Released in 1970 and directed by Russ Meyer, "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" satirizes the previous film, scripted by none other than Roger Ebert. It stars Dolly Read, Cynthia Myers & Marcia McBroom as an all-girl rock band, who move to Los Angeles to make it in the music biz. The group is so well-received that they turn the head of eccentric rock producer Z-Man (John Lazar) who becomes their Svengali-style manager and changes their name to The Carrie Nations, all to the consternation of their small-time manager, who's a Greg Brady lookalike (David Gurian). Can the girls survive the pitfalls that come with the debauched rock lifestyle? The cast is killer, highlighted by the three protagonists, especially the underrated Read. Also worthy of note, besides those cited above, are Michael Blodgett, who's character takes an interest in the singer (Read); Phyllis Davis as her hip aunt; Edy Williams as an oversexed porn star; Erica Gavin who takes a dubious interest in Myers' character; Duncan McLeod as the aunt's sleazy & greedy financial adviser; Charles Napier as her former-beau; Henry Rowland as Z-Man's employee who (I guess) likes to dress-up as a Nazi; and Harrison Page & James Iglehart who vie for the attentions of the foxy drummer (McBroom).The movie telegraphs right out of the gate that it's a joke and not to be taken seriously, like the first film (at least, like they TRIED to do with the first film). The best thing about "Beyond" is that it's the absolute apogee of the late 60s (being shot in '69) and everything that went with it — the overindulgence in drugs, "free" sex, libertine parties, go-go dancing, rock and general debauchedness. There are several noteworthy women, with cutie Read the arguable frontrunner. Also, some of the tunes the band plays are actually good and catchy. All these factors make for a fun, entertaining flick, which explains how it quickly became a cult film.Yet its quality is brought down by needless nudity and tame sex scenes that strapped it with a NC-17 rating and limited its access to the masses, not to mention its general appeal, which could've been easily avoided by wisely trimming down a few scenes. There's also too much fruity twaddle for my tastes and the "story" seems to be just one "wild party" after another, which gets redundant. Still, "Beyond" is the undeniable pinnacle of late 60's flicks, even though it can't be taken seriously for a moment, which is actually fitting.The film runs 109 minutes and was shot in Los Angeles, California.GRADE: B-

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)* 1/2 (out of 4)Kelly MacNamara (Dolly Reed) and her two female friends head to California where they plan to turn their rock band into the next big thing. Upon arriving they find themselves invited to one big party after another but soon the sex and drugs lead to violence.As much as I don't like this movie, there's no question that it's got an important part in film history. Director Russ Meyer had been making big money with his "naughty" pictures but when the studio system started to have trouble they were taking more chances with young directors or more risqué pictures. This allowed Meyer and screenwriter Roger Ebert into the studio system where they turned out this X-rated mix of sex, drugs and rock and roll.VALLEY OF THE DOLLS was a hit in novel form as well its film version but this here isn't a sequel but instead it's just a take-off. Clearly Meyer and Ebert wanted to go further than any other mainstream studio film had at the time and I guess in some ways they succeeded at that. If you're just looking for some hot women getting naked then there's plenty of that here. The problem I have with the film is that it's all style and no substance. That there is a little shocking since Meyer's earlier films really didn't have too much style yet it's all on display here.The film tries very hard and succeeds at capturing the mood and look of the late 60s. The film really does benefit from some terrific set designs and there's no question that the cinematography is great. Meyer has created a very good looking picture but that's where the compliments end for me. I thought the screenplay itself was decent but not much is done with it. Meyer certainly never makes you care or like any of these characters and there's really no drama or comedy in this soap opera. I'd also say that the film runs out of gas around the hour mark and this leads the second half to take forever to get over.Reed is certainly charming enough in her role and I guess you could argue that the supporting cast are good enough in their parts. As I watched the film I could understand why some people love the picture. It's certainly a product of its time but to me BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS is just really bad.

This piece of awful tripe is not only the most cheap, tawdry, seedy and sordid mess I've ever had the misfortune to waste my time viewing, but it serves the added disgrace of discrediting, for me, every critique ever written by Roger Ebert. After seeing this mind numbing pile of trash, penned by him, how can anyone with any common sense, or even a modicum of good taste, consider his reviews remotely credible? I mean anyone responsible for writing such an unappealing and worthless script cannot possibly be qualified to pass judgment on other screenplays or on the filmed presentations of such. Furthermore, The actors, uniformly, suffer from the worst make-up and hairstyles of any movie I've seen and the costumes, as well as the production values weren't much better. The trite and overblown "message" at the end of the show literally made me shake my head in wonder. The bottom line is that this is the raspberry of all time, or the turkey of all turkeys...

Yeah...it's atrocious, but immensely watchable. One sits there dumbfounded trying to determine what exactly Russ Meyer's intentions were. Was he really trying to butcher the memory of Jacqueline Susann's sleazy VALLEY OF THE DOLLS (which in itself was nerve-numbingly bad) or was the soft core king simply making another of his lame-brained un-erotic erotic epics, albeit one with a rather large budget. In any event, what's here is so goofy and so hyperactive that you can't help but enjoy it. The acting is lousy all around and the editing is done with a dull razor. When Meyer isn't using endless dissolves over endless montages, his camera appears to be on a broken dolly. The script is credited to Roger Ebert, which is even more perplexing as he's become so well known (rightly so) as such a wonderful writer. His script here is a square's version of a dirty movie. Marcia McBroom, Dolly Read, and Cynthia Myers play the leads...rock stars of the Josie & the Pussycats ilk. They're awful. The colorful supporting cast includes Michael Blodgett, Edy Williams, Erica Gavin, and Phyllis Davis.