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| Stella Stevens |
MURDER IN PEYTON PLACE (1977 telefilm). Director: Bruce Kessler.
"I want to destroy Peyton Place." -- Stella Chernak
After two theatrical films and two TV series-- nighttime in 1969 and daytime in 1972 -- this TV movie returns to the lusty town of Peyton Place where Stella Chernak (Stella Stevens), a disgruntled former resident, is out for payback against real and imagined enemies. As Ryan O'Neal and Mia Farrow, who played lovers Rodney Harrington and Allison MacKenzie in the original series, had gone on to greener pastures -- Farrow only appears in a flashback -- they are (apparently) killed off in this sequel. Dorothy Malone and Tim O'Connor return as Allison's parents, as does Christopher Connelly as Rodney's brother, Norman and Ed Nelson [Attack of the Crab Monsters] as Dr. Rossi. The cast, characters and storylines of the afternoon soap Return to Peyton Place are ignored.
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| Priscilla Morrill, Hedison, Nelson, Connolly |
While the notion of a vengeful woman wanting to destroy an entire town sounds like it might at least be good television, this is not exactly
The Visit.
Murder in Peyton Place is, frankly dull, and while I was never a fan of the original series I can't imagine that those who were would be that pleased with this production. We know who the culprit is almost from the start, and Stella Stevens is surprisingly perfunctory as the villainess. Not even the presence of a boy toy (a creditable Robert Deman) and his mean-spirited Dobermans can help. The acting is of the soap opera variety, which means everyone is professional but no one exactly puts themselves out. Janet Margolin has replaced Barbara Parkins as Betty Anderson -- they look alike -- and David Hedison takes over from James Douglas as Steven Cord. Linda Gray plays Cord's wife. Marj Dusay is fine as Ellen Considine and Jonathan Goldsmith makes an impression as sexy bad boy Stan, who is married to one of Allison's sisters and fiddles with yet another.
Verdict: Things have never been more boring in Peyton Place! *1/2.
I dimly remember when this first aired and that it did not evoke the magic of the series--I was excited about the brief flashback clip or two of Allison (Mia)but that was it! Wish Dorothy Malone found more to do in her latter career - loved that cameo she did in Basic Instinct...
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I had forgotten she was in "Instinct" -- I will look at that again one of these days. Malone didn'tt have much to do in this telefilm but look concerned and wring her hands.
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