(Potential spoiler in fourth paragraph)Based on the lurid bestseller of its time by Grace Metalious, Peyton Place is a fifties melodrama whose attitude to sex was franker than other films of this time (though it looks very tame now), in which characters wouldn't even mutter the word.Constance MacKenzie (Lara Turner) disapproves of her daughter Allison (Diane Varsi) having any sort of romance because as it is later revealed, Constance has skeletons in her closet. This is nothing compared to the home life of Allison's best friend Selena Cross (Hope Lange), who lives in fear of her abusive alcoholic stepfather Lucas (Arthur Kennedy). Lana Turner feels miscast, with the focus on her as a star, rather than Allison, who is more of a main character. The headmaster who tries to court her, played by Lee Phillips, is bland and forgettable. Whilst Hope Lange is physically miscast as Selena, who in the novel is described as dark and gyspy like, she acts the part well. The trouble is that she looks too similar to Allison- there's a reason why in the novel the girls look so physically different.Arthur Kennedy is suitably vile as leering Lucas and Russ Tamblyn (better known for his role in West Side Story) is sweet as Allison's sweetheart, Norman. The rape scene is troubling, although god knows why there's the sound of a train in the background.It took me a while to realise that this was set in the forties- every outfit and hairstyle looks straight out of the year it was set in (which isn't uncommon for films but the forties is very different fashion-wise from the forties).It is an interesting teen/women's film from yesteryear but not on a par with Imitation of Life, which also deals with controversial subjects but actually explores them rather than simply presenting them. Culturally very significant as the archetype of small-town secrets and scandal (American Beauty owes a debt to it, amongst many other films).

Peyton Place is the 1957 classic based on Grace Metalious' best seller about sex, sin, and secrets in a small New Hampshire town.Despite John Michael Hayes' somewhat watered down screenplay, the spirit of Metalious' steamy novel still pervades as we watch small town morality being challenged and championed at every turn. This glossy soap opera weaves multiple stories and characters to great effect. Lana Turner heads the all-star cast as Constance MacKenzie, the owner of a dress shop and mother of 18-year old Allison (Diane Varsi) a sensitive teen who dreams of being a writer and has a mad crush on Norman Page (Russ Tamblyn) who Allison has been throwing herself at without much success. Allison's best friend is Selena Cross (Hope Lange) who works in Constance's dress shop, even though she lives on the wrong side of the tracks with her drunken stepfather Lucas (Arthur Kennedy). Rodney Harrington (Barry Coe) constantly butts head with his father (Leon Ames) over his romance with the town tramp, Betty Anderson(Terry Moore). Lee Phillips plays Michael Rossi, a newcomer to Peyton Place who has been hired as the new high school principal, a job that all the students were sure would go to beloved English teacher Ellie Thornton (Mildred Dunnock), who finds himself attracted to Constance MacKenzie.Despite John Michael Hayes' somewhat watered down screenplay, the spirit of Metalious' steamy novel still pervades as we watch small town morality being challenged and championed at every turn. This glossy soap opera weaves multiple stories and characters to great effect. Lana Turner heads the all-star cast as Constance MacKenzie, the owner of a dress shop and mother of 18-year old Allison (Diane Varsi) a sensitive teen who dreams of being a writer and has a mad crush on Norman Page (Russ Tamblyn) who Allison has been throwing herself at without much success. Allison's best friend is Selena Cross (Hope Lange) who works in Constance's dress shop, even though she lives on the wrong side of the tracks with her drunken stepfather Lucas (Arthur Kennedy). Rodney Harrington (Barry Coe) constantly butts head with his father (Leon Ames) over his romance with the town tramp, Betty Anderson(Terry Moore). Lee Phillips plays Michael Rossi, a newcomer to Peyton Place who has been hired as the new high school principal, a job that all the students were sure would go to beloved English teacher Ellie Thornton (Mildred Dunnock), who finds himself attracted to Constance MacKenzie.There are some dated elements here, but this film pretty much invented the genre known as soap opera and a few years later, in addition to a sequel, would become the first prime time television soap opera, which was actually broadcast two days a week.Mark Robson's sensitive direction is a big plus and the cast is first rate. Lana Turner received her one and only Oscar nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress for her work here. Varsi, Lange, Kennedy, and Tamblyn also received supporting nominations. If you're a sucker for good old fashioned melodrama, have your fill here. They don't make 'em like this anymore.

Based on a controversial (at the time, at least) novel, PEYTON PLACE is a story about the lives and secrets of people who live in a small New England town. Also having seen a few melodramas recently, including both versions of IMITATION OF LIFE, I've noticed what does and doesn't work about these films, at least for me. Whereas IMITATION OF LIFE goes for a more sappy dramatic angle, PEYTON PLACE is more tawdry and salacious (by 50's standards), and therefore a little more interesting. The characters in this film were also better written and the performances were more restrained, so that the drama was a little more believable. The only major issues with the film are that it begins to lose steam about two hours in and concludes in a rather stuffy, dramatically inert fashion. However, it does pretty much everything else quite well. The performances were all excellent and the various plot threads were all deftly handled and given due attention, as well as being interconnected enough to drive the story without seeming episodic. And even though the score was a little overblown at times, it fit the material well. The cinematography was also great to look at, and there were some beautiful on-location shots. Overall, while it was a little overstuffed and a little too long, PEYTON PLACE is a good example of how to make melodrama compelling without resorting to least common denominator emotions.

This is one of my all time favorite movies. I like to repeat the ending lines as they still apply for the people of today:"We finally discovered that season of love.""It is only found in someone else's heart.""Right now someone you know is looking everywhere for it.""And it's in YOU!"I recently have visited the area where the movie was filmed in Maine and I am still in aw that the streets and shops are in the same condition now as when the film was made. Good Job - Twentieth Century Fox!