When you think of A Place in the Sun, what comes to mind is probably glam presenters like Laura Hamilton and Danni Menzies; sun, sea and sand; and Britons wanting to make a move somewhere more exotic.
But the Channel 4 show has a dark history associated with its name, that links back to a grisly murder and then an execution by electric chair. See, the title is actually based on a 1951 film also called A Place in the Sun. The American drama follows a young man who is entangled with two women at the same time.
One of his suitors is a stunning socialite named Angela, while the other, Alice, works at his rich uncle’s factory. But the affair takes a dark turn as Alice discovers protagonist George has been lying to her – and he soon drowns her in the lake. The black-and-white film starred Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift, and proved a hit at the box office – scooping six Oscars.
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In a shocking turn of events, the 1951 release is actually based on a true story, which has been adapted for stage as An American Tragedy. It’s based on the killer Chester Gillette, who murdered his pregnant lover Grace Brown in 1906.
(Image: Channel 4)
Chester began a relationship with his co-worker Grace, who quickly fell pregnant. She was desperate for Chester to marry her to avoid having a baby out of wedlock, but soon discovered Gillette had been dating other girls behind her back – allegedly including wealthy socialite Harriet Benedict.
Acquaintances of the pair reported hearing raised voices as Brown begged her lover to marry her, while he continued to put off the decision. Things came to a tragic end when Gillette lured Grace away to the Adirondack Mountains in New York for a trip.
(Image: Everett/REX/Shutterstock)
The couple spent a few nights together, with Grace under the impression they had decided to elope. But on July 11, 1906, Chester took his lover on a rowboat out on Big Moose Lake, clubbing her over the head with a tennis racquet and tossing her in the water to drown.
After leaving his lover and unborn child in the lake, he checked into a nearby hotel, appearing “calm and collected” to onlookers. But his arrest came quickly when an autopsy on Grace revealed she had suffered major head trauma.
(Image: Wikipedia)
Gillette was convicted of murder and in 1908, faced execution by electric chair at Auburn Prison in New York. The murder and subsequent trial even became part of a 1926 folk song, Ballad of Big Moose Lake.
Even more eerie, Grace alluded to her own death in a letter addressed to her lover. She wrote of her parents: “I know I shall never see any of them again. And mamma! Great heavens, how I do love mamma! I don’t know what I shall do without her.
(Image: Wikipedia)
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“Sometimes I think if I could tell mamma, but I can’t. She has trouble enough as it is, and I couldn’t break her heart like that. If I come back dead, perhaps if she does not know, she won’t be angry with me.”
Though Channel 4 has never explicitly made the connection between its show and the movie, it’s fair to say the name itself has some dark connotations.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
