Film at Eleven

It looks like Russ Meyer’s Valley Of The Dolls and Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls are finally about to receive full DVD treatment if the following press release is anything to go by:

Get twelve steps closer to superstardom as Fox Home Entertainment exposes Hollywood’s most shaming secrets when Valley Of The Dolls and Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls debut on DVD June 13, 2006. These two legends of camp – from the twisted minds of scandal-making sixties icon Jacqueline Susann, (actress, author, screenwriter and thinly veiled subject of Valley Of The Dolls), and midnight movie kingpin Russ Meyer (Faster Pussycat, Kill Kill!) respectively – horrified critics and enthralled audiences when they opened in theaters and have both remained cult classics ever since. Valley Of The Dolls stars Oscar winner Patty Duke (The Miracle Worker), Barbara Parkins (Peyton Place) and Sharon Tate (The Beverly Hillbillies) as three aspiring starlets who let Hollywood go to their heads. The Valley Of The Dolls DVD arrives loaded with pulpy bonus programming, including the famously sloppy screen test by Judy Garland, as well as original featurettes, “Pill Pop-Up Karaoke,” and much more. Penned by now-famous film critic Roger Ebert, the outrageously over-the-top Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls earned an X-rating on its quest to out-do the scandalous original with the story of a girl-band, The Carrie Nations, who arrive in Hollywood to find only sex, drugs and sleaze. Featuring doll-induced performances by non-actors from the rock and adult film communities, Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls is a shameless classic that proves “all are available for a price.”

DVD Features

The Valley Of The Dolls (1967)
Straight from the best-selling pages of Jacqueline Susann’s audacious novel comes the unforgettable tale of three glamorous women who will stop at nothing to get to the top. Oscar-winners Patty Duke, Lee Grant and Susan Hayward team with Sharon Tate and Barbara Parkins for this “absorbing, sensational” (Los Angeles Times) account of “sex, drugs and show business!” (Detour) When a small-town beauty (Parkins) arrives in New York, she becomes instant friends with a struggling singer, Neely (Duke) and actress, Jennifer (Tate). Together the head-strong, career-driven gals embark on a roller-coaster ride of fast-talking men, endless nights of partying, booze…and pills that they call “dolls.” But as they careen down the path to superstardom, their hedonism takes an explosive turn into self-destruction that none of them are prepared for…and one won’t survive!

Bonus materials include:
• Audio Commentary By Actress Barbara Parkins and E!’s Ted Casablanca
• “Gotta Get Off This Merry Go-Round: Sex Dolls And Showtunes” Documentary
• “The Divine Ms. Susann” Featurette
• “Hollywood Backstories: Valley Of The Dolls” Featurette
• Valley Of The Dolls – A World Premiere Voyage Documentary Featuring Rare Footage
• Jacqueline Susann And Valley Of The Dolls Documentary Featuring Rare Footage
• “Pill Pop-Up Karaoke” – Follow The Bouncing Doll On Three Songs!
• Screen Tests Of The Stars

Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls (1970)
Step into a delirious kaleidoscope of the psychedelic ’60s in this “hilarious” (L.A. Herald-Examiner) and “lusty” (Playboy) parody of the 1967 hit film The Valley of the Dolls. Directed by auteur filmmaker Russ Meyer (Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!) and written by fledgling film critic Roger Ebert, this wildly sexy cult classic “spoofs, celebrates and derides the swinging culture all at once” (Village Voice)! Fun-loving bombshells Kelly, Casey and Pet have a rock band, and they’re headed to Hollywood to make it big! Thanks to Kelly’s well-connected aunt, they soon find themselves at a hedonistic love-in thrown by eccentric music promoter Ronnie “Z-Man” Barzell. He takes them under his wing, and a new world of sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll unfolds. Superstardom is within reach, if only their newfound distractions don’t get in the way!

Bonus materials include:
• Audio Commentary By Roger Ebert, Film Critic And Screenwriter Of Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls
• Audio Commentary By Cast Members Dolly Read, Cynthia Myers, Harrison Page, John LaZar And Erica Gavin
• “Above Beneath and Beyond The Valley: The Making Of A Musical-Horror-Sex-Comedy”
• “Look On Up At The Bottom: The Music Of The Dolls”
• “The Best Of Beyond” Featurette
• “Sex, Drugs, Music & Murder: Signs Of The Time, Baby!” Featurette
• “Casey & Roxanne: The Love Scene” Featurette
• Screen Tests Of The Stars
• 6 Photo Galleries With More Than 300 Photos

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