Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Russ Meyer

Writers:

Roger Ebert (screenplay)
Roger Ebert (story) ...

Release Date:

17 June 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Music | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

This time... they've really gone

Plot:

Three girls come to Hollywood to make it big, but find only sex, drugs and sleaze.

Plot Keywords:

Girl | Drugs | Lesbian | Sex | Fall

Cast

Dolly Read	...	Kelly Mac Namara
Cynthia Myers	...	Casey Anderson
Marcia McBroom	...	Petronella Danforth
John Lazar	...	Ronnie 'Z-Man' Barzell (as John LaZar)
Michael Blodgett	...	Lance Rocke
David Gurian	...	Harris Allsworth
Edy Williams	...	Ashley St. Ives
Erica Gavin	...	Roxanne
Phyllis Davis	...	Susan Lake
Harrison Page	...	Emerson Thorne
Duncan McLeod	...	Porter Hall
James Inglehart	...	Randy Black (as Jim Iglehart)
Charles Napier	...	Baxter Wolfe
Henry Rowland	...	Otto
Princess Livingston	...	Matron

Also Known As:

Orgissimo (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Blumen ohne Duft (West Germany) [de]
De Volta ao Vale das Bonecas (Brazil) [pt]
De vallei der verdorven zeden (Belgium: Flemish title) [un]
Hollywood Vixens (France) (reissue title) [fr]
La vallée des débauchés (Belgium: French title) [fr]
Lungo la valle delle bambole (Italy) [it]
Más allá del valle de las muñecas (Venezuela) [es]
Nukkelaakson amatsonit (Finland) (TV title) [fi]
Nukkelaakson tuolla puolen (Finland) (TV title) [fi]
Pera ap' tin koilada me tis koukles (Greece) [el]

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:R (Nova Scotia/Ontario) | UK:18 (2003 re-rating, uncut) | UK:X (cut) | France:-16 | Singapore:R21 | West Germany:18 | Australia:R | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | USA:NC-17 (re-rating) (1990) | USA:X | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Finland:K-18 (2004)

Filming Locations:

Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Budgeted at a modest $900,000 (approximately $4.5 million in 2005 dollars), the film grossed ten times the amount in the US market, qualifying it as a hit for the beleaguered 20th Century-Fox. Though tame by modern standards, "Dolls" was slapped with an "X" rating, and there was much negative publicity generated by the fact a major studio had allowed a "pornographer", Russ Meyer (labeled "King Leer" by the mainstream press at the time) to make a Hollywood film under its aegis. Grace Kelly, who was a member of the board of directors of Fox, was outraged and lobbied to have the studio's contract with Meyer terminated. After his next Fox film, The Seven Minutes (1971) flopped at the box office (possibly due to its LACK of nudity and titillation), the studio terminated its relationship with Meyer. He never made another film for a studio.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: During "The Carrie Nation" performances horns can be heard in the music. There is no horn section in the band.

Quotes:

Kelly MacNamara: Come on, man. I doubt if you'd recognize a hippie. I'm a capitalist, baby. I work for my living, not suck off somebody else.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Sleepaway Camp (1983)

Soundtrack:

Sweet Talkin' Candy Man

Schlock at its best.

"Harris, make love to me!" "Where? Here?" "NO! IN L.A.!"

A 60s all-girl rock band decides to get in the van and head to Los Angeles to try to make it big. And they find it is super easy, and they make connections fast, but fame and fortune comes at an expense.

Although it claims to be unrelated, this is basically "Valley of the Dolls" made fun and trashy. Yes, this is the movie that is infamous for being written by Roger Ebert. Yes, this is a bad movie with appalling editing. Yes, this is tasteless schlock. But, it is tasteless schlock at its best. Even though the lead cast is comprised of (very lovely) Playboy pin-ups and models that look stoned half the time, they do a great job at portraying immediately corrupted innocents. I actually really enjoy the 60s soul garage music (even though none of the actresses actually played or sang, whoever played and sang for The Carrie Nations sounded damn good--the soundtrack has recently been released to CD, which I plan on picking up and playing at my next trashy dance party). I can watch this movie over and over again, and the unforgettable drug-soaked finale never ceases to shock me. But I really could do without the moralizing voice-over at the end. It makes me question whether or not the filmmakers were really serious about the psychotranny, abortion-pushing lesbian, and other disturbing colorful characters. My Rating: 8/10.