A Place In The Sun was one of the 50's most intriguing

films. The release date was October 11, 1951. I celebrated

my third birthday party on that exact date, but it wasn't

until years later that I actually saw that film. As I was

growing older, I developed a big crush, like most of my

friends, on Elizabeth Taylor.

The movie depicts an up and coming George Eastman [played

by Montgomery Cliff] being thrust into the blue collar

life of a rich uncle's family business, and falling in

love with another women, despite the fact that his own

[secret] girlfriend was now pregnant.

Directed by George Stevens, who did a brilliant job,despite

the constraints that were imposed on him by Paramount. This

film classic was actually a remake of a film that was made

20 years earlier that was a total bomb. The studio had lost

a huge amount of money on the earlier version, so the

monetary restraints were put in place before they even

started shooting.

A very young Elizabeth Taylor, who plays Angela Vickers,is

paired with Montgomery Cliff in this classic story of doomed

love.It was Miss Taylor's best work to date and her first

dramatic role. Her raw natural beauty lights up the screen.

Shelly Winters [who plays Alice Tripp] gives a convincing

performance of the poor homely girl who happens to fall in

love with George Eastman.Upon learning that she is pregnant,

she fantasies about the life that she and George will share

together but after finding out about George's real love interest,

she threatens him with exposure, unless he agrees to marry her.

His mind is full of crazy thoughts about what he should do.

He leaves a dinner party to meet Alice and ends up in a

boat on moon lake with her. As she starts to describe the

dreary, uninteresting life that both of them will live,

George's mind is filled only with thoughts of the

beautiful Taylor. He changes his mind about his plans of

droning Alice and starts back to shore. But in one ironic

twist of fate,Alice moves to be closer to George and causes

the boat to capsize, falls into the lake and drowns anyway.

He is captured and prosecuted by an ambitious district

attorney [played by Raymond Burr].

This is definitely one of the best classic movies that ever

came out of Hollywood.It won 6 Oscars, another 7 wins and 8

nominations. This is a classic example tragic romanticism.