Generally dismissed as inferior to its predecessor, Return to Peyton Place nevertheless has its own strengths and one of them is Carol Lynley's slightly tougher Allison MacKenzie. One doesn't often describe Carol Lynley as "tough," but her Allison is capable of writing a shocking expose of her hometown and then taking on the rigors of getting her book published, and standing up to the media and, worse, Mary Astor. Just like her mom Constance MacKenzie (played here by the sublime Eleanor Parker), Allison has an affair with a married man and becomes sadder, wiser and, well, tougher.

Some people might prefer Carol's work in a number of other films, especially Blue Denim, Under the Yum Yum Tree or Bunny Lake is Missing. She's great in those films and many, many more. Don't even get us started about Hound Dog Man, The Stripper and The Pleasure Seekers and on and on all the way up to The Poseidon Adventure. However, we'd like to officially designate Return to Peyton Place as the Carol Lynley movie of the Millennium.