Peyton Place

Young woman: My name is all/son MacKenzie.

Where / 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.

/t nioped 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 lo ve,

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. - Pauh

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?

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.

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.

This is the school board.

Mr. and Mrs. Partridge. He's a lawyer.

Dr. Swain.

Doctor.

Seth bushwell, editor of the Peyton place times. Please, sit down.

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.