Grace Metalious' once-notorious bestseller Peyton Place is given a lavish -- and necessarily toned-down -- film treatment in this deluxe 20th Century-Fox production. Set during WWII, the film concentrates on several denizens of the outwardly respectable New England community of Peyton Place. Top-billed
Lana Turner plays shopkeeper Constance McKenzie, who tries to make up for a past indiscretion -- which resulted in her illegitimate daughter Allison (
Diane Varsi) -- by adopting a chaste, prudish attitude towards all things sexual. In spite of herself, Constance can't help but be attracted to handsome new teacher Michael Rossi (
Lee Philips). Meanwhile, the restless Allison, who'd like to be as footloose and fancy-free as the town's "fast girl" Betty Anderson (
Terry Moore), falls sincerely in love with mixed-up mama's boy Norman Page (
Russ Tamblyn). And while all this is going on, "white trash" Selena Cross (
Hope Lange) is raped by her stepfather, drunken school caretaker Lucas Cross (
Arthur Kennedy). Other characters essential to the action are wealthy Rodney Harrington (
Barry Coe), who must pay the price for his dalliance with Betty Anderson; Nellie Cross (
Betty Field), Selena's long-suffering mother; and the town's Voice of Reason, Dr. Swain (
Lloyd Nolan). This 166-minute soap opera (whittled down to 157 minutes before release) culminates in a spectacular murder trial which lays bare the deep, dark secrets of Peyton Place. Filmed on location in Camden, Maine, Peyton Place was a huge moneymaker (even those who felt that the film was but a heavily laundered shadow of the Metalious original were pleased with the professionalism of it all); it not only spawned a 1961 theatrical sequel, but also a long-running prime time TV serial. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide