A Place in the Sun

US (1951): Drama

A landmark, blockbuster melodrama about class striving and the loss of a man's moral bearings. This remake of the 1930 von Sternberg film based on the Theodore Dreiser novel An American Tragedy updates the setting to a '50s resort town in upstate New York. A beautiful, rich girl (Elizabeth Taylor) gives a handsome young laborer (Montgomery Clift) entry to her world of privilege through a powerful, overwhelming passion. Just as he sees himself leaving behind a lifetime of wage slavery, his plain, needy former girlfriend (Shelley Winters) reveals that she's pregnant. Wracked with guilt and longing, he takes her for a last ride on the lake. When she accidentally drowns, he is tried for murder.

A national sensation, with performances that etched Taylor -- who was 17 when she was cast in the film -- and Clift, who began a lifelong friendship, in the public mind; even the party dress Taylor wears became a best-seller. Director George Stevens' cast also includes Anne Revere, Keefe Brasselle, Fred Clark, Raymond Burr and Frieda Inescort. Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture, Drama. (amctv.com)

 Use this link to view the original theatrical trailer for A Place in the Sun on TCM.com.

9 nominations, 6 Awards