A Place in the Sun (1951)

Recommended

USA

Feature Film

Director: George Stevens

Writers: Harry Brown, Michael Wilson, Theodore Dreiser, Patrick Kearney

Cinematographer: William C. Mellor

Composer: Franz Waxman

Cast: Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Shelley Winters, Anne Revere, Keefe Brasselle, Fred Clark, Raymond Burr

A poor relation from Chicago, George Eastman, comes to Los Angeles to work for his uncle; he begins on the shop floor where he meets Alice, with whom he commences a sexual relationship, but when he is given a promotion and introduced into society, where he meets the delectable Angela, he is soon ready to leave her behind, but unfortunately for all concerned an unexpected pregnancy complicates matters irreparably, in Stevens’s visually distinctive film, composed of brave, atypical mise en scène, which also boasts some excellent performances, in particular Raymond Burr's forceful turn. Iain.Stott