![Suitable For 18 Years And Over. Suitable For 18 Years And Over.](./images2008/certifications/18.gif)
Stars:
Barbara Parkins,
Patty Duke,
Susan Hayward,
Sharon Tate,
Paul Burke,
Martin Milner,
Dolly Read,
Marcia McBroom,
John Lazar,
Michael Blodgett
Director:
Russ Meyer
Summary: Two features 'Valley Of The Dolls' and 'Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls' in which three girls in Hollywood enjoy the wild side of show business high life. The display of over-endowed ladies is sure to delight devotees of the female figure.
A double dose, or is that over-dose, of the dolls. Mark Robson's VALLEY OF THE DOLLS is an inarguably high mark of modish Hollywood camp, torn from the deliciously pulpy eponymous novel by Jacqueline Susann. Three ambitious young women from different walks of life suffer through the show business meat grinder: an aspiring Broadway diva battles with addiction, a reluctant bombshell makes "art" movies to eke out a living for her ailing husband, and a sensible small-town girl turns modelling sensation. Bubbly, irresistible, and loaded with scenery-chewing, particularly in the memorable scene where a hysterical Duke cries to her pills, "My dolls! My beautiful dolls!" In Russ Meyer's BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, all-girl rock band the Kelly Affair moves to Los Angeles in pursuit of fame and fortune. Upon meeting wealthy rock scenester Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell (John Lazar) at one of his lavish parties, they believe they've met the man who can bring them fame. Changing their name to The Carry Nations, they navigate their way through a maze of sexual misadventures, drugs, and brushes with some very unpleasant characters only to find that fame comes at a price. Livening up the considerably frantic proceedings are Meyer starlets Edy Williams and Erica Gavin (VIXEN) as well as an appearance by the Strawberry Alarm Clock.
Finally invited to work within a major studio (20th Century Fox) following the enormous success of 1968's VIXEN, Meyer, along with screenwriter Roger Ebert, created the ultimate sex, drugs, and rock & roll film of the psychedelic era. An altogether odd mixture of comedy, drama, and left-field shocks punctuated with memorably wacky lines, BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS lets Meyer's reliably decadent formula mingle agreeably with the psychedelia of the time.