A Place in the Sun (1951)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

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:

Marriage | Factory | Love | Assembly Line | Physician

Awards:

Won 6 Oscars. Another 7 wins & 8 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Mon. Nov. 16

2:00 PM

TCM

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:

An American Tragedy (USA) (working title)
The Lovers (USA) (working title)
The Prize (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) | Argentina:13 (DVD rating) | Australia:G (original DVD rating) | Australia:PG (DVD re-rating) | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #14461)

Filming Locations:

Cascade Lake, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Shelley Winters was determined to be tested for the part of Alice. At the time she was being cultivated as a sex symbol, so the night before she was due to see George Stevens, she dyed her hair brown and bought some especially dowdy clothes, the kind she had seen when she had visited a factory to see how the girls who worked there dressed. She deliberately arrived at the meeting place early and sat in a corner. When Stevens came in, he didn't even notice her until he was about to leave, when he suddenly realized that the mousy girl in the corner was actually Shelley Winters.

Goofs:

Continuity: Alice Tripp is wearing different shoes when she starts walking home from the movie with George Eastman than she is when they are close to where she lives.

Quotes:

Angela: Tell mama... tell mama all.

Movie Connections:

Featured in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (1998) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Mona Lisa

Clift, Taylor, Stevens and a spellbinding American tragedy

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.