Review by Gary Tooze

Production:

Disc:

Video:

Audio:

• Audio Commentary with Filmmaker/Historian Willard Carroll
• Audio Commentary with Actors Terry Moore and Russ Tamblyn
• On Location in Peyton Place with optional Willard Carroll Audio Commentary (7:35)
• AMC Backstory: Peyton Place (25:06)
• Fox Movietone Newsreels (1:32, 0:58)
• Original Theatrical Trailers (2:35, 0:41)

• Liner notes by Julie Kirgo

Limited to 3,000 Copies!

Bitrate:

 

Description: Grace Metalious’ scandalous best-seller about the sordid life of a small New England town is given the high-gloss Hollywood treatment in Peyton Place (1957), a hugely successful melodrama produced by Jerry Wald and directed by Mark Robson, with John Michael Hayes providing the screenplay. A cast led by established star Lana Turner (then suffering her own real-life melodrama) is also studded with terrific performances from relative newcomers including Diane Varsi, Hope Lange, Lee Philips, and Russ Tamblyn, and further highlighted by an extraordinary score from Franz Waxman.

***

 

 

The Film:

Image :    NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

Peyton Place comes to Twilight Time Blu-ray in a dual-layered, 1080P transfer with their usual supportive bitrate. The most striking impression the 1080P exports are the scintillating, almost breathtaking, colors. They are as saturated and deep as I have witnessed on home video. Unfortunately, I also see some unusual, waxy, softness that does not resemble grain. It looks like DNR to me but not seeing the film theatrically, knowing the, possible digitization of the sources or even owning the older DVD, I can only scratch my head at the film's, occasional, appearance on Blu-ray. As I zoom in on the captures - it does not seem blanketed, but definitely exists in many instances. These questionable sequences are also abnormally flat. It, honesty, looks strange, at times, to me. I'll defer to others who may be more familiar with the film than I, but on both my systems this possible digitization was evident despite being joyously distracted by the incredible colors. I suspect that most will appreciate the film's appearance, especially the colors, in their home theater systems.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peyton Place had a 4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System) theatrically and Twilight Time give the option of a DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround transfer at a powerful 3413 kbps (24-bit) or a similar encode in 2.0 channel stereo. I did notice some separation although the film doesn't require much of it - of substantial depth easily handling the versatile Franz Waxman (Dark Passage, Rebecca, Bride of Frankenstein, Rear Window, Sunset Boulevard) score that adds further to the small town serenity and undercurrent of emotion. It sounds impressive and Twilight Time do NOT add an isolated score for this release. There are optional English subtitles (sample above) and my Oppo has identified it as being a region FREE.

Extras :

Twilight Time include the extras from the previous DVD - the audio commentary with actors Terry Moore and Russ Tamblyn, the 25-minute AMC Backstory: Peyton Place, 2 trailers and 2 Fox Movietone Newsreels plus they add a new audio commentary with filmmaker / historian Willard Carroll who is quite a film fan himself owning the largest privately held collection of Oz memorabilia in the world. His commentary is educational and very thorough covering a multitude of aspects on the film, stars, production details and much more. There is also an 8-minute piece; On Location in Peyton Place with an optional commentary from Carroll discussing the locales and specific scenes. Excellent. The package has liner notes by Julie Kirgo and is limited to 3,000 copies

 

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
Peyton Place is a above average romance drama filled with blossoming scandals, secrets and self-serving tension. Although not as filled with impropriety by today's standards  it nevertheless carries a 50's upper-class tone of quality with art direction and wardrobe adding to the film's comfortable luxury. The performances are rich showcasing a Hollywood era that many still embrace nostalgically.  The Twilight Time Blu-ray provides a luminous, if questionable, video transfer for the film and further value with the commentaries (especially the new one) and supplements including liner notes. It's a complete package of lauded and watchable film. 

Gary Tooze

March 25th, 2017