1951 US drama film by George Stevens
A Place in the Sun is a 1951 American tragedy film directed by George Stevens from a screenplay by Harry Brown and Michael Wilson, based on the 1925 novel An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser and a 1926 play of the same title. The novel had been adapted for the screen in a pre-Code-era as An American Tragedy in 1931. The story was inspired by the murder of Grace Brown by Chester Gillette in 1906, which resulted in Gillette's conviction and execution by electric chair in 1908.
A Place in the Sun stars Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Shelley Winters and Keefe Brasselle. Raymond Burr's performance impressed TV producer Gail Patrick, who later cast him as Perry Mason.
The film was a critical and commercial success, winning six Academy Awards and the first-ever Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama. In 1991, A Place in the Sun was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Plot summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.