A Place in the Sun (1951)
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An ambitious young man's pursuit of social status leads him into a web of illicit romance and a desperate, fatal crime.
The story
George Eastman, the poor nephew of a wealthy industrialist, secures an entry-level job at his uncle's factory. While working there, he begins a secret affair with a coworker named Alice Tripp, who hopes his family name will provide her with social advantages. However, George's life changes when he meets and falls in love with Angela Vickers, a high-society socialite. As George attempts to embrace a new life with Angela, Alice reveals she is pregnant and demands he marry her. Caught between his desire for social mobility and his obligations to Alice, George begins to lead a double life, leading to a dangerous confrontation.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
George Eastman, the poor nephew of rich industrialist Charles Eastman, is offered an entry-level job at his uncle's factory. He begins secretly dating coworker Alice Tripp, who believes his surname will bring her advantages. George eventually meets and falls in love with socialite Angela Vickers. When Alice reveals she is pregnant and demands marriage, George continues to see Angela in secret. After Alice discovers George's lies via a newspaper photograph, she threatens to reveal herself. George, fearing for his new life, plans to drown Alice in a lake. He stages a car breakdown and rents a rowboat under an alias. During the outing, the boat capsizes; George saves himself, but Alice drowns. George returns to the Vickers' lodge without reporting the accident. Alice's body is discovered, and evidence against George mounts. Just as Angela's father approves of the marriage, George is arrested and charged with murder. He is found guilty and sentenced to death in the electric chair. While awaiting execution, a priest suggests that while George didn't physically kill Alice, his heart intended it because he was thinking of Angela. Angela visits him in prison, professing her love, as George marches toward his execution.
- First release year
- 1951
- Runtime (minutes)
- 122
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- George Stevens
- Writers
- Michael Wilson · screenplay; Harry Brown · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Montgomery Clift · George Eastman; Elizabeth Taylor · Angela Vickers; Shelley Winters · Alice Tripp; Keefe Brasselle
- Genres
- tragedy; drama; courtroom drama; film noir
- Themes
- social class; ambition; moral decay; romance
- Tone and mood
- tragic; poignant; sinister
- Premise and plot tags
- Drama; Crime; Romance; Tragedy
- Source material / true-story basis
- Based on the 1925 novel An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser and its 1926 stage adaptation by Patrick Kearney.
- Reception
- The film was a critical and commercial success, winning six Academy Awards and the first-ever Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama. It was later selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Award · Best Director · Win; Academy Award · Best Screenplay · Win; Golden Globe Award · Best Motion Picture – Drama · Win
- Production trivia
- Director George Stevens threatened to sue television stations for inserting commercials into the film in 1965.; The story was inspired by the real-life murder of Grace Brown by Chester Gillette in 1906.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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