Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)

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

Director:

Russ Meyer

Writers:

Roger Ebert (screenplay), Roger Ebert (story),

Stars:

Dolly Read, Cynthia Myers, Marcia McBroom

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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 Iglehart	...	Randy Black (as Jim Iglehart)
Charles Napier	...	Baxter Wolfe
Henry Rowland	...	Otto
Princess Livingston	...	Matron

Storyline

This film is a sequel in name only to Valley of the Dolls (1967). An all-girl rock band goes to Hollywood to make it big. There they find success, but luckily for us, they sink into a cesspool of decadence. This film has a sleeping woman performing on a gun which is in her mouth. It has women posing as men. It has lesbian sex scenes. It is also written by Roger Ebert, who had become friends with Russ Meyer after writing favorable reviews of several of his films.

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Plot Keywords:

sex | lesbian | drugs | band | lesbian sex | 

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Taglines:

The first of the shock rock!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Music

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Certificate:

NC-17

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 June 1970 (USA)

Also Known As:

Más allá del valle de las muñecas

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$900,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$9,000,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the original script, the Susan Lake and Baxter Wolfe characters were called Anne Welles and Lyon Burke.

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Goofs

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

Casey Anderson: There's juice freaks, and pill freaks, and then everybody's a freak! What you need is grass or a downer or something

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Crazy Credits

Disclaimer: THE FILM YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE IS NOT A SEQUEL TO "VALLEY OF THE DOLLS." IT IS WHOLLY ORIGINAL AND BEARS NO RELATIONSHIP TO REAL PERSONS, LIVING OR DEAD. IT DOES, LIKE "VALLEY OF THE DOLLS" DEAL WITH THE OFT-TIMES NIGHTMARE WORLD OF SHOW BUSINESS BUT IN A DIFFERENT TIME AND CONTEXT.

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Connections

Referenced in Rocky Horror Double Feature Video Show (1995)

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Soundtracks

"Find It"
Written by Lynn Carey and Stu Phillips

User Reviews

To me - a fun movie, To my wife - not much fun

I liked this movie but I was prepared, having read about it extensively before seeing it. From the soundtrack to the camera and editing tricks to the performances, I liked it all. My only problem was the middle part of the movie which concentrated on the personal troubles of the band, sort of dragged. Only when John Lazar came back did the movie pick up and I guess I'm in the minority because I liked the ending. Mainly, because it took the outrageous flavor from the beginning and went even farther. The casting was especially noteworthy. Normally, people who can't act really bother me but watching all of the Playboy playmates trying to act serious while spouting out hilariously clichéd dialogue (I can only hope that Roger Ebert and Russ Meyer weren't trying to write authentic dialogue) was very funny. Special note must be given to the drummer trying to pretend that she could really play. Only Lazar came off as a real actor and he tackled his role with gusto. It is a shame to see that he has never really done anything worthy of his talents after this. Having seen this film only once I don't know how it would hold up after repeated viewings but I can say it is worth seeing at least once.