exceptional and affecting melodrama about small town life in america . the story be at time a bit tawdry and but it be always intelligent and complex and it be populate with many memorable and realistic character . theyre people to care about . good yet and the actor portray them be mostly brilliant . i have some problem with arthur kennedy performance while it too over the top and and not up to the same level of maturity a many of the others . i also think lee philip be weak in a key role . but lana turner and diane varsi and russ tamblyn and terry moore and barry coe and mildred dunnock and lloyd nolan and leon ames and and hope lange give enormously sensitive performance that will live with me for a long time . especially ms. lange and who be just heartbreaking a a young woman who be sexually abuse by her alcoholic stepfather ( arthur kennedy ) . the story be frank ( 1950s frank ) and intelligent about sex and the way that small town treat it . i would surely credit director robson with keep this film and which could easily have be a disaster and flow like a gentle stream . it a rarity that a hollywood film like this could be so insightful about small town life . it do have one big narrative problem and and that be that it climax be a trial . it not often that a climactic trial work well and and there be no exception for peyton place . it seem fake and and the lawyer and defendant do not present evidence in an at all believable fashion . and then there this cringe induce third act speech . it belong in a less film . positive .