A Place in the Sun

While unmistakably a melodrama, George Stevens’ A Place in the Sun bubbles with enough underlying tension throughout its two-hour runtime to satisfy even the most discerning noir fan. Montgomery Clift stars as George Eastman, who hitchhikes his way to the town named after his family to secure a job with his wealthy industrialist uncle. Despite an unforgiving rule prohibiting dating among plant employees, George begins a secret affair with lonely, blue-collar Alice Tripp (Shelley Winters), which results in her becoming pregnant just as George is falling in love with the gorgeous, rich debutante Angela Vickers (Elizabeth Taylor). The more Alice pressures George to marry her, the more he desires the beauty and privilege of a life with Angela; torn between moral obligation and (what appears to be) genuine love, George must take drastic action. Stevens stunningly directs the row boat scene, which serves as the pinnacle of drama and suspense, cross-cutting between close-ups of disturbed faces, then zooming out to portray the boat like a dot on an enormous black pool like space. Stevens commendably maintains suspense throughout the final courtroom sequence (Raymond Burr plays the oppressive prosecutor), with Clift’s training in method acting keeping the drama psychological. Sidenote: toward the film’s end, Liz Taylor performs possibly the greatest faint ever caught on camera.