One of Shelley Winters first significant roles – long before The Poseidon Adventure – was that of Alice Tripp, a factory girl who falls for Montgomery Clift’s George Eastman. George, however, has higher goals – especially when he meets a stunning socialite played by Elizabeth Taylor. It’s a love triangle that turns criminally complicated when Alice becomes pregnant. Based on Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy and directed by George Stevens, A Place in the Sun‘s combination of greed and lust has an undeniable sultriness, especially in the early scenes of George aggressively pursuing Alice. Most of this is evoked by the picture’s insinuating black-and-white cinematography, as when Stevens discreetly moves the couple into the shadows cast by the light of a radio during their first night together.
