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This "American Tragedy" was nominated for 9 Oscars & won these 6: Best Cinematography, Black-and-White: William C. Mellor Best Costume Design, Black-and-White: Edith Head Best Director: George Stevens Best Film Editing: William Hornbeck Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture: Franz Waxman Best Writing, Screenplay: Michael Wilson & Harry Brown The film opens with George Eastman (Montgomery Clift) hitchhiking his way to an assembly line job packing bathing suits at his Uncle Charles' (Herbert Heyes), factory. Because she's speeding, gorgeous & wealthy Angela Vickers (Elizabeth Taylor), misses her 1st opportunity to meet the attractive young man with whom she'll later fall in love. Although doing so goes directly against the factory's policy, a plain woman, assembly line co-worker, Alice Tripp (Shelley Winters), & George develop a romantic relationship, basically because George feel desperately lonely & Alice believes she's landed quite a catch. The earnest energy that drives George easily leads to him getting a promotion that takes him off of the assmebly line. Alice shows signs of resenting that they're no longer together at work. Being a Eastman family member is influential enough for George to be invited the wealthy Vickers family's party. It's there that Angela & George 1st meet & fall head-over-heels in love. With the blessing of Angela's father, Tony Vickers (Shepperd Strudwick) the happy couple make plans to marry. End of story, living happily ever after? Far from it! Assembly line Alice, has been insisting upon being involved with George by coercion: if he doesn't keep seeing her, she's expose their relationship at work & ruin his career. As if that weren't enough, Alice is pregnant by George. When George's work to have make something of his life & share a 'place in the sun' with Angela seems ruined, he makes a desperate life-changing act of passion that lead to tragic consequences. Enter Raymond Burr as District Attorney, R. Frank Marlowe. Director George Stevens adapted Theodore Dreiser's great novel, "An American Tragedy." With Taylor & Clift being at the absolute height of being photogenically attractive-looking, their love-making close-ups make cinematic history. Shelley Winters, as the spoiler, definitely earned her Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Taylor & Clift became extremely close friends & remained so until Clift's death in 1966 at age 46. During the 1956 filming of "Raintree County," Taylor literally saved Clift's life when he crashed his Chevy into a tree after leaving a party at her home. Rock Hudson, Michael Wilding & Kevin McCarthy formed a protective shield so that no photographs of Clift could be taken by photographers as he was carried from the wreck to the ambulance. Clift was raised by an extremely violent & bigoted father. He married a bisexual woman who badly managed his earlier acting career. Marlon Brando tried to intervene to stop Clift from being addicted to drugs & alcohol. Clift was Taylor's choice to play her husband, closeted gay Major Weldon Penderton, in "Reflections in a Golden Eye" (1967). Before the filming began, Clift's companion, Lorenzo James, found him lying nude on top of his bed, dead from "occlusive coronary artery disease." Clift's acting teacher, Robert Lewis, called his death 'the longest suicide in history'. Dame Taylor (76yo & retired from acting in 2003) calls 'Monty' Clift the best friend she ever had~Read full review
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