Downtown Camden, Maine or "Peyton Place"
from theinterrobang.com
One of the most exciting
things to happen in our area of Maine in the 50s was the making of the movie,
Peyton Place. Grace Metalious’ book was our “Shades of Grey.” As teenagers we
all read this scandalous book, and when we learned they were going to shoot
the movie in our coastal local we were ecstatic. Everyone was abuzz with
anticipation. Movie stars were coming from Hollywood. Maybe we could become
extras and be in the movie ourselves. We all wanted a piece of the action.
I was 16, a sophomore at
Rockland High School, when they shot the scene outside the courthouse in 1957
(could have been 1956). Some local people were extras and they all stood in
period clothes along both sides of the sidewalk at the old courthouse. It was a
bright sunny day as we watched the principal characters of the story emerge
from the building.
Here came Lloyd Nolan,
who played Dr. Matthew Swain; Russ Tamblyn, who played Norman Page; and the
beautiful Hope Lange, who played Selena Cross. In the story, Selena was accused
of killing her abusive step-father.
As they came closer to
where I stood they all waved and smiled in character because Selena had been
acquitted. It was very exciting.
Everyone was trying to
get autographs as the scene broke up. I only had some small scraps of paper
with me, but I did manage to get Russ, Lloyd, and Hope to sign their names for
me. Mr. Nolan said, “How am I supposed to sign this, young lady?” I’m sure I
turned ten shades of red, but I suggested he write using my back as a platform
and he did. Hope was very sweet and so was Russ.
By the way, the one star
we all wanted to see, Lana Turner, who played Constance MacKensie, never came
to Maine. The scenes she was in were mostly inside shots and were all done on
Hollywood sets.
Metalious’ book, Peyton Place, was published in 1956 and
soon after she was wooed by Hollywood to make her book into a movie. Hollywood
didn’t take her seriously though and she wasn’t happy about how they made the
film, especially when it was suggested that Pat Boone play the part of Norman
Page. She abandoned Hollywood altogether and returned to her home in New
Hampshire.
The film was shot in
Camden, Rockland, Belfast, and Lake Placid, New York. There was a premiere in
Camden two days before its release to the rest of the country. It was the 2nd
highest grossing film of 1958. Ironically, a real-life situation which involved
Lana Turner and her daughter, Cheryl, mirrored the story of Selena in the
movie. Selena was accused of killing her stepfather and Cheryl was accused of
killing her mother’s abusive lover in real life.
The sad event boosted
sales for the movie, and although the coroner declared Cheryl’s case one of
justified homicide, Lana was afraid that the bad publicity had surely ruined
her career. However, she was cast in one of my very favorite movies in 1959,
“Imitation of Life.”
I remember seeing the movie at the Strand Theater on Main Street in Rockland. The opening scene where the kids rode bicycles back and forth a hill was stunning. It hooked you from the very beginning. You wanted to know what happened in this beautiful small town in Maine.
The movie eventually
became a soap opera. “Peyton Place” ran from September 1964-June 1969 on ABC;
and “Return to Peyton Place” ran from 1972-74 on NBC. It was one of the most
popular soaps of all time.
Do you remember these
errors in the movie?
The archway they showed
as you drove into Peyton Place with the name of the town on it, doesn’t
actually exist.
When the bus to Boston
with Allison MacKensie (played by Diane Varsi) aboard left Camden, it headed
north instead of south where Boston really is.
One scene they shot
where I think Selena is running through backyards doesn’t really sync with
actual backyards. She started in Camden and ended up somewhere in Rockport.
That’s a lot of backyards to run through.
The autographs I got
that day were treasured for a long time. They have since disappeared into my
past somewhere. Maybe someday when a family member is going over the effects of
the old folks, they’ll find those scraps of paper with the famous names on them
and wonder where they came from.
Even though the
autographs are gone, I still have vivid memories of that day outside the
courthouse. It was great fun. I tell people that my book, The South End, is a
hybrid of Peyton Place and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which
takes place in one of my other favorite places, Savannah, Georgia.
My friend, Paul Merriam,
declares that my book is better than Peyton
Place. I kinda doubt that, but it sure would be fun to see it on the screen
like Peyton Place was back in the
50s. I sure don’t hear any movie moguls knocking on my door though. My niece, Brenda, thinks Tom Hanks should play
my lead character, Frank Crocker. What do you think?
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