(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).
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).