Thursday, March 24, 2011

A Place In The Sun

**SPOILER ALERT**

My favorite Elizabeth Taylor film is "A Place in the Sun" - She has been quoted as saying that she never "tried to act until A Place in the Sun". She met Montgomery Clift on this film and they developed a very deep and lasting friendship. He inspired her to take acting more seriously although she was quite a show business veteran by this time.

What I love about this film is that it is dark and foreboding, deep and pensive and yet Elizabeth is like a radiant light in the midst of the darker elements. The character, George Eastman, played by Clift, was so obsessed with the lovely Angela Vickers, played by Elizabeth Taylor, that he murders his pregnant girlfriend, played by Shelley Winters. for a chance to be free to marry her... 

Although he is convicted you never really know if he meant to do it or not and when the priest asks him what he was thinking about as she was drowning... a vision of Elizabeth, head thrown back after a long kiss, crosses his mind....   and you know... he is guilty..

This photo is from one of the sweetest scenes.. when Monty is on the phone with his Mother and Liz says "Hi Mama!" - Monty says "It's JUST a girl, Mama"  - the look on her face is priceless... subtle little things like that made her who she was... more than a beauty.. an energy!

You have probably seen Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Suddenly Last Summer and Who's Afraid of Virginia AWolfe - and most likly even Cleopatra and Father of the Bride... but I would take a look at this film and if you want more Liz... check out  Raintree County and BUtterfield 8 as well..

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