Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
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Image:Beyond.jpg Image:8704.jpg Beyond the Valley of the Dolls is a 1970 drama film starring Dolly Read, Cynthia Myers, Marcia McBroom, John LaZar, and Michael Blodgett. It was directed by Russ Meyer, and co-written by Meyer and Roger Ebert. Despite its title, it is not a sequel to the novel or film versions of Valley of the Dolls, but a satirical pastiche inspired by the original.
It is one of two films produced by independent filmmaker Meyer for 20th Century Fox (the other being The Seven Minutes), and one of three films that film critic Ebert wrote with Meyer. Ebert has written that Beyond the Valley of the Dolls "seems more and more like a movie that got made by accident when the lunatics took over the asylum."
The film's plot concerns the adventures and misadventures of an all-female rock band called The Carrie Nations (after temperance advocate Carrie Nation), who fall under the spell of a flamboyant, evil record producer (modelled after Phil Spector) named Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell (John LaZar). Other significant characters include Lance Rock (Michael Blodgett), a gigolo; Ashley St. Ives (Edy Williams), a pornographic actress; Roxanne (Erica Gavin), a rapacious lesbian clothes designer who pursues The Carrie Nations' bass player Casey (Cynthia Myers); and Harris (David Gurian), the ill-fated boyfriend of the Carrie Nations' lead singer Kelly (Dolly Read).
The camp style of Beyond The Valley of the Dolls has influenced the films of John Waters and the Austin Powers series, as well as having been cited as an influence on a number of rock bands favoring a camp-trash aesthetic, such as The New York Dolls (whose name was an homage to the film), the Scissor Sisters singer Ana Matronic and Tito el Boludito al que le rompieron el culito, who covered a song from the film.
In 2001, the Village Voice named the film #87 on its list of the 100 Greatest Films of the Century.