Fox Movie Channel

More Than Meets The Eye

PEYTON PLACE

The first thing I remember seeing of Peyton Place turned out to be the last shot, where two children on bicycles crisscross their way up a bucolic town street. It was evocative in a sentimental way, and my interest was piqued, but by then the movie was already over. Here at work I sometimes watch movies on our channel out of the corner of my eye, catching scenes out of order and out of context. On another day, I caught a vision of a pretty blond teenage girl in a full blue skirt running through the woods, terrified by a scary dirty man chasing her. That really caught my attention, so I tuned in, but still only saw part of the film. But enough that I came back for all of it. 

The truth is, when I initially encountered the title Peyton Place on a list of movies that I had to do some work on, I couldn't have been less interested. It sounded to me like some saccharin fifties era bundle of lies about American life, and I made no plans to watch it. (Especially not when we have like, what, half a dozen Alien Nation movies I need to catch up on? I mean, come on, I have priorities.) But my preconception was all wrong. There's a lot more than meets the eye to Peyton Place, and that, in itself, is exactly what this movie is all about. Allison MacKenzie, the protagonist, puts a point on it, saying that "Everybody in this town hides behind plain wrappers." Because, behind the cute outfits and Labor Day parades and tidy clapboard houses, some real shit goes down in Peyton Place.

Let me give you a little more info. The story centers around the graduating high school class of 1941 in a quaint New England town. The young adults struggle (particularly with their parents) to grow up and find their way, while the adults of the town have some problems and secrets of their own. There is a pervasive social pressure to keep up appearances, but in reality, things are not what they seem. I'm not gonna tell you who does what, but let's just say that within this seemingly ideal little town, people gossip, lie, drink, fight, get laid, and slap their children. There's a suicide, a rape and a murder. And in addition to all that, you can count on World War II to come along and complicate things. The story is carefully constructed and compelling, each character has something to do, each scene serves a purpose. It is long, but hey, it's in Cinemascope and Lana Turner looks hot in lots of different outfits. The movie really captures a sense of time and place different from our own, which is something I love in a film. But, at the same time, the central idea of the film still seems fresh 50 years later.

Now, make no mistake: all my praises aside, there is some big time melodrama in Peyton Place. Particularly when it comes to the romance between Mrs. MacKenzie - Lana Turner's emotionally stiffened character - and Mr. Rossi, the impressive stranger who comes into town and tries to unlock her heart. There's one emotional confrontation between them that's almost laugh out loud funny. Never in reality does someone just blow into your life and start yelling at you about how you handle your emotions. But that is why we have melodrama (and bad action movies), so we can have characters distill one another's inner lives into over simplified dialogue. And man do I love it.

Peyton Place was nominated for 9 Oscars in 1958, acclaim I think it wholly deserves. But it was totally shut out! I wonder how the studio and the creators felt about that. (Interestingly, that's the same year Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison  was in the running! I am turning into a 50s movie junkie.) Luckily for us, even if it wasn't recognized by the Academy, we can still appreciate and enjoy it today. So file this one on the growing list of movies from the fifties that surprise and impress me. Because Peyton Place holds up to the test of time, and totally exceeds expectations.