A Place in the Sun (1951)

A poor boy gets a job working for his rich uncle and ends up falling in love with two women.

Director:

George Stevens

Writers:

Theodore Dreiser (based on the novel by), Patrick Kearney (play),

Stars:

Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Shelley Winters

Won 6 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Montgomery Clift	...	George Eastman
Elizabeth Taylor	...	Angela Vickers
Shelley Winters	...	Alice Tripp
Anne Revere	...	Hannah Eastman
Keefe Brasselle	...	Earl Eastman
Fred Clark	...	Bellows
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

Storyline

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. His cousin Earl Eastman 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, in the movie theater and they date. Meanwhile, the outcast George is promoted and he meets the gorgeous Angela Vickers at a party thrown 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 him thirty minutes to meet her; otherwise she will crash the party and tell what has happened. George is pressed by the situation which ends ...

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Plot Keywords:

party | love | factory | assembly line | falling in love | 

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Taglines:

I'm in trouble, George... bad trouble

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 October 1951 (France)

Also Known As:

An American Tragedy

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,295,304 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the Italian post-synchronized version, the actors are dubbed by: Giulio Panicali (Montgomery Clift); Germana Calderini (Elizabeth Taylor); Lidia Simoneschi (Shelley Winters); Giovanna Scotto (Anne Revere); Pino Locchi (Keefe Brasselle); Giorgio Capecchi (Fred Clark); Mario Besesti (Raymond Burr); Gaetano Verna (Herbert Heyes); Emilio Cigoli (Shepperd Strudwick), Bruno Persa (John Ridgely), Cesare Polacco (Douglas Spencer) and Lauro Gazzolo (Ian Wolfe).

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

George Eastman: I love you. I've loved you since the first moment I saw you. I guess maybe I've even loved you before I saw you.

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Connections

Referenced in The Directors: The Films of Sydney Pollack (2000)

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Soundtracks

"Out of Nowhere"
(1931) (uncredited)
Written by Edward Heyman and Johnny Green
Played on the radio

User Reviews

The Truth Has A Way Of Sneaking Up On You

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.