1
My name is Allison MacKenzie.
Where I was born, time was told
not by the clock or the calendar
but by the seasons.
Summer was carefree contentment.
Autumn was that bittersweet time of regret
for moments that had ended
and things that were yet undone.
And then winter fell,
with a cold mantle of caution and chill.
It nipped our noses and our arrogance...
and made us move closer to the
warm stoves of memory and desire.
Spring was promise.
But there was a fifth season, of love,
and only the wise or the lucky ones
knew where to find it.
Whoa.
Hey, mister,
which way to Peyton Place?
You go right up this road about two miles
and you'll come right in center of town.
Thanks.
Lucas stole my money,
and he'll do it again.
He drinks everything in sight.
I spent a year and a half saving that money
for a correspondence course.
Don't go, Paul.
You was my firstborn.
Hitting everybody who doesn't
agree with him, even you.
- Only when he's drinking.
- Lately that's been every night.
- What'd you marry him for?
- When your real pa died,
you and Selena and Joey had to
have some kind of father.
Lucas tries hard to be a good man.
- Good-bye, Mom.
- Paul!
Selena, don't you ask me to stay.
My babysitting money.
I wish there was more.
Paul!
Paul, I'll--
I'll do extra work.
I'll find a job
and get the money back to you.
Don't leave.
I'm-- I'm sorry we--
we got into a fight.
It won't happen again.
I give you my word. Paul!
Paul!
Uh, he'll--
he'll come back.
You wait and see.
He'll come back.
Nellie, I'm--
I'm going to try hard
not to drink anymore.
Selena,
I'm-- I'm going to try harder
than I ever tried anything.
- Morning.
- Good morning.
May I have a couple of fried eggs
and a cup of coffee, please?
All right.
Do you have a washroom
where I can clean up?
First door.
Oh, yeah.
Thank you.
- What you selling?
- Nothing.
Sorry.
Thought you might be a traveling man.
Nah.
I came here to get a job.
I should have known.
I hear the Harrington Woolen Mills
got some big government contracts
for military uniform cloth.
Lot of people will be moving in here.
Which way is it to Harrington Mills?
Follow Elm Street to the river,
then look up to your right.
You'll hate it.
- Morning, Miss MacKenzie.
- Morning, Nellie.
Paul left this morning.
- Left for where?
- Don't know.
Says he wants to get out of this town
and make something of himself
instead of working
all the time at the mill.
He wants to see the world.
- Who's going to see the world?
- Paul.
He left town this morning.
Allison, must you play records
at quarter to 8:00 in the morning?
Good breakfast music.
Digest your orange juice with culture.
I'm glad about Paul, Nellie.
How did Selena take it?
She's glad too, but she ain't a mother.
Neither are you.
I'd like to see the world,
have a romance in Venice,
meet a tall dark stranger
in Hong Kong.
- Allison, don't eat so fast.
- Have to.
Senior class is giving
a gift to Miss Thornton.
And I wrote a speech that
Rodney Harrington is going to read--
Badly, I'm sure.
What's going on?
School board's meeting to appoint
a new principal since Mr. Firth died.
How do you know they'll
give it to Miss Thornton?
They have to.
There's nobody else who deserves it.
I'll drop by the store
after school.
Good-bye, Dad.
Allison, I wish you'd stop that
ridiculous performance every day.
What? Saying good-bye
and hello to my father?
Saying it to a photograph.
I suppose it's silly, but it
makes me feel that he's here with us.
But you scarcely knew your father.
It's not my fault he died
when I was two.
I can't remember him,
I admit, but I miss him.
You mean you miss a father.
Yes, Mother.
Wouldn't it be nice
if you had men friends
or some dates
or even married again?
Will you stop talking about fathers
and husbands and marriage?
You miss him more than I ever realized.
I'm sorry, Mother.
I'll be late.
Forgot the speech.
- Good-bye, Mom.
- Bye.
- Good morning, Mrs. Lancy.
- Morning, Allison.
Hi, David.
Good morning, Mr. Hammond.
Morning, Miss Allison.
Go on home, Buffy.
- Hi, Doc Swain.
- Morning, Allison.
- Good morning, girls.
- Good morning, Doctor.
- Good morning, Mr. Cross.
- Morning.
Thank you, Norman.
Everything's gone wrong this morning.
If you didn't run all the time--
Ted's bringing the gift.
Rodney!
Here's the speech.
- Hey, I'll never memorize this.
- Then just read it.
She's coming!
Miss Thornton's coming!
Hey, hey.
"The job of principal of
Peyton Place High School."
Quiet.
Miss Thornton,
the members of the senior class
have asked me to say a few words,
and, on behalf of them,
to present this gift to you.
"The names of all of us are inscribed
inside the cover of that dictionary.
Because there are
so many different words
that might express
what we feel for you
and your long services to
Peyton Place High School,
we decided to give you
all the words in the language.
We're going to lose you, but it's
something bigger and more important--
the job of principal of
Peyton Place High School.
So that you'll know
we'll never forget,
you can always turn to the words 'love,'
'friendship' and 'remembrance,'
and know that we're
always thinking them."
This is the loveliest thing
that ever happened to me.
I--
There's another word in this book.
"Gratitude."
Now let's talk about graduation.
I would like to have a report from
the president of the class, Ted Carter.
- Come on, Ted.
- Miss Thornton,
I've arranged for all the
necessary committees.
If they all do their jobs well,
I'm sure we'll have a fine graduation.
Vice president
Selena Cross.
The programs will be printed
in a couple of weeks.
I've rented caps and gowns
at $2.50 apiece.
We're going to have a tea and a reception
on the lawn afterwards.
Editor of the yearbook,
Allison MacKenzie.
The copy's all done,
but the engraver's going mad
waiting for all the pictures to come in.
So anybody who doesn't have his picture in
by Wednesday won't be in the yearbook.
Senior dance,
Betty Anderson.
Everybody has to help
with the decorations.
The tickets are printed and
will go on sale a week before.
Oh,
and I'm supposed to announce there's to be
no necking in the parking lot.
Nor anywhere else,
for that matter.
But, Harrington, Elsie Thornton
has earned the right to be principal.
She's given her life to this town.
The least we can do is recognize it.
Doc, as head of this school board,
it's my opinion Miss Thornton
should be retired.
I can't quite concur with you,
Leslie.
- I agree with Doc Swain.
- You would.
Miss Thornton's practically senile.
She's a hypochondriac.
Uses sleeping pills all the time.
You want a drug addict for a principal?
Marion, it seems to me I write a lot of
drug prescriptions out for you every year.
As far as Miss Thornton being senile,
she's of your generation.
- She is not. I'm 36.
- You're 45.
My father delivered you the year
they built the courthouse-- 1896.
We need someone young.
This fellow who's coming
is the result of correspondence
with five teachers' agencies.
And I can get him
at the right price.
- Mr. Harrington, he's outside.
- Yes?
He can't do us much good out there,
Miss Colton.
Send him in.
- Would you come in, Mr. Rossi?
- Yes, thank you.
- Good morning.
- I'm Leslie Harrington.
- How do you do?
- This is the school board.
- Mr. and Mrs. Partridge. He's a lawyer.
- How do you do?
- Dr. Swain.
- Doctor.
Seth Bushwell, editor of the
Peyton Place Times.
- Please, sit down.
- Hello.
Now, Mr. Rossi,
here's our situation.
We're prepared to offer the job
as principal to a qualified man
with a minimum guaranteed
five-year contract.
Mr. Rossi is a
graduate of Penn State,
summa cum laude.
He holds a master's degree
in English and literature.
He was an outstanding athlete.
He's single.
Personally, now that I've seen him,
I like what I see.
Did I miss anything?
Only that I've been working
for a construction company.
If you're a teacher, why were you
working for a construction company?
I couldn't live on the salary
I was being paid as a teacher.
This job starts at 3,000 a year.
Then we're all wasting our time.
That's only five dollars a week more than
I was making as a teacher.
But this offers you security,
a long-term contract.
Guaranteed poverty is not security.
I want 5,000 a year
and a raise of 500 in the second year.
We can't do it.
You own this mill.
How much do you pay a foreman?
About $200 a week?
This is business.
These men manufacture
a product that makes money.
You must be practical
and face realities.
To people like you,
education is just a necessary evil.
You can't see it,
so it's worth nothing.
Well, let me tell you this,
Mr. Harrington.
The things we can't see
are the most important things
on this earth.
They're called ideas.
Thank you very much
for the interview.
If we offer you 5,000,
would you coach the basketball
and football team?
No, I would not.
In a town like this, if you can't afford
to pay your principal a decent salary,
you have no right to be running a school,
much less sending your own children to it.
Mr. Rossi.
Leslie, I'm afraid you're
fighting a losing battle.
Now, Mr. Rossi,
frankly--
In other words,
the life history of the race
repeats itself in the individual.
- A notice from the school board.
- Thank you.
"Effective immediately,
the school board of Peyton Place
is happy to announce the appointment
of a new school principal,
Mr. Michael Rossi."
- Who?
- Who?
"We trust that you will show him
the same loyalty and devotion
you displayed to
the late Mr. Firth."
Class dismissed.
I'm sorry, Miss Thornton.
I don't know how
they could do such a thing.
You should be principal.
You deserved it.
Allison, a person doesn't always
get what she deserves.
Remember it.
If there's anything in life you want,
go and get it.
Don't wait for anybody
to give it to you.
Now I have some work to do.
See you later, Al.
- Here we are.
- Good-looking school, Doc.
That must be the new principal,
you know?
They really give it to you,
didn't they?
Like everybody else in this here town,
they really give it to you.
- Have you been drinking?
- Work yourself to death for them,
and then they bring in an outsider
to pick the plum off the tree.
You have been drinking.
I've known for a long time
you kept a bottle in the basement,
but I won't have you bring it
into the classroom ever.
- Now don't forget that.
- Might do your kids more good
to learn how to handle a bottle of liquor
instead of an algebra problem.
- You're talking like a fool.
- Oh, be I?
I sat in this classroom
four years.
I sat right here!
Everything that was important to me
was learned somewheres else.
You never applied yourself.
If you had, you might've
learned something in school.
Oh, ho. Tell that to my wife,
a cleaning woman.
Tell that to me, a janitor,
cleaning toilets for a living.
Oh, stop it!
Tell that to every mill worker
behind in bills.
I said stop it.
If you had applied yourself,
you might have learned
how to live intelligently.
There ain't nobody in this here town
living intelligently.
- Nobody.
- I don't believe that.
All right.
Name me one important person
graduated from this here school.
Name one!
You can't.
I'm going to tell you something,
Miss Thornton,
something you can teach
your class someday.
The minute they walk out
that there door,
they walk into a
dog-eat-dog world.
It's crawl in front of the big dogs
if you want to eat,
get a job.
I won't do it.
I won't do it!
That's why I'm
washing windows,
scrubbing walls,
emptying ashes.
I never had nothing
I ever wanted.
Shakespeare didn't
do me no more good
than Washington did
crossing the Delaware.
You didn't help yourself.
Elsie,
I'd like to have you meet Mike Rossi.
- Miss Thornton.
- Hello, Miss Thornton.
- Mr. Rossi. Welcome to Peyton Place.
- Thank you.
This is our utility man
Lucas Cross.
- Hello, Lucas.
- My hand's too dirty.
I'll start on another room.
- Does he always drink?
- He's disappointed for me.
Loyalty is always more
passionate than reason.
I guess that's why
I came to see you first.
There was strong sentiment
for making you principal.
Please don't feel uncomfortable,
Mr. Rossi.
My time came too late.
- I hope we can work together.
- Of course we can.
I suppose you have a lot of new,
progressive ideas.
No, not really.
I'm rather old-fashioned,
as a matter of fact.
- I have just two rules.
- Oh?
First, I want this school to teach
the truth, as far as we know it.
I don't want any teacher
making a fairy tale out of life.
It's, uh-- It's hard enough as it is
without being unequipped to meet it.
That's a good rule.
Shall we sit down?
And rule two:
Teach a minimum of facts
and a maximum of ideas.
Our job is to teach children
how to think,
not just to memorize
for a couple of weeks.
If war comes for us,
these kids shouldn't fight
just for historical dates
but for the ideals
behind them.
I like your rules,
Mr. Rossi.
Peyton Place is very fortunate.
Thank you, Miss Thornton.
Hey, Allison, I don't know what
Betty's buying from your mother,
but will you tell her to hurry up?
Okay.
Mother,
Miss Thornton didn't get the job.
I know. Betty Anderson and Marge told me.
They're in the back.
After giving her the gift
and the speech,
it was terribly embarrassing
and tragic for her.
Well, she'll get over it.
I'm glad I'm graduating.
I don't want anything to do
with the new principal.
- Mrs. MacKenzie, about graduation--
- What about it, Selena?
Mother needs a new dress
for the exercises.
Is there some arrangement
I could make to buy her one?
After I graduate, I'll get a full-time job
and I could pay you back.
You'll be needing a
new dress yourself.
Oh, I can get by.
Look, with Easter
and graduation coming on,
I'll be needing some help.
How would you like to work here
afternoons and Saturdays?
Oh, I'd love to!
Fine.
- Then I could buy two dresses.
- Wholesale.
Gee, no girl ever had
two better friends than you and Allison.
When you see how hard Mother
makes you work, you won't say that.
Oh!
- Rodney's outside.
- Good. Let him wait.
Aren't you afraid you'll be
arrested wearing that thing?
- No. Just picked up.
- Mother says women should be mysterious.
You think the dress is too old?
No. You're just too young.
Aren't you afraid people
will think you're fast?
Allison,
according to my philosophy,
what other people think
will not pay the rent.
If you're accused of being fast,
you might as well run.
That way you get to
all the good things first.
Just remember, men can see
much better than they can think.
Believe me, a low-cut neckline
does more for a girl's future
than the entire
Britannica encyclopedia.
Allison,
could you help me a moment?
Sure.
Be right back.
You think Rod will like it?
When you have
your 18th birthday party,
I don't want you to invite
Betty Anderson.
Then I might as well
not have a party.
If I can't invite Betty,
Rodney Harrington won't come.
I wouldn't mind that at all.
If Rodney won't come, his friends won't,
and soon nobody will accept.
I can't understand why you want
to be friends with a girl like Betty.
Mother, you don't--
I don't like the way
she talks about men and sex.
It appears the only perfect individual
in Peyton Place is you.
We've had
17 dull birthday parties alone.
Could you let me have one
for myself, please?
Hey, Allison,
what about Betty?
- Hi, Norman.
- Oh, hi, Allison.
What's the matter?
Same old thing.
Grown-ups who act like children.
Hey, could I walk home with you?
Oh, no. It's out of your way.
Besides, you'll get home late.
You mean your mother
wouldn't like it.
- Well--
- Come on, Norman, come on.
Spend the afternoon
in the library again?
Yeah.
Isn't it awfully dull
going there every day?
Yeah.
Oh?
Then why do you do it?
Well, I like books.
Good place to do my homework.
Besides,
where else could I go but home?
Go down to the water,
sit in the square,
take a walk in the woods.
I can't.
You know, that was a nice speech
that you wrote for Miss Thornton.
I'm sorry I did it now.
Why didn't you read it yourself instead of
letting Rodney Harrington do it?
Because I was afraid I'd cry.
Still might cry every time I think of
Miss Thornton not getting that job.
You just might turn out
to be a great writer.
Oh, Norman, I hope so.
You know,
every time I touch a book
or read a story
or even when I just
open the dictionary,
something inside of me
goes thump...
and my heart
starts pounding,
and my stomach--
You know, it's how people are
supposed to feel when they fall in love.
Of course, I never have.
Oh, I wish I could be so sure of
what I wanted to do.
- You must have some idea.
- Mmm. No.
No, I thought of everything,
but nothing seems to fit me.
Maybe I'll be unique
and retire at the age of 18.
Norman!
It's about time you got home.
Hello, Mrs. Page!
- Bye, Norman.
- Wait just a minute, will you?
- But your--
- I don't want to go in just yet.
Norman, what an awful thing--
hating to go home.
Come on in here.
Well,
thanks for walking with me.
I enjoyed it, really.
Good-bye.
Good-bye.
- May I walk on it, Nellie?
- Sure. It's dry by now.
Your mother wants you to call her.
I really don't feel like it.
You two have a fight again?
Same fight, different round.
- Nellie.
- Yeah?
You've been both a daughter
and mother.
- Which one is worse?
- Being a mother.
Why?
You find yourself doing the same things
you hated your own mother and father doing.
That's very interesting.
Somewhere along the line,
doesn't somebody get intelligent
and realize the children have to
grow up their own way?
The mind's nothing to do with it.
It's your feelings.
Kids get born,
and you just worry about them
and you hope for them.
Well, I got to get going.
Good night, Nellie.
Good night, Allison.
Hello?
Oh, hello, Mother.
I just wanted to tell you
I've been thinking it over,
and you can invite anyone you want
to your birthday party.
Oh, Mother, thank you.
Thank you very much.
I'll be home in a little while.
Bye.
Um, 2676-J, please.
Hey, watch where you're going there,
buddy, will you?
- Oh, thanks much.
- Thank you.
- You don't need it.
- Right now I want it. I want some!
- Would you like a sandwich, Norman?
- No, thank you.
Excuse me.
Excuse me.
- Happy birthday!
- Happy birthday, Allison.
- Hi!
- How are you?
- Betty and Rodney!
- Hey, where's Ted Carter?
Right here.
Let's take that corny music off
and get down to serious dancing.
- What? Those are good records.
- Yeah. These are new ones.
- How about a sandwich?
- I brought mistletoe.
- Mistletoe?
- Hang it high, will ya, boy?
Only if I can kiss Betty Anderson.
Tonight, nobody's safe with me here.
Mistletoe?
Christmas is eight months away.
I believe in doing
my Christmas kissing early.
Hey!
- Hey, where's the punch?
- It's over there, Rodney.
- Good. I'm thirsty.
- We'll add the old family formula.
- Mother says we shouldn't.
- We can't do that.
- My mother wouldn't want--
- Don't tell me she's here.
- No, she's at the movies.
- Great!
Put the booze in the bowl.
That's the one thing
she made me promise. Please?
Come on, Allison.
You want to have a party or not?
- You can't fight city hall.
- I'm sorry.
Listen, forget it. I know 10 other ways
to make a birthday party successful.
Now, first,
we got to make the atmosphere
a little more intimate.
Rodney, aren't you the one?
- Evening.
- Evening.
- Hello, Doc.
- Hi, Connie.
- Just coffee, please.
- Right.
Who is that, Doc?
That's Mrs. MacKenzie.
She runs a dress shop.
She has a daughter in the senior class.
Allison MacKenzie.
- Beautiful woman.
- Yeah. A widow.
She was born here,
but had ambitions and left.
Married in New York
to some advertising genius.
When he died,
she came back here.
- I'd like to meet her.
- Wouldn't do you no good.
Bring your coffee.
Connie, you haven't met Mr. Rossi,
the new school principal.
- Mrs. MacKenzie.
- How do you do?
Hello. I hear about you
every day from my daughter.
Uh...
You been working kind of late?
No. I've been to the movies.
- Allison's giving a birthday party.
- Oh.
What does your daughter
plan to do after graduation?
She'd like to be a writer.
I'd like her to go to college.
It's too bad she didn't
have brothers and sisters.
Why do you say that?
It's just that I'm against
only-child families.
Only children receive all of the attention
and energy of the parents-- good and bad.
- I don't think Allison's turned out badly.
- She hasn't turned out yet.
Her life is just beginning.
Anyway, it's a little late to give her
any brothers and sisters, isn't it?
In your case,
I'd say it wasn't.
If I didn't like you so much
and know you so well--
Now, Connie,
don't you go proposing to me.
- For you, Doc.
- Excuse me.
Would you like a cigarette?
- Swain speaking.
- Thank you.
I'll be right over.
Speak of babies,
and they appear.
Mrs. Lunkle's in labor.
I'll see you later.
Thanks, Doc.
- Bye.
- Bye.
Doc Swain's always
talking about babies.
They're his stock in trade.
Not a bad subject though.
We teach schoolchildren
English and math and history,
and yet we neglect the one subject
that gives them the most trouble in life.
You don't recommend classes
in baby-making, do you?
Only in theory.
I intend to initiate a sex
education course in the school.
Isn't that a function of the home?
You'd think it would be,
yet not one parent in 10 does it.
No. Sex is taboo in the home.
And it should be in the schools.
Where would they learn it?
In the alleys in parked cars?
They'll learn it when they marry.
Good night, Mr. Rossi.
Doc Swain offers
a special price for frostbites.
- Come on, Allison.
- Rodney.
Allison!
- This was supposed to be a birthday party.
- Mother.
We were just playing
a game called photography.
You turn out the lights
and see what develops.
Don't be fresh.
Just leave immediately.
All of you!
I'm sorry, Mrs. MacKenzie,
but I just caught her under the mistletoe.
Will you please leave!
Happy birthday, Allison.
Come on, Betty.
Thanks anyway.
Thanks, Allison.
Come out here.
Allison, I said come out here!
I knew this would happen
if you invited Betty Anderson.
- It wasn't her fault.
- And you and Rodney making love.
We were kissing-- one kiss.
Not making love.
The house in darkness and couples
necking all over the place.
I know, Mother, but everyone
wanted to dance in the dark.
And I couldn't very well--
Mother, some time or other at every party
in this town, they turn out the lights.
I don't want you to be like
everybody in this town.
I want you to rise
above Peyton Place.
It's my home and my town,
and why should I want to rise above it?
Because its standards are low.
Its people trying to drag each other
down to their own common level.
I don't want to be perfect like you,
Mother.
I don't wanna live in a test tube.
I just want to be me
and have some fun and have some friends.
I'd rather be liked than be perfect.
By liked, you mean being
pawed over in the dark
by some young animal
with one thing on his mind?
Mother, don't make it sound like that!
Everything has to be learned,
even kissing.
And sex? Is that what you're
going to practice at your next party?
You keep trying to accuse me of things
I'm not even thinking about!
Oh, Allison.
I don't want you to get a reputation
for a half-hour's carelessness.
I already have one.
The wrong kind.
I want you to fall in love,
and at the proper time,
to marry a man who respects you.
I want you to have a good name.
I want--
You want!
You want! You want!
Is that all you can say?
Well, if any man
would seriously ask me,
I'd run away
and become his mistress.
Don't you ever let me
hear you say that again!
Ohh!
I don't know why I said it.
I don't know why I said it.
Allison!
Well, good morning.
Hello, Prudie.
- Hello, Allison.
- Hello, Joey.
Selena will be out
in a couple of minutes.
Thank you.
Come on in back.
I got a new baby lamb.
Oh, I'd love to see it.
Oh, it's darling.
- I didn't show you my lizard.
- Uh-uh.
I keep him in a box right there.
I got some holes punched in it
just so he can breathe.
His name is Pocahontas.
Used to be
a man didn't have to cook
- his own meals in his own house.
- Look at it all you want.
Times have changed.
Ma's working, and I'm late for church.
The way you parade yourself
up and down,
taking off your clothes,
putting on your clothes.
- I don't parade up and down.
- You do!
Like to show yourself off,
don't you?
I don't like to show myself off!
Just 'cause we don't live in a palace,
doesn't mean we have to act
like we're pigs or something.
We got a trash can,
remember?
Well, well, well.
If you don't pick it up,
somebody else has to.
And it wouldn't harm you to take
the garbage out and bury it either.
Or do you like living like a pig?
What do you think you are, a general
or something, always giving orders?
Take your hands off me!
Don't you touch her!
Don't you touch her anymore!
Hey, it was just a
little family fracas.
Guess my little girl's
getting too big to spank.
It was my fault, Allison.
I made him mad.
Every family has fights.
They're forgotten in an hour.
# Praise him, all creatures #
# Here below #
# Praise him all #
# Of the heavenly fold #
# Praise Father #
Come on.
Hey, Norman, you know what?
There's a place I know
that I'd like to show you
that no one knows about,
not even you.
It's my secret place.
Aw, I know every spot
within three miles of Peyton Place.
Not this one. Come on.
You're right.
I never knew this place was here.
I don't think anybody does but me
and maybe God and now you.
It's beautiful.
I've just decided.
This is the last time
I'm ever going to come here.
Uhh! Why?
Oh, I'm going to leave it
for somebody else to find.
Hey, maybe your children
will discover it, huh?
I'm never going to get married.
I'm just going to have lovers.
Oh, Allison.
What's wrong with that?
No children to grow up unhappy.
Nobody gets hurt,
except maybe me.
Yeah, but that's the worst kind of
emotional maladjustment.
Who said so?
- Oh, a book I read.
- What book?
Well, see,
I've sent for a book.
Uh, it was $1.98
in a plain wrapper.
- A plain wrapper?
- Yeah, a plain wrapper.
And, well, it was about
marriage and-- and sex.
I had it sent to me at the post office,
general delivery.
It took me about two weeks
to get up the courage to go pick it up.
Oh, God--
God, I know it sounds funny,
but that was the only way
I could find out anything.
Norman, you know what?
I sent for a book just like that,
in the same plain wrapper,
general delivery.
- No? Really? The same one?
- Mm-hmm.
And I read every word of it.
And I think that most of it's
mid-Victorian nonsense.
Maybe yours was better.
Hey, want to trade books?
Oh, no.
No, I'd be too embarrassed.
That's your whole trouble, Norman.
Everything embarrasses you.
- Everything frightens you.
- I know.
I'm-- I'm sorry.
I'm sorry we started
talking about all this.
Hey, Norman, look.
It's about time you learned
that girls want to do
the same things as boys.
And they have the right
to know how.
I mean, I think
we should help each other.
Are you suggesting that--
Oh, Norman,
don't get me wrong.
All I want is a normal,
intelligent discussion
and maybe some normal affection
between a boy and a girl.
Nothing more.
Everybody in this town
hides behind plain wrappers.
You're so afraid.
You've even been afraid to ask me
to the graduation dance.
Oh, Allison, I want--
Well, see, I'm just not asking anybody.
I'll be there, but I can't ask you.
Why not?
Well, my mother.
Your mother.
Well,
she wouldn't actually forbid it.
It's just that she gets--
she gets jealous of anybody at all
that I spend my time with.
Oh, you don't know her.
You don't have to live with her.
But she's my mother.
There's nothing I can do about that.
You don't have to tell me any more,
Norman.
Please, Allison.
I've got to tell somebody.
She won't let me have friends.
She-- Oh.
She makes me tell her
10 times a day how much I love her.
She's afraid she'll die alone
in a poorhouse.
Oh, and marriage--
marriage, she says, is misery,
and a woman can only
cause me trouble.
Oh, Norman.
I can't believe it.
Nobody would.
Now maybe you know
why I hate to go home,
why I live in the library.
Why I-- I can't dance or kiss girls
or look anybody in the eye.
You see,
I'm a sissy and a coward.
No, you're not, Norman.
No one around town stopped to think
and give you a chance.
You shouldn't be afraid of girls.
I know, but I am,
and I don't know what I can do about it.
- I know what you can do.
- What?
You can start with me.
I'll prove everything
your mother ever said was wrong.
Would you kiss me, Norman?
- I don't think I can.
- Yes, you could.
Kiss me.
I don't know why
I should act so experienced.
It was only
my second kiss this year.
It wasn't as good as Rodney's,
was it?
No.
Hello.
I guess I should have phoned,
- but I was in the neighborhood--
- No, that's all right.
I have a message for Allison.
Is she home?
No.
She and Selena have just gone over to
Kathy Ellsworth's house.
Gives me a good excuse
to talk to you.
May I come in?
Oh, of course.
You have a lovely house.
Thank you.
Please come in.
This is a very comfortable room.
Good books, pictures.
My own hotel room's a bit basic.
I have a mirror for shaving,
a basin for washing,
and a closet where I hang my coat,
and that's about it.
- You ought to find yourself a house.
- I'm trying to.
In the meantime,
I still have my hotel room,
which I clear out of
right after dinner.
Uh, you said you had something
you wanted to tell me.
I was telling you something,
Mrs. MacKenzie,
but you weren't listening.
Your husband?
He died when Allison was two.
And, uh, Allison.
Well, a few years ago.
She's grown a bit since then.
Oh, I came to tell you that
Allison has been named valedictorian.
Oh, that's wonderful.
She'll be terribly pleased,
and so am I.
She's a fine girl--
bright and sensitive.
You should be very proud of her.
Yes, I am.
Well, that's what I came about.
Good night, Mrs. MacKenzie.
You are lonely here, aren't you?
It's not the worst thing
that can happen to you.
Isn't it?
You can learn to live by yourself.
You can get used to it.
Maybe, but that doesn't
make it the best way to live.
The best way?
What would that be?
People meeting, talking.
Well, in Peyton Place,
two people talking is--
is a conspiracy.
A meeting is an assignation,
and getting to know one another
is a scandal.
I think you're hard on the town.
You're hard on yourself.
No, I--
I'm quite all right the way I am.
What were you going to do tonight?
Wash your hair? Read a book?
Go to the movies alone?
Well, it makes time pass.
Time shouldn't just pass,
Mrs. MacKenzie.
It should be used.
I wouldn't know where to begin.
Begin at the beginning.
Begin by getting out.
We need another chaperone
for the graduation dance.
Why don't you help us out.
Will you come?
- I'd think I'd like that.
- Fine.
Good night, and thanks.
- Good night.
- Good night.
Betty Anderson's father
stopped me in the shop today.
Yeah? What did he want?
He asked when you was gonna marry Betty,
before college or during?
I hadn't exactly thought of marrying her.
I wouldn't hear of it
even if you wanted to!
Anderson's a good foreman,
but his daughter's something else.
- Yeah, I agree.
- Then stop seeing her.
I can't stop seeing her
right away, Dad.
I invited her
to the graduation dance.
Un-invite her.
Aw, now, Dad,
I can't do that.
You're gonna.
Do you realize what it would mean
if you was to marry the local tramp?
When you marry, you're gonna
marry someone on your own level.
Call her and tell her it's off.
- You trying to kill me?
- Call her.
- Aw, please, Dad.
- Go on! Call her!
1042-W, please.
I can understand
you wanting to see this girl,
but not in public.
You know what I mean.
Okay, okay, Dad.
Nobody's fighting you.
I'll be as big a Harrington as you.
I'll marry a cold fish from Boston,
have one child,
and cheat the rest of my life.
An apple doesn't fall far
from the tree.
But the graduation dance
is important.
You want a new car,
don't you?
Uh, B-Betty?
Um, hello, Betty.
Look, this is Rodney.
Look, Betty, this is, uh, so terrible,
I don't know where to begin.
Tell her.
Betty,
the graduation dance is off.
Aw, she hung up.
What a fine graduation!
- I know someone you can take.
- Who?
Allison MacKenzie.
Yeah. Her mother kicked me out of the house
for kissing her on her birthday.
I'll talk to her mother.
Allison's a girl of quality.
Dad,
quality's a good thing in woolen cloth,
but it's very dull on a big date.
I didn't know you were
such a good dancer, Allison.
- Thank you.
- Yeah. Sure.
- Hi, Rod.
- Hi there, Allison.
Hi.
Hey, Rodney,
looking for someone?
After the dance,
shall we go to Rockland?
Okay.
Oh, really?
- Some more, Mrs. MacKenzie?
- No, thank you, Miss Thornton.
May I have this dance,
Mrs. MacKenzie?
Well, I--
I haven't danced for such a long time,
I'm afraid I'd be terrible.
Dancing isn't something you forget.
Hey, listen, Allison,
I promised a dance to Betty.
The second one after intermission.
Do you mind?
No.
Not if you promised it to her.
- I'll see you around, okay?
- Okay.
Allison.
Did you see your mother
dancing with Mr. Rossi?
No, I've never seen
my mother dance.
Standing right over there.
They make a good-looking couple.
They do?
- Hi, Norman.
- Hi.
Dance with me, Norman.
I don't know how.
Just try.
- Where we going?
- You'll see.
Hey, Rodney,
you got a new car.
Yeah.
Hey, come on. Get in.
Oh, Rodney,
it's beautiful.
Here we are,
snug as peas in a pod.
- Where we going?
- Nowhere.
Hey, I'm mad at you.
Come on, Betty.
- You really wanna kiss me, don't you?
- Boy, do I.
Tell me how much.
- Betty, I--
- Tell me.
I wanna kiss you more
than anyone in the world.
I wanna kiss you a thousand times.
I never wanna stop kissing you.
That's pretty good.
I'll give you one kiss.
What would Allison say?
Oh, why bring her name up
at a time like this? Hmm?
Only one kiss to a customer.
Betty, I couldn't help it.
My father made me call you on the phone.
Wouldn't you rather be with me?
Oh, yes. Yes.
Tell me how much.
In the whole world,
in the whole wide world,
there's nobody I'd rather
be with than you, Betty.
Give me another kiss.
Oh, honey, honey.
- You wanna make love to me?
- Oh, yes, yes, of course I want to.
Now go make love to
Allison MacKenzie.
Go get the girl you brought to
the dance and try it with her.
And the next time I go out,
it will be with a man, not a papa's boy.
Ladies and gentlemen,
pupils and faculty of
Peyton Place High School,
and especially the seniors.
They tell me it is a tradition here
to end each graduation dance
with "Auld Lang Syne."
Well, since I'm new here
and not yet part of your traditions,
I think the song should be led by a woman
who has been with you long.
Miss Elsie Thornton.
Thank you, Mr. Rossi.
We're a small spot in a small town
on a great big map.
And maybe Peyton Place High School
isn't a name that shakes the world,
but it's a part of each of you forever.
Make it great by honoring it,
and come back to see us
whenever you can.
Now let's form a big circle,
everyone holding hands.
# Should auld acquaintance be forgot #
# And never brought to mind #
# Should auld acquaintance be forgot #
# And days of auld lang syne #
# For auld lang syne, my dear #
# For auld lang syne #
# We'll take a cup of kindness yet #
# For auld lang syne #
It's an odd feeling,
being in a school when it's so quiet.
I always kind of think
of it as sleeping,
resting up from the pounding
it takes during the day.
Do you work here at night?
Oh, yes. Quite often.
You don't realize all the work and
preparation it takes to be a teacher.
It's like--
Well, it's like all these kids were my own.
I love them.
I want so much for them.
It's more than a job to you,
isn't it?
I didn't mean to sound like
the dedicated idealist.
Well, there's
nothing wrong in that.
Connie...
I did want to thank you
for coming tonight.
Well, you don't have to.
I enjoyed everything.
Including the, uh, dancing?
Including.
You're wasting your time, Mike.
I had my love a long time ago.
And when my husband died,
I came back here,
and I've had no time for anything
but Allison and the dress shop.
- You've got time now.
- It's too late.
- Look, Connie, if I were to--
- I said it's too late.
I made my choice...
long ago.
Please take me home.
Sure.
Selena, let's get married.
You mean now?
Well, sure.
I can get a full-time job.
But what about college
and law school that
you've always talked about?
Oh, that's just a dream.
I can't do it.
- My old man doesn't make enough money--
- Well, whose father does?
Not everyone in college
is a millionaire's son.
Don't get so steamed up.
Ted Carter,
you've always wanted to be a lawyer.
Now go be it.
Don't crumple up at the first obstacle.
The first obstacle's the biggest--
the money.
Well, then get over that,
and the rest should be easy.
Selena, do you know how long
it takes to become a lawyer?
What difference does it make?
It's what you want to do in life.
One of the things
I want to do in life is marry you.
If I don't now,
maybe I never will.
Ted, the only family
I'll ever have will be half yours.
I'll wait,
no matter how long it takes.
Good night.
Good night, Selena.
Ted?
Thank you.
Ma?
Ma?
Joey?
I thought you was something
out of a dream.
Where's Ma and Joey?
Let us-- Let's have a drink,
cel-celebrate your growing up.
Where's Ma and Joey?
They're working at a party
at Harrington's.
Come on.
Let's have a drink, huh?
Rather stay in the dark,
getting kissed by Ted Carter.
I'm going to bed.
About time I started
teaching you something--
Lucas. Lucas,
let me go! Lucas!
Never had nothing I ever wanted.
Never had a beautiful woman.
Lucas, let go!
Let me up!
Let me offer to the class of 1941
this fond farewell.
The world outside waits for you.
It is a world full of love
and rich in opportunity.
There may be dangers,
but if you hold firm
to your purpose and your ideals,
you will storm the ramparts of success
and capture them.
Tomorrow, you grow up
and your true happiness begins.
- Thank you.
- My best wishes to you.
Selena Cross.
Norman.
At first, a diploma seemed
like a reward for the past,
but once in your hand,
it became an obligation to the future.
Independence was a distant word
that we suddenly owned,
and we exploded with it.
Some of us
splashed away the summer,
or swooped and stretched
with joyfulness...
and emptied our childish
piggy banks of their play money.
Yet, others of us,
eager to feel adult
or out of necessity,
began our work early.
- Put the bottle up on top.
- Here?
And, gradually,
as the happy confusion of summer faded,
one by one, we knew the Monday morning
of responsibility was at hand.
- Hi, Mr. Rossi.
- Hello, Allison.
Did you read those
stories I gave you?
Yes, I read them.
Well?
- When did you write them?
- All summer, ever since graduation.
Has anybody else seen them?
Only Selena.
She thinks I'm a genius.
What do you think?
Are they good enough
to send to a magazine?
Yes, if you want to
end up in prison.
Those stories were full of
enough libel and slander
and double entendre
to hang us all.
Allison, is that how Peyton Place
really looks to you?
They were only fiction.
I didn't use any real names.
You didn't have to.
I recognized everybody in town.
Oh.
But let's get down to
the important part.
You have a talent.
Those stories were a good start.
Now where do you go from here?
That's what I hoped
to find out from you.
Then I suggest college.
With your talent and your ideas,
you could--
Thank you,
but I don't want to go to college.
- I never have.
- Why not?
Because I don't want to study
about writing. I want to write.
Nobody has to tell me that
Shakespeare was a wonderful writer
or that a million wonderful books
have already been written.
Allison, those books
tell you how and why.
I'd rather find that out myself
at a typewriter.
I need someplace to get me going,
someplace to start.
All right.
If that's how you feel about it,
then let's do it.
Hmm? Let's start at the
Peyton Place Times.
Who said I was a cynical,
hard-hearted newspaperman?
Aren't all newspapermen
supposed to be?
Allison, that's a myth.
Why, we're the most
sentimental slobs in the world,
- the softest touches there are.
- Prove it.
All right.
When do I start? All I want is
a chance to show what I can do.
Write something up this week,
and I'll run it on Friday.
Oh, thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bushwell.
I'll start right away.
I'll dig up a story you'll never forget.
- I don't doubt it.
- Thank you.
Uh, just remember,
there's no such thing as a cheap lawsuit.
- Oh.
- Hold on.
We haven't discussed pay.
You don't have to pay me.
I'll do it for experience.
Allison, the first thing experience
teaches us is to get paid.
Five dollars a column to start.
More later.
Oh, gee.
That's more than--
Oh, I wouldn't want these stories to
fall into the wrong hands, you know.
Thanks, Seth.
There's no question about it.
The tests confirm that
you're pregnant, Selena.
I'd say about three months.
Who's the father?
I won't tell you.
Aw,
now what kind of rot is that?
You're not the first girl in the world
who ever had to get married,
or in this town, for that matter.
Who's the father?
- Ted Carter?
- No!
- Don't you lie to me. Don't lie!
- I'm not lying to you.
Doc, help me.
- I need your help.
- What do you mean by help?
I don't wanna have the baby.
Give me something.
There's nothing I can give you
to take that will help.
Just tell me who's responsible.
Maybe I can help you that way.
You can get married.
He's already married.
Well, then he'll have to take care of you
and provide for the baby.
- Just tell me who it is.
- Doc, please, just give me something.
Selena!
I've done a lot of things in my time,
but I've never broken the law.
What you're asking me to do is
break the law of man and God.
Now tell me,
who is the man?
Selena,
tell me who he is!
- Who is he?
- It's my stepfather!
It's my stepfather.
It's Lucas! It's Lucas.
Hi, Doc. Come on in.
Have a drink.
I've got Selena in my office.
Selena? What for?
She's pregnant.
I told her she'd get in
a mess of trouble.
Always wrestling around
with that Carter boy.
- I told her. She wouldn't listen.
- You low, miserable, crazy slime.
Don't you go shoving a man
with an ax in hand.
- That's your child Selena's carrying.
- It ain't!
I can prove it, Lucas.
I've got enough proof on you,
Lucas,
to put you in jail
for the rest of your unnatural life.
- I never touched her.
- Here. Sign that.
It's a statement of the facts.
No. Are you out of your mind?
I never touched her.
Maybe you'd like the state police
to sweat it out of you.
I never touched her, and I ain't gonna
sign nothing that said I did.
All right. You don't want to
sign this paper, that's up to you.
Hey, Doc. Doc.
Y-You know I couldn't do nothing
as awful as that, don't you?
I'm going back to my office.
And then I'm gonna start telephoning
every father in Peyton Place.
Oh. Oh, you wouldn't.
I don't know what they'll take it in
their heads to do, but I do know this.
You're the janitor
in a school full of young girls.
In an hour from now,
I wouldn't want to be in your shoes.
Doc, Doc, don't--
don't do it.
I-I wouldn't think of fooling around
with any other girls.
It was just Selena, Doc.
Well, there was
something about her.
It was just Selena.
Please, Doc, don't.
There's only one thing
that will stop me.
You sign that.
If--
If I sign it,
what are you
going to do with it?
I'll lock it up in my safe.
Give me the pen.
Now get out of here
and leave a man to work.
No, Lucas.
You get out.
You get out of Peyton Place
before dark.
Doc, I signed it for you.
If you do,
I'll keep this paper in my safe.
But if you don't,
I'll use it against you.
- I signed it!
- Don't you ever try to come back here.
Not next week,
not next year, not ever.
If you do,
I'll kill you myself.
Why, you little--
Mary.
Unofficially,
this was a miscarriage.
Officially and for the records,
it's an appendectomy.
- But that's a lie.
- I removed her appendix, you understand?
Do you want to
ruin a girl's life for one word?
- No, but falsifying records--
- I'll make them out personally.
And if you ever tell anybody
this wasn't an appendectomy,
I'll tell the whole town about you
and that drug-supply salesman.
- Doctor, that's blackmail.
- It sure is.
Oh, Nellie, she's all right now.
She's just fine.
Oh, thank God.
- Oh, the disgrace. Disgrace.
- Now, now, now.
- Shh. Nellie, Nellie.
- Disgrace.
Don't talk that way.
Nobody's ever going to know
but the three of us.
People find out.
They always find out.
No, no, no.
Nobody's going to find out
as long as you don't say a word.
- Understand?
- No. No, I won't.
Good. Now,
you run on home now, hmm?
- Thank you, Doctor.
- That's a good girl.
Thanks. Thanks.
Don't worry about your job.
It'll always be waiting for you.
Thanks for the
beautiful bed jacket.
Hi, Mrs. MacKenzie,
Hi, Allison.
- Hello, Ted.
- We were just leaving.
- Don't let me rush you out.
- We have to go anyway.
- Bye.
- Good-bye, Selena. See you soon.
They say it'll bloom for a month.
Then you can plant it in your yard
as a reminder of your operation.
Here's a book on humor.
Surgery's nothing these days.
You'll be up and around before you know it.
Oh, I went to see
Mr. Rossi today.
Talked to him about
how to get to college.
He said he might be able to
wrangle me a scholarship.
In the meantime,
he talked Charlie Partridge into taking me
into his office as an office boy.
How about that?
That's just fine.
The only thing, though,
if I work there a year,
it'll be eight years instead of seven
before I can pass the bar exam.
Gee, Selena,
I don't want to wait that long.
I wanna marry you now
and become a lawyer too.
Gee, honey, don't cry.
There's nothing to cry about.
Please go, Ted.
Just go.
Okay.
Guess I picked the wrong time.
I'll come back tomorrow
when you're feeling better.
Morning, Mrs. MacKenzie.
Why, Nellie.
You didn't have to
come to work today.
Work keeps my mind
off of things.
Selena's all right now,
isn't she?
She'll be back
to the store tomorrow.
Everything is just trouble,
Mrs. MacKenzie, just trouble.
Oh, Nellie,
don't do any work today.
Just sit around and relax.
Happy Labor Day, Mother.
Something's wrong.
She's upset.
Can't blame her with Lucas
being gone for two weeks
and nobody knows
where he is.
I've gotta run.
Bye.
- Hi, Norman.
- Hi.
- How are you?
- Fine.
Come on.
Hello, Mike.
Where'd you come from?
Back there.
Go ahead.
Nothing's as dull as
a Labor Day speech.
I didn't bring you here to explain
how management and labor
must pull together and
not in opposite directions.
You've got living proof of it
in our prosperity.
And there's more to come.
Meet me halfway,
and you'll never be unemployed.
Not as long as men and women
don't go back to wearing fig leaves.
And if they did,
I'll bet we'd be in the fig leaf business
sooner than anybody
east of the Alleghenies.
Now, aside from this celebration,
this is a proud moment of my life.
Tomorrow,
my son Rodney leaves for Harvard.
Let's get the fun started
and give him a send-off.
End of speech.
I'm just beside myself.
First Paul goes and then Lucas.
I don't know how Selena and me
can keep on working
and take care of Joey.
- You'll just have to keep trying.
- I've been trying all my life.
Got a husband
who was drunk all the time
and a growing girl
dressing and undressing in front of him...
and him staring at her
all the time,
staring at her and thinking.
Oh, Nellie.
We all have our problems.
Staring at her and...
staring at her.
- Hello.
- Hello.
What are you doing
out here by yourself?
I'm not used to being at home
all day with Nellie.
She has too many problems.
And as for the Harrington outing,
I've seen them all.
Let's go for a drive,
try to find something interesting to do.
Far away from Peyton Place.
Now you're beginning to think
like a true suspicious native.
All right.
- Are you ready?
- Yeah!
- Are you ready?
- Sure.
Ready, set, go!
Hot dogs.
No. I like to.
Gimme two hot dogs with mustard.
I'll take five.
# Now is the time #
# You tell me #
# Your dream #
# I'll #
# Tell you #
# Mine #
# I'll tell you mine #
Hi, Harvard.
Going to invite me to the big game?
Well, if it isn't my
childhood sweetheart.
How are you, Betty?
Take a look.
Draw your own conclusions.
Well, you certainly
have improved with age.
Things must have been pretty dull
for you these past months.
You know, you're right.
Come on. Let's take a walk.
What would your father say?
Look, Betty.
I don't care about that.
- Come on.
- Outings leave me cold.
Let's grab some sandwiches.
I've got a pint in the glove compartment.
We'll go down to Crystal Pond.
Place will be deserted today.
Hey, you can think for yourself,
once in a while, can't you?
- Come on.
- Okay.
# Oh #
# Genevieve #
# Sweet Genevieve #
# The days may come #
Hey, let's go
get a hot dog or something.
- Okay.
- Good.
# But still the hands #
# Of mem'ry weave #
# The blissful dreams #
# Of long ago #
- Let's go swimming or something. Okay?
- Okay.
- See that?
- Hmm? What?
Allison MacKenzie
and Norman Page
on their way down to Crystal Pond
to swim all by themselves.
So what? They're young,
happy, maybe in love.
What trouble can they get into?
If you don't understand,
I'm not going to explain.
- More?
- Why not?
Your father said to
give you a big send-off.
- Rodney?
- Hmm?
Will I ever see you again?
I mean, can I compete
with those Boston girls?
- What are your qualifications?
- Can't you guess?
Seeing is believing.
I think you're 10% man
and 90% talk.
And you're 100% woman.
250% woman.
Maybe 500.
It's gonna take a lot more
than money to keep me.
Hey, you know what you're
doing to my temperature?
Okay. Let's cool it off.
Let's go for a swim.
But we didn't bring
any bathing suits.
Yeah.
- You all ready, Norman?
- Yeah.
Forgot my cap.
What did you say?
Norman,
you're making me blush all over.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Let's go in swimming, huh?
What'd you whistle for?
Just saw a young fella and a girl
swimming without a stitch on.
Where?
Oh, they're gone now.
Yeah. They got out of the water
and ran into the woods.
Naked?
Naked.
It was Allison MacKenzie
and Norman Page.
I didn't really get a
good look at them.
Don't you lie to me,
Charles.
Marion, we're gonna pull out of here
and forget we even saw them.
Betty, do you know
how much I like you?
I remember...
faintly.
Well, you know, I found out you can't
always do or say what you want to,
that is,
unless your father lets you.
Rodney,
are you going through all of your life
only doing what your father lets you do?
Only having the friends
that he picks out for you?
Wearing what he
tells you to wear?
Thinking his thoughts?
Well, Betty, I'm old enough,
but he's a tough man to handle.
- You've got to do it someday.
- Yeah, but how?
I have a selfish idea.
It has to do with you and me.
It's--
It's called... marriage.
And wouldn't that
just bowl him over?
I'm sure it would.
And me too.
But don't think of doing it
just to bowl him over.
Oh, Betty,
you're the only girl I've ever wanted.
Rodney.
Rodney, not that way.
What good is life
if I go through it knowing
I didn't have the guts
to live it my way?
Rodney,
I've really loved you
for such a long time.
It must take a lot of patience
to make something so beautiful.
That's what they tell me.
All gone.
Thank you.
Naked as the day they were born.
Not a stitch on 'em.
Saw them with my own eyes.
Sorry. Just don't think it would be ethical
to tell their names. Good-bye.
Marion?
- Thanks for today.
- Anytime.
How about tomorrow,
for instance?
I can't remember
when I've had so much fun.
I've almost forgotten
all the silly and wonderful things
there are for two people to do.
It isn't over yet.
Mike, please.
- I don't think we'd better.
- Connie, listen to me.
I mean it.
All right.
Let's talk about this.
I don't want to talk.
I just want you to leave.
- Just like that?
- That's right.
We're not kids.
We're adults.
And we're going to
behave like adults.
I kissed you. You kissed me.
That's affection, not carnality.
That's affection, not lust.
You ought to know the difference.
And what do you call a man
who thinks about nothing but--
Human.
All men are alike.
The approach is different,
but the result is always the same.
Sooner or later, we get around to this.
If all I wanted was a woman,
I could get one anyplace--
in a bar, in a hotel lobby,
on a street corner--
Or in my home?
I'm not going to let you
make anything dirty out of this.
What do you call it?
I'm going to tell you
a hard truth about yourself.
It isn't sex you're afraid of.
You can say yes or no to that.
It's love.
That's what you can't handle.
That's what you're offering me,
with your hands all over me.
That's only one expression of it,
backed up by many things.
Well, I haven't
asked for any of them.
You'd better understand
what you're saying no to.
When I take you in my arms,
I'm committing myself to you,
not just physically
but all the way.
That means I intend to worry about you,
to take care of you,
to stand in front of you
if there's trouble,
and that's what I want
back from you,
without any reservations
or shame or embarrassment.
Either you're up to that
or you're not.
I have my standards
and my pride.
And not enough.
Not for you or anyone else.
- You need someone to trust, to love.
- No, I don't!
I don't!
Now, just leave me alone.
I can do that too, but I don't want to.
Connie, let me help you.
I don't care if you hang back.
If it takes time, I'll give it time,
- all you need.
- I can't!
The offer's always open.
I don't know if you'll take it up,
but...
perhaps it'll make you feel better
to know it's there.
Hello.
Yes, Marion.
I don't believe it.
Are you positive?
No. No,
I'll call Mrs. Page myself.
Operator, will you please
connect me with Evelyn Page?
I don't believe Norman did
what you said he did.
Two people saw them,
and Marion Partridge
has probably spread it all over town.
Don't you dare
say a word against Norman.
If you'd brought your son up with some
intelligence and decent principles--
He has no interest in girls.
He never had.
He never learned a thing
about sex in my house.
The word was never mentioned.
- Oh, hello, Mrs. Page.
- Come in here.
- Where's Norman?
- Outside, just going home.
- Mother?
- You just stay right here.
- What's the matter?
- Norman!
- Come in here.
- What is it, Mom?
- Where were you today?
- What is it, Mother?
You were seen at Crystal Pond,
swimming in the nude with Norman.
Oh, that's a lie.
Mother, how could you
even think such a thing?
You were seen clearly
and plainly by two people.
We went swimming, Mrs. MacKenzie,
but we had our suits on.
And by now,
everybody in Peyton Place knows about it.
So help me, if anything's wrong
with her because of this--
I didn't do anything.
We didn't do anything, did we, Allison?
- No.
- You better take your boy and go.
We didn't do anything.
I've never, never been so
humiliated and disgusted.
Allison!
Come back here immediately.
Listen, Mother.
If you keep this up, someday I will
do what you keep accusing me of.
I wouldn't doubt it.
You're just like your father about sex.
In that way,
you're just like him.
Don't you say things about my father.
He was a wonderful man.
- Wonderful!
- And fine and good to you.
That's what you told me.
So don't blame him for anything.
Wonderful, fine and good.
That's what I told you?
Well, I lied.
I lied about him
because I was ashamed of him and of myself.
- Then why did you marry him?
- I didn't!
And he didn't marry me,
because he already had a wife!
- You don't mean that, Mother.
- I do mean it!
- Don't you understand?
- No.
He had a wife.
No.
Nellie!
Allison.
Ah!
Connie,
everybody reacts differently to suicide.
With Allison,
severe shock.
But she looks so--
so--
No, shock is just
a kind of a sleep.
It's an escape, when the mind
can't accept what it sees.
A few days' care
and she'll be out of it.
Uh, I guess
I'd better tell Selena.
And, Connie, just because
it happened in your house,
don't think that any of it
was your fault.
Somehow I do.
You've got just one thing
to think about: Allison.
If you were gonna get married,
why didn't you tell me?
- Because you wouldn't have approved, Dad.
- You never gave me a chance.
At least, it would have been
a proper marriage,
not a cheap, sneak-off,
weekend affair.
- Don't say that.
- Well, what was it?
- I'd like to talk with you alone.
- You can talk to both of us.
This has to do with the business,
not your wife.
I'll wait outside.
Okay, honey.
I can get it annulled.
Look, Dad. I don't want
any trouble between us.
I was in love with Betty
and I wanted to marry her. That's all.
You weren't in love.
You had an itching for her.
She took you, Son.
She took you.
Good-bye, Dad.
When you come to the house,
don't bring her.
- And I won't be there either.
- Rodney.
- What about college?
- I'm not going. I have a wife to support.
You can have a job here
if you work like everyone else.
That's good enough for me.
Thanks, Dad.
I knew you weren't coming down for lunch,
so I thought--
It's such a beautiful day, darling.
Why don't you get dressed
and go for a walk.
You haven't spoken to me
for over a week since--
Oh, Allison,
I understand how you feel.
You'll just have to
accept what's happened
and make the best of it.
Mother.
As soon as I can,
I'm going to get dressed,
pack my things and leave Peyton Place.
I never want to see this town
or you again.
- You can't mean that.
- I mean it.
I'm going to New York.
Oh, please, Allison. I--
I was only trying to protect you.
I was an accident that you hated
and tried to hide.
But I loved you
from the moment you were born.
Try to believe me.
Well, how will you live?
What will you do for money?
I have enough to get there.
I'll find a job.
Suppose you can't find a job.
Then I'll live off some man
the way you did.
Oh, God.
Oh, God, help me.
Allison!
Allison!
I didn't want you to
come down here.
- I couldn't say good-bye in person.
- I don't want you to go.
- But I'm going just the same.
- You stay here.
You belong here,
both of us together.
We've been friends ever
since we were kids.
Good-bye, Selena.
But your mother.
How can you leave her alone?
Mother's always been alone.
Oh, Selena.
I cried all the way to New York,
and my eyes were the color of the oak
leaves that had started to fall back home.
For days I struggled
to keep alive,
and I shivered with loneliness
in a back room
on the fourth floor of nowhere.
There were times
when I wanted to crawl home,
but somehow I managed,
and I stayed.
I learned what I could endure,
but none of us in New York
or in Peyton Place
could guess how much would be demanded
of us that winter of deep despair.
I knew families at home would be
getting up on frosty mornings,
driving their sons to a place
of hurried good-bye.
I prayed for them.
Come on, fellas.
Get your last cup of civilian coffee.
That army stuff is used for
waterproofing shingles.
That's what I heard.
Thank you, sir.
- Take a couple.
- Did you hear what Norman Page did?
He became the first 4-F in town.
- No. He enlisted in the paratroopers.
- No kidding.
- Our Norman?
- Yeah. He volunteered, the paratroopers.
That's the funniest thing
I heard in years.
Maybe they'll
drop his mother with him.
She'd kill a thousand Japanese
before she'd let one of them touch her boy.
Brought you a doughnut.
Here.
Oh, Rodney, I'm going to cry.
No, you don't.
Don't say anything silly either.
Betty, you don't know how glad I am
that I married you.
Oh, Rodney, I hope so.
Your father's over there.
Go say good-bye to him.
Go on.
Go say good-bye to him.
He loves you as much as I do.
Go on.
Take care of yourself,
and whatever you do,
do it honorably.
Well, that's the family motto.
Say, do me a favor, Dad.
Certainly, Son.
Take care of Betty
if she needs anything.
She won't ask you for it,
but she might need it.
I'll keep an eye on her.
Will all the draftees
assemble over here, please?
Come right in close.
Now, as chairman
of the draft board,
let me say that all of us regret
having to send any of you men off to war.
You carry our love, our devotion
and our undying gratitude.
Please try to come back
safely to your homes.
Now, we've prepared
some gift packages.
If you'll just step up here,
and I'll hand them out.
There you are.
Peyton Place draftees,
in the bus on the double,
let's go.
- Best of luck.
- Hubba hubba hubba!
Come on, boys.
Hurry it up.
Make the good-byes short.
Name loud and strong.
Last name. Okay, go on.
- Clark.
- Clark.
- Reilly.
- Reilly.
- Culver.
- Culver.
- Jones.
- Jones.
- Harvey.
- Keep going right in, boys. That's it.
You boys are gonna
love the army.
- Elliot.
- Elliot. Right.
Hurry up. Back of the bus. All the way.
Plenty of seats for everybody.
Nothing in this world's
gonna stop me from coming back.
- I love you, Selena.
- I love you, Ted.
Come on. Hurry up.
Hurry up. On the double.
Hubba hubba hubba!
Let's go, boys.
Got 'em all.
Hey, you, snap it up.
On the double. Let's go.
You can write to her later
on government stationery.
Good-bye, folks. Let's go.
That first winter
away from home,
I took shape as an individual
and toughened.
And with spring
came the promise that perhaps
I had found my place in life.
But part of me
would keep escaping,
and I'd find it running in memory
back through the fields of Peyton Place
or wandering down streets
now empty of young men.
I got a couple of funny ones.
This is from Ted Carter.
He says,
"The food they serve here must have been
warmed over from World War I."
- Oh. You remember Fred Cole.
- Oh, sure.
- He's in the navy.
- Yes, I know.
He says, uh,
"Dear Hyde, I joined the navy
because I liked the way
they kept their ships neat and tidy,
but I never knew until now
who kept them that way? me."
Yeah, the boys are certainly
getting around these days.
I had a V-Mail letter
just the other day
from someplace
from Norman Page.
- You remember Norman.
- Oh, sure.
He said something about--
He dug a foxhole so deep,
it was just short of desertion.
And then the seasons
spun by so fast
they seemed to become one.
The war news
was too big to grasp
and too unhappy to understand.
Selena wrote me often
about Peyton Place,
and I treasured her letters.
She always tried to
mention my mother
and tell me what people
were saying to each other
or were not saying.
Eventually,
I broke the ice of my intentions
and subscribed to the
Peyton Place Times.
I was hungry for names
that meant something to me,
but among them, unhappily,
came the names of those
who were gone forever.
Betty.
Rodney asked me to
take care of you.
- I don't need your help, Mr. Harrington.
- But I need yours.
Rodney was a better boy
for having married you.
When I was six years old,
I was in love with Rodney.
And for years afterwards,
I never even thought about anybody else.
I was a kind of flashy girl, I know,
but Rodney liked flashy girls,
so that's the way I was gonna be.
Funny thing is, Rodney always loved me
as much as I loved him.
But you taught him appearances
counted more than feelings.
I was wrong.
Rodney discovered it.
Let's--
Let's keep what's left
of the family together.
No.
A little brighter one, please.
- Did you hear about Mr. Rossi?
- No, what?
- He's leaving town.
- Leaving?
Well, not really leaving.
They're trying to get him to be the
principal of a high school in Portland.
- You sure?
- Of course I'm sure.
- I got it firsthand.
- From Mr. Rossi?
No. I got it from Kathy who got it
from Betty who got it from Miss Thornton.
I suppose that's firsthand.
I guess we won't be able
to keep him here.
- Gee, this is nice. Can I try it on?
- Sure. Come on.
Merry Christmas.
Come in. Merry Christmas.
It's been a long time,
and it is Christmas.
You don't have to explain a gift.
Thank you.
Come in.
Let me take your coat.
I can only stay a moment.
I have to deliver
a few more things.
- Can I fix you a drink?
- No, thank you.
Well, come in.
Sit down.
Well, I really came to--
Is it true that you
might go to Portland?
Well, I've received the offer.
It's a larger school and,
naturally, much more money.
So, of course you'll take it.
I don't know.
I have a week to make up my mind.
Sit down.
- Michael?
- Yes?
You were right.
I never thought I could say it,
but you were right.
- About what?
- During the past months,
I've been able to come to
a few conclusions about myself.
- And what were they?
- Well, Michael, I-I've lied so long.
I was everything you said,
especially that night in the kitchen.
I wanted you more than you
could ever have wanted me.
I had no right to say
those things to you.
Yes, you did.
And I came here
to tell you the truth.
Connie, you don't owe me
any explanations.
Allison didn't leave home
because of Nellie's suicide
but because she hated me.
She won't answer my letters
or phone calls.
Why not?
The night you walked out,
Marion Partridge called me.
She told me Allison
and Norman Page were swimming--
I heard about that woman
and her phone calls.
Well, I've always been
so afraid of scandal.
I believed Marion.
I believed that phone call.
And without thinking,
when Allison returned,
I--
I told her some terrible things.
What things?
Come on, Connie.
What things?
I'm Allison's mother,
but I've never been married.
Not to Angus MacKenzie.
Not to anyone.
I went to New York
and lived with a married man.
After he died,
I came back here and lied.
And I've been lying ever since.
You want the truth,
and when you get it, you're--
you're just like everybody else.
- They want anything but the truth.
- Connie. Connie!
I told you once
that the offer was always open.
I told you that I'm committing
myself to you all the way,
that I plan to worry about you and--
and take care of you.
I meant that.
Oh, Michael!
How's that?
Fine.
I'll get it.
- Merry Chris--
- Ain't you gonna invite me in?
That's not a very friendly greeting after
I practically broke my back getting here.
Hi, Joey!
There's a blizzard blowing up-- big 'un.
You got a drink? I'm froze.
You're nowhere near froze
with all you've got in you already.
I see the navy hasn't managed
to cure you of drinking.
Cure me?
Honey, the navy's taught me
tricks you never heard of.
Say.
Sure made a lot of changes
around here, ain't ya?
You bet we have, Lucas. And for a start,
you can pick up your things and go.
Ain't nobody gonna tell me
what I can't do in my own house.
- This isn't your house anymore.
- I don't care what you did to it.
This is still my place,
and don't you forget it.
Did you just come back here
to make trouble?
You heard about Ma,
didn't you?
Yep. Heard about her.
Hey, Joey, here's a quarter.
Now, run along now, huh?
Come on. Pick it up.
- Pick it up, Joey.
- Lucas, you leave him alone.
Oh, honey.
Now, don't start a fight.
Me and you got to know each other
a little too well for that.
Say, I-I didn't think
you could improve,
but you sure have.
Oh, it ain't like
I was your real pa, you know.
You dirty, filthy animal!
Still a little wildcat, ain't ya?
As we worship together
this Easter morning,
and more, as we pray to him
who died and rose again
that we might have life
and have it more abundantly,
let us remember especially
those who have gone from
this country and this town
to live and die
in far-off places
for our like purpose.
May they know his mercy,
his comfort
and his peace.
May we uphold them
with our prayers,
encourage them
with our letters,
honor them
with our love.
And may our lives,
not less than theirs,
be dedicated
to that same Lord
who alone
can give to life
a perfect freedom
and a final peace.
Let us pray.
Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom
and the power
and the glory forever.
Amen.
Thank you. Come again.
- Yes?
- I'd like to see Miss Cross.
Selena.
Miss Cross,
you have a father in the navy?
Lucas Augustus Cross?
- My stepfather.
- Have you seen him lately?
- Not for a year and a half.
- What's wrong?
He went on leave and didn't come back.
He's listed as a deserter.
Miss Cross,
you sure you haven't seen him?
I didn't even know for sure that
he was in the navy.
He hasn't called you
or written you?
No.
He disappeared from town
a year and a half ago.
Deserting his family.
Looks like he's
running true to form.
If you do hear from him,
get in touch with
First District Shore Patrol.
I will.
Oh, Selena, don't get upset.
It's not your fault
they can't find him.
Well, what is it?
What's wrong, Selena?
Mrs. MacKenzie,
I've got to tell somebody.
I can't keep it to
myself any longer.
Every time I go out
in that yard--
- What are you talking about?
- Lucas didn't desert.
How do you know?
Because I killed him!
I killed him
Christmas Eve in the shack.
- I don't believe it.
- I did.
I buried him
in the sheep pen.
Selena, you've got to
call the state police.
No. No! I can't!
- You've got to!
- No!
You should have done it long ago.
Oh, please don't make me.
Listen to me, Selena.
Listen.
- One of us has got to call.
- I can't!
- No!
- You must call them now.
I can't.
- Pardon me.
- Allison.
Norman!
Oh, gee!
- What a surprise.
- Yeah.
Hey, come here.
Hey, you guys. You know--
Hey, you look older,
more grown-up.
- Well, the uniform helps.
- And all the decorations.
- Yeah. Hey, what have you been doing?
- Living in New York.
- Have you been doing any writing?
- Yeah, I did some writing.
Did you get any of it published?
No. I got a job
working for a book publisher.
Oh.
Hey, he didn't by chance publish
those books with the plain wrappers,
- did he, remember?
- No. Yes.
Yes, you do. Remember?
You were always afraid,
and everything frightened you.
Uh-huh.
I can't get over
how wonderful you look.
- Really. You look great.
- Thanks.
You know, though,
you never said good-bye to me
when you left Peyton Place.
- You never even said good-bye.
- I'll never forget that Labor Day, Norman.
I won't either.
I see you have two Purple Hearts.
Yeah.
- What brings you home? Vacation? What?
- Haven't you heard about Selena Cross?
- No. What?
- She killed her stepfather Lucas.
Her trial starts in two days
for murder.
No.
Lucas was always a bad joe,
but she seemed able to
put up with him.
Whoever knows what anyone's able to
put up with in this world?
Well, that's true.
Sure took me a long enough time
to know a little about myself
and understand Peyton Place.
- Cigarette?
- Oh, thanks.
I'm gonna go back and try
and work things out with my mother.
Maybe we'll both be happier.
If not, well,
at least I've made the effort.
- You know?
- Mm-hmm.
I always wondered why you enlisted.
In the paratroopers, I mean.
I don't know. I guess I wanted to
get knocked off or something.
But as soon as I got
away from my mother,
I suddenly realized
how wonderful life really was,
and then I fought like a tiger
to stay alive.
Yeah. I was running away from my problems.
You know what I mean.
Yeah, I know.
Something's bothering you, isn't it?
Yeah.
Uh, can I help?
No, you can't.
- Okay.
- I'd rather not talk about it.
All right.
- Hey, uh, have you had dinner?
- No.
- No? Uh, would you like dinner with me?
- Okay.
- Okay? All right.
- Uh-huh.
Doc Swain?
Hi. Evening, Selena.
Be right with you.
My wife loved these flower gardens.
I try to keep 'em up for her.
Uh, watch your feet.
Are you gonna tell them about me?
- I'll have to, Selena.
- Nobody in town must ever know.
But if I don't,
you'll be risking your life.
I know that.
- Well, then why?
- Because of Ted.
What are you afraid of? What he'll think?
He loves you.
It would ruin his life,
married to a girl who--
Doc, you know not a respectable person
in town would accept him.
"Respectable."
What kind of respectability
are you talking about?
The people with enough money
to hire him as a lawyer.
Look. Don't you understand?
We're talking about your whole life.
Prison can be a kind of dying.
Losing Ted would be
a worse kind of dying.
Besides,
you mustn't get involved.
Now,
never mind about me.
Promise me
you won't tell them.
Promise me.
Please promise.
All right, Selena.
I'll promise you.
Selena, you don't seem to realize
you face a possible life sentence.
I need more to work with.
Much more.
There is no more.
Lucas was drunk and he was brutal.
When he tried to beat me, I couldn't
stand it anymore and I killed him.
Killing in self-defense is understandable
in certain circumstances.
But you hid the body.
You acted like a criminal.
- I know.
- But, Mr. Partridge,
she was fighting for her life.
The state has sent in a prosecutor
for one purpose.
To convict Selena.
I've seen him work.
He's competent and relentless
as the law itself.
Yes. Tell her to come in.
There must be something
you haven't told me.
- Lucas tried to kill me.
- But you hid the body! Why?
Come in, Allison.
Oh, Allison.
I was never happier
to see anyone in my life.
Are you all right?
- Hi, Ted.
- Hi, Allison.
Mr. Partridge, I can testify about Lucas.
I saw him beat her.
It'll help, believe me.
We all appreciate you coming back
for the trial, Allison.
- You're gonna get her off, aren't you?
- We're gonna do the best we can.
But the jury decides on
the one thing: evidence.
It adds up to this.
We have a murder
and a defense that's
too simple to be good.
It's open to attack
from many sides.
Selena, have you
told me the whole story?
I'm sorry.
There's no more to tell.
Hello, Allison.
You look well.
With a drink in my hand?
Would you care for something?
I moved hoping
I'd be left alone.
You haven't learned,
have you?
Oh, yes, I have, Mother.
I've learned to smoke and drink
and go to bed when I want to.
And kiss boys whenever
the impulse sweeps over me.
Allison, we all make mistakes,
but if we face them truthfully,
they can be overcome.
Can we overcome the fact of my birth,
that I'm illegitimate?
I think so. With love.
Thank you.
And good-bye, Mother.
Soon as this trial's over, I'm taking
the first train out of this town.
Good-bye, Mother.
Court will come to order.
Everybody rise.
Be seated, please.
The recess in the trial of
the State versus Selena Cross is over.
Gentlemen, you may proceed.
Prosecution wishes to recall
Joseph Cross to the stand.
Joey--
I told you this morning
my name was Joseph.
Uh, Joseph.
This morning just before recess,
we were talking about lying
and telling the truth.
Joseph, have you ever told a lie?
- Yes, sir.
- Big ones or little ones?
Well, some little ones
and some medium ones.
You'd lie to save your sister from prison,
wouldn't you?
- Yes, sir.
- A big lie?
- The biggest lie you ever heard.
- I object.
Sustained.
Now, Joseph,
we heard your testimony this morning.
- Was it true?
- It was all true.
You claim that your sister
killed your stepfather
because he, um, grabbed her.
He was a strong man.
We were both afraid.
If Lucas was as strong as you
and everybody else has said,
how could your sister
possibly overpower him?
She was madder
than he was and scareder.
Lucas was 195 pounds,
your sister 110.
Did she sneak up behind him
and hit him with that piece of firewood
when he wasn't looking?
No, sir.
Were you watching
every second?
I might have looked away
once or twice.
Did you see Selena
hit him the first blow?
I-- I don't know.
Is there any doubt in your mind as to
how that first blow was struck?
I-- I don't know.
It all happened so fast.
Mmm.
Joseph, you said that you told your sister
to bury your stepfather.
That's right.
She didn't want to.
I see.
Now, how old were you when you told her,
when she did what you wanted?
About 8.
In other words,
a 19-year-old girl didn't know
what to do with the body
until an eight-year-old boy told her.
- Yes, sir.
- I have no further questions.
No questions.
You may step down, Joseph.
I wish to recall
Selena Cross to the stand.
Miss Cross,
yesterday you told the jury
that your stepfather
disappeared from home
a year and a half
before you killed him.
Do you have any idea
why he left?
I'm not sure.
I'd only be guessing.
You hesitated. Why?
I don't know.
You know what he did during
that year and a half?
He was in the navy, he said.
Would you imply that
he came home from the war,
from combat duty,
just to beat you up?
We object, Your Honor.
The defendant has implied
no such thing.
- Sustained.
- Did your stepfather...
own the house you live in?
My brother and I,
we fixed it up.
Answer the question,
please.
- It wasn't a house when he left--
- Please answer the question.
Yes. But it was a dirty shack
and nothing else.
But you had the freedom
to come and go
and, uh, invite boys in
and answer to no one
while Lucas was gone, didn't you?
- Didn't you?
- Yes, I had the freedom, but I never did!
When you thought he was gonna
change all that, did you kill him?
No!
Lucas was drunk
and tried to beat me.
The coroner testified
that Lucas Cross was unconscious
from the first or second blow,
so you were safe from any beating then,
but you didn't stop.
- Why?
- I don't know.
You kept on hitting him
until you crushed all the life out of him.
- Why?
- I don't know.
I couldn't stop.
I couldn't stop.
When you finally did kill him,
why didn't you call the police?
I wanted to. I wa--
I was afraid.
But you hadn't committed any crime
defending yourself.
What was there to fear
from the police?
I don't know.
I was just afraid.
You had nothing to fear,
- until you hid Lucas's body, isn't that right?
- Yes.
But the moment you buried your stepfather's body,
you had a great deal to fear, didn't you?
- That's right.
- But you buried him.
You must have had a reason.
A powerful reason.
And don't tell me it was simply
because you were afraid.
- I was!
- Are you sure?
- That's the only reason!
- Fear is panic!
And cleverly burying the remains
of a man you've just murdered
- requires cold and careful thought.
- Objection!
- You knew what you were doing!
- I didn't!
Objection!
The prosecution is not cross-examining
- but harassing the witness.
- Objection sustained.
I withdraw the question.
I have nothing further.
Miss Cross,
at all times during the quarrel
which led to the
death of Lucas Cross,
were you in fear
of bodily harm?
Yes, I was.
I have no further questions.
You may step down.
I wish to call
Miss Allison MacKenzie to the stand.
Raise your right hand.
Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
- Yes.
- Be seated.
- State your name, please.
- Allison MacKenzie.
Miss MacKenzie,
how long have you known Selena Cross?
Ever since I was a child.
We went all through school together.
Miss Cross is my best friend.
Miss MacKenzie,
you've testified that
when you saw
Lucas beating Selena,
you thought that your presence
prevented things from going further.
- I know it did.
- No. You don't know. You assume.
Well, he was embarrassed
to find me watching.
How many times
did Lucas hit Selena?
- Once.
- Once?
Did he hit her with his fist
or a weapon?
- Well, it was kind of a slap.
- Oh, a slap.
Have you ever been slapped,
Miss MacKenzie?
- Yes.
- By a stranger?
- No.
- By a member of the family?
- Do I have to answer these questions?
- I'm sorry, but you do.
By my mother.
As hard a blow as
Selena Cross's stepfather gave her?
- No.
- How could you tell?
I don't think so.
You don't really know what happened
inside that house, do you?
Yes, I do know.
Well, first you talk about
a beating,
and then we find out
all you're discussing is a single blow.
Would you say that the arguments
in the Lucas Cross household
were more or less violent
than any other family arguments?
Objection.
What is the purpose
of that question?
The witness
must define her terms
if the jury in this court is
to clearly understand what she means.
A beating becomes one blow.
A blow becomes a slap.
Perhaps the slap
will become something else.
Objection overruled.
I have no further questions.
- No questions, Your Honor.
- You may step down.
The prosecution
would like to call
Mrs. Constance MacKenzie
to the stand.
Raise your right hand.
Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
- I do.
- Be seated.
State your name, please.
Constance MacKenzie.
Mrs. MacKenzie,
I understand you've known
the defendant a long time.
Yes. Since she was a baby.
Did Selena ever complain
that her stepfather
had beaten her at any time?
- What?
- Did Selena ever complain--
Oh. No. No.
Did you ever see any marks on her?
Injuries?
No.
You knew the defendant's mother well,
did you not?
Nellie worked for me
as a housemaid.
Did she ever mention
Lucas's brutality
or describe any beating
he'd administered?
No, she said
he was drunk and lazy
and--
and he deserted her and--
- Uh, Mrs. MacKenzie--
- And she committed suicide
over the kind of life that
Lucas brought them to.
We're not concerned here
with Mrs. Cross's suicide.
But I don't see why not.
There was something terribly wrong
in the Cross family life.
Mrs. MacKenzie,
If you'd please--
Something wrong when a woman had to
raise a daughter up almost alone
and trying to help her and--
- Mrs. MacKenzie?
- and not being able to help.
- Mrs. MacKenzie.
- Not being able to give.
Mrs. MacKenzie,
I'm well aware of your deep concern
over Mrs. Cross's suicide,
but that is not the point at issue.
Did your daughter ever tell you that
she had seen Lucas beating Selena?
No.
Don't you think that if she had
seen such a shocking incident
she would have
mentioned it to you?
- I don't know.
- Well, wouldn't she?
Well--
Well, Mrs. MacKenzie, doesn't your daughter
ever bring home her problems?
How many times do I have to
answer your questions?
Well, until we find out the truth.
The truth is...
my daughter did
bring her troubles home.
And I wouldn't understand.
- Well, if she did bring her problems home--
- I wouldn't understand!
The court will adjourn
for a short recess.
Come in.
Oh, what have I
done to Selena?
You had no choice.
But I did have a choice.
Maybe the wrong one,
but--
Well, I'll never
forgive myself if--
You blame yourself too much,
Connie.
You did what you
morally had to do.
Here.
- Charlie, could I speak with you?
- Sure.
The court will come to order.
Remain seated, please.
Has the prosecution completed
its questioning of Mrs. MacKenzie?
It has.
The prosecution rests.
No more questions.
You may step down.
We call Dr. Mathew Swain to the stand
as a witness for the defense.
Raise your right hand.
Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
- I do.
- Be seated.
State your name, please.
Dr. Mathew Swain.
Dr. Swain, do you know of
any act of force or violence
which Lucas Cross perpetrated
against the defendant?
I certainly do.
We've wasted too much time
torturing a girl
who's emotionally unable
to speak for herself.
Lucas Cross was a drunkard
and a wife beater and a child abuser.
I object.
"Child abuser" is an exaggerated
and inflammatory word.
When I say "child abuser,"
I mean it in the worst way possible.
I object, Your Honor.
- The deceased is not on trial.
- Lucas Cross's character,
as to force and violence,
is on trial here.
You may continue, Dr. Swain.
The night
that Lucas Cross left town,
I performed what I recorded
as an appendectomy on Selena Cross.
It was not an appendectomy.
I falsified my records.
I assisted her
in a miscarriage--
a miscarriage
of Lucas Cross's baby.
I said it was Lucas Cross's baby
that Selena Cross carried.
I object to admitting
any such statement as evidence.
On what grounds
do you base your objection?
It's the unsupported
conclusion of the witness.
Except that
it happens to be true.
Can you testify
of your own knowledge?
- I can.
- Objection overruled. Continue.
I have here
a complete admission of guilt
signed by Lucas Cross.
Will the attorneys
please approach the bench.
I offer Lucas Cross's confession
into evidence, Your Honor.
I object, Your Honor.
The confession of a person
who's neither a witness nor a party
to the case is inadmissible.
The prosecution
may have a sound point,
but I'll reserve my ruling
until I've heard all of
Dr. Swain's testimony.
Then, if I find it inadmissible,
I'll order it stricken.
Dr. Swain's entire testimony stricken
from the record, Your Honor.
I will rule on that
when I've heard it.
You will complete your statement,
Dr. Swain.
I'm sure that the prosecutor
will see to it
that the state
investigates my records,
and perhaps I could lose the great
privilege of practicing medicine.
But it's time
that someone spoke up
and paid whatever price is asked
for the privilege of speaking.
Selena killed Lucas
out of fear--
fear of being forced
to submit to him again.
And then she hid her crime
for fear of how we would react
to her being assaulted by her stepfather.
She couldn't trust us
with the truth.
Selena had no one
to go to but me.
She only came to me
because she had to for medical reasons.
She swore me to secrecy.
Now I'm violating that secrecy
for a bigger purpose.
We're all prisoners
of each other's gossip,
killed by each other's whispers,
and it's time it stopped.
Our best young people leave as soon as
they're old enough to earn a bus ticket.
They contribute the best part of
their characters to other communities
because they're stifled
in Peyton Place.
Your Honor,
we're not interested in Dr. Swain's--
Mathew Swain has come forward
at considerable risk to himself,
and I intend to hear him through
without any further interruption.
I will rule on your objection
when he's finished.
You'll continue, Dr. Swain.
We're a small town,
but we're a prosperous one,
and yet we allow
tar paper shacks to stand.
We have half a dozen churches
which most of you attend,
and then don't practice
the word they preach
once you walk down the steps.
We have a fine school
that you take for granted.
We have a newspaper
with a most intelligent editorial page
which you use
for wrapping garbage.
It's time you people woke up.
Perhaps today is the day that you will,
because there's something much bigger than
the tragedy of Selena Cross on trial here--
our indifference,
our failure as a community
to watch over one another,
to know who needs help
and to give it.
Selena's been living in a prison
of her own long enough,
one that we helped build.
I have nothing more to say,
Your Honor.
The objection of the prosecution
is not sustained.
The jury may consider
this statement as evidence.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
have you reached a verdict?
We have, Your Honor.
The foreman will
read the verdict.
We find the defendant
not guilty.
Court is adjourned.
Come on, Joey.
You come home with me.
Selena,
would you like to go now?
Good going, Doc!
Oh, Selena,
we're so very happy for you.
Selena,
awful happy for you.
Mother?
Come on, Norman.
We'd finally discovered
that season of love.
It is only found in
someone else's heart.
Right now, someone you know
is looking everywhere for it,
and it's in you.