Peyton Place Movie

Peyton Place (1957)

The movie adaptation of Peyton Place was brought to the big screen in quick time, with production commencing less than a year after the release of the book.

Grace Metalious' novel was adapted for the screen by screenwriter John Michael Hayes and was produced by Jerry Wald.

Directed by Mark Robson, production took place between April and August 1957, and the movie premiered in Los Angeles and New York on December 12, 1957.

Plot Summary

In the picture-perfect town of Peyton Place, Constance MacKenzie, a young widow, and other parents strive to keep their teenagers under control while a series of rumors and scandals erupt around them.

A stranger, the highly-idealistic Michael Rossi, arrives in town searching for employment but ends up finding love.

Lucas Cross, the school caretaker and a bitter alcoholic, terrorizes his stepdaughter, resulting in a murder, a trial, and a raft of other revelations that shake the foundations of this quaint little town.

Movie Teaser

View the original movie teaser below. You can also view the original peyton place movie trailer on our home page.

Cast

Below is a list of the cast (in credits order, first-billed only):

Return to Peyton Place (1961)

Return to Peyton Place premiered in New York on May 5, 1961. Directed by Jose Ferrer, the sequel had a completely new cast from the first movie, with Carol Lynley reprising the pivitol role of Allison MacKenzie (previously played by Diane Varsi).

The novel was adpated for the screen by screenwriter Ronald Alexander, and in common with the first movie was produced by Jerry Wald.

Plot Summary

Return to Peyton Place is centered on Allison MacKenzie, by now the most famous resident of Peyton Place. Allison writes a "shocking" novel detailing the dark secrets of a small town, upsetting the local residents who find the fiction a little too close to the truth.

The town's most snobbish resident, Mrs. Roberta Carter, is particularly perturbed, and seeks to have the book banned from the school library. At the same time, Roberta seeks to destroy her son's marriage to his Italian-born wife.

Allison's mother is upset with her daughter's exposé, but Mike Rossi, her stepfather and the school prinicpal, refuses to remove the book from the school library, putting pressure on the marriage between her mother and her stepfather.

Allison becomes involved in her own scandal, falling in love with her publisher, Lewis Jackman, an older, married man. Events come to a head when a town meeting is called to discuss the controversial novel.

Cast

Below is a list of the cast (in credits order, first-billed only):

May 19, 2013