A Place in the Sun
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: August 14, 1951 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
76
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
They're a witheringly beautiful couple; ex-cinematographer Stevens lavishes all his gifts of composition, lighting and texture on their closeups. [05 Apr 2007, p.C10]
100
The TelegraphTim Robey
Glorious. Read full review
100
CineVueCraig Williams
One of the major successes of A Place in the Sun is the way it delicately obfuscates the distinction between romantic longing and personal ambition. Read full review
100
The GuardianPeter Bradshaw
Every second of this noir masterpiece is gripping, and the chemistry between Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor is utterly thrilling. Read full review
90
The New York TimesStaff (Not Credited)
Despite the fact that this version of Dreiser's tragedy may be criticized—academically, we think—for its length or deviations from the author's pattern, A Place in the Sun is a distinguished work, a tribute, above all, to its producer-director and an effort now placed among the ranks of the finest films to have come from Hollywood in several years. Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
Clift fell in love with his leading lady and helped her through her most difficult scenes, with spellbinding results. Read full review
80
VarietyHerb Golden
Stevens has mounted his production lavishly. Undoubtedly cognizant of the shortcomings of the story itself as popular entertainment, studio toppers have wisely permitted the film every possible compensating advantage. The result is a big picture in both concept and execution. Read full review
70
The New YorkerPauline Kael
Whatever one's reservations about this famous film, it is impressive, and in the love scene between Taylor and Clift, physical desire seems palpable.
60
Time OutStaff (Not Credited)
The chemistry between Clift and Taylor is unmistakeable – this is one of the great cinematic portraits of untamed desire – and there’s a compelling sense of unavoidable destiny, of a societal trap slowly, inexorably snapping shut. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Hopelessly inadequate as a reading of Dreiser's great novel, and as usual Stevens seems too preoccupied with the story's monumentality to have much curiosity about its characters. Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderDave Kehr
George Stevens, a tireless moralizer and part-time embalmer of American myths (Shane), directed this melodramatic adaptation of Dreiser's An American Tragedy, and what does not seem facile in it seems overwrought. Read full review
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