This is a surprisingly entertaining film version of Grace Metalious' once-notorious novel with a screenplay by John Michael Hayes. Constance MacKenzie (Lana Turner), who has a secret and a "past," is afraid that her daughter Allison (Diane Varsi) will follow in her footsteps and become like the town "bad girl" Betty (Terry Moore). "Roddy liked flashy girls so that's what I became," Betty says. Alison's friend Selena (Hope Lange) is raped by her step-father and the town seems to blame her. Norman (Russ Tamblyn) has a domineering mother and may have been intended to be a stereotypical gay character. School teacher Elsie Thornton (Mildred Natwick) is passed over in her hoped-for promotion to principal when the town hires much younger Michael Rossi (Lee Philips) instead. (This sub-plot, unfortunately, isn't developed.) Along with Natwick, Varsi, Lange, and Moore come off best, with nice turns by Arthur Kennedy, Lloyd Nolan, little Scotty Morrow as Joseph, and Lorne Greene as a prosecutor. Contrived at times; admirably frank at others. Beautifully photographed by William Mellor, and Franz Waxman's theme music is a classic. The only problem with the movie is that it's supposed to take place pre-WW 2, but it hardly has any late 30's period atmosphere at all.
Verdict: Sex and suffering soaked in classy sounds and images. ***
2 comments:
This is a really well-made melodrama with a wonderful cast. Lana's only Oscar nomination! I still have yet to read the novel it's based on, but have seen the movie many times. Wish I were old enough to have seen the long-running series with Barbara Parkins, Ryan O'Neal and Mia Farrow. Have seen a few clips on YouTube, but I think I would have loved the series as much as I did the reruns of Dark Shadows.
-C
Ha, those two series were very, very different! I saw a couple of episodes of the night-time PP when I was a kid but never really got into it, although I like Dorothy Malone, who was also prominent in the cast. I've never read the novel, either!
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