Tired Old Queen at the Movies: 'A Place in the Sun' (1951)

In honor of St. Valentine's Day, Steve Hayes reviews the Academy Award-winning film "A Place in the Sun" starring Montgomery Cliff, Elizabeth Taylor and Shelly Winters. Steve describes Shelley as the actress who perfected the role of "the girl you most wanted to kill" and you know, nothing says romance like knocking up the ugly girl and then killing her so you can run off with the beauty!


A PLACE IN THE SUN (1951): Monty and Liz, the two hottest stars in Hollywood in the early '50s come together hot and heavy for George Stevens' remake of Theodore Dresier's "An American Tragedy." The ultimate story of the guy from "the wrong side of the tracks" who longs for the rich man's daughter. Montgomery Clift shows why he was the subtlest of all the new breed of Method Actors to descend on Hollywood after the war. Elizabeth Taylor comes into her own as the the most beautiful girl-next-door any adolescent ever had a wet dream over, while Shelly Winters makes her mark and earns an Oscar nomination as the pathetic pregnant girl Clift abandons. With this role, Winters created a niche for herself as "the girl most men wanted to murder." Shot by Stevens at his most romantic, it got him an Oscar for direction as well as a second one for Franz Waxman's haunting jazz score, which stays in the back of your mind long after the show is over.