RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Check out the new RT Community
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / A Place in the Sun
A Place in the Sun

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Get this Movie
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Bookmark and Share

A Place in the Sun (1951)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
76 %
Tomatometer

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted: 21

Fresh: 16

Rotten:5

Average Rating: 6.7/10

Runtime: 2 hrs 2 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: George Stevens' lavish adaptation of this classic casts Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor as the star-crossed lovers. As George Eastman (Clift) hitchhikes into the town where a job awaits him... George Stevens' lavish adaptation of this classic casts Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor as the star-crossed lovers. As George Eastman (Clift) hitchhikes into the town where a job awaits him at the factory of his affluent Uncle Charles (Herbert Heyes), the lovely Angela Vickers (Taylor) speeds by him. Although the job entails packing bathing suits all day, the young man works hard in his eagerness to get ahead. Driven by loneliness, he becomes involved with coworker Alice Tripp (Shelley Winters), a simple woman of limited appeal, in a relationship which defies company policy. After receiving a promotion, he's invited to a party at the home of the wealthy Vickers family, where he meets Angela, and the two quickly fall in love. While he and Angela continue to see each other, he is forced to continue his involvement with Alice, who threatens to get him fired by revealing their relationship. At the end of a whirlwind summer George and Angela receive the approval of her father (Sheppard Strudwick) on their marriage plans. Shortly thereafter, Alice informs George that she's pregnant with his child. Stevens transforms Theodore Dreiser's biting critique of America's caste system into a glossy romantic melodrama. Sumptuously photographed by William Mellor, who frames the almost inhumanly attractive couple in some of the most dizzyingly enraptured close-ups in movie history, the film features excellent performances by Shelley Winters and Clift, whose presence maintains an earnest, haunted passivity. [More]

Starring: Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Shelley Winters, Raymond Burr

Starring: Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Shelley Winters, Raymond Burr, Herbert Heyes, Shepperd Strudwick, Frieda Inescort, Kathryn Givney, Walter Sande

Director: George Stevens

Director: George Stevens
Producer: George Stevens
Screenwriter: Michael Wilson, Harry Brown
Story: Theodore Dreiser, Patrick Kearney
Composer: Franz Waxman

[See More Credits]

Get This Movie

Rent DVD
 
 

Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.

 
 
Buy DVD
 
 
Release:

Aug 14, 2001

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for A Place in the Sun

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
Arrange By: Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

No review available.

comment Comment
03/12/08
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Though not as powerful as Von Sternberg's first version, it still merits attention for the strong perfromances of Clift, Taylor, and Shelley Winters--and that mega clos-up of a kiss, which broke records of erotic imagery at the time.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
03/03/08
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Dreiser's story was first filmed in 1931 by Josef von Sternberg in a much starker, more realistic manner. This version is almost cartoony by comparison.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
11/13/07
TV Guide's Movie Guide

A good example of the kind of soporific nonsense that won rave reviews and armloads of Academy Awards back in the 50s, while the finest work of Ford, Hawks, and Hitchcock was being ignored.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
11/13/07
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Hopelessly inadequate as a reading of Dreiser's great novel, and as usual Stevens seems too preoccupied with the story's monumentality to have much curiosity about its characters.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
11/13/07
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Typically slow and stately in the later Stevens manner.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Tom Milne
Time Out

Um melodrama moralista que só sobrevive graças ao desempenho torturado de Clift, à obsessão pateticamente comovente de Winters e à beleza de Taylor.

comment Comment
04/07/06
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

Far less powerful than the novel.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
02/19/06
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

No review available.

comment Comment
07/22/05
Thomas Delapa
Boulder Weekly

No review available.

comment Comment
07/07/05
Joe Williams
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

No review available.

comment Comment
06/15/05
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

comment Comment
06/23/04
Andy Klein
Los Angeles CityBeat

A compelling, troubling film.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
11/05/03
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide

The classic tragedy, in classic form.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
11/05/03
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

No review available.

comment Comment
08/22/03
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

No review available.

comment Comment
03/13/03
Beth Accomando
KPBS.org

A timesless treasure. Taylor is at her most beautiful, Clift is at the top of his form and Shelley Winters is great in one of her earliest big parts.

comment Comment
12/19/02
Bob Bloom
Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)

No review available.

comment Comment
07/30/02
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

No review available.

comment Comment
07/27/02
Rob Vaux
Flipside Movie Emporium

A Place in the Sun (1951), a melodramatic film adaptation of Theodore Dreiser's lengthy, best-selling 1925 novel, An American Tragedy, was also

Full Review Source: Tim Dirks' The Greatest Films | comment Comment
01/01/00
Tim Dirks
Tim Dirks' The Greatest Films
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
See More Topics...

Related Forums for A Place in the Sun

Click here to be the first to post a message on this forum.

See All

More DVDs

Close
Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
—
The Code
23%
23%
Confessions of a Shopa…
39%
39%
Inkheart
80%
80%
Gran Torino
28%
28%
Tyler Perry's Madea Go…

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
22%
22%
Push
12%
12%
The Unborn

More New Releases…

RT On Current TV

What’s Hot On RT

Exclusive Concept Art

Exclusive Concept Art

Images from Blood: The Last Vampire and more

50 States, 50 Movies

50 States, 50 Movies

This July 4th, take a cinematic road trip!

Johnny Depp's Best Movies

Johnny Depp's Best...

The finest work from Public Enemies' star.

RT on Current TV!

RT on Current TV!

Check out the RT Show this Thursday!

Other News

Close
  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Weekly Ketchup: Universal Takes on Asteroids
90
  • Brandon Routh Talks Superman's Future Source: Moviehole
90
  • Sony's Amy Pascal Explains Moneyball Balk Source: Los Angeles Times
6
  • Three Theaters Getting Harry Potter in IMAX Opening Day Source: Collider.com
18
  • Weekly Ketchup: Adam Sandler joins The Zookeeper, David Fincher joins Facebook
72
  • Zak Penn Talks The Avengers Source: Sci Fi Wire
20
  • Watchmen Director's Cut Headed to Theaters Source: Collider.com
32
  • Lorenzo di Bonaventura Talks G.I. Joe, Beverly Hills Cop 4, More Source: Collider.com
14
  • (Teaser) Trailer Bulletin: The Last Airbender Source: MTV
61
  • Johnny Depp Talks Alice, Pirates 4, Dark Shadows Source: Collider.com
12
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Critics Consensus: Solid Public Enemies Doesn't Quite Bring The Noise
104
  • Total Recall: Johnny Depp's Best Movies
90
  • RoboGeisha: 2009's Most Insane Trailer?
79
  • Weekly Ketchup: Universal Takes on Asteroids
45
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Transformers and Ice Age Tie for Top Spot
44
  • RT on DVD: Street Fighter, Transmorphers 2, and Uwe Boll's Tunnel Rats!
36
  • Academy Invites Tyler Perry, Michael Cera, Seth Rogen to Join Oscar Ranks
28
  • Box Office Guru Preview: Dinosaurs and Gangsters Spark Fireworks
23
  • Karl Malden: 1912-2009
17
  • Blood: The Last Vampire -- Exclusive Concept Art and Artist Profile
11
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • RT Interview: Director Carlos Cuaron on Rudo and Cursi
0
  • RT Interview: Tony Scott on The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
10
  • Cannes 2009: RT Interview - Sally Hawkins on We Want Sex
2
  • RT Interview: Tilda Swinton on Julia
5
  • Hollywood Legend Debbie Reynolds Reflects On her Life in Showbiz
10
  • Exclusive: McG Talks Terminator Salvation
24
  • Georgia Groome - Fresh Talent on RT
5
  • RT Interview: Reading The Reader with Stephen Daldry
11
  • RT Interview: Oscar Nominee Melissa Leo
7
  • Carey Mulligan - Fresh Talent on RT
7
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • A Place in the Sun at Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh Links

Featured
Appreciating Michael Jackson
Appreciating Michael Jackson External Link

TIME music critic Josh Tyrangiel remembers - and appreciates - the high peak of Michael Jackson's career in the early '80s.

10 Best Picture Noms?
10 Best Picture Noms? External Link

With the Best Picture Oscar noms now 10 deep, BuzzSugar looks at 10 films that should have made the cut.

Successful Sci-Fi Sequels
Successful Sci-Fi Sequels External Link

Sequels never used to be as good as the original, but now they can be even better. Can Transformers 2 follow suit?

Films That Time Forgot
Films That Time Forgot External Link

The AV Club's Zack Handlen explores why Snowbeast has been dismissed and forgotten.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Games| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.