This movie has few pretensions at being great art. Instead, it's a very glossy and high quality soap opera that deals with so many sleazy elements in an entertaining way that it will keep your attention throughout. The main theme is sex--teen sex as well as middle-aged woman sex--all in a supposedly conservative small town. It just seethes with a cauldron of rape, murder, illegitimacy and hypocrisy! You might have expected Ms. Turner instead to have done a movie akin to THE SINGING NUN after the much publicized trial, but instead chose this tell-all tale. All-in-all, an excellent movie with a great script, wonderful acting and terrific production values. However, it probably will shock you with its very frank talk about sexuality--something rarely seen in a 1950s A-picture from Hollywood.
