Paramount Presents: A PLACE IN THE SUN [1951 / 2021] [Blu-ray] [USA Release] Never before A Film So Moving and Powerful! Standing Alone As The Screen’s Most Memorable Love Story!
‘A PLACE IN THE SUN’ is widely considered one of the finest works of America cinema, Paramount Presents is proud to bring Producer/Director George Steven’s masterwork to Blu-ray — remastered from a 4K film transfer in celebration of its 70th Anniversary. Montgomery Clift stars as George Eastman, determined to win a place in respectable society and the heart of a beautiful socialite Angela Vickers [Elizabeth Taylor]. Shelley Winters as Alice Tripp is the factory girl whose dark secret threatens George Eastman’s professional and romantic prospects. This Paramount Pictures adaptation of Theodore Dreiser’s “AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY,” which was itself based on a notorious true crime tale, was the first film to win the Golden Globes in the category of Best Picture — Drama, before winning six Academy Awards® including Best Director.
Leonard Maltin on ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN’ – The film is in no hurry, and neither was Mr. George Stevens, as he took his time on the set and the editing room. He took his time to tell the story and let it breathe.
Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment is proud to spotlight a new line of Blu-ray releases for collectors and fans – PARAMOUNT PRESENTS. From celebrated classics to film-lover favourites, each title comes directly from the studio’s renowned library, spanning over 100 years of storytelling. The films have never looked better on Blu-ray – each lovingly remastered from 4K film transfers, featuring never-before-seen bonus content, and exclusive collectable packaging.
FILM FACT No.1: Awards and Nominations: 1951 Cannes Film Festival: Nominated: Grand Prize of the Festival for George Stevens. 1951 National Board of Review, USA: Win: NBR Award for Best Film. Win: NBR Award for Top Ten Films. 1951 New York Film Critics Circle Awards: Nominated: Best Actress for Shelley Winters. Nominated: Best Director for George Stevens. 1952 Academy Awards®: Win: Best Director for George Stevens. Win: Best Writing and Screenplay for Harry Brown and Michael Wilson. Win: Best Cinematography and Black-and-White for William C. Mellor. Win: Best Costume Design in Black-and-White for Edith Head. Win: Best Film Editing for William Hornbeck. Win: Best Music Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture for Franz Waxman. Nominated: Best Picture for George Stevens. Nominated: Best Actor in a Leading Role for Montgomery Clift. Nominated: Best Actress in a Leading Role for Shelley Winters. 1952 Directors Guild of America Award: Win: Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures for George Stevens and Charles C. Coleman (assistant director) (plaque). 1952 Golden Globes: Win: Best Motion Picture in a Drama. Nominated: Best Director for George Stevens. Nominated: Best Actress in a Drama for Shelley Winters. Nominated: Best Cinematography in Black-and-White for William C. Mellor. 1952 Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists: Win: Silver Ribbon for Best Foreign Director (Regista del Miglior Film Straniero) for George Stevens. 1952 Writers Guild of America: Win: WGA Award (Screen) for Best Written American Drama for Harry Brown and Michael Wilson. Nominated: WGA Award (Screen) for The Robert Meltzer Award (Screenplay Dealing Most Ably with Problems of the American Scene) for Harry Brown and Michael Wilson. 1991 National Film Preservation Board, USA: Win: National Film Registry for the film ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN.’ 1997 PGA Awards: Win: PGA Film Hall of Fame for ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN’ Motion Picture. 2021 Online Film & Television Association: Win: OFTA Film Hall of Fame for ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN’ Motion Picture.
FILM FACT No.2: On the 14th November, 1949, a letter from the Production Code Administration, Joseph I. Breen pointed out an issue regarding the dialogue between Alice and her doctor. Joseph I. Breen cautioned against direct references to abortion, specifically the line in the script in which Alice Tripp says, “Doctor, you've got to help me.” In the finished film, the line became, "Somebody's got to help me", and while abortion is possibly implied, the film does not include any actual mention of it. In 1965, director George Stevens threatened to sue for $1,000,000 any TV station that inserted any commercial into the running of his film without his specific approval of the advertisement. The film's acclaim did not completely hold up over time. Reappraisals of the film find that much of what was exciting about the film in 1951 is not as potent in the 21st century. Critics cite the soporific pace, the exaggerated melodrama, and the outdated social commentary as qualities present in ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN’ that are not present in the great films of the era, such as those by Alfred Hitchcock and Elia Kazan, although the performances by Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, and Shelley Winters continue to receive praise.
Cast: Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Shelley Winters, Anne Revere, Keefe Brasselle, Fred Clark, Raymond Burr, Herbert Heyes, Shepperd Strudwick, Frieda Inescort, Kathryn Givney, Walter Sande, Ted de Corsia, John Ridgely, Lois Chartrand, Paul Frees, Robert J. Anderson (uncredited), Gertrude Astor (uncredited), John Barton (uncredited), Lulu Mae Bohrman (uncredited), John Breen (uncredited), Steve Carruthers (uncredited), Ken Christy (uncredited), Pat Combs (uncredited), Frances Curry (uncredited), Charles Dayton (uncredited), Marilyn Dialon (uncredited), Mike Donovan (uncredited), Ralph Dunn (uncredited), Franklyn Farnum (uncredited), Al Ferguson (uncredited), Bess Flowers (uncredited), Ann Fredericks (uncredited), Kathleen Freeman (uncredited), Art Gilmore (uncredited), Lisa Golm (uncredited), Herschel Graham (uncredited), Marion Gray (uncredited), Dolores Hall (uncredited), Sam Harris (uncredited), Len Hendry (uncredited), James Horne Jr. (uncredited), Sonny Howe (uncredited), Frank Hyers (uncredited), Carmencita Johnson (uncredited), Kenner G. Kemp (uncredited), Jack Kenny (uncredited), Mary Kent (uncredited), Philip Kieffer (uncredited), Anne Kunde (uncredited), Joseph La Cava (uncredited), Louise Lane (uncredited), Mike Mahoney (uncredited), Robert Malcolm (uncredited), Hank Mann (uncredited), Martin Mason (uncredited), Frank McLure (uncredited), Harold McNulty (uncredited), Harold Miller (uncredited), Lee Miller (uncredited), Pearl Miller (uncredited), Frank Mills (uncredited), Hans Moebus (uncredited), Jay Morley (uncredited), William B. Murphy (uncredited), William H. O'Brien (uncredited), Frank O'Connor (uncredited), Ed O'Neill (uncredited), Ezelle Poule (uncredited), Paul Power (uncredited), Harry Raven (uncredited), Joe Recht (uncredited), John M. Reed (uncredited), Ervin Richardson (uncredited), Kasey Rogers (uncredited), Wallace Scott (uncredited), Bill Sheehan (uncredited), Leslie Sketchley (uncredited), Cap Somers (uncredited), Douglas Spencer (uncredited), Larry Steers (uncredited), Cliff Storey (uncredited), Jack Tornek (uncredited), Arthur Tovey (uncredited), Dorothy Vernon (uncredited), Josephine Whittell (uncredited), Chalky Williams (uncredited), Eric Wilton (uncredited), Ian Wolfe (uncredited) and Frank Yaconelli (uncredited)
Director: George Stevens
Producers: George Stevens and Ivan Moffat
Screenplay: Theodore Dreiser (novel), Patrick Kearney (play), Harry Brown (screenplay) and Michael Wilson (screenplay)
Composer: Franz Waxman (music score)
Costume Design: Edith Head
Cinematography: John Francis Seitz, A.S.C. (uncredited) and William C. Mellor, A.S.C. (Director of Photography)
Special Photographic Effects: Gordon Jennings, A.S.C.
Image Resolution: 1080p (Black-and-White)
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Audio: English: 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio
German: 1.0 Dolby Digital Mono Audio
Spanish: 1.0 Dolby Digital Mono Audio
French: 1.0 Dolby Digital Mono Audio
English 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish and French
Running Time: 121 minutes
Region: All Regions
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Andrew's Blu-ray Review: In the film ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN’ [1951] we find George Eastman [Montgomery Clift] finally has a chance to make something of himself, but he will have to work hard, from the bottom up. He has dreams of living the life of the rich man, but in order to make it happen, he’ll have to strive for excellence, or run into some real luck. While he toils in his low position job, he meets Alice Tripp [Shelley Winters], a young woman who also has a blue collar lifestyle. But she is nice and the two hit it off, but as fate has it for these two, they will not have an easy road to travel together. Soon enough, Eastman finds himself getting inside the upper crust of the town, which leads to his meeting with debutante Angela Vickers [Elizabeth Taylor]. This is the kind of chance Eastman has waited his entire life for, but Alice has no intentions of allowing herself to be written off, at least not without a fight. As tensions mount and secrets begin to surface, what will become of these three troubled people?
I have to say that while the film still has a lot of good elements, it hasn’t held up as well as some other classics. I found the moral issues at hand to be dated, which sort of lessens the impact, at least to an extent. But you have to watch some movies in a certain mind-set and this is one of them, as you have to put yourself in the frame of the picture. So ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN’ has lost some of its power as time has passed, but it still turns out to be a terrific film. The performances of Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift, and Shelley Winters are quite good, but some of the others seem out of place, especially Raymond Burr’s efforts.
This was one of her earliest performances, but even so, Elizabeth Taylor shines here and really commands the screen. I hold this among her finest work ever, as she is so beautiful and on the mark with her character, very impressive stuff. Of course, she has some excellent material to work with and she really runs with it, in a very detailed overall performance. She needed to have a lot of impact on the audience, given the nature of the material and she does that and then some, which is one reason the film works so well. This might not be her most flashy or memorable role, but I still think it ranks as one of her best ones. I highly 100% endorse this film to all movie fans and especially since Paramount Pictures has included some cool extras, this release is more than worthwhile.
A PLACE IN THE SUN MUSIC TRACK LIST
MONA LISA (1941) (uncredited) (Written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans) [Played as background music]
ALMA MATER (uncredited) (Music by Franz Waxman) (Lyrics by Frank Loesser)
OUT OF NOWHERE (1931) (uncredited) (Written by Edward Heyman and Johnny Green) [Played on the radio]
BEAR YE ONE ANOTHER’S BURDEN (1912) (uncredited) (Written by Mabel J. Rosemon)
RESCUE THE PERISHING (1869) (uncredited) (Hymn by Fanny Crosby) (Music by Howard Doane) (1870)
AT THE RACE (uncredited) (Music by Rudolph G. Kopp
Pouplet d'Or (uncredited) (Music by Robert Emmett Dolan)
MY SILENT LOVE (uncredited) (Written by Edward Heyman and Dana Suesse)
CAMPERS LOVE (uncredited) (Music by Frank Skinner)
BLUE HAWAII (uncredited) (Written by Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin)
ALOHA OE (uncredited) (Written by Queen Liliuokalani)
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Blu-ray Image Quality – Paramount Pictures presents us a totally stunning remastered film ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN’ with a very impressive 1080p black-and-white image and of course was released just prior to when widescreen came in to play. That’s no fault of the film and Paramount Pictures has issued a fine transfer here, which should exceed all expectations. George Stevens knew how to use every inch of the frame and I have to say that there were probably not too many better-looking folks in their prime than Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift. Again the image looks almost pristine, which is fantastic news, as it allows for a clean, very refined visual presentation. Fabric textures are wonderfully distinct, the rock-solid clothing patterns resist shimmering, and no nicks, marks, or stray lines mar the pristine source material. Because ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN’ is one of my favourite film, I viewed this transfer with a hyper-critical eye and am more than pleased with Paramount Pictures efforts to preserve this classic film and present it in the best possible light. Is the transfer dazzling, occasionally. The film's limitations and artistic style, however, prevent that, and kudos to Paramount Pictures for not compromising the integrity of George Stevens film, and one of Hollywood's most passionate and devastating love stories.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – Paramount Pictures brings us the film ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN’ with a wonderful natural sound experience in 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio. Purists might scoff at the inclusion of this 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio mix with no mono mix to be found. That said, the audio mix is certainly front-heavy with little or no action to be found in the surrounds. In addition, the materials seem in less than stellar form, with some obvious muffled dialogue and signs of distortion at times. The audio track doesn't pump out any noticeable surround effects, but supplies clear, well-modulated, and occasionally robust sound. George Stevens focused intently on artfully employing sound throughout his career and some would call him a trailblazer, using it to heighten dramatic effect and drive home a narrative's themes and often cited as prime examples of his meticulous attention to audio elements, but ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN’ flaunts a beautiful and effective soundscape as well. Sonic accents like recurring sirens, speedboat engines, barking dogs, shattering glass, screams, the slamming of the oar on the boat in the courtroom, and the judge's banging gavel are crisp, while subtle atmospherics like wind, cooing loons, chirping crickets, and heavy breathing are wonderfully distinct. A wide dynamic scale handles all the highs and lows of Franz Waxman's glorious Oscar-winning score with ease, and all the dialogue – even when spoken in hushed tones – is easy to comprehend. I could not detect any age-related hiss, pops, or crackle break the film's hypnotic spell and no distortion mucks up the mix. Sound is an important subliminal element in the film ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN’ and this audio track masterfully maximizes its impact.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: Filmmaker Focus: Leonard Maltin on ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN’ [2021] [1080p] [1.37:1 / 1.78:1] [7:35] Here once again like previous Paramount Presents Blu-ray release we meet Leonard Maltin [Film Critic & Historian] in his home to talk about the film ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN’ and feels the director George Stevens is one of the towering figure of 20th century America film, who had so many good films under his belt, like ‘Swing Time,’ ‘The More The Merrier,’ ‘I Remember Mama,’ ‘Shane,’ ‘Giant,’ ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ and Leonard Maltin thinks they are all really exceptional films. George Stevens started out as a cameraman at the Hal Roach Comedy Studio and there he got to photograph the great Laurel & Hardy and many of their funniest films, especially in the silent film era. In the talky era, George Stevens moved to RKO Radio Pictures, starting with modest musical comedies that he was a very careful deliberate craftsman. ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN’ is based on the classic Theodore Dreiser the American novelist for his famous 1952 novel “An American Tragedy,” which in turn is based on the true life murder case in 1906. Leonard Maltin feels the film ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN’ is in no hurry or was Mr. George Stevens, as he took his time on the film set and in the editing room, and he took his time to tell the story and let it breathe and he also experimented with very long dissolves, where one image would remain longer than usual for a Hollywood movie, while the next image comes into focus. This is not in the classic sense of a “film noir” and yet it is a very dark film both tonally and photographically. William C. Mellor the cinematographer for the film, won an Oscar® for the film and was someone who started working for the director George Stevens overseas during the Second World War, and George Stevens and William C. Mellor were not afraid of shooting scenes almost in the dark and early on especially when Montgomery Clift comes home with Shelley Winters and enters her bedroom and she is worried about disturbing the landlady, and it is almost all in the dark and you can just make out what you need to see. Leonard Maltin thinks the look of the film reflects the tone of the film, brightness, darkness, and there is not a lot of brightness in this film, except when Elizabeth Taylor is on the screen and she represents the aspirational brightness that Montgomery Clift desperately wants, but it all changes with the scenes with Shelley Winters. This is a story of an ordinary guy, of modest means and upbringing, who happens to be part of a family that is very wealthy and successful, but he is an outsider, and wants to feel like it, until he meets Elizabeth Taylor’s character, who represents everything he isn’t and everything he wants to be. Montgomery Clift was originally a classically trained stage actor; and he worked a lot on the Broadway stage in the 1940’s and got great revues and notices, and was part of the new generation of actors that were typified by the actor Marlon Brando, who helped to develop an entirely new approach in acting and especially on the stage and also especially on the screen and eventually became known as the “method acting” and sensitive is the word you heard a lot applied to Montgomery Clift, and rightly so and he made a spectacular screen debut with John Wayne in Howard Hawks film ‘Red River’ and the film ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN’ was only his 5th film and this was one of the highlights of Montgomery Clift’s all too brief career. Elizabeth Taylor was already a great star actress with films like ‘National velvet’ and was under contract with M-G-M and George Stevens and Paramount Pictures ask to borrow Elizabeth Taylor for her services and they paid handsomely for her to appear in the film ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN.’ Elizabeth Taylor was only 17 years of age when she made ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN’ and in the later years Elizabeth Taylor said and including doing an interview with Leonard Maltin which he felt very lucky to be allowed to interview this wonderful actress, and Elizabeth Taylor said that it was the first time she felt she was playing a part and not some variation of herself, and here was a character totally unlikely like herself and she felt the very strong guiding hand of a good director and that combined with the simpatico she felt for Montgomery Clift and makes it a three dimensional performance. When you see Elizabeth Taylor with Montgomery Clift together, there is electricity in the air and it is not two attractive people, it is two people who seem so alive and so perfect for each other, as characters and as people. Shelley Winters as Alice Tripp really captures who this woman is, and she has to do it as an actress and sometimes using dialogue that is evasive because of the Production Code that was still very much in force in Hollywood and you could not use the word abortion, you could not barely use the word pregnant and what Shelley Winters says initially, she’s gotten in trouble and that was the Production Code word for being pregnant. Leonard Maltin thinks this would be a very challenging role for any actress at any time, but coming so early in her screen career, and Leonard Maltin thinks this was pivotal and this earned Shelley Winters her first four Academy Award Nominations and she also went onto to win two Oscars. Leonard Maltin thinks any actor responds to a director who cares deeply as George Stevens did, and he cared deeply about these performances in the film ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN’ and he brought out the best in their performances and Leonard Maltin thinks that every actor he ever employed and especially the key scene between Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift’s ultra-close-up shot with the Franz Waxman’s composed film score being played in the background, and is shown repeatedly while serving the American public in the cinema in the 20th century, because it is such a standout performance and that speaks very loudly to what a prominent film that still remains today and especially as you watch ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN’ simply as a piece of compelling entertainment, and you can also admire their performances, and especially if you don’t appreciate what a director brings to the table on a given movie and when you watch ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN’ you see that there is a guiding hand behind the entire film, as well as its sequences, and that guiding hand was George Stevens, and at that point this special feature ends and it is quite a very interesting featurette by Leonard Maltin and definitely well worth viewing. Throughout this special feature we get to view photographs and film clips from ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN’ augmented by Leonard Maltin's special feature.
Special Feature: George Stevens and His PLACE IN THE SUN [2001] [1080p] [1.37:1] [22:22] This archival special feature reminiscences about Elizabeth Taylor and Shelley Winters highlights this quality 2001 featurette that honours the Oscar-winning director of ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN.’ We also get a brief bio about George Stevens; and we also get several wonderful clips of black-and-white and colour documentary footage shot by George Stevens and his other fellow cameramen during the Second World War, especially through Normandy, the liberation of Paris, France, the Battle Of The Bulge, the crossing of the River Rhine at the Elbe River and the liberation of the infamous concentration camps at Dhaka and you also get to view the horror of all the dead Jews inside the wagon trains. Also included is a look at the film's Oscar-winning costumes and interviews with George Stevens, Jr. and Ivan Moffat. Shelley Winters recalls how she got George Stevens to test her and the stress of filming the critical boat scene, while Elizabeth Taylor talks very reverently about Clift Montgomery and how he influenced her development as an actress. In addition to praising and analysing director George Stevens's technique, some of which he classifies as “ground-breaking,” and George Stevens, Jr. calls ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN’ “a uniquely American story” and the main character of George Eastman one of his dad's typical "outsider" figures. They also discuss the “observing camera” at length and believe the stringent motion picture production code in place at the time strangely strengthens the story's impact. Ivan Moffat recalls how he came up with the film's title, addresses the casting of actress Shelley Winters, and points out how the film emphasizes romance over the novel's social themes. In addition, the two talks about the taboo issue of abortion, George Stevens' trademark slow dissolves and penchant for many takes, and share several anecdotes. A few too many gaps are littered throughout this vintage special feature, but this is still a worthwhile for fan of ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN’ will enjoy and appreciate. As we come to the end of this vintage special feature, the narrator says about the film ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN’ that it was “Named by The American Film Institute as one of the top 100 motion pictures ever made. The film has earned its place in the sun.” Throughout this special feature we get to view black-and-white photographs from scenes in the film and also several film clips from the film ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN.’ Contributors include: George Stevens Jr., Ivan Moffat [Associate Producer], Elizabeth Taylor [archive footage] and Shelley Winters [1983 archive footage].
Special Feature: George Stevens: Filmmakers Who Knew Him [2001] [1080p] [1.37:1] [45:28] With this rare special feature, we get to see some fantastic outtakes from his other films, that features remarks from such esteemed people such as Warren Beatty, Frank Capra (archive footage), Rouben Mamoulian (archive footage), Joseph L. Mankiewicz (archive footage), Alan J. Pakula (archive footage), Antonio Vellani (archive footage), Robert Wise and Fred Zinnemann (archive footage) and all of whom give great praise for director George Stevens' artistry, versatility, and commitment to his craft. The outstanding moments in the very special featurette is a comment from actor Warren Beatty, who informs us about a lawsuit injunction against the American TV Network NBC by George Stevens to stop the mutilation of his film ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN’ shown on the television, especially where they would insert vacuous adverts in the film’s running time or even worse, edit the film to have a much shorter running time and George Stevens was asking for damages of not less than $1,000,000, and I certainly applaud this very intelligent director, who feels commercial television especially in America who want to ruin classic films, that should not have any kind of interruption. When we get to the section with the director Frank Capra, at first I was really shocked how old he looked, but despite this, it was great to see and hear him talk very fondly about George Stevens, but one particular anecdote by Frank Capra about George Stevens, where Frank Capra says that when he dies, he is certainly going to look George Stevens up and also look out for a couple of other people, and to carry on where he left out with working with George Stevens, and start Liberty Films again and wouldn’t it be wonderful we could make wonderful pictures again and then we send them down to Earth and basically, Frank Capra is keen to make more films with George Stevens again. Other contributors comment what a great director George Stevens was, where they say he had honour, talent, courtesy and most of all, all of his films have style. They also feel that when the public goes to see a George Stevens film, that when that person has just views one of his films, leaves the cinema a better person than when they entered the cinema. They also say that George Stevens was a very funny person, in a very certain way, and sometimes out of the blue will come out with a very witty funny comment and also something very deadpan, and especially can be very sarcastic. When George Stevens directed the film ‘The Dairy of Anne Frank,’ he would insist on shooting hundreds of feet of film just filming the cat and had incredible patience, and we get to see some black-and-white clips of that actual cat that appeared in that film. But they also give great praise about George Stevens when it comes to being the master of directing films and they feel he is up there with the other great directors and especially Alfred Hitchcock, because George Stevens used every aspect of the medium, like the use of editing, the use of close-ups and all in all, there is definitely humanity in his work, especially when it comes to drama, adventure, comedy or melodrama, that makes this director George Stevens so remarkable. On top of all that, with each contributor it is broken up into different multiply categories. So all in all this is a really wonderful featurette and is well worth viewing and especially hearing all the contributors give their amazing praise of the genius director George Stevens. You can view the interviews separately, or alternatively you can choose to watch them all in one whole sequence, which works out so much better.
Theatrical Trailers: Here we get to view three Original Theatrical Trailers and they are as follows:
‘A PLACE IN THE SUN’ [1951] [1080p] [1.37:1] [2:39]
‘SHANE’ [1953] [1080p] [1.78:1] [2:03]
‘SUNSET BOULEVARD’ [1950] [1080p] [1.37:1] [3:15]
Finally, ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN’ is one of Hollywood's greatest love stories also stands as one of the most devastating portraits of American society ever filmed for a film released in 1951, and was widely considered one of the best years for films in Hollywood. Though it took far too long for ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN’ to make its way to Blu-ray, Paramount Pictures has finally given director George Stevens' enduring classic its proper due release. Here we have a brand new restoration for this beautiful film in the best possible image presentation and allows us to fully absorb the affecting performances and a timeless allure of Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, and Shelley Winters. Solid audio and all the extras transferred from the 2001 DVD release along with brand new special features enhance the appeal of this long-awaited release of a six-time Oscar winner that captures the heart and sears the soul. Paramount Pictures continues with their Paramount Presents new line up of Blu-ray releases with brand new transfers, new features and even new beautiful cover art. It is so good to see studios, especially Paramount Pictures embracing quality over quantity and for anyone who’s not had the chance to see this film, and it is well worth a viewing. Very Highly recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
