History Film / APlaceInTheSun

--> "I love you. I've loved you since the first moment I saw you. I guess maybe I've even loved you [[LoveBeforeFirstSight before I saw you]]."

--> "When you were on the lake with that poor girl, and the boat capsized...and there was a moment when you might have saved her. Whom were you thinking of?
--> (silence)
--> "Then...in your heart was murder, George."

* CourtroomAntic: The prosecutor at George's trial uses this tactic to intimidate the defendant as well as to impress on the jury the violence of the crime. George is accused of drowning Alice, so the prosecutor brings in the boat they had been in, stands in it, and proceeds to loudly and violently break an oar against the side to demonstrate how the defendant supposedly hit Alice in the head before drowning her.

** While visiting the Eastman plant offices for the first time, George encounters his cousin Earl on an elevator without either man being aware of the other’s identity.

* EarlyBirdCameo: In the very first scene of the film George is thumbing a ride by the side of the road when a woman in a white Cadillac zooms by. That's Angela, who doesn't make her proper entrance until a little bit later.

George Eastman (Clift) is a poor relative of the rich Eastman family, which owns a clothing factory. George, having chanced to meet his uncle while working as a bellhop at a Chicago hotel, plays on the family connection and gets an entry-level job in the packaging room, but afterwards is apparently forgotten by the rest of the Eastmans. He strikes up a romance with a fellow employee, mousy Alice Tripp (Winters, who'd been a blonde sexpot in her previous films and needed a heavy dose of HollywoodHomely to play Alice). Office romances are strictly forbidden at the Eastman factory, but Alice and George are both lonely, so they start seeing each other anyway.

Right after Alice lets George go all the way, he discovers his Uncle Charles hasn't forgotten about him after all; he gets a promotion at the factory, and with it an invitation to a party that the Eastmans are hosting for the local smart set. There, he meets the ridiculously beautiful and wealthy Angela Vickers (Taylor). They quickly fall in love, and suddenly a glittering future is in reach for George: marriage into wealth and society, advancement in his family's company, everything he wants. Unfortunately for him, Alice is pregnant, and she isn't willing to step aside and be forgotten. George finds himself driven to desperate measures to secure the fulfillment of his dreams.

''A Place in the Sun'' is a 1951 drama directed by Creator/GeorgeStevens and starring Creator/MontgomeryClift, Creator/ElizabethTaylor, and Creator/ShelleyWinters. It is an adaptation of Theodore Dreiser's 1925 novel ''Literature/AnAmericanTragedy''.

Right after Alice lets George go all the way, he discovers his Uncle Charles hasn't forgotten about him after all; he gets a promotion at the factory, and with it an invitation to a party that the Eastmans are hosting for the local smart set. There he meets the ridiculously beautiful and wealthy Angela Vickers (Taylor). They quickly fall in love, and suddenly a glittering future is in reach for George: marriage into wealth and society, advancement in his family's company, everything he wants. Unfortunately for him, Alice is pregnant, and she isn't willing to step aside and be forgotten. George finds himself driven to desperate measures to secure the fulfillment of his dreams.

* BeautyInversion: Shelley Winters had to invoke this on herself to convince the director that she could play the part -- no makeup, plain clothes, hair pulled back -- due to her previous sexpot roles.

* DeliberatelyMonochrome: Director George Stevens often referred to Technicolor as having an "Oh what a beautiful morning" quality to it -- something completely inappropriate to the tone of this film -- hence it was made in black and white.

* GaussianGirl: Noticeable in the scene where George is having his first conversation with Angela in the pool room, when he's in focus and she -- isn't, quite. Averted afterwards.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: George is pretty much a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds type who you can't help but feel sorry for and empathize with, despite his actions. His RealLife counterpart was a selfish SOB -- unlike the ambiguity depicted in the film, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester_Gillette Chester Gilette]] most certainly murdered his pregnant girlfriend to continue his womanizing and social-climbing, the better to avoid the responsibilities of marriage and fatherhood.

* SexyDiscretionShot: George and Alice embrace as the camera pans to the radio that's playing music on her windowsill. Cut to the same shot but in the daytime, with the radio playing static and with a rooster crowing -- and now we see George leaving, thus revealing that he's stayed the night in Alice's room.

* SomethingElseAlsoRises: Angela sidles up next to George -- and the champagne mini-bottle she's holding pops.

* FaintInShock: This film has what is widely considered perhaps the best faint in film history: Angela is told that her LoveInterest George is likely to be sentenced to the electric chair. She calmly thanks her mother for allowing her to hear this information before walking back into her room. There, she stands dazed for a few seconds, and crashes ''hard'' and limp onto the floor without the even tiniest movement to break her fall, as though already utterly out like a light.

* AmbiguousSituation: It's definitely true that George took Alice out on the lake in order to murder her -- he admits it. It's definitely true that he did ''not'' hit her on the head or throw her in the water -- Alice fell out of the boat accidentally. But the film cuts away, and doesn't show how hard George tried to save Alice, or if he did at all.

Right after Alice lets George go all the way, he discovers his Uncle Charles hasn't forgotten about him after all; he gets a promotion at the factory, and with it an invitation to a party that the Eastmans are hosting for the local smart set. There he meets the ridiculously beautiful and wealthy Angela Vickers (Taylor). They quickly fall in love, and suddenly a glittering future is in reach for George--marriage into wealth and society, advancement in his family's company, everything he wants. Unfortunately for him, Alice is pregnant, and she isn't willing to step aside and be forgotten. George is soon driven to desperate measures to secure the fulfillment of his dreams.

Right after Alice lets George go all the way, he discovers his Uncle Charles hasn't forgotten about him after all; he gets a promotion at the factory, and with it an invitation to a party that the Eastmans are hosting for the local smart set. There he meets the ridiculously beautiful and wealthy Angela Vickers (Taylor). They quickly fall in love, and suddenly a glittering future is ahead for George--marriage into wealth and society, advancement in his family's company, everything he wants. Unfortunately for him, Alice is pregnant, and she isn't willing to step aside and be forgotten. George is driven to desperate measures to secure the fulfillment of his dreams.

''A Place in the Sun'' was a huge commercial and critical success, winning six UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s including Best Director (Stevens). Winters, who'd spent her career playing hot blondes, started getting more serious roles in films like ''Film/TheNightOfTheHunter''. Taylor, who'd been a child star for years and then an ingenue, was also confirmed as a serious dramatic actress.

''A Place in the Sun'' is a 1951 drama directed by Creator/GeorgeStevens, starring Creator/MontgomeryClift, Creator/ElizabethTaylor, and Creator/ShelleyWinters. It is an adaptation of Theodore Dreiser's 1925 novel ''Literature/AnAmericanTragedy''.

George Eastman (Clift) is a poor relative of the rich Eastman family, which owns a clothing factory. George, having chanced to meet his uncle while working as a bellhop at a Chicago hotel, plays on the family connection and gets an entry-level job in the packaging room, but afterwards is apparently forgotten by the rest of the Eastmans. He strikes up a romance with a fellow employee, mousy Alice Tripp (played by Winters, who'd been a blonde sexpot in her previous films and needed a heavy dose of HollywoodHomely to play Alice). Office romances are strictly forbidden at the Eastman factory, but Alice and George date anyway.

Right after Alice lets George go all the way, he discovers his Uncle Charles hasn't forgotten about him after all; he gets a promotion at the factory, and with it an invitation to a society party that the Eastmans are hosting for the local smart set. There he meets a ridiculously beautiful rich girl, Angela Vickers (Taylor). They quickly fall in love, and suddenly a glittering future is ahead of George--marriage into wealth and society, advancement in his family's company, everything he wants. Unfortunately for him, Alice is pregnant, and she isn't willing to step aside and be forgotten.

* AlliterativeFamily: '''A'''ngela Vickers, parents were stated to be named '''A'''nthony and '''A'''nn.

* {{Fainting}}: Angela is told that her LoveInterest George is likely to be sentenced to the electric chair. She calmly thanks her mother for allowing her to hear this information before walking back into her room. There, she stands dazed for a few seconds, and, in what is widely considered perhaps the single best faint in film history, crashes ''hard'' and limp onto the floor without the even tiniest movement to break her fall, as though already utterly out like a light before she even began to plunge down.

* YourCheatingHeart: George is either cheating on Alice with Angela or on Angela with Alice.