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Dec 06, 2016ManMachine rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
For starters - I had always thought that actor Montgomery Clift was just another empty-headed, Hollywood "pretty-boy", and, basically, nothing more than that. But his portrayal in A Place In The Sun (APITS, for short) proved to me, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he was really quite a gifted performer. In my opinion, it was definitely Clift's heartfelt portrayal as the tragic George Eastman character who gave APITS's story of social snobbery and murder its depth and its meaning. I'd say that it was Clift, alone, who carried this film over its many flaws and clichés to its riveting, melodramatic conclusion. Yes. Of course, it certainly did help APITS's overall success that the gorgeous, 19-year-old Elizabeth Taylor was cast as Angela Vickers, the sole focus of George's hopes, his dreams and his burning desire. But once poor George became hopelessly involved with pretty, young Angela, this viewer could easily understand what heady and emotional turmoil drove him at first to contemplate and then commit the ultimate "crime of passion". If you ask me - I think that even today, 66 years later, this depiction of the "American Tragedy" holds up surprisingly well. It's a film that has somehow managed to avoid that inevitable "dated" feeling which seems to plague so many pictures from that particular era..... (*Watch movie video-clip*)