Overview
Release Date:
17 June 1970 (USA)
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Tagline:
This time... they've really gone
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User Comments:
"Beyond the Valley of the Dolls/In a corner of the sky..."
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Crew believed to be complete
- A&M Records courtesy of ('The Sandpipers' appear)
- De Graff fashions by (as De Graff of California)
Additional Details
Also Known As:
Blumen ohne Duft (West Germany) [de]De Volta ao Vale das Bonecas (Brazil) [pt]Hollywood Vixens (France) (reissue 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]Orgissimo (France) [fr]Pera ap' tin koilada me tis koukles (Greece) [el]Vallée des débauchés, La (Belgium: French title) [fr]Vallei der verdorven zeden, De (Belgium: Flemish title) [un]
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Runtime:
109 min
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1
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Sound Mix:
Mono (Westrex Recording System)
MOVIEmeter: 
19% since last week
why?
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
While frequently touted as
Pam Grier's film debut (she received an on-screen credit and a photo of her in a party scene was prominently featured in a 1970 Playboy layout on the film), her role in the film is non-existent and she can't even be spotted as an extra.
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Goofs:
Audio/visual unsynchronized: During "The Carrie Nation" performances horns can be heard in the music. There is no horn section in the band.
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Quotes:
Porter Hall:
Now as your legal advisor, I wish you'd let me handle this in my own discreet way.
Susan Lake:
I've already seen a display of your discretion. It's reminiscent of a meat axe!
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Soundtrack:
A Girl From The City
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FAQ
What did Mike Royko say went wrong with this film?
What's going on with Z-Man and his big reveal at the end?
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One of the all-time great cult films, BVD is an energetic, imaginative parody of Valley of the Dolls and other such dippy Hollywood melodramas. Our three lusty, busty heroines are the members of an all-girl pop group. From one trailer: "Dolly Read is Kelly, the singer. Cynthia Myers is Casey, the swinger. Marcia McBroom is Pet, the soul sister." Whoa! Anyway, our trio of sexy supervixens move out to Hollywood, get discovered immediately, and are thrown into a whirlpool of pill addiction, alcoholism, lesbianism, abortions, depression, double crosses, crippling injuries, lots of violence, and lots of sex. All of this is played with a deceptively straight face, with the wild comedy arising from the ludicrousness of the soap-opera situations. One particularly sudsy moment is even accompanied by swelling daytime-TV organ music! There are obvious jokes, which are spirited and very funny, and even some sly references to Valley of the Dolls (a character named Miriam, the Warwick Court Apartments). The ending has to be seen to be believed, and even then....
The acting is very good (though Dolly Read's natural British and fake American accents are openly battling throughout), with top prizes taken by John LaZar as freaked-out record mogul Z-Man and Edy Williams as voracious porno queen Ashley St. Ives. The women, sporting big hair and thick false eyelashes, are all incredibly beautiful, and Russ Meyer lovingly captures them in neon-bright color. The editing and camerawork are fast-paced and super-stylish, as usual with Meyer. The soundtrack is excellent.
A groovy, sexy, X-rated look at L.A. back when it was cool!
Trivia: The reason this X seems so mild is because it was intended for an R! Meyer did prepare a more explicit version, but when this tamer cut was X'd, Fox elected to distribute it instead of the racier print. The video box says NC-17 because Fox has a policy against never releasing an X-rated tape. Of course, an X in 1970 did mean 17 and over, whereas it now means 18 and over. HUGE chasm there!