MovieChat Forums > A Place in the Sun (1951) Discussion > Kinda dumb

Kinda dumb

posted 7 years ago by rsgre
5 replies | jump to latest

Saw the complete film tonight for the first time and kinda disappointed. I knew it involved a love triangle of some kind, but it seemed very uneven and not much of a message. Joe nobody, without a penny to his name, hitchhikes to his entrepreneur uncle for a job in his factory, and suddenly has the dilemma of a poor girl and a rich girl fawning all over him for marriage. I was expecting more suspense or intrigue, instead I pretty much guessed what was going to happen at the end, and I was right, total tragedy. I guess it worked okay as a double feature back in those days anyway.

RSGRE

[–] truetexian 7 years ago

"Kinda Dumb"? How 'bout just say'n it ain't your cup of tea and leaving it at that?
Loosely based on the 1925 acclaimed novel of Theodore Dreiser and Patrick Kearney's play adapted from said novel, George Steven's "A Place In The Sun" garnered six Academy Awards.
Few things "play" as "okay" today as they did nearly sixty-six years ago (nearly ninety-two taking into account the film's source material), but unfortunately the story and movie's central themes of class struggle and inequality, obsessive desire and passion are as much of a threat to human integrity today as they were then.
Going into it one shouldn't have expected too much suspense and intrigue, after all it was billed and classified as a romantic-drama not a spy-thriller or a murder mystery.
You were right however to have guessed it a "total tragedy". Since it was derived from a novel entitled "An American Tragedy", I guess George Stevens did it justice, huh?

[–] Synthia7 7 years ago

and not much of a message.

I thought the message/theme was interesting enough and executed well enough...exploring criminal desire vs. criminal deed. Are the two equal? Is one worse than the other?

Eastman wanted to commit murder but really didn't. The death was an accident, yet he was punished as if he'd done the deed. The priest suggested he committed murder in his heart. The story overall suggested his desire should be punished as if it were the deed itself.

________________________________________________________________________
"I thought you were class,like a high note you hit once in a lifetime."- Young Man With a Horn(1950)

[–] RobbieCalifornia 7 years ago

Kinda dumb? That's some thoughtful criticism.

I remember reading Dreiser's book and liking it. I thought they did a decent job with the movie. It's dated, sure. But considering the way movies were censored in the 50s it was probably even thought of as daring back then.

It doesn't hold up as well as some other films of that period. But just seeing Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift together is worth watching, they had such great natural chemistry onscreen.

[–] Crystal (534) 5 years ago

I don't know about chemistry. Though ET was good at playing dreamy. I don't know what she saw in him other than being interested in him 'cause he was different.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

wrong - stick to GOT.