A Place in the Sun
1951 · Movie · NR · 122 min · ★ 7.3 · 79% critics
A young man from a modest background gets a chance to rise in society and falls hard for a glamorous heiress. But a past relationship and an unexpected pregnancy threaten his new life, pushing him into a tense moral crossroads with serious consequences.
Based on An American Tragedy
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Details
- Years
- 1951
- Release date
- 1951-06-12
- Language
- English
- Rated
- NR
- Runtime
- 122 min
- Critic score
- 79/100
- TMDB rating
- 7.3/10 (418 votes)
- Box office
- $7,000,000
- Budget
- $2,300,000
About
You’ll likely enjoy this if you want a classic, emotionally heavy romance-thriller about ambition, guilt, and consequences; Not for you if you dislike slow-burn pacing, bleak themes, or long stretches of dialogue like in Gaslight.
Pros: gripping romantic tension; strong lead performances; memorable classic atmosphere | Cons: slow in stretches; melodrama feels dated; lengthy courtroom section
Themes
- based on novel or book
- love at first sight
- ambition
- trial
- black and white
- attraction
- heiress
- rowboat
- courtship
- unwanted pregnancy
- secret relationship
- factory girl
- +3 more
Awards & recognition
- Academy Award — Best Original Dramatic or Comedy Score · 1952
- Academy Award — Best Costume Design, Black-and-White · 1952
- Academy Award — Best Film Editing · 1952
- Academy Award — Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay · 1952
- Academy Award — Best Cinematography, Black-and-White · 1952
Show all 17 awards →
- Academy Award — Best Director · 1952
- National Board of Review Award — Best Film
- National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
- Academy Award — Best Cinematography, Black-and-White · 1952 · nominated
- Academy Award — Best Actress · 1952 · nominated
- Academy Award — Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay · 1952 · nominated
- Academy Award — Best Costume Design, Black-and-White · 1952 · nominated
- Academy Award — Best Original Dramatic or Comedy Score · 1952 · nominated
- Academy Award — Best Film Editing · 1952 · nominated
- Academy Award — Best Actor · 1952 · nominated
- Academy Award — Best Director · 1952 · nominated
- Academy Award — Best Picture · nominated
Cast & crew
Montgomery Clift
as George Eastman
Elizabeth Taylor
as Angela Vickers
Shelley Winters
as Alice Tripp
Anne Revere
as Hannah Eastman
Keefe Brasselle
as Earl Eastman
Fred Clark
as Defense Attorney Bellows
Raymond Burr
as District Attorney R. Frank Marlowe
Herbert Heyes
as Charles Eastman
Shepperd Strudwick
as Anthony Vickers
Frieda Inescort
as Mrs. Ann Vickers
Directed by George Stevens