in 1941 and in the small town of peyton place and michael rossi ( lee phillips ) be hire a the new principal of the local high school . while the student be prepare to graduate and some of them live personal drama . allison mackenzie ( diane varsi ) aspire to be a successful writer and but she be very repressed by her widow dominant mother connie mackenzie ( lana turner ) and a woman dedicate to raise her daughter in a conservative way and work hard in her shop only . when her mother believe in a gossip about allison and her friend norman page ( russ tamblyn ) and allison argues with connie and she disclose her hidden past and and allison move to new york . allison best friend selena cross ( hope lange ) live with her mother and the housemaid nellie cross ( betty field ) and her small brother joseph and her abusive drunken stepfather and the janitor lucas cross ( arthur kennedy ) and in a very poor cabin . the wealthy rodney harrington ( barry coe ) love his independent and ahead of time girlfriend betty anderson ( terry moore ) and in spite of his father mr. harrington ( leon ames ) be against their relationship . selena be rap by lucas and later she abort the child while escape from lucas . the local dr. matthew swain ( lloyd nolan ) take care of her and forge his record and get a write confession of lucas and force him to leave peyton place . with the attack of pearl harbor and the youngster join the armed force to fight in the world war ii . lucas return and try to abuse selena and but she react and kill him . when selena be send to trial and she make dr. swain to promise that he would never disclose the truth and since she be afraid of the scandal and of hurt her beloved boy friend . however and dr. swain expose the sordid and hypocrite and despicable moral behavior of the local gossipy and intolerant dweller and tell the drama of selena to the jury . peyton place be a dated melodrama and a soap opera that show the stereotypical lifestyle of a small town in america in the 40 . the false morality and intolerance rule the relationship among the dweller and with gossip and sexual repression and snobbery in a hypothetic peyton place . this film have many good moment and the best one when the doctor expose the wound and the truth about the dweller and but also show lot of clichés . my vote be seven . title ( brazil ) represent a caldeira do diabo ( the devil boiler ) .