Difference between revisions of "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls/Fun Facts"

From The Grindhouse Cinema Database

< Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
 
Line 1: Line 1:
[[File:Beyondvalley.jpg]]
*  Originally intended as a sequel to Valley of the Dolls (1967) but written instead as a pastiche of it, the studio insisted on the disclaimer at the beginning distancing it from the earlier movie.
*  Originally intended as a sequel to Valley of the Dolls (1967) but written instead as a pastiche of it, the studio insisted on the disclaimer at the beginning distancing it from the earlier movie.



Latest revision as of 18:27, 21 January 2021

Beyondvalley.jpg

  • Originally intended as a sequel to Valley of the Dolls (1967) but written instead as a pastiche of it, the studio insisted on the disclaimer at the beginning distancing it from the earlier movie.
  • The ending was not in the script. Roger Ebert and Russ Meyer came up with the idea on the day of shooting.
  • In the original script, the Susan Lake and Baxter Wolfe characters were called Anne Welles and Lyon Burke.
  • The character of Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell was based loosely on legendary record producer Phil Spector. While neither Russ Meyer nor Roger Ebert had ever met Spector, they were told by acquaintances of his that they'd caught his essence very well. Considering what happens in the climax, and what later happened with Spector and Lana Clarkson, they captured him far more accurately than they could have imagined.
  • Jacqueline Susann submitted a screenplay for a sequel to Valley of the Dolls (1967), but when Fox found it unsatisfactory, Susann's contract gave them the right to concoct a follow-up of their own. This was the result.
  • Two women wear costumes in the film inspired by another hit production of 20th-Century-Fox, "Batman" (1966).
  • There's a sequence at the end of the film between Z-Man and Lance Rocke that may have inspired the Dr. Frank N. Furter/Rocky relationship that we would see 5 years later in The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
  • Budgeted at a modest $900,000 (approximately $4.5 million in 2005 dollars), the film grossed ten times the amount in the US market, qualifying it as a hit for the beleaguered 20th Century-Fox. Though tame by modern standards, "Dolls" was slapped with an "X" rating, and there was much negative publicity generated by the fact a major studio had allowed a "pornographer", Russ Meyer (labeled "King Leer" by the mainstream press at the time) to make a Hollywood film under its aegis. Grace Kelly, who was a member of the board of directors of Fox, was outraged and lobbied to have the studio's contract with Meyer terminated. After his next Fox film, The Seven Minutes (1971) flopped at the box office (possibly due to its LACK of nudity and titillation), the studio terminated its relationship with Meyer. He never made another film for a studio.
  • Director Russ Meyer once said he considers this film to be his "most important".
  • While frequently touted as Pam Grier's film debut (she received an on-screen credit and a photo of her in a party scene was prominently featured in a 1970 Playboy layout on the film), her role in the film is non-existent and she can't even be spotted as an extra.
  • During a bedroom scene, Kelly wears the same flimsy red nightgown worn by heroines of at least two earlier Russ Meyer pictures (Vixen (1968) and Finders Keepers, Lovers Weepers! (1968)).
  • When she saw this film, author Jacqueline Susann was reportedly so offended that anyone might think she had written it that she threatened to sue 20th Century-Fox. As part of their settlement with Susann, Fox was forced to clarify "this is not a sequel to VALLEY OF THE DOLLS" in all advertising.
  • This film is listed among The 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made in Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson's book THE OFFICIAL RAZZIE® MOVIE GUIDE.
Newsletter
  • Grindhouse Database Newsletter
  • Exploitation books
  • Kung fu movies
  • Giallo BluRay