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

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

brchthethird I wasn't exactly expecting great things from the sequel to a shamelessly melodramatic film, but the least it could have done was do some things different...and well. In this followup to PEYTON PLACE (which I actually quite liked), Allison has now gotten a book deal for her first novel, "Samuel's Castle," which is based on her life and the people she knows in Peyton Place. However, after the book gets published (and that, after a long rewriting session), the townspeople don't find it flattering at all. That's basically because everything in the book was covered in the previous film. Despite the soapy and silly nature of the story, it still manages to say a few interesting, if unoriginal, things about small town life, censorship, and progressive values (at least for the time period in which it's set). However, most of this was relegated to a final scene which plays out in much the same way as the courtroom finale of its predecessor. Other positive things to say include that the cinematography, production design and sets were just as good this time around. However, too often this film decides to ride the coattails of what came before instead of exploring new intrigues and problems. Basically, it's dependent on the previous film to a fault. Of course, it doesn't help that none of the original cast is back, for whatever reason. The replacements simply didn't have the talent or charm that the previous cast did. Granted, there are a couple of decent performances, but only a couple. Those are Mary Astor (as Ted Carter's mother), and Tuesday Weld (as Selena Cross). Everyone else gave lifeless performances and amateurish-sounding line readings, living down to the soapy source material. Overall, RETURN TO PEYTON PLACE falls into the trap that many sequels find themselves in: it's content to rehash the previous film without much charm, no originality and, worst of all, a sub-par cast. The only reason I'm giving this as high of a rating as I am is because it was at least visually appealing, but otherwise there's not too much to recommend here. Only see this if soap operas really do it for you.

preppy-3 Alison (Carol Lynley) from the first movie has her book being picked up to be published. She goes to NY to talk to publisher Lewis Jackman (Jeff Chandler). Even though he's older she falls in love much to the alarm of her mother Connie (Eleanor Parker). Roberta Carter (Mary Astor) is thrilled when her son (Brett Halsey) comes home from college...but is upset that he has a wife (Luciana Paluzzi). Selena Cross (Tuesday Weld) meets "cute" with Swedish ski instructor Nils (Gunnar Hellstrom) but her past comes back to haunt her.Just dreadful sequel. The book was bad too but this movie is even worse! It makes bewildering changes, some characters are left out completely and it ends with plenty of loose ends dangling. It starts out great with Rosemary Clooney singing but quickly falls apart. Bad acting doesn't help. Lynley (who was a wonderful actress) gives a lousy performance as Alison (although the terrible script doesn't help). Chandler is (to be nice) totally bland as her love interest. The scenes between them working on her book are boring and drag. Halsey is handsome and Paluzzi is beautiful but both give bad performances. Hellstrom is good but disappears and reappears with alarming infrequency. Also the story has a strange jokey attitude that's totally at odds with the material. Badly directed by Jose Ferrer too.So why am I giving it two stars? There are three reasons--Eleanor Parker (a VERY underrated actress) is great as Connie; Tuesday Weld (another underrated actress) is affecting as Selena; Astor is just incredible as Roberta. She single handedly brings this movie to life. There are a handful of OK sequences and there is a great town meeting at the end. But, all in all, this is badly cast, deadly dull and not worth seeing at all.

wes-connors The film starts with one of the most unnecessary additions of lyrics to music; Franz Waxman's beautiful "Peyton Place" theme is awkwardly enhanced with lines from author Grace Metalious' novel, as sung by Rosemary Clooney. An early 1950s recording superstar, Ms. Clooney was also actor José Ferrer's wife. "Return to Peyton Place" was one of Mr. Ferrer's few directing credits. Like the song, everything falls awkwardly into place. None of the original cast returns to "Peyton Place". Two engaging characters, "Norman" and "Betty" are forgotten. The original film's sweet romantic relationship between "Selena" and "Ted" is unforgivably altered. And so on… The main storyline has New York writer and runway prone Carol Lynley (as Allison MacKenzie) publishing her first novel, the oddly titled "Samuel's Castle", which causes a "Peyton Place"-type sensation. Back home, the townspeople are appalled at the novel's thinly veiled airing of their dirty linen. Like mother Eleanor Parker (as Constance MacKenzie Rossi) before her, Ms. Lynley has an affair with a married man, publisher Jeff Chandler (as Lewis Jackman). Lynley friend Tuesday Weld (as Selena Cross) handles the novel badly, and is romanced by ski instructor Gunnar Hellström (as Nils Larsen). Lawyer friend Brett Halsey (as Ted Carter) has married busty Italian Luciana Paluzzi (as Raffaella).Many of the performers in the original "Peyton Place" received acclaim for their characterizations. Only one in "Return to Peyton Place" matched the caliber of the original - Mary Astor (as Roberta Carter) received a "Supporting Actress" mention from "The Film Daily" - she is excellent as the uptight resident trying to break up son Halsey's marriage, ban Lynley's book, and get principal Robert Sterling (as Michael Rossi) fired. This film was a moderate success, but was a setback for the "Peyton Place" franchise. The next project, a ground-breaking ABC-TV television serial, brought "Peyton Place" to full glory, and imaginatively developed and expanded upon Ms. Metalious' original characters.***** Return to Peyton Place (5/5/61) José Ferrer ~ Carol Lynley, Eleanor Parker, Mary Astor

moonspinner55 Unnecessary follow-up to 1957's "Peyton Place", featuring none of that film's on-screen talent, concerns a young literary woman from small, gossipy New England town who publishes a roman a clef about her friends and neighbors, causing a scandal. One can only watch and wonder what original "Peyton Place" authoress Grace Metalious thought of this fatuous extension of her characters (hopefully she was paid off). Producer Jerry Wald (who helmed both pictures) comes up with nothing but recycled clichés, and his large, new cast (including Carol Lynley, Jeff Chandler, Tuesday Weld and Eleanor Parker) get lost among the suds. *1/2 from ****