Beyond the Valley of the Dolls

Year: 1970
Director: Russ Meyer
Cast: Dolly Read, Cynthia Myers, Marcia McBroom, John LaZar, David Gurian, Edy Williams, Erica Gavin, Phyllis Davis

This is a real gem!

Not so much a sequel to the original Valley of the Dolls, as a reworking of the basic theme, which is "Three hot chicks move to the big city and get into all kinds of trouble." In this case our three are the members of the rock band "The Kelly Affair"--Kelly (Dolly Read), Casey (Cynthia Myers), and Pet (Marcia McBroom). Tired of playing stuffy senior proms, they pack up their VW van along with their manager and Kelly's sort-of boyfriend Harris (David Gurian) and head out to sunny LA in a stunning opening montage. Once there, they hook up with Kelly's rich Aunt Susan (Phyllis Davis), the sweet owner of a fashion house, and are introduced to Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell (John LaZar) , an androgynous and eccentric music impressario and partymeister. He rechistens our girls "The Carrie Nations," and they achieve instant success. But not without paying a heavy price...

Operating with the philosophy of "More is More," director Russ Meyer (whose other outstanding achievement is the stunning Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!) and screenwriter Roger Ebert (yes, that Roger Ebert!) fill the screen with bright colors, lots of skin, huge ratted-out bouffant hairdos (which were on the way out by 1970, when the film was released), musical numbers, tripped-out orgies, suicide attempts, gory murders, and recovery from paralysis. Not to mention near-iconic bits of dialogue from the likes of Z-Man ("It's my happening, and it freaks me out!") or Meyer's soon-to-be second wife, Edy Williams, who as nymphomaniacal porn star Ashley St. Ives has the best line of the film: "I'd like to strap you on sometime!"

Of course, it goes without saying that the "more" philosophy also extends to the endowments of the female members of the cast. Meyer's obsession with breasts assures us that all of the female leads and supporting cast members are amply stacked. (Dolly Read and Cynthia Myers are also both former Playboy Playmates.)

BVD is possibly the most genre-bending film of all time. By turns, a musical, a sex comedy, a horror film, and a soap opera, it is probably best described as a parody of a soap opera with extra T&A and gore thrown in for exploitation value. Performances are uniformly over-the-top, with LaZar and Williams going for broke. Read is perfectly obnoxious as the alternately sweet and selfish Kelly, and watching her pseudo-American accent (Read is British) fluctuate in and out would make for a fun drinking game. " She said 'STRAW-breeze' instead of 'strawBERRIES'--take a drink! 'AWNT Susan' instead of 'ANT Susan'--take another. 'HOF' instead of 'HALF'--and on and on and on.

Fast Forward Rating. You won't need to at all: 0%!

Drinks: Cocktails would do this film proud. A martini, J&B on the rocks, or a Harvey Wallbanger.

Cheers to Beyond the Valley of the Dolls!