Beyond the Valley of the Dolls


Beyond the Valley of the Dolls

Theatrical release poster.
Directed by Russ Meyer
Produced by Russ Meyer
Written by Story:
Russ Meyer
Roger Ebert
Screenplay:
Roger Ebert
Starring Dolly Read
Cynthia Myers
Marcia McBroom
David Gurian
Erica Gavin
John LaZar
Michael Blodgett
Phyllis Davis
Edy Williams
Harrison Page
James Iglehart
Editing by Dann Cahn
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date(s) June 17, 1970
Running time 110 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $1,000,000

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls is a 1970 American musical comedy film starring Dolly Read, Cynthia Myers, Erica Gavin, Edy Williams, Marcia McBroom, John LaZar, and Michael Blodgett. It was directed by Russ Meyer and co-written by Meyer and Roger Ebert and is considered a cult classic.

Contents

Production

Originally intended as a sequel to the 1967 film Valley of the Dolls, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls was instead revised as a spoof of the commercially successful but critically reviled original after 20th Century Fox rejected two screenplay drafts that were submitted. Jacqueline Susann, author of the novel Valley of the Dolls, had been asked to write a screenplay but declined. As a result, the studio placed a disclaimer at the beginning of the film informing the audience that the two films are not intended to be connected. Posters for the movie read, "This is not a sequel — there has never been anything like it". Upon its initial release, the film was given an X rating by the MPAA;[1] in 1990, it was re-classified as NC-17.

The film was made by Fox while the studio was being sued by Jacqueline Susann, according to Irving Mansfield's book Jackie and Me. Susann herself had come up with the title while she was writing her second novel The Love Machine. The suit did not come to trial until after the death of Jacqueline Susann, and her estate won a $2 million verdict against the studio.

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (sometimes referred to as BVD) is the first of two films produced by independent filmmaker Meyer for 20th Century Fox (it was followed by The Seven Minutes), and one of three films that film critic Ebert co-wrote with Meyer. Ebert has said that Beyond the Valley of the Dolls seemed "like a movie that got made by accident when the lunatics took over the asylum."[2]

Plot

Three young women — Kelly MacNamara (Dolly Read), Casey Anderson (Cynthia Myers), and Petronella "Pet" Danforth (Marcia McBroom) — perform in a rock band, The Kelly Affair, managed by Harris Allsworth (David Gurian), Kelly's boyfriend. The four travel to Los Angeles to find Kelly's estranged aunt, Susan Lake (Phyllis Davis), heir to a family fortune.

Susan welcomes Kelly and her friends, even promising a third of her inheritance to her niece, but Susan's sleazy financial advisor Porter Hall (Duncan McLeod) discredits them as "hippies" in an attempt to embezzle her fortune himself. Undeterred, Susan introduces The Kelly Affair to a flamboyant, well-connected rock producer, Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell (John LaZar), who coaxes them into an impromptu performance at one of his outrageous parties (after a set by real-life band Strawberry Alarm Clock). The band is so well-received that Z-Man becomes their Svengali-style manager, changing their name to The Carrie Nations and starting a long-simmering feud with Harris.

Kelly distances herself from Harris by having an affair with Lance Rocke (Michael Blodgett), a high-priced gigolo with designs on her inheritance. Harris responds by having a fling with porn star Ashley St. Ives (Edy Williams). When the affair unravels, Harris descends into heavy drug and alcohol use, leading to a drug-addled one-night stand with Casey which results in pregnancy. Casey, distraught at getting pregnant and wary of men's foibles, has a lesbian affair with clothes designer Roxanne (Erica Gavin), who urges her to have an abortion.

Petronella has a seemingly enchanted romance with law student Emerson Thorne (Harrison Page) — after a meet-cute at Z-Man's party, they are shown running slow-motion through golden fields and frolicking in a haystack — but their fairy-tale romance frays when Pet sleeps with Randy Black (James Iglehart), a violent prize fighter who beats up Emerson and tries to run him down with a car.

The Carrie Nations release records and continue to perform successfully, despite constant touring and drug use. Upset at being pushed to the sidelines, Harris attempts suicide by leaping from the rafters of a sound stage during a television appearance by the band. Harris survives the fall but becomes paraplegic from his injuries.

Kelly ends her affair with Lance to care for Harris, Emerson forgives Petronella for her infidelity, and Casey and Roxanne have a steamy, intimate romance. But this idyllic existence ends when Z-Man invites Casey, Roxanne, and Lance to a psychedelic-fueled party at his house. After revealing he has female breasts and trying to seduce Lance, who spurns him, Z-Man goes on a murderous rampage: he beheads Lance with a sword (while the Twentieth-Century Fox Fanfare is heard on the soundtrack), stabs his servant Otto (Henry Rowland) to death, and shoots Casey and Roxanne, killing them.

Meanwhile, responding to a desperate phone call Casey made shortly before her death, Kelly, Harris, Pet, and Emerson arrive at Z-Man's house and try to subdue him. Petronella is wounded in the melee, which ends in Z-Man's death. The film's climax is a reference to the 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders by Charles Manson and his followers. Sharon Tate, who was among the Manson Family's victims, appeared in Valley of the Dolls (1967), which Beyond the Valley of the Dolls spoofs.

After a preachy, satirical voice-over monologue during scenes of Kelly and Harris (in crutches) hiking on a log over a creek — which Roger Ebert credits to Russ Meyer's "sick sense of humor" — the film ends with the wedding of three couples, Kelly and Harris, Pet and Emerson, and Susan and Baxter Wolfe (Charles Napier).

Music and soundtrack

Most of the film's music was written by Stu Phillips, whose composing credits include The Donna Reed Show, The Monkees, McCloud, and the original film and television versions of Battlestar Galactica. Phillips adapted Paul Dukas' The Sorcerer's Apprentice for the psychedelic scene at Z-Man's house near the film's end.[3]

Members of the fictitious Carrie Nations neither sing nor play their own instruments in the film. Vocals for the lip-synced songs were performed by Lynn Carey, a blue-eyed soul singer based in Los Angeles. Carey's voice is showcased on the apocalyptic rocker "Find It," the earnest folk anthem "Come With the Gentle People," the raunchy R&B of "Sweet Talking Candyman," the lilting ballad "In the Long Run," and the soulful strut of "Look On Up At the Bottom."

Strawberry Alarm Clock perform their 1967 hit "Incense and Peppermints," the mid-tempo rocker "Girl from the City," and the power pop anthem "I'm Comin' Home" during the first party scene at Z-Man's house.

The film's title song was performed by A&M artists The Sandpipers.

Different versions of the soundtrack album exist because of disputes over royalties.[3] The original vinyl soundtrack, reissued in the early 2000s, substitutes Amy Rushes' vocals for Lynn Carey's originals; it also includes one song, "Once I Had Love," not on the 2003 CD reissue. However, the CD edition of the soundtrack contains 25 songs compared to the 12 songs on the vinyl version. "Incense and Peppermints," some incidental music, and the Strawberry Alarm Clock's Hammond organ instrumental "Toy Boy" are missing from all soundtrack releases.

Character influences

Roger Ebert revealed that many of BVD's themes and characters were based upon real people and events, but because neither Ebert nor Russ Meyer actually met these people, their characterizations were based on pure speculation.

  • Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell - The fictional eccentric rock producer turned Carrie Nations manager was loosely based on real life producer Phil Spector.[4] More than three decades later Spector was arrested on suspicion of murder after the body of Lana Clarkson was found at his mansion, slightly mirroring the events of the film's climax.
  • The climactic, violent ending, which was not in the original script, was inspired by the real life Tate-LaBianca murders perpetrated by the Manson Family. The film began production on December 2, 1969, shortly after the murders, which were covered heavily by the media.[6] Valley of the Dolls star Sharon Tate was among the murder victims, as was Jay Sebring. Vocalist Lynn Carey, who was dating Sebring and had been invited to join him the night of the Tate-LaBianca murders, refused his invitation, according to her comments on the DVD extras.
  • Porter Hall - This scheming lawyer shares the name of an obscure character actor who often played movie villains.[7]
  • Susan Lake and Baxter Wolfe were, in an original draft script, Anne Welles and Lyon Burke from Valley of the Dolls. Their back-story stated in BVD ("He proposed to her but it was the wrong time", "It's been three years..."), matches the ending of the original. Following Jacqueline Susann's legal-action proceedings against 20th Century Fox, the characters were renamed and recast.[8] Barbara Parkins, who played Anne, was originally under contract to appear in BVD and was disappointed when she was abruptly removed from the project.[9] The BVD special edition DVD features a screen test with Michael Blodgett and Cynthia Myers enacting the bedroom scene between Lance and Kelly. Obviously based on an early script, the dialogue has them make reference to Anne Welles, not Susan Lake, as Kelly's Aunt.

Box office

Despite an X rating and a modest budget of $900,000, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls grossed ten times that amount in the U.S. market, qualifying it as a hit for Fox.

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls has since grossed more than $40 million from theatrical revivals and video sales, according to Roger Ebert.

Legacy

Since its release in 1970, BVD has acquired a cult following and has even been included in various "best of" lists by movie critics. In 2000, Canadian magazine Take One included BVD in their "Best Films of the 1970s" critics poll.[10] In 2001, the Village Voice named the film #87 on its list of the 100 Greatest Films of the Century.[11]

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls was released as a two-disc, special-edition DVD set on June 13, 2006.

References

  1. ^ Haines, Richard W. (2003). The Moviegoing Experience, 1968-2001. McFarland. pp. 48. ISBN 0-786-41361-1. 
  2. ^ Crouse, Richard (2003). The 100 Best Movies You've Never Seen. ECW Press. pp. 23. ISBN 1-550-22590-1. 
  3. ^ a b Beyond the Valley of the Dolls: The Original Soundtrack. Liner notes from audio CD. Stu Phillips and Alex Patterson. Harkit: HRKCD 8032, 2003
  4. ^ Ebert, Roger (2003). Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook 2004. Andrews McMeel Publishing. pp. 820. ISBN 0-740-73834-8. 
  5. ^ McDonough, Jimmy (2006). Big Bosoms & Square Jaws: The Biography of Russ Meyer, King of the Sex Film. Vintage. pp. 258. ISBN 0-099-46464-0. 
  6. ^ McDonough, Jimmy (2006). Big Bosoms & Square Jaws: The Biography of Russ Meyer, King of the Sex Film. Vintage. pp. 257, 262. ISBN 0-099-46464-0. 
  7. ^ McDonough, Jimmy (2006). Big Bosoms & Square Jaws: The Biography of Russ Meyer, King of the Sex Film. Vintage. pp. 271. ISBN 0-099-46464-0. 
  8. ^ Mondo Culto: Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
  9. ^ Album notes for DCD Special Edition. 20th Century Fox.
  10. ^ Best Films of the 1970s
  11. ^ 100 Best Films - Village Voice

External links

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