Starring: Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Shelley Winters
Director: George Stevens
George Eastman (Clift) is a poor relation who goes to work for his rich uncle. He’s not immediately accepted, and has to work his way up. At which point, Alice (Winters) falls for him, and they’re soon dating. But Alice is afraid that as he rises, he’ll be too good for her, and she ends up sleeping with him. George starts to be more accepted and moves up in the business and he meets the beautiful Angela (Taylor). Caught between the woman he loves and the one that loves him, tragedy lies in wait.
It’s A Must See Because: Alice is so awfully needy and cloying, carrying on about how George will leave her, I really didn’t like her at all, which Angela sparkles. It’s easy to see how George is stuck between the two.
The film is all about class warfare and yet the romantic elements at the heart are what make it watchable. It could be a political film, and yet it stays with the dramatic elements. The direction leaves the focus on body language, and less on dialogue to give the whole thing a softer feel. It could be a really dark film about a thoughtless social climber but it’s not, it’s more about a man pushed around by tides that are bigger than himself and yearning without having the determination to make the right decisions.
See It If: I love Liz Taylor in this film, and the premise is pretty interesting.
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