A Place in the Sun (1951) [NR]

Featuring:
Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Shelley Winters

Written by:
Theodore Dreiser
Patrick Kearney
Michael Wilson

Directed by:
George Stevens


Release Date:
June 12, 1951

Original Title:
A Place in the Sun

Alternate Titles:
Ein Platz an der Sonne
Mjesto pod suncem
Místo na výsluní
Um Lugar ao Sol
Un lugar en el sol
郎心如鐵
젊은이의 양지

Genres:
Crime | Drama | Romance

Production Companies:
George Stevens Jr. Productions
Paramount Pictures

Production Countries:
United States of America

Ratings / Certifications:
AT: 12  BE: 9  BR: 12  DE: 12  FR: U  NL: AL  SE: 15  US: NR 

Runtime: 122

Young people asking so much of life... taking so much of love!

A young social climber wins the heart of a beautiful heiress but his former girlfriend's pregnancy stands in the way of his ambition.

A chance meeting with his uncle leads to George Eastman (Montgomery Clift) being caught in the middle of two worlds, neither side in which he truly belongs. The son of poor missionaries, his father who has passed away, George met his wealthy paternal uncle Charles Eastman (Herbert Heyes) while George was working as a bellhop in his uncle's hotel in Chicago, Illinois. Wanting a better life for himself, George takes his uncle up on his offer for a placement somewhere in one of the Eastman factories, Charles' want in this offer being for any Eastman to take his proper place in the world. Under the directive of his cousin Earl (Keefe Brasselle), George is placed on the factory assembly line, largely neglected by the Eastmans as a whole. Regardless, George still does see this position as a stepping stone to something better, for which he is willing to work hard to achieve. George, lonely in his new surroundings, breaks the company rule of no fraternizing with fellow employees when he starts to date fellow Eastman assembly line worker Alice Tripp (Shelley Winters). Several months later, Charles, remembering about his nephew, promotes George both professionally and personally. Although uncomfortable in society gatherings, George eventually is befriended by one person in this new world, the beautiful society maiden Angela Vickers (Dame Elizabeth Taylor), who George fell in love with at first sight even before he arrived in town. Angela too falls in love with George, which does not sit well with her parents if only because they know nothing of him. George is caught between his want for prosperity and being with Angela, the woman he truly loves, and his obligations to needy Alice, who learns of his society friends and Angela, who ends up getting pregnant by him, and who uses whatever means in her limited powers to pressure him to do right by her in marrying her.

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Rankings and Honors

A Place in the Sun (1951) on IMDb
Internet Movie Database 7.7/10
Rotten Tomatoes 82%
Metacritic 76/100
Awards Won: Won 6 Oscars. 15 wins & 10 nominations total

American Film Institute (AFI)

1998
#92
100 Years: 100 MOVIES
100 Greatest American Movies Of All Time
2002
#53
100 Years: 100 PASSIONS
100 Greatest Love Stories Of All Time

Art Direction:
Hans Dreier
Walter H. Tyler

Assistant Director:
Charles C. Coleman

Associate Producer:
Ivan Moffat

Costume Design:
Edith Head

Director:
George Stevens

Director of Photography:
William C. Mellor

Editor:
William Hornbeck

Makeup Department Head:
Wally Westmore

Novel:
Theodore Dreiser

Original Music Composer:
Franz Waxman

Other:
Farciot Edouart
Loyal Griggs
Fred Guiol
Howie Horwitz

Producer:
George Stevens

Screenplay:
Michael Wilson
Harry Brown

Set Decoration:
Emile Kuri

Sound Recordist:
Gene Garvin
Gene Merritt

Special Effects:
Gordon Jennings

Stunt Double:
Polly Burson
Helen Thurston
Paul Baxley

Theatre Play:
Patrick Kearney

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