A few years ago I rented some DVDs of the TV version of Peyton Place. (That was back when we subscribed to zip.ca, ordering DVDs online and getting them in the mail.) That version had Mia Farrow and Ryan O'Neal. Canadian actor Henry Beckman, who was in a lot of commercials in the '70s, had a good role as a guy who wrongly suspected his boss of cuckolding him. My mother had never watched the show when it was originally on, but now she greatly enjoyed it. (We'd lived in a university town which was a bit like Peyton Place.)
We also had a copy of Grace Metalloids' book, which caused a big scandal and sold like hotcakes in the '50s. (Back then small town America was a bit of a sacred cow.) I never read it, but maybe I should someday. And there's also the movie, one of Lana Turner's better vehicles. If you ask me it would be a good choice for remaking.
There's a great moment in the movie where Lana's daughter Diane Varsi exclaims "Why, if any man seriously asked me I'd run away with him and become his mistress!" causing her mother to slap her face. Back in the '50s parents slapped their teenagers. (And just using the word "mistress" was daring.)
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