Stars: Montgomery Clift (George Eastman), Elizabeth Taylor (Angela Vickers), Shelley Winters (Alice Tripp), Anne Revere (Hannah Eastman), Herbert Heyes (Charles Eastman), Raymond Burr (District Attorney R. Frank Marlow)
Director: George Stevens
Awards / Honors
- 6 Oscar Wins -- Best Director, Best Cinematography (Black and White), Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay), Best Costume Design (Black and White), Best Film Editing, Best Music (Score)
- 3 Additional Nominations -- Best Picture, Best Actor (Montgomery Clift), Best Actress (Shelly Winters)
- # 92 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies list (1997)
- # 53 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions list (2002)
- In 1991, A Place in the Sun was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Genre: Romance / Drama
Running Time: 2 hours, 2 minutes
Format: DVD (Not yet available on Blu-ray)
Odyssey Rating: 1 1/2 Stars (John - 2 Stars, Beth - 1 Star)
John's Take
I am sure that many of you reading this blog have never seen A Place in the Sun. Assuming that is the case let me see if I can properly explain what the experience of watching this movie was like.
Have you ever seen the “overly-dramatized” 1-800-Contact commercial? You, know the one where there is a man sitting on a couch and a woman enters the room with a box from 1-800-Contacts in her hands and the man says in an over-the top manner, “They won’t have my prescription – I have special eyes…”, and the woman responds in an equally over-the-top fashion, “Come, come look with your special eyes…”. I am sure you all have seen it, that commercial is everywhere lately. Well, imagine that the man in the commercial is being played by Montgomery Clift, and the woman is being played by Elizabeth Taylor. Do you have that image in your mind? OK, now that you have that image firmly cemented in your thoughts, picture having to watch that mess of a commercial approximately 122 times in a row, and you should start to get a fairly good idea what it is like to experience this movie. Yeah, it isn’t pretty.
As Official Friends of Beth and John’s Movie Odyssey are aware of – at least those that care to pay attention :) – Beth and I have fluctuated on our score concerning this motion picture. Please don’t be confused, neither Beth nor I like this film. About a third of the way into this movie, Beth turned to me and asked if we really had to finish watching this movie. I told her we had to push through for the sake of the odyssey. At about the two-thirds complete mark, she turned to me and said, “I can’t believe you are making me watch this movie.” Again, I reminded her of our responsibility. She grunted and turned back to the screen. Now, keep in mind, this is the same woman that cheers out loud every time the Sex and the City 2 comerical comes on TV; DVRs Torri and Dean and Kendra; and worships twice a week at the altar of Dancing with the Stars. In other words, an over-the-top romantic drama, on paper at least, should have been right up her alley. Yet she couldn’t wait for the thing to end. I was so proud of her. However, neither Beth nor I could decide on whether or not to give this movie a 1 Star (Hated it) rating, or a 2 Star (Didn’t like it) rating. Both of us were on record (vial emails, conversations, etc.) giving it both ratings, but now that we are both officially “publishing” our opinions out here in Inter-verse, I guess it is time for me to finally decide on an official ranking.
Let’s be clear, it isn’t like the movie doesn’t have any redeeming qualities whatsoever. Two things come to mind. First, if you are an aspiring cinematographer and want to see some very good examples of how setting up a shot a certain way can make a small area look larger, or a room that doesn’t have a large number of people in it appear as if it does, then this is a good movie for you to study. It is a very “pretty” movie to look at.
Second, a twenty year old Elizabeth Taylor running around in a bathing suit is fairly easy on the eyes.
And, well, um… Those would be the only two good things about this movie that I can think of.
From the very beginning of the film where we see Montgomery Cliff turn toward and look above and beyond the camera in a ridiculously dramatic fashion to the very end where he is being lead down the hall to the electric chair (looking above and beyond the camera), we are subjected to nothing but two full hours of cheesy dialog and close-ups of Elizabeth Taylor and Shelly Winters. And not just normal close-ups, but those kind of close ups that make the edges of the starlet’s face look all soft and ethereal–like (If anybody knows the actual term for those are, please let us know). It is all just so contrived and stomach-churning. And just when you have survived the worst of it; you have stared into the abyss that is Melodrama Hell but have managed to step away from the edge, Raymond Burr – that’s right freakin’ Ironside in a performance that can be best described as Perry Mason strung out on crystal meth – comes sneaking up on you, gives you a good solid shove and your soul is now lost forever.
I cannot think of anyway a person can hold this movie up as a great movie without using the ”for-its-time“ caveat. If a large portion of a movie or elements of a movie need to be explained or excused because of when it was made, then odds are it wasn’t actually a great movie to start with. A truly great movie will always be a truly great movie. How often do you hear people saying that movies like The Wizard of Oz or The Godfather are “starting to show their age”? Not often. Why? Because they are actually great movies, and A Place in the Sun was, at best, only just great for its time. It is a shame too because the movie does actually deal with a lot of issues that are still just as prickly and important today – class prejudice, abortion, the definition of love and what will one do to get it – as they were 60 years ago. This movie should still resonate and have something to say to a modern audience, but unfortunately it can’t seem to get out of its own way to actually say them.
So, what shall it be then? Should it be a ranking of 1 Star or a ranking of 2 Stars? As much as I dislike this film, it isn’t wholly without merit (albeit not much). However, I can’t seem to bring myself to lay the dreaded “1-Star smackdown” on this movie. So, with some reluctance, I give this movie a very weak rating of 2 Stars.
John
Have you ever seen the “overly-dramatized” 1-800-Contact commercial? You, know the one where there is a man sitting on a couch and a woman enters the room with a box from 1-800-Contacts in her hands and the man says in an over-the top manner, “They won’t have my prescription – I have special eyes…”, and the woman responds in an equally over-the-top fashion, “Come, come look with your special eyes…”. I am sure you all have seen it, that commercial is everywhere lately. Well, imagine that the man in the commercial is being played by Montgomery Clift, and the woman is being played by Elizabeth Taylor. Do you have that image in your mind? OK, now that you have that image firmly cemented in your thoughts, picture having to watch that mess of a commercial approximately 122 times in a row, and you should start to get a fairly good idea what it is like to experience this movie. Yeah, it isn’t pretty.
As Official Friends of Beth and John’s Movie Odyssey are aware of – at least those that care to pay attention :) – Beth and I have fluctuated on our score concerning this motion picture. Please don’t be confused, neither Beth nor I like this film. About a third of the way into this movie, Beth turned to me and asked if we really had to finish watching this movie. I told her we had to push through for the sake of the odyssey. At about the two-thirds complete mark, she turned to me and said, “I can’t believe you are making me watch this movie.” Again, I reminded her of our responsibility. She grunted and turned back to the screen. Now, keep in mind, this is the same woman that cheers out loud every time the Sex and the City 2 comerical comes on TV; DVRs Torri and Dean and Kendra; and worships twice a week at the altar of Dancing with the Stars. In other words, an over-the-top romantic drama, on paper at least, should have been right up her alley. Yet she couldn’t wait for the thing to end. I was so proud of her. However, neither Beth nor I could decide on whether or not to give this movie a 1 Star (Hated it) rating, or a 2 Star (Didn’t like it) rating. Both of us were on record (vial emails, conversations, etc.) giving it both ratings, but now that we are both officially “publishing” our opinions out here in Inter-verse, I guess it is time for me to finally decide on an official ranking.
Let’s be clear, it isn’t like the movie doesn’t have any redeeming qualities whatsoever. Two things come to mind. First, if you are an aspiring cinematographer and want to see some very good examples of how setting up a shot a certain way can make a small area look larger, or a room that doesn’t have a large number of people in it appear as if it does, then this is a good movie for you to study. It is a very “pretty” movie to look at.
Second, a twenty year old Elizabeth Taylor running around in a bathing suit is fairly easy on the eyes.
And, well, um… Those would be the only two good things about this movie that I can think of.
From the very beginning of the film where we see Montgomery Cliff turn toward and look above and beyond the camera in a ridiculously dramatic fashion to the very end where he is being lead down the hall to the electric chair (looking above and beyond the camera), we are subjected to nothing but two full hours of cheesy dialog and close-ups of Elizabeth Taylor and Shelly Winters. And not just normal close-ups, but those kind of close ups that make the edges of the starlet’s face look all soft and ethereal–like (If anybody knows the actual term for those are, please let us know). It is all just so contrived and stomach-churning. And just when you have survived the worst of it; you have stared into the abyss that is Melodrama Hell but have managed to step away from the edge, Raymond Burr – that’s right freakin’ Ironside in a performance that can be best described as Perry Mason strung out on crystal meth – comes sneaking up on you, gives you a good solid shove and your soul is now lost forever.
I cannot think of anyway a person can hold this movie up as a great movie without using the ”for-its-time“ caveat. If a large portion of a movie or elements of a movie need to be explained or excused because of when it was made, then odds are it wasn’t actually a great movie to start with. A truly great movie will always be a truly great movie. How often do you hear people saying that movies like The Wizard of Oz or The Godfather are “starting to show their age”? Not often. Why? Because they are actually great movies, and A Place in the Sun was, at best, only just great for its time. It is a shame too because the movie does actually deal with a lot of issues that are still just as prickly and important today – class prejudice, abortion, the definition of love and what will one do to get it – as they were 60 years ago. This movie should still resonate and have something to say to a modern audience, but unfortunately it can’t seem to get out of its own way to actually say them.
So, what shall it be then? Should it be a ranking of 1 Star or a ranking of 2 Stars? As much as I dislike this film, it isn’t wholly without merit (albeit not much). However, I can’t seem to bring myself to lay the dreaded “1-Star smackdown” on this movie. So, with some reluctance, I give this movie a very weak rating of 2 Stars.
John
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