A Place in the Sun (1951) is a powerful social drama and romance from director/producer George Stevens. The black and white film plays on the audience's emotions, by involving and drawing them into complicity with the tragic resolution. Methodically, the film is stylistically dark, almost with film-noirish qualities, yet it has some of the most romantic and passionate sequences ever filmed - between the radiant debutante, 18 year-old Elizabeth Taylor (in her first adult role) and 29 year-old Montgomery Clift, who stars as a laboring wage slave.

Its theme emphasizes the wide gap between the frivolous rich and the downtrodden, outsider poor, and how fate heavy-handedly can control life. An aspiring, upwardly-mobile, lonely working-class protagonist with evangelical roots is obsessed with getting ahead and 'making it.' He mixes with a different upper social class through a passionate romantic relationship with a beautiful rich girl, and begins to climb the social and professional ladder. But then he becomes victimized by his environment, circumstances, the society of the time, and the loss of his own morals when he impregnates a lowly, disenfranchised, clingy, and plain co-worker.

This first-rate melodramatic film is an adaptation of Theodore Dreiser's lengthy, best-selling 1925 novel, An American Tragedy, and it was also based on the Patrick Kearney play.
 

Excerpt of Tim Dirks review on The Greatest Films located HERE

Paramount

Region 1 - NTSC

1.33 Original Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 5,84 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen - 1.33

Edition Details:
• Audio Commentary by George Steven Jr. and Ivan Moffat (no subtitles)
• Georges Stevens: Filmmakers who knew him (English subtitles) (45:22)
• Georges Stevens and his Place in the sun (English subtitles) (22:22)
• Theatrical Trailer (no subtitles)(2:41)

DVD Release Date: 14 August 2001
Amaray

Chapters 13

This dual layered transfer is only adequate. It has occasional muddiness, and exhibits indications of edge enhancement as well as chroma in a couple of spots. The whole image tends to look 'thick' at times. Contrast and black levels are acceptable, if heavy. It shines in the extras department with a commentary and two lengthy featurette documentaries, as well as a theatrical trailer. As opposed to a restored mono track, Paramount have only included a bumped 5.1, which sounds good, but the option of the original track should have been included. Subtitles are well done.  out of   

-Gary Tooze