Beyond the Valley of the Dolls . Austin Chronicle . 03-23-98

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls

DIRECTED BY: Russ Meyer

REVIEWED: 03-23-98

Okay, it's stretching things a bit to say that Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (D: Russ Meyer, 1971; with John Lazar, Pam Grier, Edy Williams, Dolly Read, Cynthia Myers) is a rock & roll movie, but hell, it's great anyway. It's the story of the Carrie Nations, a phony-baloney all-girl band, and their fast, fast rise to the top of the music world. Along the way they run into Z-man the Teen Tycoon (Lazar), Lance Rock (Michael Blodgett, an ex-boyfriend of Nancy Davis), and the predatory Edy Williams, ending in a blood-stained orgy of drugs and murder. The already-way-the-hell-and-gone Strawberry Alarm Clock put in an appearance, but the main attraction is the babelicious, bounteous, bustingly buxotic bombshells the Carrie Nations, fronted by redhead Dolly Read (Playboy's Miss May '66). They alternate between treacly ballads and all-out (Russ Meyer-style) rockers, while confronting their personal demons in the decadent atmosphere of the L.A. music scene. It's a frenzy of over-the-top acting, extreme close-ups, rapid-fire edits, splashy use of color, and ultra-groovy dialogue penned by Roger Ebert. Best line: "This is my happening and it freaks me out!"

--Jerry Renshaw

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