Beyond the Valley of the Dolls

Fabulously outrageous and camper than a Christmas tree… Russ Meyer’s satirical comedy/schlock-horror-musical about a feisty female rock band trying to make it big in LA has deservedly achieved cult status. Now even bolder than before thanks to Arrow’s Blu-ray release, the viewer can enjoy the misadventures of The Carrie Nations again!

Meet Kelly McNamara (Dolly Read), Petronella Danforth (Marcia McBroom) and Casey Anderson (Cynthia Myers) – three wholesome as apple pie girls whose rock band The Kelly Affair is managed by Kelly’s boyfriend Harris (David Gurian). Disillusioned with ‘touring’ the Midwestern provinces and playing at proms and other high school events, the four make their way to mighty Hollywood in the hope to find fame and fortune in the City of Angels. As soon as they drive along the highway, singing, “Come with the gentle people, spread love across the land” we know that it’s only a question of time before these likable yet somewhat naïve flower children become corrupted.
Upon arrival in LA Kelly visits her estranged aunt Susan (Phyllis Davis) to talk matters concerning a family inheritance. Kelly and her friends hope to make good use of the share and further their prospects in the music biz. Although auntie Susan is initially willing to let Kelly have a third of the inheritance those prospects are hampered by Porter Hall (Duncan McLeod) – Susan’s financial advisor and out and out sleazebag. Porter dismisses Kelly and friends as mere hippie wastrels though in reality he is after Kelly’s share of the inheritance. Feeling bad about the outcome of the encounter, Susan introduces the girls to Ronnie ‘Z-Man’ Barzell (John LaZar), a flamboyant and effeminate looking music producer with all the right connections and a nose for talent. During a party in his mansion he asks the girls to play an impromptu set and is mighty impressed. He immediately takes them under his wing, much to the chagrin of Harris. Z-Man (the Yanks pronounce it C-Man…) urges them to change their band name to ‘The Carrie Nations’, an in-joke of sorts as the real Carrie Nation was a notoriously radical member of the 19th century American temperance movement.

With Z-Man as their puppet master the girls at first seem a huge success, but there’s a hefty price to pay: during Z-Man’s many wild parties our heroines quickly fall under the spell of drink and drugs and general debauchery. Kelly begins an affair with gigolo Lance Rock (Michael Blodgett) whilst her already deeply disgruntled boyfriend Harry starts a thing with brash porn star Ashley (Edy Williams). Meanwhile, Petronella falls for law student Emerson (Harrison Page) who happens to odd-job in Z-Man’s house as a servant. Casey embarks on a lesbian affair with Roxanne (Erica Gavin) after learning she’s pregnant. As the chaos goes on, Kelly thinks of various tricks to seduce financial advisor Porter in order to get her share of the money.
Alas, all that hard-partying, cheating and excessive behaviour culminates in bloody slaughter carried out by Z-Man, who in turn is also murdered in the end.

The unexpected blood bath towards the end shifts the tone from entertainingly frivolous to crimson dark… Initially the murder scenes weren’t in the script, however, they were added as around the time of shooting the notorious Sharon Tate/ LaBianca murders happened, carried out by Charles Manson and his crazed ‘Family’. In an equally eerie twist, vocalist Lynn Carey, who provided the singing voice for ‘Kelly McNamara’, dated Jay Sebring – the celebrity hair stylist who also fell victim to Manson on the night the heavily pregnant Tate was butchered. Of course, Sharon Tate played ‘Jennifer North’ in the 1967 drama film Valley of the Dolls… although Meyer’s Beyond the Valley… is most certainly NOT a sequel.

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls is a spectacle not to be missed, although it helps to have a penchant for the absurd and tasteless… The music of THE CARRIE NATIONS, the fictional rock band in the film, is timeless rock-pop and ultra-catchy at that – a precursor to girl-bands that followed.
The Blu-ray / DVD release offers a staggering amount of Bonus Material, including various interviews, docus, archive clips, reversible sleeve and many gems more.

An additional bonus is a second disc featuring another and rarely seen Russ Meyer film: THE SEVEN SECONDS (1971) is an interesting and well acted movie based on Irving Wallace’s novel about the American obscenity laws. Watch out for an appearance by a young Tom Selleck (later immortalized as ‘Magnum, P.I.) and a surprise guest role by Yvonne ‘Lily Munster’ De Carlo.