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I was interested in this movie since it was based on a true story that took place not far from my home.
This movie is excellent
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This is the second filming of Theodore Drieser's 1925 novel, AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY, which was based on real events. The earlier, 1931 film, faced too many problems to succeed and has faded from cinema history, but this later version stands as a magnificent example of the American cinema at its best, and is acknowledged as one of director George Stevens's finest achievements. The movie focuses on the second half of Dreiser's long, complex novel, omitting much of the background about the main characters' family livrd and background, which are only glancingly referenced in Stevens's film.
On a strictly technical level, it was in this film that Stevens pioneered the use of gigantic closeups, taking advantage of the extraordinary physical beauty of his two leading stars (Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift). The closeups allowed Stevens to capture their emotional attachment at a range that nearly brings the viewer into their embraces. The result is exceptionally powerful.
The cast is, without exception, tremendous, with Shelley Winters winning a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Alice, the plain, obtuse, lonely assembly line worker. Winters, previously typed as a second-string dumb-blonde/cum sexpot, said later that she cried when she saw the first rushes and begged Stevens to give her a bit more makeup. Stevens, however, replied that eventually Winters would thank him for leaving her to the glaring mercy of the lights, and she credits that judgment for helping her take home the Oscar.
The young Elizabeth Taylor, once a child star and still struggling to establish herself as something more than a face, wanted this role (wealthy socialite Angela Vickers) badly to demonstrate her abilities. She was also a very close personal friend of Clift's and their mutual empathy is evident in their work together here. Clift is excellent as George Eastman, conveying Eastman's fierce but inchoate yearning for the golden life and opportunities that his distant cousin, Angela, represents.
As the film opens, George, a poor relation of a wealthy family, arrives to seek their help in making his way in the world. He is given a menial job in their factory and left very much alone - it is clear that while the family is willing to help him, they don't consider him quite on their social level. He is, therefore, lonely and somewhat adrift, as well as bored at his dull job and angry at being placed there. In the factory he meets, and begins half-heartedly dating, fellow assembly line worker Alice. Alice recognizes in George exactly what George sees in Angela: higher quality - someone made of finer material - and perhaps a way out of a dead-end life. She allows George to seduce her early in their relationship in an attempt to attach him permanently.
George, however, is already half-fixated on his lovely distant cousin, Angela - she appears in the society columns of the local papers, on highway billboards, and he has even seen her at the family's large house on the hill, where he first presented himself to ask for help. By the time he seduces Alice, George is already determined to do something to improve his standing, and bring himself closer to Angela and her world of parties, pools, yachts, and hunting lodges. George writes a report on improving the efficiency of the assembly line - the report is favorably received, George is promoted, and as a result, invited to attend a party of young people at the Big House. When he arrives there, the social barriers between him and the other young people are still apparent and he is uncomfortable. But he has managed to meet Angela in a social context that places them on a somewhat more equal footing, and she finds something very attractive in his brooding seriousness, so different from the callow youths around her. A bond quickly begins to form, the couple begin to see each other in secret, and George begins to believe that all that he has dreamed of may, after all, be within his reach.
That is, until Alice turns up pregnant. By the time she finds out that she is pregnant, Alice has begun to realize that George's interest in her was momentary and that he is somehow connected to Angela, whose wealth and beauty Alice cannot hope to compete with. Alice, after a failed attempt to explore the possibility of abortion with a country doctor, demands that George marry her, or she will reveal the situation to Angela and her family. Over Labor Day Weekend, in the small town where Alice has gone to see the doctor, George promises to do so, but the town's municipal offices are closed for the holiday, giving him time to think. He takes Alice boating on the lake in the twilight. She sees his misery and tries to present their impending marriage in a more positive light, talking about how she is used to being poor and working hard, not realizing that she is driving George half-mad with references to the poverty and narrowed horizons that he has just seen his way out of - he begins to shout at her and Alice realizes, at last, that he hates her. In her anger and emotional agitation, Alice stands up in the boat and falls overboard. It is by now quite dark, and the viewer hears George calling her name over and over again - and eventually sees him fleeing the town, alone. Alice's drowned corpse is found, and, eventually, George is arrested and tried for her murder.
In the ensuing trial, the crucial issue is the power of intent to define actual guilt: did George honestly try but fail to rescue Alice - or did he let her to drown in order to free himself from unwelcome responsibilities and pursue a far more appealing future with Angela?
In Dreiser's novel, the answer to this question is clearer than in Stevens' film. Whether that shift was an appropriate artistic judgment, each person who sees the film must decide for himself. The film's position works on its own terms, but purists may assert that changing Dreiser's perspective dilutes the novel's indictment of the corruption of venal cultural values.
Be that as it may, the film is powerful and sad, very painful to watch in places, with great performances. The questions it raises about intent and responsibility, and about cultural values, are not easily dismissed.
On a less exalted plane, cultural historians may wish to note that the ballgown that Angela wears when George meets her socially at that party set fire to the imaginations of young women all over the U.S. Copies of it appeared in stores from coast to coast, and may be seen on girls in old photos heading off to their high school proms.
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This movie is especially poignant and is a lesson about faith or lack thereof.
A lot of these reviews seem to miss the focus of the film and it was in the character's lack of faith- in himself and God that ultimately made him make some very fatal errors in judgement.
The fact his mother is a missionary echoes this issue and Liz who plays his soulmate appears many times in the movie before they meet as "signs". Goerge first sees Liz (Angela) drive by when he is hitchhiking a ride to meet with his benefactor, then again outside of factory and again at the house. Each time George sees the love of his life, he never once had faith in himself or God to believe it was possible that she could love him.
It was this inner resignation and lack of faith that made him choose to have a relationship with Alice, though he knew it was wrong both morally and not allowed in the workplace.
There were many instances in the film too when the "powers that be" tried to intervene and prevent this ill advised union but George didn't listen and only discovered that his Soul mate loved him when it was too late.
This is a very important story about true love, and faith. When we truly love someone we often see them as so grandiose that we never think it would be possible for them to love us back, that is the beauty of Love- is that they do.
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Don't pay more than ten bucks for this DVD...you can find it elsewhere for much less. However, it is a title that should most definitely be in your library of classic films, as it's one of the best of all times.
The direction and cinematography in this adaptation of Dreiser's "An American Tragedy" are both top notch...groundbreaking, in fact. Combined with amazing performances by stars Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor and Shelley Winters, this will be motion picture that stays with you long afterviewing.
The special features of Commentary and assorted directors reflecting on George Stevens are also very interesting.
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A hitchhiker by a highway gets a ride into town on an old truck. He has a note from the owner of the local company. George Eastman wants a job at his uncle's factory. The wealthy Eastman family has a strict rule against socializing with their many female employees. But George happens to meet an employee at the movies and walks Alice Tripp home. [Would she be out alone in those days?] There is an attraction between this lonely pair. A policeman finds them parked and sends them away. They go back to the rooming house.
George is moved up to a new position at work. He seems out of place among the wealthy at the Eastman mansion. He meets Angela Vickers, a wealthy heiress, and they become friends. George must keep his relationship with Alice secret. But she is in trouble so their relationship will be revealed. George is getting involved with Angela as well. There is a crisis, and George starts to make plans to solve his problem. He visits Angela at Loon Lake, where the water is so deep and cold that drowned bodies can't be found. [This is told about one of the Finger Lakes of New York.] Later there is a crisis when Alice arrives at the bus station and demands marriage or else. George takes Alice for a picnic at Loon Lake. They rent a boat, George uses a false name. You can guess what happens next in the dark.
The disappearance of the young couple is reported to the District Attorney. They find Alice Tripp's body and believe her male companion is still alive. The detectives visit Alice Tripp's room and find her letters, then talk to her landlady. They learn the name of her boyfriend. The law catches up with him and takes him to jail. Nobody knew of his double life. Angela Vickers' name will be kept out of the trial and the newspapers. Witnesses tell about the events. The case is circumstantial. Then George Eastman takes the stand and tells his story. It was an accident! The District Attorney gets damaging admissions from Eastman. The jury convicts him. His mother's plea to the Governor is rejected. The minister points out George's state of mind at the time. George says goodbye to Angela and walks his last mile.
This story is based on a play that was an adaption of the Theodore Dreiser novel "An American Tragedy" [as if it doesn't happen elsewhere]. Dreiser's novel was based on a true crime in upstate New York circa 1912. A story "ripped from the headlines" still sells today; there is no need for specific details. This story warns employees against involvement with supervisors. Imagine what would happen if someone became President because his father was President [of the company].
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