Metalious sold all of the Peyton Place rights to Jerry Wald, a producer at Twentieth Century-Fox. In the deal Wald acquired movie and television rights, even rights to the name "Peyton Place," which allowed Wald to control all of the subsequent Peyton Place properties. Metalious never received a dime, over the original purchase agreement, of the millions earned by the movies and television syndication.

Because of its subject matter and the sensational publicity it had received, the novel was a natural for screen presentation. In 1957 Mark Robson directed a fairly decent movie version of the book, although the plot was much changed before the filming. Constance MacKenzie was played by Lana Turner with Hope Lange as Allison.

The soap opera qualities of the original book were emphasized in this and subsequent film versions of the story.

It really was not Metalious' book brought to the screen. Whatever punch...