Romancefest 28: A Place in the Sun

This was probably the most surprising film I've watched all month. Not that it has a twist ending, or anything -- it proceeds logically and tragically to the only conclusion it could really have. But, the way the story develops, going into it not knowing anything about it, the film ends at a totally different place than you expect it to.

A PLACE IN THE SUN starts with Montgomery Clift hitchhiking into town. He has traveled to visit his uncle, a prominent businessman who runs a factory in town that almost everyone seems to work at. His uncle (Keefe Brasselle) agrees to hire Clift to work in the factory, first on the floor with later promises to be moved up to management and maybe higher if things work out.

Clift seems to take to the job easily, willing to keep his nose down and work, even drafting proposals to more efficiently streamline the way the factory works. He clearly wants to make this work, and clearly wants to make something out of himself.

There are rules in place to keep the male employees from fraternizing with the female ones, but Clift quickly zeroes in on a factory worker played by Shelley Winters in a heart breaking performance that just gets more heart breaking as the story develops.

As Clift rises in the ranks of higher society and is accepted more and more into his uncle's family, he catches the eye of a young society girl played by Elizabeth Taylor. She's the opposite of Winters -- glamorous where Winters is mousy, seemingly unattainable where Winters is more than willing to love Clift. Still, somehow, Taylor and Clift hit if off, and now Clift has a problem as he's torn between the two women.

This is where the plot kicks in, and I don't want to give any of it away. Here are some hints: the film surprisingly flirts with issues involving abortion, and eventually the district attorney of a small lakeside vacation community has to be called in to investigate a tragic accident. This is Raymond Burr as a nightmare version of his familiar Perry Mason character -- Burr's DA approaches crime and punishment as if every crime is a personal assault on him that must be avenged at all costs. You don't want to show up in court with Burr's DA on the other side. I love movies like this, where they're perfectly strong all the way through and they still have a great character to introduce at the last minute.

The movie is notable for the way it deals with complex issues of guilt, cowardice, image, and self esteem. Clift is great at projecting all of these conflicting feelings on his face and body language, an even though he basically makes wrong choice after wrong choice, it's difficult not to sympathize with him, even though he's not particularly likable. Others might deny this, but if I'm honest with myself, I can really identify with the need to do one thing and say another, and then try to cover up your actions out of shame or guilt. It doesn't have to involve crime or even moral issues, necessarily -- just things as simple as an opinion, or thought, or something you said. Everyone has weak moments where they don't want others to know who they really are inside and will do a lot of shameful things to cover it up. There's a constant struggle inside everyone between the person they are and the person they want to be.

Then, there's the person you think other people want you to be. Where does that fit in?

If you are thinking to yourself right now, "That's not true about me, what's he talking about?" then you're in the middle of exactly what I'm talking about.