A Place in the Sun - 1951

A Disturbingly Brilliant Movie

A Place in the Sun was disturbing.  How's that for blunt?  I mean, it was a great movie but man - it's squirm worthy, rife with so many tragic themes.  

It stars Montgomery Clift, Shelley Winters and Elizabeth Taylor, and they do the film justice, although Clift has that whole brooding thing going on throughout, but I suppose that's the point!

Of all the things going on in this movie, the part that strikes me most is the desperation of Shelley Winter's character. She's desperate for someone to love her, someone to pay attention to her, and when her husband loses interest, her desperation is palpable. Disturbing.

The August 28th, 1951...

New York Times review of this film sums it up nicely: Clift's character "is, in effect, a believable mama's boy gone wrong. Equally poignant is Shelley Winters' characterization of the ill-fated Alice, Miss Winters, in our opinion, has never been seen to better advantage than as the colorless factory hand, beset by burgeoning anxieties but clinging to a love she hopes can be rekindled. Elizabeth Taylor's delineation of the rich and beauteous Angela also is the top effort of her career. It is a shaded, tender performance and one in which her passionate and genuine romance avoids the pathos common to young love as it sometimes comes to the screen."

And, Three Movie Buffs said, "The pacing may be a bit slow for many viewers, but the emotional impact of the movie is worth the wait."

Prisoner in George's death row cell block: [Said to George as he walks to the electric chair] "Good-bye, George. I'll be seeing you."

RATED: Great movie!

WATCH IT AGAIN: Definitely!

DO I WANT TO OWN IT?:  Nah, it's readily available everywhere