Return to Peyton Place (1961)

The residents of Peyton Place, New Hampshire, are not happy when its most famous resident, Alison Mackenzie, writes a "shocking" novel detailing the sinful secrets of the town. Most ... See full summary »

Director:

José Ferrer

Writers:

Ronald Alexander (screenplay), Grace Metalious (novel)

Stars:

Carol Lynley, Jeff Chandler, Eleanor Parker

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Carol Lynley	...	Allison
Jeff Chandler	...	Lewis Jackman
Eleanor Parker	...	Connie Rossi
Mary Astor	...	Mrs. Roberta Carter
Robert Sterling	...	Mike Rossi
Luciana Paluzzi	...	Raffaella
Brett Halsey	...	Ted
Gunnar Hellström	...	Nils (as Gunnar Hellstrom)
Tuesday Weld	...	Selena

Storyline

The residents of Peyton Place, New Hampshire, are not happy when its most famous resident, Alison Mackenzie, writes a "shocking" novel detailing the sinful secrets of the town. Most outraged is malicious Roberta Carter, who wants the book banned from the school library. Roberta's other mission is to destroy her son Ted's marriage to his Italian bride. Theirs, however, isn't the only marriage in trouble: Alison's book is causing a rift between her mother and stepfather, who is also the school principal and one of the book's few defendants.

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Plot Keywords:

scandal | melodrama | small town | sequel | based on novel | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 May 1961 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rückkehr nach Peyton Place

Filming Locations:

Mammoth Mountain, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jerry Wald Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Joan Crawford was set to play Roberta Carter, but shortly before production was to begin, she dropped out because she didn't want to work on a film over the Christmas holidays. However, according to Christina Crawford, Joan actually dropped out because she didn't want to work on the same lot as her daughter, who would be filming at the same time.

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Goofs

Throughout the film, it is insisted that Selena and Ted had been friends and nothing more. However, in the first film, they did in fact have a romantic relationship as teenagers and were planning to get married.

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Connections

Followed by Peyton Place: The Next Generation (1985)

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Soundtracks

The Best of Everything
by Alfred Newman

User Reviews

Not Worth the Trip

Anyone who hasn't seen the original film Peyton Place will not be able to comprehend what's happening in Return to Peyton Place. And the journey is hardly worth it.

Aspiring writer Carol Lynley writes a steamy novel about the goings on in her prim and proper New England town of Peyton Place. When Jeff Chandler publishes it, tongues start to wag. Carol's stepfather Robert Sterling who is the high school principal puts it in the school library and the local pharisees want his head.

It's all been done before and since and better. Interesting that none of the original cast repeated any of their roles from the first film. I think they were asked, read the script and turned it down.

If Return to Peyton Place has any value it's because Mary Astor plays a deliciously evil woman, the kind of mother that Danny DeVito wanted to throw from a moving train. Astor overwhelms everyone else the cast.

I think they all knew it as well.