A Place in the Sun 1951
Director George Stevens faced the challenge of adapting Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy to the screen in the 1950s, appealing to audiences seeking entertainment rather than political insight. The solution was highly effective: emphasizing George Eastman’s (Montgomery Clift) erotic desires for the beautiful Angela Vickers (Elizabeth Taylor). George, a poor relative of a wealthy industrialist, is sent to him by his mother to secure a better future. However, under the influence of deprivation and isolation, George lacks both the desire and the will to rise up. He is so insistent that he violates one of the most important rules when he first starts working in a factory. He falls in love with a woman working in the same workplace and eventually impregnates a poor, desperate woman he no longer cares for. Clift is portrayed as a poor, innocent individual, and George’s most valuable asset is his benevolent appearance and kindness. A Place in the Sun becomes one of the most poignant and tragic stories of classic Hollywood as a result of Stevens carefully manipulating the main characters (emphasizing body language rather than dialogue) and skillfully using two contrasting styles. George’s dreamlike encounter with innocent Angela is particularly soft, with detailed, incremental close-ups that distort clarity to create an emotional atmosphere in a factory and later in court. Shot in a film noir style that highlights images in the living room, light and shadow play, and unbalanced compositions, the film appropriately portrays the threat conditions create for George’s search for a “sunny place.” Pregnant Alice threatens to tell her family everything if George does not marry her; George escapes this fate because the city hall is closed on holidays. A young man offers to take a boat trip on the lake; His intention is to drown Alice there in an “accident.” He fails to commit the murder, but then a young woman falls from the boat in panic. Alice drowns because George does not try to save her; our hero pays the price for his indifference with his life. However, director Stevens remembers him not as a socio-political example, but as an unfortunate lover.
