Wednesday, August 05, 2020
Valley of the Dolls
- Commentary: Yes, I read the book. Decades ago. When I was a teenager. When it was, sort of, taboo literature for girls my age. I also saw the movie when I was a teenager, and have seen it several times since, when it's been featured on some TV channel. It's hard to describe what kind of a hold this movie has over me; why, for instance, I so enjoy watching the turgid stories of these three young women and their torrid lives. I can tell you that I never considered owning this movie until I noticed that Criterion had put out an edition of it with loads of special features. "Ah ha!" I thought. "This edition will help me explain to myself my fascination with this movie!" I'm not sure that's what happened, but I can tell you that I spent an entire afternoon indulging in the movie and each one of the special features, including reading the accompanying booklet cover to cover.
This movie is the ultimate chick flick. Although the focus is supposed to be on the "dolls", the pills that these women consume in order to follow their dreams, the truth is the pills are incidental. The bonus material often refers to it as "camp", but, I can tell you, its campiness is not why I love this movie. I don't love it because it reminds me of the decade of the 1960s. Frankly, even though I was a teenager during that decade, I was pretty much a bookish girl-woman who lived a life that could have been described, from the outside, as dull. I didn't have glorious dreams like the women in this movie. I love the movie because I love reveling in the stories of embattled chicks, whether they're on "dolls" or not. There. I said it.
You'll notice I've labeled it as both a "pussy-flick" and a "women's movie". For me, it's both. It is not a "20th-century-chick-flick", as none of the romances follow that particular type of romantic story. Nobody ends up with their man. It contains scenes that are so full of pathos they can only be described as pathetic and scenes that are touching and thoughtful. It contains a lot of other scenes that are, frankly, just plain cheesy. Sometimes, too, those cheesy scenes are so over-scripted that, while you're watching, you know you're supposed to find them moving but you can't help but giggle, even if you're watching the movie alone. Ah, but those scenes are, dare I say it, the most fun!
Finally, yes, it's true, Roger Ebert was mildly disgusted by this movie (I say "mildly" because he gave it two stars, rather than one). So, he and Russ Meyer co-wrote what they intended as a parody, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. I never saw that movie, although, apparently, according to Wikipedia, it duplicated the fate of the original, first ignored, then loved, then culted and partially reappraised. Roger Ebert even wrote an explanatory review of Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. I didn't read the review, only skimmed it. I probably won't ever see this movie, but, you know, if you can't beat 'em, I guess ...
Thank you, Criterion! A master coup!
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Barbara Parkins Anne Wells Patty Duke Neely O'Hara Paul Burke Lyon Burke Sharon Tate Jennifer North Tony Scotti Tony Polar Lee Grant Miriam Polar Susan Hayward Helen Lawson Martin Milner Mel Anderson Alexander Davion Ted Casablanca Jacqueline Susann Reporter #1 Richard Dreyfuss Asst. Stage Mgr. Judith Lowry Aunt Amy
Here, as usual, is the Wikipedia write-up of this movie.
Release Date: 1967
Directed by Mark Robson.
Labels: 20th-century-chick-flicks1, buddy, Criterion1, drama2, fantasy1, me-favorite1, popcorn-and-soda1, psychological1, pussy-flick, richard-dreyfuss, romance1, tragedy1, women's-movie1
