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!
Review of Peyton Place
