every bit of praise heaped upon it. Based on the Theodore Dreiser novel, An American Tragedy {and the Patrick Kearney play}, it's a slow simmering piece that boasts technical greatness and a class division script that is intriguingly shrouded by a real life sad story. The book and subsequent film versions {Josef von Sternberg filmed an adaptation in 1931} are working from the real case of Chester Gillette and his girlfriend, Grace Brown. To expand further would result in major spoilers but it's a case that is readily available to anyone with internet access. Here with this adaptation, director George Stevens {sublime direction} has gathered all the things available to him and crafted a Gothic, almost dreamy, classic amongst classics. The source, and Sternberg's take on the novel may well be more stark and grimly oppressive, but this has such high cinema values it positively begs you to invest your very being with it.

The story behind the scenes is itself worthy of a movie, Stevens clashing constantly with Montgomery Clift {Eastman} and Shelley Winters {Tripp}, Clift because he would only take motivation from his personal coach, Mira Rostova, and Winters because Stevens had never wanted her cast in the first place! Then there is the Elizabeth Taylor {Angela Vickers} factor, blissfully unaware of Clift's burgeoning homosexuality, she reciprocated Clift's adoration of her by falling for him big time, the results, all captured by Stevens, are akin to being put under a spell that you simply can't turn away from. Montgomery Clift was one of the best actors of his generation, here in spite of a secretly confused emotional state, the sparks that ping off Taylor and himself are the kind that few lauded chemistry couples in movie history have ever gotten close too. Monty Clift is worth every penny or cent that is spent to watch him perform, here is yet another performance of emotional oomph to only confirm his standing as a true giant of American actors.

Academy Awards went to Best Director, Best Screenplay {Michael Wilson & Harry Brown}, Best Cinematography {William Mellor}, Best Costume Design {Edith Head}, Best Editing {William Hornbeck} and Best Score {Franx Waxman}, all of them deserved, with Waxman's score one of the true greats of 50s cinema, a character in itself and something to totally lose yourself in. Clift & Winters were both nominated in the Best actor/Actress categories respectively, and really in any other year they surely would have won, while the film itself was also nominated for Best Film. Ultimately it's the story itself that makes A Place In The Sun such a beguiling viewing, it's love divided by classes, no middle ground here, it's the rich and beautiful on one side, on the other is the plain and poor, the result is a majestic piece of cinema. 10/10

A Masterpiece, by George Stevens

[claudio_carvalho · 10/10 · 19 March 2012]

The young and poor George Eastman (Montgomery Clift) leaves his religious mother and Chicago and arrives in California expecting to find a better job in the business of his wealthy uncle Charles Eastman (Herbert Heyes). His cousin Earl Eastman (Keefe Brasselle) advises him that there are many women in the factory and the basic rule is that he must not hang around with any of them.

George meets the worker of the assembly line Alice Tripp (Shelley Winters) in the movie theater and they date. Meanwhile, the outcast George is promoted and he meets the gorgeous Angela Vickers (Elizabeth Taylor) in a party at his uncle's house. Angela introduces him to the local high society and they fall in love with each other. However, Alice is pregnant and she wants to get married with George. During a dinner party at Angela's lake house with parents, relatives and friends, Alice calls George from the bus station and gives thirty minutes to him to meet her; otherwise she will crash the party and tells what has happened. George is pressed by the situation that ends in a tragedy.

"A Place in the Sun" is an unforgettable masterpiece by George Stevens and one of the best love stories ever made, with the perfect development of characters and situations. I watched this film for the first time on 14 June 2001 on cable television and yesterday I saw it again on a Paramount DVD with Extras telling details about the difficulties that George Stevens faced to bring Theodore Dreiser's novel "An American Tragedy" to a motion picture and casting. He had to sue Paramount to carry out the signed contract and get the agreed budget. Another interesting point is Shelley Winters, who was a sex symbol at that time, telling how she got the role of Alice Tripp. Elizabeth Taylor also tells funny things about her relationship with Montgomery Cliff. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): "Um Lugar Ao Sol" ("A Place in the Sun")

Let's hear it for William C. Mellor

[nick-368 · 18 October 2004]

Isn't IMDb great? As well as reading the detailed and thoughtful criticisms from contributors about a film like this, you can browse through all sorts of IMDb trivia, discovering interesting stuff all the time. My latest favourite activity on the site is checking out films that won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography. Needless to say A Place in the Sun won this award for William C. Mellor. Much has already been said of the beauty and precision of the images. I'd like to add a comment about one shot where Clift is coerced into a speedboat ride with Taylor and her rich pals. The static camera is on the jetty with a portable radio in close-up. The speedboat pulling away and doing a spin in the bay occupies our middle vision, while hills and boats lie in the distance. All of them are in wonderful pin-sharp deep focus, a skill that seems all but lost in today's productions. The radio announces the discovery of the girl's body while the boat speeds past, completing the dramatic reason for the shot.

A funny thing I've noticed about these great cinematographers is they all seemed to live a good long life, usually working right up the end of their lives. I don't know why, I just thought I'd mention it!

Excruciatingly ironic...though Liz and Monty are still swoon-worthy

[moonspinner55 · 6/10 · 21 March 2009]

Theodore Dreiser's novel "An American Tragedy" turned into a glossy, slick, surface-pretty though still effective melodrama about troubled young people. Montgomery Clift is the poor ex-bellhop who gets a job working in his rich uncle's factory; he has eyes for a smoky society beauty obviously out of his league, courting instead a plain-Jane working girl who ends up pregnant. The story has been pushed up from the 1930s to the film's modern era, leaving some portions of the plot seeming antiquated (when Shelley Winters goes to a doctor for help with her condition, he acts more like a minister than a medico). Director George Stevens painstakingly mounts this plot (in all its unfairness) with the surge of a romantic epic, turning Clift's character into an anti-hero (he's more like a coward, an extremely polite rebel--alternating his leather jacket with suits and ties). Elizabeth Taylor plays her country club princess with a mix of naughty spirit and maternal instinct (intriguing if not quite believable), while Winters goes from shy and subdued to vindictive in no time flat (does Stevens mean her to be the villain of the piece?). The theme of a have-not skirting the world of the haves is certainly brought off with pomp and style (and some steamy clinches), but the courtroom theatrics in the third act are laid on with a trowel. It might have played as a morality tale at one time, but today it looks more like an overheated soaper. Stevens stacks the deck against his protagonist with needling precision, right up until the jaw-droppingly 'tough' conclusion. **1/2 from ****

An American Tragedy, on film, becomes an American masterpiece

[bmacv · 10/10 · 1 September 2003]

Bringing Theodore Dreiser's sprawling novel An American Tragedy to the screen must have been a daunting task, made harder by the constraints Paramount imposed on director George Stevens. The studio had lost big on a version made 20 years earlier, under Josef von Sternberg, and had little faith in a remake. So, hobbled by a tight budget, Stevens scaled back his ambitious plans but delivered, perhaps even to his own surprise, a superbly crafted and and powerfully sustained work of movie art.

He was lucky that Paramount, edgy about the story, gave him a cast that would guarantee not only good box office but solid performances as well. Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor and Shelly Winters take the principal roles, with, in the last third of the movie, extra oomph courtesy of Raymond Burr (in a role that may have nabbed him the Perry Mason franchise).

The jaws of the vise Clift finds himself squeezed into are class and sex. Barely educated, raised by stern members of a religious sect, he luckily (or not) happens to be the shirt-tail nephew of a prosperous entrepreneur who casually offers him work in his factory. Awkward and lonesome, Clift escapes the drudgery of his job by taking up with a mousy co-worker (Winters, toned way down from her platinum-bombshell image at the time). But his nose-to-the-grindstone ways attract the attention of his uncle, who rewards him with a promotion and an invitation up to the manor.

There he meets Taylor and launches an obsession about her, reinforced by a neon sign visible from his window that blazes her surname through his restless nights (she's another child of an industrial fortune, raised in wealth and privilege). Somehow, she falls for him – and, need it be added, he for her – despite his coming from the wrong side of the tracks (she hasn't the faintest notion that for people like him, life may not be the blithe affair it is for her).

Only one inconvenient fact keeps Clift from taking his rightful place in the sun: He's left Winters pregnant. The two worlds he occupies are destined to collide, and crash they do when Winters phones him, in the midst of a Hawaiian-themed luau at Taylor's summer place on the lake, to issue her ultimatum: Marry her or she'll spill their sordid secret. He leaves abruptly to meet Winters, desperately trying to assemble the plan which will seal three fates.

Stevens sustains an overwhelming, ominous momentum, unbroken by even a hint of levity (not even a single bit player is allowed to lapse into shtik). Languorous dissolves and superimposed images heighten the sense of inevitability as each scene, each event glides seamlessly into the next.

Maybe he wasn't able to pile on the exhaustive social commentary that bulked up Dreiser's novel, but everywhere there's sharp detail that he adroitly leaves to be noticed. When Clift shows up hours late at his intimate birthday party in Winter's cramped room, with the tiny table pushed up against her marble washstand, the ice cream has warmed to lumpy syrup (a self-homage to a similar scene in Steven's Alice Adams?). With an island combo playing merrily on, Clift sports a lei and eats pineapple out of its shell when Winters calls to break the spell – and this South-Seas reverie is offered up not as Veblenesque excess, but merely as the way Taylor's crowd spend their days and evenings and nights in an endless round of heedless gaiety.

The apex of the film's crescendo is handled with tight, quiet assurance – the reckoning in a rowboat upon a deserted lake. Dusk gathers among the pines like fog, the loons call back and forth, and the rippling waves reflect a demented flash into Clift's eye as he wrestles with his conscience. Winters natters nervously about the dreary life they'll spend together while his head swims with luminous visions of Taylor. Then, destiny catches.... Romantic but unsentimental, serious but without pretension, gripping without stooping to the manipulative, A Place in the Sun ranks as a masterpiece of American cinema.

Tragedy as Melodrama

[evanston_dad · 6/10 · 29 April 2005]

It was probably inevitable that "An American Tragedy," in its evolution to screen, would become more about the doomed love affair of Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor than the moral and ethical dilemmas that really form the foundation of Theodore Dreiser's novel. After all, doomed love is a bigger sell, especially when you have the romantic faces of Clift and Taylor swooning together in extreme close-up. I'm not a fan of doing book to movie comparisons. I figure that film and literature are two different art forms, so I shouldn't compare their rendering of the story anymore than I would compare the same story as presented in a painting as opposed to a ballet. So I tried to take the film on its own merits (admittedly difficult to do, since I watched the movie on the same day I finished the book), but even at that, I think the movie falls short.

Clift plays George Eastman, poor nephew to a rich, socially elite family in a small New York state factory town. He's been invited by his uncle to come and work in the Eastman factory, giving him an entre into a world of luxury that has always been out of his grasp due to his family's humble position (they run a mission and preach on the streets). George strikes up a love affair with Alice Tripp (Shelley Winters), a girl who works with him in the factory, but his attentions for her quickly fade when he becomes interested in Angela Vickers, another member of the rich set, played by Liz Taylor. Complications ensue, and George finds himself and his situation spiraling drastically out of control, with an ending more tragic than he ever thought possible.

George Stevens directs the film with a sure hand, and there are some breathtaking displays of directorial skill. For example, one that stands out in my mind comes when the camera focuses on a radio reporting a possible murder, while the young, rich kids with whom George has struck up a friendship goof off in the water in the background. There are also some great uses of dissolve editing, though the technique is somewhat overused.

But there are many problems with the film, notably its pacing. Much time is spent on George's love triangle with Alice and Angela, while the script races through the trial and George's ultimate fate, as if the screenwriter realized he only had two hours to tell his story when he'd already wasted an hour and a half on front-end material. Rushing through the end blunts much of the story's original intent and power, as that is where the majority of moral questions arise.

Also, the character Shelley Winters plays is so drab and mousy, that one doesn't understand why George would entangle himself with her in the first place. But Clift does a great job with the lead role, delivering a performance of raw nerve.

It befuddles me somewhat as to why this movie is quite so acclaimed. I can only imagine that its reception has to do with cultural moods at the time it was released and that it just hasn't aged well. It came out in 1951, a big year for literary adaptations ("A Streetcar Named Desire" and "Death of a Salesman" were both given big-screen treatments that year), and you only need to compare "Sun" to "Streetcar" to see how short it falls at capturing the essence of a true literary classic.

Grade: B-

Clift, Taylor, Stevens and a spellbinding American tragedy

[littlemartinarocena · 10/10 · 28 February 2007]

Time does extraordinary things with greatness. If nothing else it confirms it. "A Place in the Sun" is a remarkable example of that theory. I rushed to buy a DVD after watching a BBC documentary on ELizabeth Taylor to celebrate her 75th birthday! In "A Place on the Sun" an Elizabeth Taylor barely out of her teens is paired with Montgomery Clift. She had been raised at MGM and groomed for movie stardom from day one. He was a method actor, complex, introspective and their coupling produced something that I'm tempted to call, unrepeatable. The actors own personal stories, their friendship, mutual love and respect made it possible for their communion to be so transcendental. To make things even more perfect, the film seems a love letter from director George Stevens to his stars and vice versa. Look at the opening credits and tell me if you've ever seen a more startling introduction to a character/star. The story of doomed love and descend into darkness is, without question, one of the best ever made.

Melodramatic and tragic film in which Montgomery Clift is terrific in the lead as an ambitious laborer

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 20 April 2020]

A highly recommended film concerning a poor worker named George Eastman (Montgomery Clift) , forced to move from place to place out of circumstance, and he ends up in California working at the factory of his uncle . Employed by a wealthy uncle, and after an apprenticeship, the outcast George ends up as the foreman in the stamping department. Then he falls for a lower class girl Alice Tripp (Shelley Winters) , the worker of the assembly line , despite a company rule forbidding foremen to fraternize with staff, especially those working in the same department, as George begins a clandestine affair . Meanwhile, George is promoted and he meets the beauty Angela Vickers (Dame Elizabeth Taylor) at a party thrown at his uncle's house . As he changes for society maiden debutante Angela when he meets her , through his wealthy relations . As the two immediately fall in love with each other, but his life is threatened by the former girlfriend and our starring will stop nothing to get to climb to top on the social ladder . At the end takes place the classic of courtroom melodrama with a rigid prosecutor , and , eventually , resulting in tragic situation for all involved .

A faithful and powerful retelling of Theodore Dreiser's novel titles ¨An American tragedy¨ with vivid acting from a great cast headed by Montgomery Clift .Theodore Dreiser's novel was based on the actual 1906 murder case of Chester Gillette, convicted of drowning his girlfriend Grace Brown in Big Moose Lake in upstate New York. Gillette was executed in the electric chair on 30 March 1908. It deals with ambition and a deep love story , as a poor-born young man is really anxious to climb the social pyramid . The movie was really criticized and even some countries was banned because of reference to abortion . This film is an interesting commentary on class consciousness centered on a wrong guy ultimately brought to accidental justice by an equally wrong criminal justice system . The courtroom scene has been panned for being overacted by Raymond Burr who grossly overdoes his character as vehement district advocate , but it being convincingly directed . Montgomery Clift gives a terrifc acting as the young with aspiration to high life who falls in love with a beautiful heiress but his happiness and promising future is jeopardized by a previous affair with a coworker he impregnated . Director Stevens keeps the emphasis on Clyde, defining his callousness and spinelessness and taking away any sympathy the audience may have felt for him . And the gorgeous Elizabeth Taylor and Shelley Winters also shine in support . Being well accompanied by a great plethora of secondaries such as : Anne Revere , Keefe Brasselle , Fred Clark , Raymond Burr , Herbert Heyes , Ted de Corsia , John Ridgely , Walter sande , among others .

There is another early 1931 version by Josep Von Stenberg with Phillips Holmes , Siylvia Sidney , Frances Dee , Irving Pichel , in which even Theodore Dreiser sued Paramount for misrepresenting his novel by transforming it into an ordinary murder story. The judge ruled in favor of Paramount; Dreiser's motion to prevent release of the film was denied . It contains a very good cinematography in black and white by William C Mellor . As well as evocative and sensitive musical score by Franz Waxman . The motion picture was competently directed by George Stevens , being a good effort from somewhat uneven and undisciplined filmmaker George Stevens . As George made sure his would be the movie everybody would remember by getting nice interpretations and splendid dramatic moments It came away with six Academy Awards , including one for George Stevens and best director . He made five indisputable classics: Swing time (1936), a Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers musical; Gunga Din (1939), a rousing adventure film; Woman of the year (1942), a battle-of-the-sexes comedy; A place in the sun (1951), a drama that broke new ground in the use of close-ups and editing ; and Shane (1953), a distillation of every Western cliché that managed to both sum up and transcend the genre. His Penny Serenade (1941), Talk of the town (1942), The More the Merrier ( (1943), I Remember Mama (1948) and Giant (1956) all live on in the front rank of motion pictures. Other important movies he made are as follows : The greatest story ever told , a damsel in distress , Vivacious lady , Quality street , Alice Adams , Annie Oakley , Bachelor bat , Kentucky Kernels , among others . Rating 7.5/10 . Above average .

Where The Sex Comes In

[bkoganbing · 10/10 · 4 February 2011]

A Place In The Sun provided one of those rare occasions when a remake not only betters the original, but proves to become a classic. If you will an essential that Alec Baldwin and Robert Osborne can present on TCM. Only the third and last remake of The Maltese Falcon comes immediately to mind in that category.

This film had been done by Paramount under its original title, An American Tragedy. Based on the Theodore Dreiser novel that film starred Phillips Holmes, Sylvia Sydney and Frances Dee back in 1931. It gained great critical reviews, but didn't do so well at the box office. I've never seen the film, but I understand it was filled with a lot of working class polemics which weren't presented in an entertaining way.

But as was argued in Sullivan's Travels you've got to present these kinds of films with a little sex. So when George Stevens did this version he laid the sex on aplenty.

The story concerns Montgomery Clift who drifts into town as the poor relation of the town's biggest employer, a factory owner. He shows no favoritism to his relation and Clift gets a low paying job at the factory. While there he drifts also into an affair with another of the employees Shelley Winters.

But then Clift meets the girl of his dreams in Elizabeth Taylor. This is where the sex comes in. It's all in the name Elizabeth Taylor. But not only is she gorgeous beyond belief, but dad's wealthy enough for a dozen.

The problem is Shelley and a little something Clift left behind. Shelley's not going away and not considering abortion of which references had to be tiptoed around as per the ruling Code. It all comes to a head in a lake where Winters and Clift go on a rowboat ride and Winters doesn't come back.

This version of An American Tragedy was better received. Not only to rave critical reviews, but glorious box office receipts and several Academy Awards, chiefly Best Director for George Stevens. This was a breakthrough performance for both Elizabeth Taylor and Shelley Winters. Taylor had always been a pretty ingénue over at MGM, but this was where she first showed some acting chops. Sad to say she went right back to pretty heroines in films of varying quality until Giant in 1956 which was another loan out.

As for Winters she had been playing brassy dames also in some films of varying quality until she got this part. The little mousy factory worker was so different than anything she ever did before, people also stood up and took notice of her. Winters and Clift were nominated as Best Actress and Actor for 1951, but lost to Vivien Leigh in A Streetcar Named Desire and Humphrey Bogart for The African Queen respectively. A Place In The Sun also lost for Best Picture to A Streetcar Named Desire.

Other than that A Place In The Sun cleaned up at the Oscar ceremonies. It got awards for Best Screenplay, Best Music Score, Best Black and White Cinematography, Best Black and White Costume Design and Best Film Editing. It was and is a screen classic, a romantic one to be sure if not a polemical one.

I can't leave without mentioning Montgomery Clift who was a person of incredible talent and one who chose meticulously for the most part the films he was involved in. He did a couple of average ones, but in a career of decidedly limited output for the approximately 20 years he was a star, Clift was involved in a great number of classic films. Monty was coming off the rather ordinary The Big Lift, but before that he had starred in The Search, Red River, and The Heiress. And all of those parts and The Big Lift and A Place In The Sun show an astounding range of characters.

A Place In The Sun is a must see film on so many levels, for fans of the stars, for a great story brilliantly executed and directed by George Stevens and his great cast.

I'm Gonna Find Me A Place In The Sun

[strong-122-478885 · 6/10 · 6 December 2016]

For starters - I had always thought that actor Montgomery Clift was just another empty-headed, Hollywood "pretty-boy", and, basically, nothing more than that. But his portrayal in A Place In The Sun (APITS, for short) proved to me, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he was really quite a gifted performer.

In my opinion, it was definitely Clift's heartfelt portrayal as the tragic George Eastman character who gave APITS's story of social snobbery and murder its depth and its meaning. I'd say that it was Clift, alone, who carried this film over its many flaws and clichés to its riveting, melodramatic conclusion.

Yes. Of course, it certainly did help APITS's overall success that the gorgeous, 19-year-old Elizabeth Taylor was cast as Angela Vickers, the sole focus of George's hopes, his dreams and his burning desire.

But once poor George became hopelessly involved with pretty, young Angela, this viewer could easily understand what heady and emotional turmoil drove him at first to contemplate and then commit the ultimate "crime of passion".

If you ask me - I think that even today, 66 years later, this depiction of the "American Tragedy" holds up surprisingly well. It's a film that has somehow managed to avoid that inevitable "dated" feeling which seems to plague so many pictures from that particular era.

No match for the book

[mchenryed · 5/10 · 30 December 1998]

If you are looking for a movie that will parallel the book, An American Tradgedy by Theodore Dreisler, look elsewhere. This movie claims to be based off the novel, but only in very few places are they similar.

Overall, it came off as weak and uninteresting. A huge disappointment for me as I was expecting so much more.

Terrific Mix of Romance and Suspense

[Michael_Elliott · 12 September 2012]

A Place in the Sun (1951)

**** (out of 4)

Oscar-winning tale of a poor boy (Montgomery Clift) who goes to work for his uncle hoping to one day be rich like him. He falls in love with a small time woman (Shelley Winters) but soon gets a taste of the society life with a beauty (Elizabeth Taylor) and this is the start of his downfall. A PLACE IN THE SUN went home with six Oscars including Best Director for George Stevens and it's easy to see why he took home the award because there's so much going on in this picture yet he holds it together perfectly. The film is part melodrama, part message film, part romance and part suspense and Stevens really brings all of it together so perfectly that you can't help but get drawn into the story and feel every bit of pain that the characters do. The most amazing thing for me, and I'm not sure if it was meant to happen this way, but I really felt a lot of sympathy for the Clift character. Again, I'm not sure if this was the filmmakers intent but no matter how much I disagreed with what he was doing at the same time I never once hated him and even to the end I was hoping things would turn his way. I think some of this credit should be given to Clift who once again turns in a remarkable performance. I thought the shyness early on, the romance with Taylor and the hatred that someone is going to take away his dreams are all things that Clift perfectly nailed. The sequence on the boat towards the end is something masterfully performed by the actor. Taylor is also extremely good in her part even though of all the main characters I think hers is the most underwritten. Winters is also very good in her role of the woman who finds herself being left behind for someone better. I thought all the scenes between her and Clift, be it romantic or fighting, were full of wonderful chemistry. Anne Revere is a standout as Clift's mother and Raymond Burr is good in his few scenes. Again, a lot of credit has to go to Stevens because every aspect of the film works. The early love story between Clift and Shelley works. The love story between Clift and Taylor works. The downright suspense on the boat at night works. Even the ending manages to work. A PLACE IN THE SUN deserves its place as an all-time classic.

When Social Worlds Collide

[Lechuguilla · 8/10 · 28 August 2006]

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.

Stevens took a sensitivity that hadn't been used since "Jane Eyre."

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 9/10 · 31 January 2009]

This is a movie about George Eastman (Clift), a young, gentle laborer without social standing who longs for the better things in life…He is swept off his feet after a chance encounter with wealth, success and upper-class snobbery…

George is introduced to a stunning socialite Angela Vickers (Liz Taylor—never so beautiful) full of sensual delight and threatened by an unattractive factory girl (Alice) he's already made pregnant… Angela and George fall deeply in love, but Alice Tripp (Winters) presses and chases George until he agrees to marry her… He has a desperate decision, but hesitates… Finding they can't get married over the Labor Day weekend, George takes Alice boating…

Shelley Winters was extraordinary as the distressed co-worker… She made the wronged employee an understandable reaction to human dimensions… As she sits in the rowboat, unconsciously torturing Clift with her thoughts of their future together, Winters is both pathetic and annoying—a special candidate to get rid of…

The impact of the film depends absolutely on a moral climate that has now less impact on our society… Pre-marital sex is no longer disapproved and abortions are easier to obtain… But the film's power resided in its exceptionally convincing depiction of the points and questions created by these situations…

"A Place in the Sun" was nominated for nine Academy Awards, and won six

Overdone in the Sun

[kenjha · 6/10 · 2 August 2009]

The Dreiser novel becomes a disappointing film. Clift, Taylor, and Winters give interesting if uneven performances. Winters is made out to be so overly dowdy that it is hard to believe Clift would fall for her. It is a travesty that this is one of few films which received Best Director Oscar but not Best Picture, as Stevens' direction is overwrought and disjointed. Vincente Minnelli was robbed. Burr, who would play cripple Ironside and lawyer Perry Mason on TV, here plays a crippled lawyer and provides unintentional comic relief with his over-the-top performance. Everything in this film is overdone, including a ridiculous proposition about what constitutes guilt.

The Truth Has A Way Of Sneaking Up On You

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 30 November 2005]

This 1950s melodrama was an interesting, involving story. It's part film-noir, too, which I liked. I say that because the last third of the film featured an expectation of some dreaded act about to be committed, giving it a film noir feel.

One thing for sure, whatever you label the movie: it's well-acted, well-directed and well-photographed. Regarding the latter, this really looks good on DVD. No surprise it's directed well since George Stevens was the director. His resume speaks for itself.

Obviously Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor are the "big names" in this film, but I found Shelly Winters and the character she played to be the most intriguing. She wasn't really appealing yet one could certainly identify with her feelings of insecurity with Taylor as her competition. "Liz" was in in her prime, looks-wise, with an absolutely classic face.

Anyway, watching the character studies of the antsy Winters and the troublesome Clift were interesting. Clift, as is the case with most of us, causes his own problems and things slowly unravel for him. The story is another example of what can happen when one tries to cover up the truth. It comes back to bite you, big-time!

I really found it refreshing, however, to see Clift's attitude at the end. It's the exact opposite of what you hear today. He actually takes responsibility for his actions.

No One Ever Cares if Shelley Winters Dies

[disinterested_spectator · 6/10 · 20 May 2017]

"An American Tragedy" is a novel by Theodore Dreiser. It is a long complex novel, but in its essentials it boils down to this: boy meets girl, boy gets girl pregnant, boy meet another girl he likes better, boy kills the first girl, boy is executed for murder.

They have names, of course: the boy is Clyde, the first girl is Roberta, and the second girl is Sondra. Now, Clyde doesn't actually kill Roberta. He planned to drown her and make it look like an accident. He gets her out into the middle of the lake in a rowboat, knowing she cannot swim. But then he thinks he cannot do it. But then he thinks he will. He might as well be picking petals off a daisy: "I kill her, I kill her not, I kill her, I kill her not." Anyway, she ends up falling overboard and drowns just as he was thinking, "I kill her not." Notwithstanding all the planning he put into this murder that he changed his mind on at the last minute but which had the same result anyway, his identity is discovered, he is tried for murder, convicted, and executed.

The first film adaptation, released in 1931, has the same title as the novel, and the three principal characters have the same names. The second adaptation, made in 1951, has a title that is different from the novel, "A Place in the Sun," and the characters have different names. Don't ask me why. In most respects, the second adaptation is a much better movie. It was directed by George Stevens, starring Montgomery Clift as Clyde = George; Shelley Winters as Roberta = Alice; and Elizabeth Taylor as Sondra = Angela. (For the sake of consistency, I will continue to the use the names in the novel.)

But in one respect, the first adaptation is better, and so much so in this respect that I prefer it to the second. In the movie "An American Tragedy," Roberta is played by Silvia Sidney. We readily believe in her naïve innocence. She seems like the Roberta of the novel, a woman we like and feel sorry for. As noted above, however, in "A Place in the Sun," Roberta is played by Shelley Winters. I don't know what Shelley Winters was like as a person, but her screen persona simply is not the sweet, innocent virgin for whom we are supposed to have sympathy because she was taken advantage of by a man. On the contrary, she seems suited for roles in which she is a hardboiled broad, as in "Alfie" (1966) or "Bloody Mama" (1970). As a result, when she is taken advantage of by a man in a movie, we are more likely to think she is dumb than naïve.

Partly as a result of this difference, we are sad when Silvia Sidney's Roberta drowns. As for Shelley Winters' Roberta, however, we know we are supposed to feel sorry for her, and we do a little bit, but the fact is that we never really mind when Shelley Winters dies in a movie. For example, the fact that she drowns in "The Poseidon Adventure" (1972) does not spoil our sense that the movie has a happy ending. A third movie in which Shelley Winters drowns is "The Night of the Hunter" (1955), murdered by her newlywed psychopathic husband, played by Robert Mitchum. Now, Robert Mitchum's character, Harry Powell, is supposed to be as bad as they come, so you would think they would have allowed him to kill a more likable actress, like Jane Wyatt, for instance, so that we would really think Harry is evil. But they picked Shelley Winters to be his victim so that we would not spend the rest of the movie feeling sorry for her.

In other words, if "A Place in the Sun" had starred an actress to play Roberta who would have been more believably innocent and whose death would have been more disturbing, then we would have been appropriately outraged that Clyde would have even thought about abandoning her, let alone make elaborate plans to murder her, just as we are when we read the novel. But with Shelley Winters playing the part, her death really seems to be no great loss, and we end up feeling sorrier for Clyde, played by the likable Montgomery Clift, than we do for Roberta.

A very powerful and brilliantly played film

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 27 August 2014]

The amount of talent involved promised a great deal and A Place in the Sun lived up to it and more. The production values have such a sumptuous and haunting quality that perfectly match the romantic, tragic and darker tones A Place in the Sun has. Every frame is beautifully composed and every transition is as smooth as silk. George Stevens does a remarkable job directing, and very like with Giant he was wholly deserving of his Best Director Oscar, especially good is the very telling scene when George and Angela meet for the first time. Franz Waxman's score is lush and hauntingly beautiful in a way that is undoubtedly Waxman's style as soon as you hear it. A Place in the Sun is intelligently written with parts that are suspenseful and emotionally gut-wrenching. Equally so is the story, which personally didn't come across as dated, it is a dark and quite complex story powerfully told and quite ahead of its time too, the romantic parts are classily done and the tragedy is depicted movingly as well. The characters are compellingly real, not easy to sympathise for(apart from Alice) but that wasn't intended I don't think. The cast was a great one on paper and even greater on film, Montgomery Clift has rarely been more tortured and he does so in an enigmatic and affecting way, Elizabeth Taylor is at her most luminous(even outdoing Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Last Time I Saw You in Paris and Giant on that front) and gives one of her best performances and Shelley Winters is every bit as brilliant. A Place in the Sun may not be as solidly paced in the second half and Raymond Burr badly overdoes it as the attorney especially in the cross-examination with the breaking of the oar, but even they aren't quite enough to ruin a powerful and brilliantly made and played film that is among the best of the 50s. 9.5/10 Bethany Cox

OK melodrama

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 22 January 2015]

George Eastman (Montgomery Clift) leaves his religious mother hitchhike from Chicago to California and his uncle wealthy Charles Eastman (Herbert Heyes). His uncle offers him an entry job at the factory and the rest of his family are dismissive of his poor nephew. Angela Vickers (Elizabeth Taylor) is an upper class friend of the son. George starts to date fellow line worker Alice Tripp (Shelley Winters). Then he gets involved with Angela. Alice gets pregnant after that first night and fears losing George.

This is melodrama of the highest or the lowest order depending on your taste. The directions are pretty stiff and it slows down the movie. The scenes are long, uncut and not that interesting. I want to say that the acting is good but I think the personas of the actors are what's on display. I notice that Shelley Winters isn't even shown her face as she tearfully tells George about getting in 'trouble'. Taylor is her glamorous self. Clift is the ultra sensitive and somewhat pathetic guy. In the end, I don't like George and I don't see anything romantic about him. I also don't like the trial which is anti-climatic. The three main actors do an admirable job and keeps this from being pedestrian.

The brilliance of George Stevens

[princy · 9/10 · 25 June 2000]

A Place in the Sun first caught my attention in an article I had read about Montgomery Clift. Even though the article went into no great depth about explaining the plot or story-line of the film, what was written about it was rather favourable. I decided to have a look at some reviews and even some viewer comments on the IMDb to get a better idea of what the film was about, and to see what other people thought of it. Based on what I found written about it I decided that I might be interested in looking at it, even though it sounded suspiciously like another Hollywood love story.

The film turned out to be one of the best dramas I have ever seen, in fact it was so good that not even Elizabeth Taylor's mediocre talent could ruin it. The characterizations and story line were outstanding, far surpassing those of George Steven's other masterpieces, Shane and Giant. This was one of those rare movies, another being 'Dead Man Walking' where I found myself not knowing whether or not to feel sympathy for the main character, which I imagine was exactly the audience impartiality that Stevens was aiming for.

There is more than one theme prevalent in this movie which makes it so good, the main one centering on love breaking through social barriers, not an uncommon theme, but well executed. There is also an underlying theme of betrayal which is offsets the former theme and is what makes this movie such a success.

Even though the movie is centred on the characters of Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor, it is Shelley Winters that steals the show. Winters performance is flawless, successfully gaining sympathy for her character, which in turn is what creates a confliction of feelings for the audience towards the main character.

An absolute must see

A wildly over-rated sudser

[ozjosh · 6/10 · 6 October 2023]

A Place in the Sun is frequently cited as one of the greats of American cinema, but I doubt many 21st century viewers would agree. As a tale of America's haves and have nots, the movie still has a degree of thematic heft, but the storytelling is sluggish and hugely melodramatic. All the key plot developments are clumsily telegraphed. And from a legal standpoint the courtroom trial in the final reel is ludicrous. There are also some curious moments worth mentioning in light of the Oscar nominations for director George Stevens and actress Shelley Winters. In two of Winters' key scenes Stevens chooses to shoot her almost entirely from behind (in the first she tells George she's pregnant; in the second she finds out he's abandoned her to be with Angela). It's possible that Stevens simply thought it was interesting to frame those scenes as he did. It's more likely that his main concern was keeping the focus on Montgomery Clift. But I wouldn't mind betting that he was also determined not to build too much sympathy for Winter's character, Alice, as the single, pregnant girl left in the lurch. God forbid the audience should sympathise with her, rather than her killer! Which makes it all the more remarkable that Winters scored a best actress nomination anyway. Whatever the directorial motivations here, they now seem transparently manipulative and more than somewhat distasteful. And the same can be said for the determination to make Alice both frumpy and whiny, as though that also makes George less of a monster. If A Place in the Sun still has any legitimate claims on greatness, then it's surely only for the genuine star power of Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift. Their charisma lights up the screen, even when their actual performances fall short.

hugely overrated,Liz is lovely

[jimakros · 4/10 · 10 May 2008]

i may be the only one on this board who didn't like his movie.I bought this on DVD based on its "classic" status.I 'm very disappointed to now own it.The only reason to watch this IMO is Liz,who here is young,fresh and lovely and also acts well.Clift IMO is terrible in this movie because he is miscast,he walks around with the same,one and only beaten expression on his face,like he doesn't begin to understand the part,this role was for someone like Garfield or other actor good at portraying born losers.Clift looks too intelligent for that. The story is also too far-fetched,all the tragedy starts because a woman cant find a doctor to have an abortion.There might be some truth in it but i doubt even in those days that it would have been so hard for a couple who had decided to do that,to find such a doctor.And after that,Eastman(Clift)starts thinking of murder when all his life was just a nice churchgoing young man.Thats ridiculous.The story is ridiculous,the tragedy is forced,the acting by Clift is bad.This movie is pretty bad,but somehow everybody but me loves it.OK,thats life.