Author Grace Metalious was known only for this single novel, here carefully crafted into a film that holds up extremely well even in today's milieu. Various entertainment media consequently milked the title and characters almost to death through the years, especially with a stillborn sequel and groaner TV series. However, this 1957 production remains a joy forever, in the Olympian halls of Hollywood achievement. Here, you will see the New England of your dreams and a character study that stands out for realism and purity. This is not Norman Rockwell's beloved New England, but one not terribly removed from it.

The cast is headed by fine character actor, Lloyd Nolan, newcomers Diane Varsi, Hope Lange and Lee Phillips (who later became a reliable director of television films), the underrated but highly talented Russ Tamblyn, perhaps Lana Turner's best performance, and the always engrossing Arthur Kennedy. The supporting cast is equally strong. Do not look for a town in any single state that resembles Peyton Place. The film, for those of us who know New England, was shot all over and in several different states. The best regional sites were selected and beautifully composited into a town of visual elegance.

The novel on which the film is based was once considered libertine, an overreaction by the sex phobia of the early and mid 20th Century of the United States. By today's standards, no one will noticed this. All that said, the lovely Franz Waxman score and apt Mark Robson direction took the original Metalious work, considered a soap opera, into the province of exemplary drama. This is a film many will want to acquire instead of renting, for repeated revisiting.