MovieChat Forums > Return to Peyton Place (1961) Discussion > Notice the goof?

Notice the goof?

posted 18 years ago by boinnng
7 replies | jump to latest

When Selena and her ski instructor boyfriend Nils are reading Allison's fictionalized tale of life in PEYTON PLACE (called "SAMUEL'S CASTLE"), Nils reads aloud from the book, reads the name of the fictional town as "Peyton Place" (NOT "Samuel's Castle") and reveals the name of the fictional Selena's ("Sarah" in the book) step-father as being "Lucas". Lucas WAS Selena's stepfather's name, but she goes on and says his real name was "Luke". HUH? That goof is maddening, and every time I watch it, I think I'm just hearing it wrong or something...yet it always comes out the way I think it does...as a big GOOF! OOPS!

[–] Harold_Robbins 16 years ago

Leaving those two goofs in seems almost intentional, rather than the result of sloppy writing and editing.

"Stone-cold sober I find myself absolutely fascinating!"---Katharine Hepburn

[–] Doctor_Mabuse1 15 years ago

The many continuity oddities in Return to Peyton Place reach a peak in this scene, the worst in the film. According to Sylvia Stoddard's DVD commentary there were at least two uncredited writers on the script, which would help account for the wild fluctuation of writing quality throughout the film. The writing in this particular scene is drastically bad and it is my feeling that it was shoehorned in at the last minute in order to add a dose of sensationalism by exploiting Selena's tragedy from original Peyton Place. It's the only aspect of the script that stoops to a simple rehash and crashes into coarse and unbridled melodrama. The laughable dialogue sounds like the scene was typed out in ten minutes just before it was shot, it is so disorganized and loaded with multiple errors. And the scene looks like it was blocked and shot in a hustle with little rehearsal. Tuesday Weld, who otherwise delivers the best performance in the film after Mary Astor and Eleanor Parker, is just terrible here. A fine actress, Weld is undone by the ghastly material and her hysteria is (unintentionally) hysterically funny. I can't imagine how this scene made the final cut; it cheapens the whole film, most of which works well for me.

[–] Harold_Robbins 14 years ago

I've just finished reading the Metalious novel, which, as is mentioned in the Trivia section, is quite a different kettle of fish from this film. It's as if the novel and the screenplay were written independently of each other, and then various elements from both were combined to create a third entity. I doubt Metalious was pleased with this one.

"Remind me to tell you about the time I looked into the heart of an artichoke."

[–] boinnng 14 years ago

Yes, to me, the sequel film seemed more like the end of the first novel.

[–] mojo2004 11 years ago

Here's another. I guess its more of a revision of the storyline than a goof. In the first film Selena is a senior in high school when raped by Lucas. In this film Selena tells the ski instructor she was 13 when it happened.

Sheldon:"Was the starfish wearing boxer shorts? Because you might have been watching Nickelodeon."

[–] artistathome 10 years ago

Maybe she was 13. I cant recall but did she get pg? And was it when the movie took place?

[–] artistathome 10 years ago

Maybe she was 13. I cant recall but did she get pg? And was it when the movie took place?