Based upon the true story of Chester Gillette, who murdered his pregnant girlfriend in 1906. He was tried, convicted and executed in 1908. The ghost of the actual victim, Grace Brown, is said to haunt the house where she lived in upstate New York.
Based on Theodore Dreiser's novel "An American Tragedy", published in 1925.
When George goes to the movie theater, the poster outside indicates the attraction is an "Ivan Moffat production"; Ivan Moffat was an associate producer on this film, and was also a member of director George Stevens' motion picture unit during World War II.
Paramount was reluctant to make the film, as it had already put Theodore Dreiser's novel on the screen in 1931 under its original title, An American Tragedy (1931). The studio's lack of commitment ultimately changed when director George Stevens sued them for preventing him from working and therefore breaching his contract.
Shelley Winters was determined to be tested for the part of Alice. At the time she was being cultivated as a sex symbol, so the night before she was due to see George Stevens, she dyed her hair brown and bought some especially dowdy clothes, the kind she had seen when she had visited a factory to see how the girls who worked there dressed. She deliberately arrived at the meeting place early and sat in a corner. When Stevens came in, he didn't even notice her until when he was on the point of leaving, when he suddenly realized that the mousy girl in the corner was actually Shelley Winters.
George Stevens often referred to Technicolor as having an "Oh what a beautiful morning" quality to it, something completely inappropriate to the tone of this film, hence it was made in black and white.
The box office failure of the 1931 adaptation of "An American Tragedy" prompted the filmmakers to seek an alternative title. One such title was "The Prize". There was a $100 reward for whoever came up with the best new title, and George Stevens's associate Ivan Moffat successfully pitched for "A Place in the Sun". He never received his $100 reward.
Elizabeth Taylor's and Montgomery Clift's beach idyll was actually filmed in October at Lake Tahoe, California. Crew members had hosed snow off the ground prior to filming.
The part of Alice Tripp, played by Shelley Winters, was originally meant for Audrey Totter. However, she was under contract to MGM at the time and the studio wouldn't loan her out.
Filming took place in the later part of 1949 , but the movie was not released until 1951.
Although the film was released in 1951, it was shot in 1949. Paramount Studios had already released its blockbuster "Sunset Blvd." in 1950 when this film wrapped. The studio did not want what was sure to be another blockbuster in "A Place in the Sun" competing for Oscars with "Sunset Blvd." so they waited until 1951 to release this film. As it turned out, the two films would have competed against each other at the Oscars had they been released the same year.
Montgomery Clift readied himself for his climactic sequence by spending a night locked in the San Quentin Penitentiary death house.
Shelley Winters soon developed mixed feeling toward director George Stevens for making her look so unglamorous alongside Elizabeth Taylor. Her role, moreover, typecast her in mousy or brassy parts. Winters said she drove white Cadillac convertibles (similar to Taylor's in the film) for years afterward to compensate for her intense feelings of inferiority while making the film.
Raymond Burr, as the savage prosecutor Marlowe, eventually found himself inhabiting courtrooms regularly as TV's popular Perry Mason.
Anne Revere played Clift's mother; a descendant of patriot Paul Revere, she became another victim of the Hollywood blacklist, not appearing again on screen until 1970.
Angela:
Tell mama... tell mama all.
Angela:
Goodbye, George.
[half-turns away and then looks back]
Angela:
Seems like we always spend the best part of our time just saying goodbye.
George Eastman:
I love you. I've loved you since the first moment I saw you. I guess maybe I've even loved you before I saw you.
Angela:
[George kisses Angela] Angela: Every time you leave me for a minute, it's like goodbye. I like to believe it means you can't live without me.
Continuity: During a one-on-one conversation between George and Mr. Vickers, George explains his family background and why he wishes to take care of Angela. He is clearly seated to the left of Mr. Vickers. Several close-up reactions reveal Mr. Vickers speaking towards his right side.
Continuity: Alice Tripp is wearing different shoes when she starts walking home from the movie with George Eastman than she is when they are close to where she lives.
Continuity: Shelley Winters said that the walking scene had been filmed from twilight to midnight, and her feet hurt, so she changed shoes during a break. When they saw the rushes the next day, everyone noticed the change, but the director said, "If they're watching her feet, I might as well go home. We are not redoing the scene."
Continuity: In the boat scene, the collar of Alice's dress keeps popping in and out of her coat lapel. In the close-ups it's on top of the coat, when shot from George's side of the boat it's under the coat.
Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): District Atty. R. Frank Marlowe uses a cane improperly. The cane should be used in the hand the opposite side of the injured leg; this promotes the natural walking where the arm and opposite leg balance each other.
Version of
An American Tragedy (1931)
"Um Lugar ao Sol" (1959)
Nakaw na pag-ibig (1980)
Match Point (2005)
References
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)
Referenced in
Room at the Top (1959)
When Comedy Was King (1960)
- narrator mentions this film
Stir Crazy (1980)
Mischief (1985)
South of Wawa (1991)
George Stevens: D-Day to Berlin (1994) (TV)
Swimming with Sharks (1994)
Liz: The Elizabeth Taylor Story (1995) (TV)
The Directors: Sydney Pollack (1997) (V)
Memories of 'Giant' (1998) (V)
- mentionned a couple of times
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (1998) (TV)
Keepers of the Frame (1999)
He Walks in Beauty: The George Stevens Production 'The Greatest Story Ever Told' (2001) (V)
- mentioned twice
George Stevens: The Filmmakers Who Knew Him (2001) (V)
- mentionned a few times
Remembering 'Roman Holiday' (2002) (V)
Edith Head: The Paramount Years (2002) (V)
- Someone mentions this film.
25th Hour (2002)
Film Geek (2005)
- one of Scotty's videos
Featured in
The Love Goddesses (1965)
America at the Movies (1976)
Montgomery Clift (1983)
George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey (1984)
Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)
- The movie Jake and Robin are watching.
Precious Images (1986)
The 58th Annual Academy Awards (1986) (TV)
100 Years at the Movies (1994)
Frankie Starlight (1995)
Mr. & Mrs. Loving (1996) (TV)
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (1998) (TV)
Superstar (1999)
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions (2002) (TV)
Shirtless: Hollywood's Sexiest Men (2002) (TV)
Edith Head: The Paramount Years (2002) (V)
- Scenes from this film are shown.