A Place in the Sun

1951 | 122 minutes | 7.3 ★ (378)

A Place in the Sun

Videos

User Reviews

See more
CS

CinemaSerf

25 June 2022

I think anyone who only recalls Dame Elizabeth Taylor from her later life ought to watch this and perhaps they will begin to appreciate just how beautiful and talented she was - and this is by no means her best effort on screen. This film belongs fairly and squarely to Montgomery Clift. He is "George Eastman", a cousin from the less wealthy branch of the family who seeks employment from his uncle "Charles" (Herbert Heyes). He is politely received and given a fairly lowly job, but it's a start and he can reassure his mother (Anne Revere) whilst courting "Alice" (Shelley Winters). Enter the young "Angela Vickers" (Taylor) who immediately turns his head. He can think of no-one else, she captivates him - he is spellbound. What to do about poor old "Alice" though? She isn't going to just let him dump her, she is in love and she is now expecting his child. Director George Stevens handles the rest of this film will consummate skill. "George" takes "Alice" for a picnic, a boating trip, an accident - and then a trial at which he is accused of clobbering her over the head with an oar before she drowned. Witnesses gather, gossip is traded and opinions are formed that may well send him to the chair... Clift, in his earlier roles, had the ability to mix allure and vulnerability in away seldom seen at the time, and here he develops his character from shy young man to calculating, if out of his depth, lover really well. Shelley Winters rarely disappointed too and again, here, she is strong as the needy yet loving girlfriend spurned. Franz Waxman scores perfectly and the photography is frequently tight and immersing. Court room dramas can be tricky to keep lively, but as we come to the denouement here, there is always some jeopardy as to the verdict. I got that wrong, by the way... Super film, this - big screen if you can.

More Like This

Jailhouse Rock

Jailhouse Rock

After serving time for manslaughter, young Vince Everett becomes a teenage rock star.

See more
The Lost

The Lost

A charismatic psycho suspected of killing two innocent campers in a cold-blooded double homicide grows increasingly unstable as his suburban empire...

See more
Boy Culture

Boy Culture

A successful gay male escort describes in a series of confessions his tangled romantic relationships with his two roommates and an older, enigmatic...

See more
The Art of Crying

The Art of Crying

Life is not easy for 11-year-old Allan living in South Jutland during the early 1970s. His mentally unstable father frequently threatens suicide...

See more
Dad Would Have a Fit

Dad Would Have a Fit

Szarka and Barbi, two 17 years old girl travel to Europe to find love and happiness. The vacation starts bad, they lose all their money, but they...

See more
There's a Girl in My Heart

There's a Girl in My Heart

A Gay-Nineties musical set in NYC's Bowery and East-Side explores the life of its inhabitants---an Irish policeman and his tap-dancing daughter and...

See more
Miss Marple: They Do It with Mirrors

Miss Marple: They Do It with Mirrors

At the insistence of Ruth Van Rydock, an old schoolfriend who is convinced that there is something wrong, Miss Marple agrees to visit 'Stonygates',...

See more
Letters to the Man I Love

Letters to the Man I Love

Set within the aftershocks of South Africa’s Apartheid, a gay farmhand writes letters to his lover.

See more
Vlčí halíř

Vlčí halíř

Blackmail

Blackmail

London, 1929. Frank Webber, a very busy Scotland Yard detective, seems to be more interested in his work than in Alice White, his girlfriend...

See more
Fight Club

Fight Club

A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept...

See more
The Five Sinners

The Five Sinners

The Experiment

The Experiment

20 volunteers agree to take part in a seemingly well-paid experiment advertised by the university. It is supposed to be about aggressive behavior...

See more
To Die For

To Die For

Suzanne Stone wants to be a world-famous news anchor and she is willing to do anything to get what she wants. What she lacks in intelligence, she...

See more
Dances with Wolves

Dances with Wolves

Wounded Civil War soldier John Dunbar tries to commit suicide—and becomes a hero instead. As a reward, he's assigned to his dream post, a remote...

See more
The Hours

The Hours

"The Hours" is the story of three women searching for more potent, meaningful lives. Each is alive at a different time and place, all are linked by...

See more
Solaris

Solaris

A psychologist is sent to a space station orbiting a planet called Solaris to investigate the death of a doctor and the mental problems of...

See more
To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird

Scout Finch, 6, and her older brother Jem live in sleepy Maycomb, Alabama, spending much of their time with their friend Dill and spying on their...

See more
The Grapes of Wrath

The Grapes of Wrath

Tom Joad returns to his home after a jail sentence to find his family kicked out of their farm due to foreclosure. He catches up with them on his...

See more
Sunset Boulevard

Sunset Boulevard

A hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent film star who has faded into Hollywood obscurity.

See more