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Return to Peyton Place

Return to Peyton Place

Drama · Romance · 1961

Residents of the small town of Peyton Place aren't pleased when they realize they're the characters in local writer Allison MacKenzie's controversial first novel. A sequel to the hit 1957 film.

Movie details

Return to Peyton Place

1961 Drama · Romance 2h 3m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

5.9 / 10

991 votes

TMDB

6.6 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

Residents of the small town of Peyton Place aren't pleased when they realize they're the characters in local writer Allison MacKenzie's controversial first novel. A sequel to the hit 1957 film.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Return to Peyton Place?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

José Ferrer

Written by

Ronald Alexander

Carol Lynley

Carol Lynley

Allison MacKenzie

Jeff Chandler

Jeff Chandler

Lewis Jackman

Eleanor Parker

Eleanor Parker

Connie Rossi

Mary Astor

Mary Astor

Roberta Carter

Robert Sterling

Robert Sterling

Mike Rossi

Luciana Paluzzi

Luciana Paluzzi

Raffaella Carter

Brett Halsey

Brett Halsey

Ted Carter

Court is in session

Put Return to Peyton Place on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.