It tells the story of a working-class young man who is entangled with two women: one who works in his wealthy uncle's factory, and the other a beautiful socialite.

[1] A Place in the Sun was directed by George Stevens from a screenplay by Harry Brown and Michael Wilson, and stars Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, and Shelley Winters; its supporting actors included Anne Revere and Raymond Burr.

[4] 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".

George is invited to Angela's family lake house over Labor Day and tells Alice the visit will advance his career.

George is relieved and, remembering Alice cannot swim, begins forming a plan to drown her in the lake by feigning an accident.

George escapes, swims to shore, behaves suspiciously when he comes across campers on his way back to the car, and eventually drives to the Vickers' lodge.

In a November 14, 1949, letter from the Production Code Administration, Joseph I. Breen pointed out an issue regarding the dialogue between Alice and her doctor.

[5] In 1965, director Stevens threatened to sue for US$1,000,000 any TV station that inserted any commercial into the running of his film without his specific approval of the ad.

Critics cite the slow pace, the exaggerated melodrama, and the outdated social commentary as qualities present in A Place in the Sun that are not present in the great films of the era, such as those by Alfred Hitchcock and Elia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 Clift, Taylor, and Winters continue to receive praise.

[17] Writer-director David Mamet, in his book Bambi vs. Godzilla: On the Nature, Purpose, and Practice of the Movie Business, included A Place in the Sun in a list of four "perfect" films, along with The Godfather, Galaxy Quest and Dodsworth.