Peyton Place (1957) User Reviews (102)

Sentimentality Meets Sensationalism

[Michael27-1 · 7/10 · 4 August 2005]

Grace Metalious' explosive best-selling novel is given the Hollywood treatment in 1957's "Peyton Place". Devoid of so much of the nonsense that has been known to permeate other melodramas, "Peyton Place" is a beautifully filmed, effective film that uncovers the hidden scandals of a quaint, New England town. With fine acting, score and cinematography, this screen classic translates well from its literary heritage. And the film's unraveling of the town's secrets is handled well - building up like a ball of snow as each successive scandal is unearthed.

We meet the townspeople from the point-of-view of Allison Mackenzie(Diane Varsi), the sweet and sheltered daughter of Constance(Lana Turner). Constance struggles to be a good mother and community member, while rebuffing the advances of handsome school principal, Michael Rossi(Lee Philips). On the other side of the tracks live Constance's housekeeper whose daughter, Selena(Hope Lange), struggles as a victim of abuse by her own step-father. In the midst of these primary plots are several other tales revolving around sex, love and the war. No one is immune to the reveal of secrets, which have a domino effect all across town.

"Peyton Place" shook the foundation of Hollywood's censorship board by exposing such taboo topics as sexual abuse and abortion, but not once does it come off as exploitative. On the contrary, the film is firmly grounded in emotion and genuine feeling. And while the movie straddles the line of good taste, a plot involving the war effort and its effect on the young men of Peyton Place proves to be profound. Lana Turner does her job well as the repressed mother. In fact, heated passion can be sensed underneath her aloof, icy-cold exterior - a chill factor even more effective 2 years later in "Imitation of Life". And the incredibly good-looking Lee Philip is a perfect match the screen beauty. But it is really with the sensitive performances of Diane Varsi and Hope Lange that this film gains its legs. And Lloyd Nolan cannot be overlooked as the town's warm-hearted doctor. "Peyton Place" could have been a heaving, overblown showcase, but instead made its way into becoming an important melodrama that has stood the test of time.

Film ages well; impressive and a risky film for its time

[vincentlynch-moonoi · 7/10 · 30 April 2012]

As I read through many of the reviews here of this film I was pleased to see that it gets a pretty good rating, but disappointed at how short-sighted some are. For example -- that it's dated. Well, the film is well over 50 years old. Why wouldn't it be dated? Or that it's a soap opera or melodrama. Now, with that I really take exception, and the reason is that I grew up in a small town in the 1950s (the story takes place in the 1940s), and I could identify with most of the characters in the film. This is pretty close to how it was back then.

The film is an exposé of the negative small-town attitudes so common in the USA of that era (and to some extent, still today). This particular story takes place in New England where all appears to be nearly storybook-like, while under the surface there is scandal, murder, suicide, and incest. Constance MacKenzie (played by Lana Turner) is a sexually repressed woman who raised an illegitimate child (Allison). Selena Cross (Hope Lange is being raised by an alcoholic stepfather, who rapes her, and a weak mother who hangs herself. Another character is the mama's boy Norman, played by Russ Tamblyn. Meanwhile, a new high school principal falls in love with Constance MacKenzie...and it's a rocky road. And, one of the most interesting characters is the slightly (and delightfully) crusty Dr. Matthew Swain, the town doctor, played by Lloyd Nolan. It all comes down to how to save Selena from life in prison after she murders her stepfather, who intends to rape her a second time.

Lana Turner gets top billing here, although it's actually Hope Lange and Diane Varsi who really have the dominant roles. Nevertheless, Turner is very strong here, and this film helped boost a career that had sagged just a bit. Russ Tamblyn is excellent, and matures interestingly as the film progresses. This is one of Lloyd Nolan's most memorable performances; particularly noteworthy is his soliloquy in the courtroom. I feel that Arthur Kennedy -- never a favorite of mine -- deserves special recognition here. No actor really wants to play an alcoholic child-molesting practicer of incest! But he is excellent here. There are other interesting choices of actors here -- David Nelson, Leon Ames, and Lorne Greene -- not that their roles are particularly noteworthy.

There are only two criticisms that I have. First, the little brother of Selena doesn't appear to age a bit over 4 or 5 years. Second, in a few scenes, particularly with Turner, she is filmed in front of a rear projection screen -- and it looks really cheesy.

This movie is well worth watching...just remember that it is depicting life over 60 years ago.

"There is always a fifth season of love But only the wise or the lucky ones know where to find it "

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 8/10 · 27 April 2008]

The story takes place in the late 1930s and begins as the High School's new principal, Michael Rossi (Lee Philips), arrives in town to assume his duties...

Constance MacKenzie (Lana Turner) is an attractive widow who owns a dress shop... She runs it efficiently but is an over-protective mother who removes all choices from her teenager daughter, Allison (Diane Varsi), including her selection of friends… Allison seems a strong candidate for rebellion once the opportunity arises…

Allison's best friend is Selena Cross (Hope Lange), who lives in a shack on the wrong side of town with her mother, Constance's housekeeper Betty Field, and her drunk stepfather, Lucas (Arthur Kennedy).

There is also Russ Tamblyn, "stuck" in a failure cycle emotionally, and socially; Barry Coy, the wild son of the town's richest businessman; Terry Moore, the high school flirt; David Nelson, the boyfriend of Selena Cross; and Doc Swain (Lloyd Nolan), the voice of logic... These are the most distinguished characters among a great collection of townspeople whose lives form a model of misunderstanding, scandal, and nasty secrets…

Mark Robson's drama draws nine Oscar nominations...

High-class soap to rank with the best

[BobLib · 2 November 1999]

When I saw "Peyton Place" recently on AMC for the first time, my thought was: "This is it? This is what drove the puritans into a foaming frenzy 42 years ago? There's more filth and dirt in the dumpster!" While it's true that the world has taken more than a few spins since 1957, and while it's true that the film tends to date a bit, "Peyton Place" is still, at it's best, top-notch entertainment.

Lana Turner, in what was, regrettably, her only Oscar-nomination, scores solidly as the pivotal character of Constance McKenzie. Diane Varsi, whose life and career would go out of control soon after (remember "Wild in the Streets?"), is equally compelling as Allyson McKenzie, her daughter. Arthur Kennedy lends his usual understated but powerful presence to the principal heavy of the piece, Lucas Cross, and the young Hope Lange, whom a later generation probably remembers best for TV's "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir," gives a solid performance as Selena Cross, the girl with a secret from the wrong side of the tracks. Others in the notable cast include such reliable performers as Lloyd Nolan, Russ Tamblyn, Betty Field, and a two years pre - "Bonanza" Lorne Greene, all turning in fine performances.

If you can, see this film in letterbox, if only for the beautiful Camden, Maine, scenery, beautifully captured by William C. Mellor's cameras. And, if you don't think this film's been influential, look at all it's successors, including the only TV series ever to have been on three times a week during the '60's, and today's "Dawson's Creek" and "Melrose Place." Here's the film that started it all, though, and it's still solid entertainment, especially if you put yourself in a late-'50's mindset while watching it.

Dated Melodrama

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 8 January 2007]

In 1941, in the small town of Peyton Place, Michael Rossi (Lee Phillips) is hired as the new principal of the local high school. While the students are preparing to graduate, some of them live personal dramas. Allison MacKenzie (Diane Varsi) aspires to be a successful writer, but she is very repressed by her widow dominant mother Connie MacKenzie (Lana Turner), a woman dedicated to raise her daughter in a conservative way and work hard in her shop only. When her mother believes in a gossip about Allison and her friend Norman Page (Russ Tamblyn), Allison argues with Connie and she discloses her hidden past, and Allison moves to New York. Allison's best friend Selena Cross (Hope Lange) lives with her mother, the housemaid Nellie Cross (Betty Field), her small brother Joseph and her abusive drunken stepfather, the janitor Lucas Cross (Arthur Kennedy), in a very poor cabin. The wealthy Rodney Harrington (Barry Coe) loves his independent and ahead of time girlfriend Betty Anderson (Terry Moore), in spite of his father Mr. Harrington (Leon Ames) be against their relationship. Selena is raped by Lucas and later she aborts the child while escaping from Lucas. The local Dr. Matthew Swain (Lloyd Nolan) takes care of her, forges his records and gets a written confession of Lucas, forcing him to leave Peyton Place. With the attack of Pearl Harbor, the youngsters join the armed forces to fight in the World War II. Lucas returns, tries to abuse Selena, but she reacts and kills him. When Selena is sent to trial, she makes Dr. Swain to promise that he would never disclose the truth, since she was afraid of the scandal and of hurting her beloved boy-friend. However, Dr. Swain exposes the sordid, hypocrite and despicable moral behavior of the local gossipy and intolerant dwellers and tells the drama of Selena to the jury.

"Peyton Place" is a dated melodrama, a soap opera that shows the stereotypical lifestyle of a small town in America in the 40's. The false morality and intolerance rules the relationships among the dwellers, with gossips, sexual repression and snobbery in a hypothetic "Peyton Place". This film has many good moments, the best one when the doctor exposes the wounds and the truth about the dwellers, but also shows lots of clichés. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Caldeira do Diabo" ("The Devil's Boiler").

Calling this film a "soap opera" is complete miscomprehension

[acukurin · 10/10 · 18 October 2020]

A sheer number of society issues this film covered is staggering, and it was done in warm and kind way, with great scenario and good performances from the actors. The only sad thing is that most of the themes they covered are still taboo and unresolved in 2020. Really enjoyable film, glad I had the chance to watch it!

Worth a look

[onepotato2 · 6/10 · 5 July 2008]

I was dreading having to view this after renting it. But for once, it's a pleasure to see a movie from the 50s (a decade drowning in conformity and fronting) show a wholesome social structure... then demolish it, to expose the seriously screwed up families and social problems of an outwardly hunky-dory, whitebread town.

While generally dismissed as melodrama, this is no 'Perils of Pauline.' The scandals in this movie are still scandalous and shocking. I can't believe this movie got away with what it did (fratricide via lumber?). I find it amusing that people talk about the dated melodrama in a movie which didn't receive critical consensus... but they're more than willing to ignore it in something like 'Notorious,' a movie I can't stand.

Russ Tamblyn is quite good here embodying the major concern of the '50s; molly-coddling! ...which was also an issue in 'Rebel without a Cause' and 'Tea and Sympathy.' It may also remind you of 'Splendor in the Grass.' Tamblyn later turned up in Twin Peaks, which plays like a trippier Peyton Place and uses the same construct; we get to know an entire town of characters, and learn the secrets that are rotting their souls.

Picturesque Character Study of the Emotional Life of Small Town USA

[nowlang · 10/10 · 1 August 2006]

Peyton Place is a great and realistic observation of human behavior taken in the context of when and where it was written, no matter how shocking truth may appear. After years of medical practice, I have lived many experiences not unlike that of Dr. Swain in this novel/movie. I saw "Peyton Place" for the first time in my late forties as part of a CineClub presentation. I grew up naively in a small North East farm town in the late 50's. My grand uncle was our local Country Doctor. I was frightened if not scandalized by the big city lifestyle when I moved to the city to attend medical school. He assured me that "we" had the same "scandals" in our community, it was just "hidden or kept secret". In all honesty, I had already witnessed some of these issues as they shook my own family of origin. Later, I returned to practice in a rural town. As I got closer to the native citizens, I discovered many secrets, secrets not unlike some of the tragic events that took Peyton Place by storm. As I grew older (and hopefully wiser), I realized that each town has their own "Peyton Place". It's all around us, it's is part of our human nature, part of it is in each one of us. Mrs. Metalious, the author of this great novel, paid the price of her own honesty with her life. This novel and the movie that it is based on, have to be taken in the time context it was created. Unfortunately, many of these events are still taking place around us today. I have witnessed them through my interaction with many patients and friends. Love, lust, passion, ambition, greed, envy... are all basic instincts that drive us through the meanders of life, some leading us to good outcomes others to tragedy. I recently returned from our occupation in Iraq where I was severely injured in combat, ending my career as a physician. I saw the best and also the worst of what man can do to mankind. I witnessed many issues that I saw in Peyton Place, only on a larger scale. Peyton Place bears witness to a part of the world we live in, it is in all of us. The events taking place in her youth were the source of Grace Metalious' novel and shaped the course of her story. I highly recommend this movie, it is part of history, our American history, good or bad. Finally, I greatly appreciate all the viewers that take time to share their opinion about movies with the readers through IMDb's Comments Place. May God or your "Higher Power" bless you all, GLN.

Gossip, scandals, the fear of scandals, and out-of-control morality...

[moonspinner55 · 7/10 · 28 January 2006]

Grace Metalious' bestseller comes to the screen with lavish good taste, but the small town scandals depicted are not entirely white-washed. Glossy melodrama directed by Mark Robson allows star Lana Turner to suffer nobly, playing single mother to graduating teenager Diane Varsi, harboring a skeleton in her family closet while being romanced by high school principal Lee Philips (in an appealing performance). Varsi and her friends are all awakening to the joys of boy-girl coupling, unsure about sex and not about to ask their parents for help. Involving and polished, though just a bit stiff or starchy. The courtroom climax (with shopgirl Hope Lange on trial for killing her abusive step-father) is really corny, but fans of the soap genre will be enthralled. Fashioned into a popular television serial starting in 1964. Followed by "Return to Peyton Place" in 1961, which featured none of the talents assembled here. *** from ****

A soap opera--but a great one!

[preppy-3 · 10/10 · 5 November 2003]

The book "Peyton Place" came out in the early 1950s. It blew off the lid of a small New England town full of rape, murder, sex, abortion, infidelity, suicide etc etc. Even though the town (and residents) were fictitious, this book created an uproar. It was a huge best seller but condemned as utter trash by all book critics and "moral" people everywhere (of course they were buying the book themselves). Now, almost 50 years later, it's considered a great literary novel and taught in colleges!

Hollywood took the book, toned it down considerably, went all the way to Maine to film it and basically gave it Grade A treatment. It has a great cast, a stunning score by Franz Waxman, gorgeous New England photography and moves along at a fast clip. The once racy stuff is very tame by today's standards but it's kind of amusing to watch--the dialogue scene between Diane Varsi and Russ Tamblyn (about sex) is giggle-inducing. An abortion is never called that--it's called "inducing a miscarriage". A rape becomes "forcing himself on her". Still, the main stories in the book come across...and it works very well. The cast really helps.

Lana Turner is just great as Constance MacKenzie--a woman with a deep secret. Lloyd Nolan is perfect as Doc Swain--he even gets the New England accent down right! Arthur Kennedy is downright terrifying as Lucas Cross and Hope Lange is fantastic as his step-daughter. Everybody else (with one exception) is good but the ones mentioned above were the best. The one debit is Diane Varsi--she's TERRIBLE as Alison MacKenzie. Unfortunately, she's the main character. Her face is always blank and her readings are in a monotone. Especially bad are her narrations over the scenery. You see just jaw-droppingly beautiful scenery---and her drab, toneless voice droning on. Still, everything else is so good she's easy to overlook.

OK--it's a soap opera but a VERY good one. The 2 1/2+ hours just flew by. Highly recommended.

From a trashy book to a good film.

[denscul · 7/10 · 4 August 2006]

I read Grace Metalious's book which she admitted was a "hurry up" book aimed at getting as much as she could past the contemporary arbiters of public morality. I thought the movie was surprisingly good, thanks to a great cast, direction and cinematography. It could have been a great film, had not Lee Philips been cast as Mike Rossi. Philips could not help that he was not Italian and all that brings to mind. But he always seemed more like a Wasp, which he almost played like a wimp. I'm surprised the Director/Producers did not go for someone like Victor Mature, or Riccardo Montleban who could have carried off the character of Rossi. Even Perry Como had more sex appeal than Philips. The rest of the cast, especially the supporting roles are so good, you almost wonder how Philips got the role. Imagine Gone With the Wind without Gable. It would have been a good, but not great movie.

Peyton Place with Lana Turner is a time capsule of small town Ameicana, without some cliché's which remained for later versions of Peyton place and its TV versions.

The original film also captured the way Americans were affected by the coming of WWII. From rich mill owner to shantytown resident, the war's toll was carefully revealed to the audience much better than the book.

There is plenty of social criticism and hypocrisy to be found in the book and movie. That and not the sex per se, was what made Peyton Place one of Hollywood's better movies that entertained, but also educated. Something they seem unable to perform today.

STILL GREAT AFTER 60 YEARS ON

[grayton · 10/10 · 25 February 2020]

Peyton Place has all the drama for its day and still remains top entertainment after 60 years. Great acting from a cast that have mostly left us today but they have left behind a magnificent drama from a mesmerising book.

Pat Hingle as Constance MacKenzie

[johnd70978 · 7/10 · 20 January 2007]

I read in the 'trivia' section of this website that Joan Crawford and Pat Hingle were both interested in portraying Constance MacKenzie. I think Pat Hingle would have been an interesting choice for that pivotal role. He and Mike Rossi would have set the screen afire in their lovemaking scenes together. Joan Crawford would have been too old for the part. But Pat Hingle seems just the right age. Few people remember how he oozed with almost feral sexuality back in the 50s. If they ever remake "Peyton Place" I hope they reconsider having Pat Hingle play Constance. I think he was born for the part. All he'd need is a little rouge and some pancake.

Hot and Bothered in Small-Town America

[evanston_dad · 5/10 · 5 September 2006]

A hopelessly corny and stodgy piece of 1950s film-making that thinks racy subject matter alone makes it important. Well, it doesn't.

"Peyton Place" is a static adaptation of a scandalous book, filled with a cast of females who all look the same -- as blonde and coiffed as the most stereotypical image of a 50s housewife. Of them, Hope Lange does the best with the material given her, playing a sweet kid with a lousy dad, who rapes and beats her in glorious Technicolor. Arthur Kennedy growls his way through the movie as said dad, providing it with some much-needed testosterone, even if that testosterone is somewhat misdirected. Also technically providing some male hormones to the film, though in much diluted form, is Russ Tamblyn, who plays a shy nerd smitten with the movie's narrator, played by Diane Varsi. And bringing the film its star voltage, Lana Turner delivers an imperious performance as an uptight mom, all pointy breasts and platinum blonde hair.

"Peyton Place" supposedly takes place in the early 1940s, but you'd never know it from the film's production design. The clothes, hairstyles and saturated color are all pure 50s -- in fact, this movie is the kind of hokey 1950s melodrama that later films making fun of the 50s would parody.

Grade: C+

Must see soap opera with Turner in fine form.

[Poseidon-3 · 29 May 2002]

Based on one of the best-selling novels ever, this is the ultimate small-town soap opera, which spawned a sequel and numerous TV versions and reunion films. It concerns the town of Peyton Place...a hamlet with the perfect settings and smotheringly upright morals, but which hide a lot of sins. Unwanted pregnancy, illegitimacy, sexual assault, promiscuity, hints of incest and teen sex are just a few of the hot button topics of the '50's that are found in the story. A lot of time has passed since this film was released and, though it has been carefully constructed to avoid showing too much or talking about too much that might offend sensitive viewers, it still packs a wallop. Most people at the time wondered how it could be filmed at all with the strict Production Code still in place. What resulted was a sumptuously beautiful film with a mostly unspoken core of ugliness. The film would be no better if words like abortion, rape and suicide were used or if said acts were shown more graphically. The Code made the filmmakers come up with other, vivid ways to get the story across. Turner heads the cast in one of her most unusual roles...that of an uptight, sexless mother of a teen daughter. She even dimmed her platinum hair a bit and wore some more matronly clothes than was her trademark. She won her only Oscar nomination for her trouble. If one likes her, one will love her in this as she rises to the occasion beautifully. If one doesn't, there's not much point in watching this type of movie anyway! In addition there's a whole gallery of solid supporting actors and featured players, notably Lange as the gorgeous, yet tortured teen who finds herself in way over her head and Nolan as the doctor who knows every secret in town. Soon-to-drop-from-the-radar Varsi gives a solid, if a bit stiff at times, performance as Turner's thoughtful daughter and Tamblyn gets one of his best teen roles as her backward friend. On hand as eye candy are the delicious Coe and the curvy, fast Moore. The film is chock full of gorgeous location scenery and authentic elements of small town life at that time, all counterpoint to the unpleasant things happening beyond the facade. This is a fascinating film....almost a time capsule and well worth seeing even if most of it's problems are things seemingly accepted as normal now (teens sleeping together, people having kids every which way but loose, legalized abortion, etc...) Highlights include: Turner coming unglued when she finds Varsi at home in the dark with boys, Turner confessing past transgressions to Varsi, Turner breaking down on the witness stand of a murder trial, Lange running through the woods, Lange solving her Christmas problem and Nolan deciding to reveal private information. Even today, the original book is a fairly zesty read and quite a page-turner. The most notable change was Philips' character. Here, he's a mild-mannered gentleman. In the book, he's a sexy, hot-blooded Italian who takes whatever he wants!

"Soaper" defined

[MeYesMe · 6/10 · 20 November 1998]

I had heard so much about this film for so long and was aware of its multiple acting nominations - so my hopes were high when I pushed it in the VCR. What a letdown. It's apparent that everyone involved thought they were making an important film - and maybe they were at the time. But it's impossibly dated now and has value only as a Hollywood time capsule. It astounds me, after seeing the cast at work, how they pulled off all of the Oscar nods! Diane Varsi and Lana Turner as mother and daughter duel for most boring performance in a motion picture; they both look uncomfortable in their own bodies. The film comes up a couple of notches, though, just for the work of Hope Lange (Selena) and Russ Tamblyn (Norman).

A more realistic view of life in the 50s.

[J-bot6 · 9/10 · 18 July 2006]

Okay, so I wasn't alive in the 50s. But my father certainly was.

He recommended this movie to me, and I have to say -- I was impressed.

It represents one of the few mainstream films of the era that presented day-to-day life as it really was. Peyton Place is a movie that strips away the candy-coated exterior which surrounds many a 50s film, and shows the raw and flawed lives of people who are struggling with issues that viewers in today's society can still relate to.

Although a different genre, it wasn't until I delved deeper into Film Noir that I discovered more films that presented an edgier and raw window into the world of the 40s and 50s. I appreciate a writer or director that has the guts to risk losing viewers by insisting on honest presentation of culture or events.

This film is worth a look.

Kinks Row

[writers_reign · 7/10 · 30 March 2011]

I've seen this only once previously and spotting the DVD in a thrift shop I was interested to see if it would hold up or if I may have to loosen my grip on the fond memories I held. Inevitably it had shed a little of its sparkle and sheen over the years but it still moved me to tears occasionally. Betty Field, of course, provided a link to the similar King's Row produced a full decade earlier by Warner's and also an adaptation of a best-selling novel and not so much rounding out a trilogy as offering a comparison is Thornton Wilder's Our Town, also set in New England but light on the sleaze. Llyod Nolon still takes all the acting honours as Dr. Matthew Swain who is not a million miles away from the Stage Manager in Our Town. Russ Tamblyn is also effective in what for him is a muted role that eradicates virtually all of the natural exuberance he brought to Seven Brides For Seven Brothers and West Side Story. Leon Ames and Mildred Dunnock also score heavily and Arthur Kennedy - who played Dunnock's son, Biff, in the original production of Death Of A Salesman - extracts the last ounce of mileage is the heavy, Lucas Cross. Diane Varsi and Hope Lange who beguiled me first time around now seem more commonplace but overall I still found pleasure in revisiting the town.

Beautiful accomplishment

[zetes · 9/10 · 26 October 2003]

Exceptional, affecting melodrama about small-town life in America. The story is at times a bit tawdry, but it is always intelligent, complex and it is populated with many memorable and realistic characters. They're people to care about. Better yet, the actors portraying them are mostly brilliant. I had some problems with Arthur Kennedy's performance; it's too over-the-top, and not up to the same level of maturity as many of the others. I also thought Lee Philips was weak in a key role. But Lana Turner, Diane Varsi, Russ Tamblyn, Terry Moore, Barry Coe, Mildred Dunnock, Lloyd Nolan, Leon Ames, and Hope Lange give enormously sensitive performances that will live with me for a long time. Especially Ms. Lange, who is just heartbreaking as a young woman who is sexually abused by her alcoholic stepfather (Arthur Kennedy). The story is frank (1950s frank) and intelligent about sex and the way that small towns treat it. I would surely credit director Robson with keeping this film, which could easily have been a disaster, flowing like a gentle stream. It's a rarity that a Hollywood film like this could be so insightful about small-town life. It does have one big narrative problem, and that is that its climax is a trial. It's not often that a climactic trial works well, and there is no exception for Peyton Place. It seems fake, and the lawyers and defendants don't present evidence in an at all believable fashion. And then there's this cringe-inducing third-act speech. It belongs in a lesser film. 9/10.

Soap bubbles and big troubles

[Lejink · 7/10 · 9 October 2011]

Later adapted by TV as a long-running soap opera-type drama, you can see why in this lengthy film, adapted from a best-selling novel with enough characters and plot strands for a whole TV series. Made around 1957 but ostensibly set in idyllic New Engand just before America's entry into the Second World War, it seemed obvious to me that the production was almost indistinguishable between the two years, at least until the War Draft occurs late in the film, which besides broadening popular appeal, enables director Robson to thus obliquely critique contemporary society and its mores on attitudes to sex, snobbery and that most popular social subject of the 50's, the so-called "generation gap". Beautifully shot in luminous colour and with a handsome cast, the film would would have worked better if it had a bit less happening - one poor family experiences alcoholism, incest, domestic violence, suicide and murder over the course of a couple of years. It's all a bit unreal and unbelievable but perversely remains gripping viewing even as I realised I shouldn't have been at all. The narrative framing device is one of the goody-goody young characters Alison MacKenzie's reminiscences of her childhood there before the War started and changed all the young folk forever. It does seem a bit Waltons-ish and sentiment does make not entirely unexpected if infrequent appearances along the way. However the last half hour settles down to a terse courtroom scene, the culmination of the incest/suicide/murder elements, with "Bonanza's" Lorne Green impressing as the prosecution counsel, well- written right up until the local doctor takes it on himself to deliver an improbable sermon attacking the town's hypocrisy which of course carries the day. It's a fairly ugly "big message" to the movie viewers as they leave the cinema but also helps to tie up other loose plot ends so that the main characters still standing all get a form of redemption for the future. The acting is good throughout if not exactly deeply felt. Lana Turner gets to look pained throughout as the frigid matriarch Constance McKenzie with her own dark secret but does so with aplomb, Arthur Kennedy tears into his part as the reprobate villain of the piece and Diane Varsi is good as Alison, the town's awakening conscience. I feel guilty for getting so hooked on such an obviously contrived and melodramatic confection, but guilty pleasures are pleasures all the same.

Allison's Home Town

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 3 October 2008]

The Granddaddy of all soap operas, Peyton Place has its place in film and television history. When the steamy best seller by Grace Metalious and film by Jerry Wald and 20th Century Fox were converted into a television series, it set a standard for evening prime time soap operas that some will argue has never been equaled.

Times have surely changed. Set in New England as it is if Peyton Place existed it's now in the vanguard of blue state America. But in 1941 Peyton Place in New England would probably have enjoyed keeping cool with native son Calvin Coolidge and no doubt voted for Hoover, Landon, and Wilkie instead of that radical FDR in the White House.

In this prim and proper New England town it's all about keeping up appearances. Everybody knows everyone so if things aren't quite fitting the America of Norman Rockwell you keep them behind closed doors.

Like Lana Turner never bothering to tell daughter Diane Varsi that she's an out of wedlock child, like poor Russ Tamblyn not being able to relate to the opposite sex in his teen years, like Hope Lange living with a brutal rampaging father in Arthur Kennedy who physically abuses her mother Betty Field and does more than that with her.

Leon Ames as the town's employer, owner of the mill where most of the town works maybe the leading citizen, but the town's moral authority is Lloyd Nolan, a very wise and caring doctor, the kind of small town doctor who's a passing memory.

It's impossible to describe the plot of Peyton Place because there are so many strands in the plot fabric. It all works very well courtesy of screenwriter John Michael Hayes and director Mark Robson. The whole thing is narrated by Diane Varsi as Allison McKenzie who grew up and wrote a book about her home town.

Peyton Place got nine Oscar nominations, but unfortunately lost a lot of awards it was up for to The Bridge On The River Kwai. Lana Turner's one and only nomination came in a year that the Academy voters gave the Best Actress Award to relative newcomer Joanne Woodward. Russ Tamblyn and Arthur Kennedy split the vote and Red Buttons won for Sayonara for Best Supporting Actor and the same thing happened with the Best Supporting Actress with Diane Varsi and Hope Lange splitting for Miyoshi Umeki to win for Sayonara as well.

The Code was still firmly in place and had it not been I think Russ Tamblyn's character would have been more explicitly gay. Here he's a timid young man not comfortable with the opposite sex and not real popular among his own heterosexist males. Then as now, gays are not real comfortable in most small towns.

Still for those who like their big screen soap operas, you'll love Peyton Place, even with changing mores the film holds up well.

Interesting, but overwrought, look at 1940s society

[grantss · 6/10 · 29 May 2015]

Interesting, but overwrought, look at 1940s society.

Peyton Place is an effective snapshot of life in the early-1940s: the morals, mores and conventions of the time, and how some of these were made to be broken. Has some engaging characters and interesting commentary on old vs young, women's rights, morality.

However, there are too many threads, too many characters with parallel stories, and these stories don't seem to know when to end. There are plenty of climatic moments in the movie, where usually a movie would have ended. Here, it is just a temporary peak in a long rambling story.

Then we have some unnecessary drama - drama for drama sake. After a while it starts to feel like a soap opera.

Ultimately, an interesting and engaging movie, but much more conciseness and focus were required.

I live in maine.

[pop_pop50 · 10/10 · 9 January 2020]

Peyton place was partly filmed in camden and rockland, maine...i live in rockland maine and pass by the courthouse that was in the movie almost everyday. Camden was a stand in for the small new england town and is very beautiful and looks about the same today. Camden is only a few miles from where i live in rockland. I seen the movie peyton place several times and enjoy it very much and it is fun to reconize some of the places in the movie...the people who live in these small towns have many secrets....another note the film in the bedroom was filmed partly in rockland and rockport maine....the coast of maine is a beautiful place and peyton place captured it perfectly.

The discreet charm of a little town

[EdgarST · 6/10 · 1 January 2004]

In this old fashioned Mark Robson soap opera from Grace Metalious' novel, almost all the characters are desperately horny, but the discreet charm calls for respectability and decorum. Even "the town's tramp" (Terry Moore) becomes a respected widow in war time. This over-rated melodrama is a curiosity for today's generations (if they want to learn –or laugh at- the rewards of restraining their libidos), with Diane Varsi and Hope Lange in star-turning roles. Unfortunately, Varsi had to wait ten years to break the Allison MacKenzie stereotype with "Wild in the Streets", "Bloody Mama" and "Johnny Got His Gun", and Lange never had another good role again (she has so little screen time on "Blue Velvet" that it does not count.)

Bad soap opera

[hall895 · 4/10 · 26 March 2015]

Peyton Place is a perfect little New England town, quaint and idyllic, a wonderful place to raise a family. Or so it seems. In truth Peyton Place is full of secrets. Awful, horrifying secrets. Full of phonies and liars, people who act morally superior but who are in actuality total frauds. A pleasant facade hides moral hypocrisy and unimaginable evil. Peyton Place is not a pleasant place at all. And ultimately that makes for a rather unpleasant movie.

The story unfolds in the early 1940s and the time is as important as the place. In this time and place your public image was more important than anything. You can't allow yourself to be publicly shamed, that would be a fate worse than death. Unfortunately in this town all it takes for a young girl, and by extension her stuck-up mother, to be shamed is for the girl to go swimming with a boy. If heaven forbid she should be seen kissing the boy? Scandal! This is the backdrop for this movie's story. Unsurprisingly the youngsters of the town rebel, each in their own ways, against the restrictive atmosphere. For all of them the sooner they get out of this town the better. In the meantime a bunch of nonsense happens. Nonsense which does not make for a particularly interesting or enjoyable movie. And then things take darker turns and the movie becomes nearly unwatchable.

This is a soap opera. And not a good soap opera. Overly melodramatic yet incredibly boring. And the movie just drags on forever. At over two and a half hours the movie way overstays its welcome. It's pretty bad throughout but the last act is just painful to sit through. A nonsensical trial in which the defendant finds life in prison preferable to a public shaming. That's all people care about in this miserable town, what people think of them. Really, it is the town itself and its attitudes that are on trial. The facade is peeled back, revealing the truth about what a miserable place Peyton Place is. This however comes much too late to save the movie.

The story in Peyton Place disappoints. The performances range from middling at best to terrible at worst. Lana Turner, playing the mother of one of those "scandalous" teens, is the nominal star of the movie. Unfortunately her character is so cold and miserable you want nothing to do with her. Meanwhile Lee Philips, playing a potential love interest for Turner's character, has all the personality of a doorknob. So that part of the story is a total dud. Some of the younger performers come off a little better but nobody is really able to rise above the material. The movie is dull and plodding. The phony moralizing from the totally phony characters wears thin very quickly. For most of its running time this is a laughably bad soap opera. And then at the end it tries to get deathly serious and fails at that too. Peyton Place is not a place you want to visit.