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PEYTON PLACE – Franz Waxman
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
20th Century Fox producer Jerry Wald observed the enormous popularity of the novel Peyton Place by Grace Metalious, which sold 60,000 copies in the first ten days and soared to the top of the New York Times best sellers list, where it would remain for over a year. He convinced studio executives to back a film adaptation and purchased the film rights for $250,000. John Michael Hays was hired to adapt the novel, which ended up causing great controversy with the author. The story offers a sordid tale of moral hypocrisy and turpitude, which features scandals, murder, suicide, and incest. Hays was forced to sanitize the novel’s most lurid elements due to content restrictions imposed by the notorious Hayes Code. This “sanitation” enraged Metalious who would publicly deride the film, while taking her $400,000 share of the profits. Mark Robson was tasked with directing and provided a budget of $2.0 million. An excellent cast was assembled, which included Lana Turner as Constance MacKenzie, Diane Varsi as Allison MacKenzie, Hope Kange as Selena Cross, Arthur Kennedy as Lucas Cross, Lee Philips as Michael Rossi, Lloyd Nolan as Dr. Matthew Swain, Russ Tamblyn as Norman Page and Terry Moore as Betty Anderson. Read more…
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