Review of Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970) by Sean F — 16 Aug 2004

There are things to appreciate in a Russ Meyer movie. In fact, his movies usually have many things to appreciate, and they generally come in pairs. That's the main reason I enjoy his movies. The rest of the movie is gravy, and you either enjoy it or you don't.

I'm not really a fan, but I can understand that Meyer is doing something around all those women's breasts. There are even things to appreciate about "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls".

It's a pop culture milestone, and it's very possible to enjoy it in a historical context. Dolly Read gives a decent enough performance as Kelly McNamara, lead singer of The Carrie Nations, and she has very nice breasts.

The music is very much of the time, and if you appreciate groovy, hippie music as much as I do, there's no reason not to enjoy it. Cynthia Meyers as doomed guitarist Casey Anderson actually gives a very sensitive portrayal, and she has very nice breasts.

Especially in the scenes with her lesbian lover's breasts. John Lazar as the Phil Spectorish Z-Man looks so much like Chris Kattan, it's fun to imagine what Kattan would do as the insane, transsexual, beheading producer.

Marcia McBroom is a lot of fun as drummer Petronella Danforth. And she has very nice breasts. The screenplay by Roger Ebert is smart. That is, when it's not really dumb. After one character quotes "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow .

. . ," he's told he sounds like Z-Man. "Z-Man," he says, "sounds like Will Shakespeare." That's smart. Most of the time it's dumb, though. It's a fun movie. A watchable movie even, though I don't see the point in revisiting it.

But, to be honest, it's not a particularly good movie, and if I rate it a little higher than I should, well, it's because of the breasts. I bet that's good enough for Russ Meyer.