disinterested_spectator
"An American Tragedy" is a novel by Theodore Dreiser. It is a long complex novel, but in its essentials it boils down to this: boy meets girl, boy gets girl pregnant, boy meet another girl he likes better, boy kills the first girl, boy is executed for murder.They have names, of course: the boy is Clyde, the first girl is Roberta, and the second girl is Sondra. Now, Clyde doesn't actually kill Roberta. He planned to drown her and make it look like an accident. He gets her out into the middle of the lake in a rowboat, knowing she cannot swim. But then he thinks he cannot do it. But then he thinks he will. He might as well be picking petals off a daisy: "I kill her, I kill her not, I kill her, I kill her not." Anyway, she ends up falling overboard and drowns just as he was thinking, "I kill her not." Notwithstanding all the planning he put into this murder that he changed his mind on at the last minute but which had the same result anyway, his identity is discovered, he is tried for murder, convicted, and executed.The first film adaptation, released in 1931, has the same title as the novel, and the three principal characters have the same names. The second adaptation, made in 1951, has a title that is different from the novel, "A Place in the Sun," and the characters have different names. Don't ask me why. In most respects, the second adaptation is a much better movie. It was directed by George Stevens, starring Montgomery Clift as Clyde = George; Shelley Winters as Roberta = Alice; and Elizabeth Taylor as Sondra = Angela. (For the sake of consistency, I will continue to the use the names in the novel.)But in one respect, the first adaptation is better, and so much so in this respect that I prefer it to the second. In the movie "An American Tragedy," Roberta is played by Silvia Sidney. We readily believe in her naïve innocence. She seems like the Roberta of the novel, a woman we like and feel sorry for. As noted above, however, in "A Place in the Sun," Roberta is played by Shelley Winters. I don't know what Shelley Winters was like as a person, but her screen persona simply is not the sweet, innocent virgin for whom we are supposed to have sympathy because she was taken advantage of by a man. On the contrary, she seems suited for roles in which she is a hardboiled broad, as in "Alfie" (1966) or "Bloody Mama" (1970). As a result, when she is taken advantage of by a man in a movie, we are more likely to think she is dumb than naïve.Partly as a result of this difference, we are sad when Silvia Sidney's Roberta drowns. As for Shelley Winters' Roberta, however, we know we are supposed to feel sorry for her, and we do a little bit, but the fact is that we never really mind when Shelley Winters dies in a movie. For example, the fact that she drowns in "The Poseidon Adventure" (1972) does not spoil our sense that the movie has a happy ending. A third movie in which Shelley Winters drowns is "The Night of the Hunter" (1955), murdered by her newlywed psychopathic husband, played by Robert Mitchum. Now, Robert Mitchum's character, Harry Powell, is supposed to be as bad as they come, so you would think they would have allowed him to kill a more likable actress, like Jane Wyatt, for instance, so that we would really think Harry is evil. But they picked Shelley Winters to be his victim so that we would not spend the rest of the movie feeling sorry for her.In other words, if "A Place in the Sun" had starred an actress to play Roberta who would have been more believably innocent and whose death would have been more disturbing, then we would have been appropriately outraged that Clyde would have even thought about abandoning her, let alone make elaborate plans to murder her, just as we are when we read the novel. But with Shelley Winters playing the part, her death really seems to be no great loss, and we end up feeling sorrier for Clyde, played by the likable Montgomery Clift, than we do for Roberta.
elvircorhodzic
A PLACE IN THE SUN is a tragic melodrama in a poor young man who accidentally finds himself at the door of "high society". The story boils down to a strong emotion, power and knowledge. The tragedy and the psychology of the main character are equally represented. Sometimes the best possible solution man brought to the extreme. Social or class analysis in the film almost does not exist. The director focused on love relationships, the psychology of the main character and finally the crime.The story is dark, emotional and rapidly absorbed. How young people can cope with the whirlwind of life in which they captured!? Characterization can not be seen in a tragic end or love affairs, but the desire for progress in society.The main character, acting alone and intelligent, just do not know how to use social conditions, but of every situation trying to get the best. Because of the conflict with itself is completely lost. At this point in the trial were his morals, courage or cowardice.Montgomery Clift as George Eastman is a simple character who is able to complicate his life. Absent, restrained and touching. Shelley Winters as Alice Tripp is unfortunate girl, who in his life do not see any other possibility other than those on which is based her everyday life. The growing anxiety and unrequited love are killing life in her. Elizabeth Taylor as Angela Vickers is a rich girl who is able to indulge passions, loves and makes decisions in her life.Maybe slow pace or contrived melodrama real damage this film. However, I believe that with strong emotion, tragedy and psychology This simply can not be a bad movie.
TheLittleSongbird
The amount of talent involved promised a great deal and A Place in the Sun lived up to it and more. The production values have such a sumptuous and haunting quality that perfectly match the romantic, tragic and darker tones A Place in the Sun has. Every frame is beautifully composed and every transition is as smooth as silk. George Stevens does a remarkable job directing, and very like with Giant he was wholly deserving of his Best Director Oscar, especially good is the very telling scene when George and Angela meet for the first time. Franz Waxman's score is lush and hauntingly beautiful in a way that is undoubtedly Waxman's style as soon as you hear it. A Place in the Sun is intelligently written with parts that are suspenseful and emotionally gut-wrenching. Equally so is the story, which personally didn't come across as dated, it is a dark and quite complex story powerfully told and quite ahead of its time too, the romantic parts are classily done and the tragedy is depicted movingly as well. The characters are compellingly real, not easy to sympathise for(apart from Alice) but that wasn't intended I don't think. The cast was a great one on paper and even greater on film, Montgomery Clift has rarely been more tortured and he does so in an enigmatic and affecting way, Elizabeth Taylor is at her most luminous(even outdoing Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Last Time I Saw You in Paris and Giant on that front) and gives one of her best performances and Shelley Winters is every bit as brilliant. A Place in the Sun may not be as solidly paced in the second half and Raymond Burr badly overdoes it as the attorney especially in the cross-examination with the breaking of the oar, but even they aren't quite enough to ruin a powerful and brilliantly made and played film that is among the best of the 50s. 9.5/10 Bethany Cox
grantss
Brilliant drama. Was going to say "crime-drama" but it is much more than that. Starts out as a romance and general relationship drama and then evolves into something more and a whole letter better. Retains its sense of romance until the end, but throws in many topical issues along the way (validity, or otherwise, of the death penalty being one of them).Excellent plot. The way the movie evolves from a small town human drama to a crime drama and courtroom drama is incredible, and totally unpredictable. Even in the final scene you don't know how things are going to work out.Superb directing from George Stevens. Hitchcockian in some of his uses of camera angles, and Billy Wilder-like in his presentation of human lives and tragedy.The movie will be mostly remembered for the magnetic, sensitive performance from Montgomery Clift. Known for portraying deep, emotional characters, Clift doesn't disappoint here. Plus, here he shows a darker side too. Well deserved his Best Actor Oscar nomination and unlucky not to win.Shelley Winters also deserved her Best Actress nomination for her portrayal of Alice. Played the shy, sweet, unassuming, unpretentious character to perfection.No nomination for Elizabeth Taylor but she lights up the screen in every scene she is in. Stunningly beautiful.Interesting to see Raymond Burr as the District Attorney. Good work by him.A classic.
