Peyton Place updates a long, find history of films on small-town America of the 1950s, when privacy of thought and action, and fear of small minds, were issues that also affected urban communities in a Cold War climate. It's harder to keep out of harm's way in a small town, and in Peyton Place, a few insidious gossip mongers are the town criers of personal anguish for a whole community; real life is translated, on the basis of appearances and second-hand knowledge, into scandal. Everyone has a secret--and some great American skeletons like rape, father-daughter incest, and medical coverup in the name of decency are given a King's Row-like airing here--but that isn't really the issue. On Peyton Place's re-release in 1966, critic Robin Bean wrote in Films & Filming: “The film, made in 1957, still works well due to its intelligent script...and perceptive direction and performances. Its notoriety as just a piece of Hollywood sensationalism was ill-deserved, for it is made with exceptional good taste and apart from a few melodramatic moments, over which the composer had a field day, it avoided most of the then-standard clichés in American filmmaking. A plea for better understanding between individuals, for tolerance and sympathy, many of its comments still stand, since basically human motivations and instinctive actions change very little...”