A Place in the Sun(1951) is a film which tells the story of a working class young man who is entangled with two women, one who works in his wealthy uncle's factory and the other a beautiful socialite. It stars Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Shelley Winters, Anne Revere, Keefe Brasselle and Raymond Burr. The film is best known for the celebrated dance scene between Clift and Taylor, shot in extreme closeup by director George Stevens.*
The movie was adapted by Harry Brown and Michael Wilson from the novel An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser and the adapted play by Patrick Kearney. It was directed by George Stevens. The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
Known as the ultimate American Tragedy, this film's narrative centers around George Eastman's (Montgomery Clift) moral and sexual ambiguity. Young George Eastman, a man with a lowly social standing, hitchhikes to Chicago in hopes of working at his uncle's suit factory. At the factory he meets Alice(Shelley Winters) and eventually the two begin a romance. But then, in one of the more notable scenes from the age, at the Eastmans' party, George feels out of place and seeks refuge in the deserted billiard room. While playing pool by himself, George is noticed by Angela (Elizabeth Taylor), and the two strike up a friendly conversation. As time goes by, and Angela and George's love grows, he finds out that Alice is pregnant and refuses to let George out of her life, it's then that he begins to entertain the notion of killing her so he can be with Angela. And Elizabeth Taylor is so very beautiful and enthralling, and the life at the Eastman's so inviting compared to his lowly social status that, the viewer can't help but be taken by she and George's passionate love for one another. When George entertains this notion of actually killing his fiance so that he and Angela can be together the viewer frighteningly finds themselves rooting for this outcome. The cinematography does an excellent job differentiating the night and day difference between the more beautiful and vibrant Taylor and the woeful and not as beautiful Winters.
In one of the most gut wrenching scenes I've ever seen (the scene where Elizabeth Taylor truly stole my heart forever) George is summoned by Alice on phone at the Eastman's party and she instructs him to come immediately, and that if he doesn't, she'll go public with her pregnancy. George makes up an excuse for his abrupt departure, knowing it may be the last time he ever sees Angela. Angela notices that the usually woeful George is especially distracted after the phone call, and as George looks into her beautiful eyes and angelic face he knows he could never leave her, that he must do whatever possible to avoid breaking her delicate heart. It's at that point that George has decided to kill Alice; it's at that point that audience wants him to kill Alice; and it's at that point that I knew I was watching one of the more intriguing stories ever conceived in literature or film. It's almost impossible for the viewer NOT to wish death upon Alice so that these two can be together...this films offers an insight into ALL of our consciousnesses.
I don't really want to give away the narrative with what happens next, but it's these remaining events that makes it one of the more uniquely creative films ever; the way that George deals with Alice (and the aftermath).
Click to reveal..
In the 'murder' scene, when the boat overturns, Stevens uses a long shot and then darkness to blur the issue. We do not see what happens but we know that when Alice upsets the boat she is frightened of George and then falls in the water: we feel her fear. We are left to make our own judgment about George's guilt.
^And THAT is what makes this one of the more uniquely original stories ever.
The first time I watched this film I was floored (obviously) by both Taylor and Clift's passion on screen. I honestly cried my eyes out throughout much of the picture. Monty Clift is so tender, so passionate, that you can't help fall in love with him and you want to help him erase his demons. Angela represents a solace for George to hide away from his checkered past. And the love and passion between them on screen is probably very similar to the love and passion they had for each other off screen. It's interesting that Monty Clift's emotions and problems in this film very much reflected his real life personality; a troubled, closeted homo-sexual and drug addict who is befriended by Taylor in real life, just as in the film. Taylor served as a catharsis for Clift until his early death; and perhaps that's what makes this film so incredibly personal --knowing the real life story between the two actors and then seeing it play out on screen is just simply one of the greatest things I've witnessed in film. I'm honestly getting teary-eyed just writing about the two. And then, in the final scene, we hear the line that we've heard throughout the movie...It seems like we always spend the best part of our time saying goodbye." The whole thing is just really emotional and offers an in depth look at all of our souls. The film is so heartbreaking that it's hard to re-hatch the whole thing to write a review. I think it's gotta be one of the greatest films ever made.
*=A Place In The Sun - George and Angela fall in love http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEuFNnJSIw8&feature=related This scene really captures that enthralling and cathartic like nature that Elizabeth Taylor had in this film -- and in real life as it related to her and Monty. Not as emotional as the "Tiki Torch party Farewell"; and I sure wish the pool table scene was on youtube; but note the line that would stick to Elizabeth Taylor throughout her entire career when she tells the depressed mama's boy..."Tell Mama. Tell mama all." That is HAWT!!!
The whole thing is just really emotional and offers an in depth look at all of our souls. The film is so heartbreaking that it's hard to re-hatch the whole thing to write a review. I think it's gotta be one of the greatest films ever made. 
