09 Nov Peyton Place
Peyton Place, movie’s action taking place during the WWII years
(1957) Based on the best-selling 1956 novel by Grace Metalious, the story line of the film Peyton Place takes place just before until just after World War II.
What I’ve read is that Ms. Metalious hated the film … she thought it was too watered down. Metalious was from New Hampshire and based her book on what she knew from living there in poverty, very aware of the secrets hidden behind closed doors. She died at the age of 39, eight years after Peyton Place was published. She had squandered her estate and loved too much her alcohol.
Of course, I had seen the movie before … but possibly not right after it came out. In 1957, even watered down, this was a sensational story with rape, abortion, illegitimacy, even skinny dipping (although we don’t actually get to see it!)
I didn’t watch Peyton Place with the thought that it was a World War II movie. That was a surprise. Most of the boys were all drafted on the same day.
Many of the characters were familiar to me, and I found that I was getting them mixed up with the later television series that launched the careers of Mia Farrow and Ryan O’Neal, among others.
Peyton Place received nine Oscar nominations, but no one got the top prize. One nomination was for Best Cinematography … I kept thinking how beautiful the New England settings were.
It was a fun trip back in time and a revealing exposé of how hard it was for your average communities to come to grips with the tough issues that were always there.
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