Ambitious Mondays: “A Place in the Sun” Edition
When I was a melodramatic teenager (#redundant) in high school, one of my fave films was the 1951 over-the-top George Stevens melodrama, A Place in the Sun, staring the impossibly gorgeous Monty Clift and Elizabeth Taylor. It’s loosely based on the novel-that-time-forgot An American Tragedy, by Theodore Dreiser. (Seriously: the book is 800 pages but it reads easier: it reads as if it’s only 798 pages. Teddy Dreiser, were you getting paid by the letter or WTF?!)
Anyway, here’s the original trailer: A Place in the Sun
Monty Clift plays a poor boy trying to make a new life for himself with some rich relatives, but because this is the age of Hollywood melodrama, don’t worry: no one ends up happy. Clift gets entangled with two women, and some other horrible yet wonderful things happen, and everyone looks fantastic. Now, while I loved the film as a teenager, I tried to watch it again recently, and the minute I saw Monty Clift on camera, I started cackling because he’s so insanely GORGEOUS, he’s so out of control handsome that the idea that his rich relatives would reject him, instead of jumping his bones, is just cray-cray. And then you see him flirting with Liz Taylor and it’s literally, sensory overload. I had to press pause on the film and take a walk around my bedroom saying, “Are. You. People. FOR SERIOUS???!” Oh, old Hollywood when legends truly were legendary. (Not like nowadays when even f**king Willow Smith is considered an icon for crap’s sake. #STFU)
Anyhoo, my point in bringing up this film isn’t to gush about Monty and Liz…but to talk about Shelley Winters, the third member of this doomed triangle in the film. Originally, the director turned her down, telling Shelley she was too pretty for the role of the factory girl, Alice Tripp. But Shelley Winters was so determined to get the role–the role that would launch her long, fabulous career–that she gave herself a make-under, and sought out the director. They spoke and he had no idea who she was, he simply didn’t recognize her! When she revealed herself to him, as Shelley Winters, he was so shocked and impressed, that he gave her the role. A role that changed her life. (I love stories like that!)
Here’s what interesting about re-watching a favorite film as an adult: you realize that while Liz and Monty are STUNNING…Shelley Winters is the one who can actually act. Shelley Winters is the emotional backbone of the entire film. She is so poignant and unforgettable, that she makes the film her own. Clearly, I’m not the only person who thought that because her performance was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role! #lovethat
I do recommend watching this beautiful film, though since it is from 1951, many modern audiences are going to find it very S-L-O-W…then again, there’s plenty of beautiful shots of Liz and Monty to drool over.
I personally take great inspiration from Shelley Winters: surrounded by so many perfectly pretty people, she wasn’t afraid to get ugly to get what she needed for her career. (Looking for another amazing Shelley Winters role? Check her out as the manipulated mama in Lolita…!)
