Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)
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A rock band's quest for a family fortune spirals into a violent, psychedelic nightmare of fame and drug-fueled excess.
The story
Three young women—Kelly MacNamara, Casey Anderson, and Petronella 'Pet' Danforth—perform in a rock band, the Kelly Affair, managed by Kelly's boyfriend, Harris Allsworth. The group travels to Los Angeles to seek out Kelly's estranged aunt, Susan Lake, who is the heiress to a family fortune. After Susan promises Kelly a portion of her inheritance, a sleazy financial advisor attempts to discredit Kelly as a 'hippie' to prevent the division of the wealth. Undeterred, Susan introduces the band to a flamboyant rock producer, Ronnie 'Z-Man' Barzell, who coaxes them into a performance that leads to a new management deal and a simmering feud with Harris.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Three young women—Kelly MacNamara, Casey Anderson, and Petronella 'Pet' Danforth—perform in a rock band, the Kelly Affair, managed by Kelly's boyfriend, Harris Allsworth. They travel to Los Angeles to find Kelly's estranged aunt, Susan Lake, an heiress. A sleazy advisor, Porter Hall, tries to block Kelly's inheritance by discrediting her as a 'hippie.' Susan instead introduces the band to producer Ronnie 'Z-Man' Barzell, who rebrands them as the Carrie Nations. Kelly begins dating a gigolo, Lance Rocke, while Harris descends into drug use and is seduced by porn star Ashley St. Ives. Harris eventually becomes paraplegic after a suicide attempt. Casey becomes pregnant and has a lesbian affair with Roxanne. Pet enters a romance with Emerson Thorne but is betrayed by a violent prize fighter, Randy Black. After a series of escalating conflicts, Z-Man is revealed to be a woman in drag and goes on a murderous rampage, killing Lance, Otto, Roxanne, and Casey. Kelly, Harris, Pet, and Emerson arrive to stop him; Pet dies in the melee, and Harris regains movement. The film ends with three couples marrying while Porter watches from outside.
- First release year
- 1970
- Runtime (minutes)
- 109
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Russ Meyer
- Writers
- Roger Ebert · screenplay; Roger Ebert · story; Russ Meyer · story
- Cast and characters
- Dolly Read; Cynthia Myers; Marcia McBroom; Phyllis Davis; John LaZar; Michael Blodgett; Erica Gavin; David Gurian
- Genres
- satirical; musical; melodrama; comedy-drama; parody; satirical
- Themes
- fame and fortune; drug and alcohol abuse; sex and violence; redemption; satire of Hollywood
- Tone and mood
- curious; campy; satirical; violent
- Premise and plot tags
- satire; musical; melodrama; exploitation; LGBTQ-related; rock music; cross-dressing
- Source material / true-story basis
- Valley of the Dolls
- Franchise connections
- Valley of the Dolls
- Content notes
- nudity; sex; violence
- Reception
- Initially met with negative reviews, the film became a box office success and developed a cult following, eventually earning critical reappraisal for its satirical and metafictional elements.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 76% · review count: 29; Metacritic · score: 60 · scale: 100 · review count: 10
- Production trivia
- The film was made at a time when the studio's own fortunes were so low that the movie was seen almost fatalistically as a gamble.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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