SpecialsTarget Disturbing yet enthralling

Konterr Brilliant and touching

ChicDragon It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Jerrie It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

RaineRP I was glad I read the book before I watched the movie. The film was different than the book. In the novel, Allison McKenzie (the aspiring writer), Norman Page (mama's boy), Selena Cross (Allison's best friend who is sexually molested by her stepfather Lucas), Ted Carter (Selena's boyfriend), Rodney Harrington (Allison's crush), and Betty Anderson (the town tramp) attend Peyton Place Junior High School. In the film, they're in their senior year of Peyton Place High School. Michael Rossi, who wins Allison's mother, Constance Mckenzie's heart, comes to town to accept a job as principal at Peyton Place High School. Betty and Rodney get married in the film.

bg11215-366-263177 I first saw this movie more than 10 years ago, and it really affected me. The themes of the story are classic and timeless; about the walls we put up between ourselves and others, and about how judgmental we can be. And the performances are dramatic, especially that of Lana Turner, she's phenomenal. I just watched it again and thought it seemed a little bit hokey, and the story not as strong as I'd remembered it, keeping in mind however that it was made in 1957, based on a book that was written well before that. What was seen as scandalous back then it probably routine today (teenage pregnancy for example), but again keeping in mind when it was made, the themes are timeless. I don't think it would have been half the film it turned out to be had it not been for the indelible Lana Turner. Such an amazing actress with a magnetic presence, she was one of the main driving forces behind the picture in my opinion. I was especially affected by the voice over at the very end "We'd finally discovered that season of love. It is only found in someone else's heart. Right now someone you know is looking everywhere for it, and it's in you". The world of the movie represents something that seems impossibly almost wholesome, yet still leaves one yearning for a return to closeness among community, something more wholesome than the world we live in today.

dougdoepke Though set in the 1940's, teen mores of the 1950's are on dramatic display for those curious about that conformist decade. Note too, how the script talks all around the word "abortion" without ever using the word, and ditto for the word "rape". Still, it's a slickly mounted production, well-acted, and better than I expected, not having seen it for 50-some years. The 160- minute run time is off-putting, but for me the movie never dragged. Maybe that's because the major acting duties are divided between Turner, Lange, and Varsi, with the men being clearly secondary. And, of course, much time is spent on the evolving relationships, both teenage and adult.Both the book and movie were huge hits at the time, largely because the novel pushed the limits of censorship on the then delicate topic of teenage sex. Kids passed dog-eared copies around faster than answers to a physics test. Of course, the novel itself was intended as an expose of small town life in strait-laced New England, but nevertheless struck a national chord.The movie itself deals fairly effectively with teenage uncertainty and yearning, along with more adult themes of social class and children out of wedlock. One thing helping the movie's credibility is using the attractive but unHollywood looking Varsi and Lange. Even the usually flamboyant Turner is made to look and act subdued. That's okay because the topic is really the town and what it's like to grow up there. So it's no surprise that the doctor (Nolan) sternly sums up what's wrong in Peyton Place at movie's end.All in all, the movie's human interest side endures even if much of the rest stands now as little more than a cultural artifact.

vincentlynch-moonoi 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.