Wealthy Sai Moon-Kin works hard to please as many women as he possibly can. When marrying off his mentally handicapped son, he finds himself attracted to his new daughter in law, so he takes her for his own, unaware that she is the evil Mirage Woman, who wields fantastical “sucking” abilities.

Grace Metalious’ once-notorious bestseller Peyton Place is given a lavish — and necessarily toned-down — film treatment in this deluxe 20th Century-Fox production. Set during WWII, the film concentrates on several denizens of the outwardly respectable New England community of Peyton Place. Top-billed Lana Turner plays shopkeeper Constance McKenzie, who tries to make up for a past indiscretion — which resulted in her illegitimate daughter Allison (Diane Varsi) — by adopting a chaste, prudish attitude towards all things sexual. In spite of herself, Constance can’t help but be attracted to handsome new teacher Michael Rossi (Lee Philips). Meanwhile, the restless Allison, who’d like to be as footloose and fancy-free as the town’s “fast girl” Betty Anderson (Terry Moore), falls sincerely in love with mixed-up mama’s boy Norman Page (Russ Tamblyn).