Peyton Place (1957) on Netflix
Approved19572h 37m
In the New England town of Peyton Place, Allison MacKenzie and her best friend Selena Cross are close to graduation. Her mother Constance is drawn to the new principal, Michael Rossi.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb7.2/107,320 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes65%
Trailer
Plot summary
Peyton Place is a small New England mill town where the leading citizens hold the town to strict moral standards. Constance MacKenzie, a widow, runs a clothing shop and raises her daughter Allison, who is about to graduate from high school alongside her best friend Selena Cross. Selena's mother, Nellie, keeps house for Constance, and the Cross family lives in poverty with Selena's alcoholic stepfather, Lucas, the school custodian. A newcomer, Michael Rossi, is hired as high school principal and offers to work with the veteran teacher Elsie Thornton. Constance lets Allison hold an unchaperoned birthday party, and the behavior of the teenagers she invites leaves Constance horrified. She and Rossi begin to keep company, while Allison is drawn to the shy, bookish Norman Page.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Peyton Place (1957)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Producer Jerry Wald bought the film rights from author Grace Metalious for $250,000 less than a month after her novel came out in October 1956, and hired her as a story consultant although he never intended to let her contribute anything to the film.
- Peyton Place gained a 32% jump in ticket sales in April 1958 after Lana Turner's daughter killed Turner's abusive boyfriend in a domestic struggle; the daughter was acquitted on the grounds of justifiable homicide.
- Director Mark Robson said the script went through at least eleven drafts, and that the final screenplay was written on the stage while the film was actually being made.
- Author Grace Metalious was displeased at the thought of Pat Boone being cast as Norman Page; the part was eventually given to Russ Tamblyn.
- Both Diane Varsi and Lee Philips made their film debuts in Peyton Place, and Varsi's role had been offered to Susan Strasberg, who turned it down.
- It was difficult to find a state that would let itself be used as a filming location, until Governor Muskie allowed filming in Maine.
- Peyton Place received nine Academy Award nominations and no wins, tying the record set by The Little Foxes; The Turning Point and The Color Purple later surpassed it with 11 nominations and no wins.
- Both the film and its television series were significant sources of inspiration for David Lynch and Mark Frost's Twin Peaks, which first aired in 1990.
