Context

This line is spoken by George Eastman (played by Montgomery Clift) in the film A Place in the Sun, directed by George Stevens (1951).

A Place is in the Sun is about a man tangled up in a tumultuous love triangle with two women—one a factory worker, one a wealthy society girl. It's an all-consuming love affair, one that can only be done justice with the biggest, juiciest, most dramatic adjectives: Breathtaking! Sensational! Thrilling! It's like star Elizabeth Taylor's life… or at least one of her perfume commercials.

In one of the movie's many dramatic scenes, George tells Elizabeth Taylor's character, Angela, "I love you. I've loved you since the first moment I saw you. I guess maybe I've even loved you before I saw you." Before you swoon, consider that he wants to murder the factory-worker girl (seriously). Love from this guy might be a death sentence.

Where you've heard it

You'll hear this if someone is giving a super-dramatic love speech. Considering we're still talking about this line even though all the people in the movie are dead, it's definitely going to last a while. The trailer called the movie an "immortal love story." It was right.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

This line is pretentious and creepy:

"I love you." (Aww.)

"I've loved you since the first moment I saw you." (Double aww.)

"I guess maybe I've even loved you before I saw you." (Wait, what? Get outta here, creeper.)