Pitt Herbert

Return to Peyton Place -- The residents of Peyton Place are not happy when its most famous resident, Alison Mackenzie, writes a 'shocking' novel detailing the sinful secrets of the town.

Professor Robert Leaf is deeply suspicious of the emphasis placed on science within his university, so he tries to suffuse a love of art and music within his two children. Needless to say, he and his wife Vina are slightly horrified to discover that their young son Erasmus is a mathematical genius with a noticeable disinterest in music or art. Thinking only about using Erasmus' gift for his own benefit, his older friend Kenneth immediately comes up with a plan to make a killing at the racetrack. Working out a deal with his less-than-altruistic buddy, Erasmus agrees to help pick racehorses if Kenneth helps him meet his idol, Brigitte Bardot.

In this superb sequel to Peyton Place, Allison Mackenzie has left her hometown for New York City. While there, she writes a scathing novel about the hypocrisy in her seemingly idyllic hometown, and falls in love with her publisher. When the book comes out, its not-so-hidden references to current town residents cause emotional mayhem.

Having been burned by compromises to censors on his earlier films Cat On a Hot Tin Roof and Sweet Bird of Youth, Paul Newman decided to star in as uncompromising a property as he could find. That property was Hud, inspired by a portion of Larry McMurtry's novel, Horseman Pass By. Hud Bannon (Newman) is a young Texas rancher who lives with his cattleman father Homer (Melvyn Douglas) and his hero-worshipping nephew Lon (Brandon DeWilde). Hud is an amoral, cold-hearted creature; his father, who holds Hud responsible for the death of his other son, tries to imbue Lon with a sense of decency and responsibility to others, but Lon is devoted to Hud and isn't inclined to listen. When hoof-and-mouth disease shows up in one of the elder Bannon's cows, Hud is all for selling the herd before the government inspectors find out. But Homer orders the cattle destroyed (the film's most harrowing sequence), driving an even deeper wedge between himself and Hud. Finally, Hud steps over the line by attempting to rape Alma (Patricia Neal), the earthy but warm-hearted housekeeper. Paul Newman was so repellantly brilliant as an unregenerate heel that his Oscar nomination for Hud was a foregone conclusion. Although Newman lost the Oscar to Sidney Poitier in Lilies of the Field, Oscars did go to Neal for Best Actress, Douglas for Best Supporting Actor, and cinematographer James Wong Howe.