Once declared by Charlie Chaplin as “the greatest movie ever made about America,” A Place in the Sun stars Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor (both at the peak of their beauty) as star-crossed lovers. When up-from-poverty Clift gets intimate with working-class Shelley Winters but falls for wealthy socialite Taylor, it leads to tragedy for all involved (offscreen, Taylor stayed close friends with Clift until his untimely death). Based on both Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy and Patrick Kearney’s stage adaptation, it elevated the careers of all concerned; this potent drama’s six Oscars include Best Director for George Stevens and Best Score for composer Franz Waxman.