Wow, this is a very misunderstood movie. Some of the reasons why it has been written off for so many years may include: director Russ Meyer (who is not known for making great films); the fact that it is written by legendary critic Roger Ebert; it's association with the notoriously bad VALLEY OF THE DOLLS; or the fact that if you're not with it you might actually think the overwrought story is just plain bad. In actuality it's actually an often-brilliant satire of the free-love culture and Hollywood cautionary tales.
For the story, an all-girl rock group, The Kelly Affair, heads out to Hollywood to find fame and fortune. Kelly McNamara (Dolly Reed) is the outgoing lead singer, Casey Anderson (Cynthia Myers) is the quiet bass player and Petronella Danforth (Marcia McBroom, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR) is the sexy black drummer. The band's young manager Harris Allsworth (David Gurian) is dating Kelly, but she is quickly lured away from him by the party lifestyle of drugged out record producer Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell (John Lazar, SUPERVIZENS) and blonde gold digger/ wannabe actor Lance Rocke (Michael Blodgett, THE TRIP). Other key characters include porn star Ashley St. Ives (Edy Williams, CHAINED HEAT), Kelly's rich aunt Susan Lake (Phyllis Davis, TV's MAGNUM P.I.), lesbian clothing designer Roxanne (Erica Gavin, CAGED HEAT), Susan's stiff and snobby business manager Porter Hall (Duncan McLeod, BILL & TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE), law student and Petronella's beau Emerson Thorne (Harrison Page, TV's JAG) and the heavyweight boxer champ Randy Black (James Inghehart, DEATH FORCE). The girls will get tempted by sex, drugs, greed and violence as they slide down the slippery slope of show business.
A little history helps put the film in context. Jacqueline Susann's torrid tell-all VALLEY OF THE DOLLS about sex, drugs and the price of fame was a bestselling book and the awful screen adaptation was a big hit. 20th Century Fox wanted a sequel, but never liked what Susann gave them, so they decided to spoof it instead. Keeping the franchise name, BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS (known by fans as BVD) has nothing to do with any of the characters from the first film. It takes the plot structure of the original and topics, but little else. Meyer and Ebert knew Fox was looking for a sexploitation flick and they delivered it in spades. Though nothing is hardcore about it, the film still received an X rating (which now has been revised to NC-17). Both ratings are ridiculous, but it gives the film extra appeal for what it is and what it attempts to do.
At first one might be lost in what seems like over-plotting, but what's really going on is that the filmmakers are mining all the clichés of the hippie culture and Hollywood cautionary tales. They push all the elements to a campy level. It clearly has influenced the work of John Waters and the AUSTIN POWERS films, which actually references a line from BVD. Moreover, Meyer and Ebert find sly moments to poke fun at melodrama conventions and cliches. A final climactic scene that is referenced at the beginning seems to lose focus of the main characters, but once the punchline comes its pitch black humor is worth every moment.
The film also works in references to important people and events of its era. Z-Man, the rock producing Svengali, is looked at by many as a satire of Phil Spector. With Spector's current murder trial in swing, the ending of BVD seems more poignant. There are also references to the Manson murders, which works brilliantly as an extreme conclusion to a famed drenched tragedy. It's also works as a reference to the original film because Manson victim Sharon Tate starred in VALLEY OF THE DOLLS. Additionally, Z-Man changes the band's name from The Kelly Affair to The Carrie Nations, which is an ironic reference to turn of the century temperance leader Carrie Nation.
However, another surprising element is just how progressive it was. Positive sex scenes between two black characters are still rare today. Homosexuality, both male and female, is presented in a nonjudgmental way. In striving to make the mother of all sexploitation films, Meyer and Ebert made sure to cover all the bases.
Filled with skin, silliness and satire, BVD is a campy and often dead-on send-up of its time. Throughout, I thought of the work of Douglas Sirk, who satirized the "women's films" of the 1950s by making sly skewed "women's films" that an unaware person might simply mistake as a typical weepy melodrama. It's the kind of satire subtly you can miss it. Film fans will watch in wonder as it builds in absurdity. As the melodrama begins to simmer the humor boils over. Camp is really hard to pull off. If you don't nail it or if your audience just doesn't get it then it just comes off as bad humor. BVD is a camp classic, a great example of how it's done well. At times I laughed so hard I cried.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
