A Place in the Sun (film)

A Place in the Sun
original film poster
Directed by	George Stevens
Produced by	George Stevens
Written by	Michael Wilson Harry Brown
Based on	An American Tragedy  by Theodore Dreiser An American Tragedy  by Patrick Kearney
Starring	Montgomery Clift Elizabeth Taylor Shelley Winters Anne Revere
Music by	Franz Waxman
Cinematography	William C. Mellor
Editing by	William Hornbeck
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	August 14, 1951 (1951-08-14)
Running time	122 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$2,295,304
Box office	$7,000,000

A Place in the Sun is a 1951 American drama film based on the 1925 novel An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser and the play, also titled An American Tragedy. It 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. The novel had been filmed once before, as An American Tragedy, in 1931.

A Place in the Sun was directed by George Stevens from a screenplay by Harry Brown and Michael Wilson, and stars Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Shelley Winters, Anne Revere, and Raymond Burr.

The film was a critical and commercial success, winning six Academy Awards and the first ever Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama. In 1991, A Place in the Sun was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Plot summary

George Eastman (Montgomery Clift), the poor nephew of rich industrialist Charles Eastman (Herbert Heyes), arrives in town following a chance encounter with his uncle while working as a bell-hop in a Chicago hotel. The elder Eastman invites George to visit him if and when he ever comes to town, and the ambitious young man takes advantage of the offer. Despite George's family relationship to the Eastmans, they regard him as something of an outsider, but his uncle nevertheless offers him an entry-level job at his factory. George, uncomplaining, hopes to impress his uncle (whom he addresses as "Mr. Eastman") with his hard work and earn his way up. While working in the factory, George starts dating fellow factory worker Alice Tripp (Shelley Winters), in defiance of the workplace rules. Alice is a poor and inexperienced girl who is dazzled by George and slow to believe that his Eastman name brings him no advantages.

Over time, George begins a slow move up the corporate ladder, into a supervisory position in the department where he began. He has submitted recommendations on improving production in his department, which finally catch the attention of his uncle, who invites him to their home for a social event. At the party, George finally meets "society girl" Angela Vickers, played by Elizabeth Taylor, whom he has admired from afar, and they quickly fall in love. Being Angela's escort thrusts George into the intoxicating and carefree lifestyle of high society that his rich Eastman kin had denied him. When Alice announces that she is pregnant and makes it clear that she expects George to marry her, he puts her off, spending more and more of his time with Angela and his new well-heeled friends. An attempt to procure an abortion for Alice fails, and she renews her insistence on marriage. George is invited to join Angela at the Vickers's holiday lake house over Labor Day weekend, and excuses himself to Alice, saying that the visit will advance his career and accrue to the benefit of the coming child.

George and Angela spend time at secluded Loon Lake, and after hearing a story of a couple's supposed drowning there, with the man's body never being found, George hatches a plan to rid himself of Alice so that he can marry Angela.

Meanwhile, Alice finds a picture in the newspaper of George, Angela, and their friends, and realizing that George lied to her about being forced to go to the lake. During a dinner which is attended by the Eastman and Vickers families, George appears to be on the verge of finally advancing into the business and social realm that he has long sought. However, an unexpected phone calls begins to unravel his dreams. Alice has phoned the house during the dinner party and asks to speak with George. She tells him that she is at the bus station, and that if he doesn't come to get her, she'll come where he is and expose him. Visibly shaken, he contrives an excuse to the families that he must suddenly leave, but promises Angela he wil return. The next morning, George and Alice drive to City Hall to elope but they find it closed for Labor Day, and George suggests spending the day at the nearby lake; Alice unsuspectingly agrees.

When they get to the lake, George acts visibly nervous when he rents a boat from a man who seems to deduce that George gave him a false name; the man's suspicions are aroused more when George asks him whether any other boaters are on the lake (none are). While they are out on the lake, Alice confesses her dreams about their happy future together with their child. As George apparently takes pity on her and, judging from his attitude, decides not to carry out his murderous plan, Alice tries to stand up in the boat, causing it to capsize, and Alice drowns.

George escapes, swims to shore, and eventually drives back up to the Vickers's lodge, where he tries to relax but is increasingly tense. He says nothing to anyone about having been on the lake or about what happened there. Meanwhile, Alice's body is discovered and her death is treated as a murder investigation almost from the first moment, while an abundant amount of evidence and witness reports stack up against George. Just as Angela's father approves Angela's marriage to him, George is arrested and charged with Alice's murder. Though the audience knows that the planned murder in fact turned into an accidental drowning, George's furtive actions before and after Alice's death condemn him. His denials are futile, and he is found guilty of murder and sentenced to death in the electric chair. Near the end, he confesses in his cell that he deserves to die because although he did not kill Alice, he wanted her dead in his heart, making him just as guilty as if he had killed her.

Cast

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

Reception

The film earned an estimated $3.5 million at the US and Canadian box office in 1951.

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards

Wins

• Best Cinematography, Black-and-White (William C. Mellor)
• Best Costume Design, Black-and-White (Edith Head)
• Best Director (George Stevens)
• Best Film Editing (William Hornbeck)
• Best Original Score (Franz Waxman)
• Best Writing, Screenplay (Michael Wilson and Harry Brown)

Nominations

• Best Actor in a Leading Role (Montgomery Clift)
• Best Actress in a Leading Role (Shelley Winters)
• Best Picture

Other honors

American Film Institute recognition

• AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies - #92
• AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions - #53
• AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:
  • "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." - Nominated
• AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores - Nominated
• AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) - Nominated

Golden Globe Award

• Best Picture (Drama)

Directors Guild of America Award

• Best Director

Cannes Film Festival

• In competition (1951)

External links

• A Place in the Sun at the Internet Movie Database