A Place In The Sun (1951)

A guy I used to work with had served in the military during the Korean War. He worked in the kitchen on the ship he was on, and Elizabeth Taylor paid a visit. He served her soup, and accidently spilled some of it on her. He apologized profusely, and she turned her violet eyes on him and smiled, "Oh, that's alright." He said he's been in love with her ever since. I can see why so many men were crazy about her. She was very luminous in this film. Ms. Taylor is the same age as my mom, so she had to have been 19 years old at the time this film was relased.

Montgomery Clift, no slouch in the looks department himself, plays a poor guy named George Eastman who gets a break. His rich uncle sets him up with a job in his company. George is told by his cousin not to play around with any of the women who work there. George starts eyeing Alice (Shelley Winters), and promptly forgets about the company rule. Around the same time, he meets Angela (played by Ms. Taylor), a beautiful rich girl.

George and Alice tip around, one thing leads to another, and Alice finds herself facing an unwed, unplanned pregnancy. George had told Alice he loved her, but he is totally head over heels with Angela, who feels the same way about him. Alice, correctly guessing that George has lost interest, demands that he does the right thing and marry her. Unfortunately, Alice represents the life-long poverty that George has been trying to escape. Angela is a part of the world he wants to be included in. George lives a double life, but can't keep it up. He makes a decision that leads to tragedy.

I've always liked Shelley Winters. She plays vulnerable so well. She can also play high-strung extremely well. There's a scene where she discovers that George had lied to her about his whereabouts during a time they were supposed to be getting married. "You better come down to the bus station and get me right now!" she snaps. "Or else, I'll come where you are and tell everybody everything!" When George shows up and acts funny about seeing her, she screeches, "I'm not leaving the station until you promise me!", meaning his promise to marry her. Unlike today, being pregnant out of wedlock was a major no-no, a big embarrassment to all who were involved. Her character's desperation is totally out there in the open.

Raymond Burr is also in this movie, portraying a tough district attorney. I couldn't help but compare his role to the later one he would have on TV as "Perry Mason".