Peyton Place Details

A sequel to the hit 1957 feature film Peyton Place, this offers the same sensational mix as before and needs little comment for devotees of its predecessor, Grace Metalious's original bestselling novel, or the long-running TV soap. Carol Lynley is Allison Mackenzie, who provokes outrage in her home town when she publishes her first novel, a thinly veiled exposé of the town's inhabitants. Utterly predictable glossy tosh, involving adultery, rape, bigotry and home truths, it showcases the then relative newcomer Tuesday Weld and offers a standout performance from Mary Astor, whose elegant presence had graced many a more refined melodrama in the past. Actor José Ferrer directed.

Well-made film of what was at the time a scandalous bestseller, one of the first to reveal those nasty secrets of 'ordinary people'.