Day 44: Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)

As a film student, I'm often curious about cult films, and the mention of cult films often gets brought up in conversations with other students. Near the end of the year, someone recommended this film, saying it was the best film ever. Which, of course, is to be taken with a grain of salt as all film students like to believe that their favourite cult film is the best film ever.

While originally written as a sequel to The Valley of the Dolls, Fox didn't like the script enough, and in all advertising for the film wrote "This is not a sequel to VALLEY OF THE DOLLS." Whta is most surprising is that the film was written by none-other than Roger Ebert. This was one of three film scripts he wrote in the 1970s, all of which are cult films. This film is meant to be a parody of the original film, and is very tongue-in-cheek and absurd and with Ebert at the writing desk, there is a lot of cliches parodied. I only managed to catch one film reference though - there is an offhand comment made along the lines "I knew tree grew in Brooklyn, but this..." is a reference to the 1945 film A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

There's no point in trying to describe what the film is about. It's an X-rated film that bored the tagline "This is not a sequel - there has never been anything like it," which explains the film as best I can. I've never seen anything like it. It takes place among the drug-fused rock-and-roll-loving celebrities of LA and the effects it has on those who take part in it. The film ends with a talkover epilogue that provides a moral for the film (another cliche that Ebert clearly uses as parody). A film better enjoyed at a party, for those who go to partys where films are shown, or in a midnight showing in a theatre.