A Place in the Sun

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see A Place in the Sun (disambiguation).

A Place in the Sun
original film poster
Directed by	George Stevens
Produced by	George Stevens
Written by	Theodore Dreiser (novel An American Tragedy) Patrick Kearney (play An American Tragedy) Michael Wilson (screenplay) Harry Brown (screenplay)
Starring	Montgomery Clift Elizabeth Taylor Shelley Winters Anne Revere
Music by	Franz Waxman
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	August 14, 1951 U.S. premiere
Running time	122 min
Language	English
Budget	$2,295,304 (estimated)
IMDb profile

A Place in the Sun is a 1951 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.

1 Plot
2 Inspiration for the novel
3 Academy Awards
4 Further reading

[edit] Plot

The film opens with George Eastman Montgomery Clift being picked up while hitchhiking and then dropped off at the factory of an important businessman, his uncle, Charles Eastman. Mr. Eastman is not in the office so his staff phones him at home. Eastman invites George to drop out to the house at 7pm. Eastman intends to hire George to work in his plant. Mr. Eastman plans to put George to work in his factory. Suddenly, Angela Vickers Elizabeth Taylor who was seen earlier driving past George in her white Cadillac convertable comes in with her date and George is obviously smitten with her although she rushes out before he can even meet her.

The next day George is thoroughly instructed to "act like an Eastman" and not date any of the women who work at the company. He is given a tour and the women are quite taken with him. He starts with menial work and a worker, Shelly Winters cannot take her eyes off him. George begins making suggestions to Mr. Eastman about ways to improve productivity in the mill. Later George goes to the movies alone and happens to sit next to Winters. He moves closer to her and engages her in conversation. After the film George walks with Winters and she briefs him on how Eastman's are brought up through the company. George walks Winters home. He puts her arm around her, it appears that he is unconcerned with the anti-nepotism policy at work. The two seem to have an instant chemistry and kiss right away. Winters warns George that he has to be careful.

The next day George and Winters chat at they leave work and then go for a drink together. Winters points out the culture clash but George tells her he has only been to Mr. Eastman's home once; he is not living the high life. Winters seems to warm up to George more and stop worrying about his high class status. George takes Winters home and because it is raining and he is driving a convertable car, he comes in the house, despite Winter's reservations about her strict landlady and they begin to dance in the darkness. George does not leave until the morning and it appears they had a full night of it.

The next day Mr. Eastman spots George in the factory and instructs his staff to promote him. Mr. Eastman also invites George to a party at his home. George attends the party although Winters is unhappy with it because it is his birthday and she wants him with her. George finds himself ignored at the party and ends up playing pool alone. Angela Elizabeth Taylor happens in just as George is making a difficult trick shot. She asks him why he is all alone and seems to enjoy watching him play pool. Angela is a socialite and seems to appreciate that George knows it and reads about her in the newspaper. Mr. Eastman insists that George phone his mother who works at a mission. The contrast between the poor mission and the affluent Eastman home is stark. Angela takes George dancing. Suddenly, George's relationship with Winters seems lessened. Winters expects George to try and come over early so they can celebrate his birthday together, but he ends up staying late with Angela; Winters is upset. Winters seems to sense that George has met someone new and specifically asks if he likes Angela. Winters prying troubles George. His new status as department head at the plant seems to put Winters off balance. Winters is upset and crying and she is pregnant.

George is seen seeming to stew over his options. He calls Winters and tells her he is looking for a doctor. Angela invites George to spend Friday night together. George is melancholy. He is trying to decide if she wants to join Angela's world. Angela is at peace in George's arms. He is an outsider, different, deep and far away, mysterious and alluring. George tells Angela he loves her and has since the first time he saw her, maybe even before he met her. Angela tells George she loves him too. Angela plans the weekend at the lake and invites George to join her. She starts planning their future together. You can almost see the wheels turning in Georges head as he tries to figure out how to handle his pregnant girlfriend and debutante.

Winters and George decide they will marry when he gets his vacation, somewhere out of town where people will not know of it. But George is starting to think about life with Angela. George hears a radio report about the high incidence of death from car accidents and drownings. He is starting to hatch a plan to relieve him of his burden. Angela pops in unexpected and picks up George, inviting him to spend his vacation with her at the lake. Angela insists he come so she can show him off to her family. George realizes he has to do something about Winters before his vacation.

(incomplete)

[edit] Inspiration for the novel

An American Tragedy was based upon the 1906 murder of Grace Brown. In 1906, Chester Gillette was convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend, Grace Brown, at Big Moose Lake in the Adirondacks in upstate New York. The murder trial drew international attention as Brown's love letters to Gillette were read in court. Theodore Dreiser saved newspaper clippings about the case for some 15 years before writing his novel An American Tragedy.