Elizabeth Taylor's First Dramatic Film

What Was Elizabeth Taylor's First Dramatic Film? by: Andrew Conway  


A Place In The Sun was one of the 50's most intriguing 
films. The release date was October 11, 1951. I celebrated 
my third birthday party on that exact date, but it wasn't 
until years later that I actually saw that film. As I was 
growing older, I developed a big crush, like most of my 
friends, on Elizabeth Taylor. 

The movie depicts an up and coming George Eastman [played 
by Montgomery Cliff] being thrust into the blue collar 
life of a rich uncle's family business, and falling in 
love with another women, despite the fact that his own 
[secret] girlfriend was now pregnant. 

Directed by George Stevens, who did a brilliant job,despite 
the constraints that were imposed on him by Paramount. This 
film classic was actually a remake of a film that was made 
20 years earlier that was a total bomb. The studio had lost 
a huge amount of money on the earlier version, so the 
monetary restraints were put in place before they even 
started shooting. 

A very young Elizabeth Taylor, who plays Angela Vickers,is 
paired with Montgomery Cliff in this classic story of doomed 
love.It was Miss Taylor's best work to date and her first 
dramatic role. Her raw natural beauty lights up the screen.
Shelly Winters [who plays Alice Tripp] gives a convincing
performance of the poor homely girl who happens to fall in 
love with George Eastman.Upon learning that she is pregnant, 
she fanatasies about the life that she and George will share 
together but after finding out about George's real love interest, 
she threatens him with exposure, unless he agrees to marry her. 

His mind is full of crazy thoughts about what he should do. 
He leaves a dinner party to meet Alice and ends up in a 
boat on moon lake with her. As she starts to describe the 
dreary, uninteresting life that both of them will live, 
George's mind is filled only with thoughts of the 
beautiful Taylor. He changes his mind about his plans of 
droning Alice and starts back to shore. But in one ironic 
twist of fate,Alice moves to be closer to George and causes 
the boat to capsize, falls into the lake and drowns anyway. 

He is captured and prosecuted by an ambitious district 
attorney [played by Raymond Burr]. 

This is definitely one of the best classic movies that ever 
came out of Hollywood.It won 6 Oscars, another 7 wins and 8 
nominations. This is a classic example tragic romanticism.