#92 - A Place in the Sun

Dirt-poor George Eastman (Montgomery Clift) lands himself a factory job thanks to a well-to-do uncle's largesse and has a tryst with co-worker Alice (Shelley Winters) to combat his loneliness. But he forgets the uncultured Alice when he becomes smitten with a stunning socialite (Elizabeth Taylor). Alice can't forget George, however, because she's expecting his baby. Their dilemma sets off a course of events that can only end in tragedy.

Seriously, am I just a total prude? This movie has a lot of scandal in it, not the least of which is *SPOILER ALERT* the murder of a pregnant woman by the father of her baby. Really? This movie was appropriate in 1951? I thought I was so progressive and had seen and done my fair share of scandalous stuff but apparently, I'm a choir girl.

I've never seen Montgomery Clift in any movie, nor had I seen Elizabeth Taylor in anything. The only thing I've seen Shelley Winters in was episodes of "Roseanne", but she was pretty good in those, to be honest. I, of course, have heard Elizabeth Taylor's life story which include A LOT of drama in the romance department. I was excited to see how good she was or if her reputation was more about her private life and not her acting ability. After watching the movie, I was surprised by all three lead actors.

Shelley Winters was strong in her role, but mostly that she conveyed weakness so well. She gets jilted by Montgomery Clift's character, and gets the grapes to demand that he marry her. That leads him to plot her death, as he really wants to be with Elizabeth Taylor's character (for that, I can't blame him... she is smoking hot in this movie, and I'm a heterosexual woman). So he makes some decisions that in the end, cost him everything.

The courtroom scenes are a bit hammy for me... I should have asked for a side of mashed potatoes. But all in all, it was a good movie. This was Elizabeth Taylor's first adult role and she was amazing. Montgomery Clift was pretty dreamy, but he was a bit of an under-actor in this film. I'm not sure if he was always like that or if this director preferred him that way... but it seemed to work for this movie.

Four out of five bowls of popcorn... but I can't watch it again. He came so close to happiness and then pissed it all away. A shame, even 60 years later.