Return to Peyton Place (1961)

No Quote for this film.

As in many cases of book-to-screen adaptations, quite a few things were altered between the book "Return to Peyton Place" and the movie. Some of these include: Allison MacKenzie had several men vying for her attention in the book, but in the film she is partnered solely with Lewis Jackman. In the book, he dies in a horrific car crash soon after making love to Allison (she is in the car, too, but survives.) The book includes the continuing story of Betty Anderson and her small son and their relations with Lesley Harrington (her son's grandfather.) This entire story is left out of the film. Selena Cross has two love interests in the book. Neither one shows up in the film, though Nils, the ski instructor, has a few of the traits of one of them. In the novel, Constance and Michael Rossi share an earthy, sometimes randy relationship. They are much more conservative in the film with the character of Mike Rossi heavily altered from a sexually-charged Italian to a somewhat milquetoast gentleman. One huge change is the character of Ted Carter's wife. In the book, she's a blue-blooded society girl named Jennifer and is presented as a sadomasochistic nymphomaniac with lots of cunning and deviousness. Needless to say, Roberta Carter (Ted's mother) can hardly stand this and plots to murder her, only she winds up being killed herself. In the film, Ted marries a young girl behind his mothe Producer Jerry Wald - notorious for announcing any possible casting choice that crossed his mind in order to keep his projects in headlines during pre-production - also mentioned Jessica Tandy, Margaret Leighton and Ginger Rogers as possibilities to play role ultimately played by Mary Astor.
Rosemary Clooney, who sings the movie theme song "The Wonderful Season of Love" was married to the film's director, José Ferrer, at the time the movie was made.
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