Valley Of The Dolls (1967)

Valley Of The Dolls (1967) (DVD) (*)

$27.99

Screened, competed or awarded at:
Golden Globes
Oscar Academy Awards
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
Dutch ( Subtitles )
English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
English ( Subtitles )
French ( Subtitles )
German ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
German ( Subtitles )
Italian ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
Italian ( Subtitles )
Spanish ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
Spanish ( Subtitles )
Swedish ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
Spain ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
119 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Trailer(s)

Movie filmed in 1967 and produced in:
United States ( USA, Canada )

Directed By:
Mark Robson

Written By:
Helen Deutsch
Dorothy Kingsley

Actors:
Barbara Parkins ..... Anne Welles
Patty Duke ..... Neely O'Hara
Paul Burke ..... Lyon Burke
Sharon Tate ..... Jennifer North Polar
Tony Scotti ..... Tony Polar
Martin Milner ..... Mel Anderson
Charles Drake ..... Kevin Gillmore
Alexander Davion ..... Ted Casablanca (as Alex Davion)
Lee Grant ..... Miriam Polar
Naomi Stevens ..... Miss Steinberg
Robert H. Harris ..... Henry Bellamy
Jacqueline Susann ..... Reporter #1 at Jennifer's suicide
Robert Viharo ..... Film director
Joey Bishop ..... MC at Cystic Fibrosis telethon
George Jessel ..... MC at Grammy Awards aka Toastmaster General

Synopsis:

The nation's most startling and hotly discussed best-seller now on the screen with every shock and sensation intact. Valley of the dolls tells the story of three remarkable women whose lives are affected by show-business celebrity. Neely O'Hara struggles to make it on the Broadway stage. Yet, when she's reached the pinnacle of success in that arena, she finds the view from the top lonely, empty, and unfulfilling. Anne, a small-town New England girl, is unable to resist the temptation of the bright lights of New York. She finds a secretarial job with Lyon Burke - a well-known entertainment attorney - who numbers among his clients the creme de la creme of show-business elite (Neely O'Hara among them). After being asked by a photographer to 'fill in' for a model who fails to appear for a job, Anne is suddenly catapulted into the role of super-model. Her face is everywhere - magazine covers, billboards, and television. Soon Neely and Anne find themselves competing for the affections of Lyon. Meanwhile, struggling starlit Jennifer, is forced to make 'B' movies in order to make a living for herself and her over-demanding mother.

A cinematic take on a 1960s best-seller, Valley of the Dolls traces the ups and downs of three young women as fame, booze, pills, and men consume their lives. Well-bred, small-town Anne Welles (Peyton Place star Barbara Parkins) arrives in New York eager for fame but settles for a job assisting theatrical attorney Henry Bellamy (Robert H. Harris). The job leads her to cross paths with Helen Lawson (Hollywood veteran Susan Hayward), the grand dame of Broadway musicals, and Neely O'Hara (sitcom star Patty Duke), an up-and-coming performer whom Lawson unceremoniously boots from her latest show. Neely lands on her feet thanks to a series of nightclub gigs, and soon she and Anne befriend Jennifer North (Sharon Tate), a buxom starlet. As Neely becomes a huge star of stage and screen and Jennifer appears topless in a string of European "art" films, Anne becomes a wealthy cosmetics spokeswoman and suffers though a passionate but failed affair with aspiring writer Lyon Burke (Paul Burke). As the pressures of fame and failed romance take their toll on all three women, they take refuge in food, sex, liquor, and pills - especially Neely, who becomes downright monstrous (the titular "dolls" are the uppers and downers to which she becomes hopelessly addicted). Although the film's characters are fictitious composites, Neely most closely resembles Judy Garland; Garland herself was originally cast as Lawson, but she was replaced after only a few days by Hayward. Although the film's trailer played up the story's titillating subject matter, the script for Valley of the Dolls actually toned down Jacqueline Susann's novel. And despite the fact that Dionne Warwick can be heard singing "(Theme From) The Valley of the Dolls" twice during the film, contractual snags kept her from releasing the soundtrack version; a different arrangement later became a number two pop hit in 1968.

Anne Welles, a bright, brash young New England college grad leaves her Peyton Place-ish small town and heads for Broadway, where she hopes to find an exciting job and sophisticated men. During her misadventures in Manhattan and, later, Hollywood, she shares experiences with two other young hopefuls: Jennifer North, a statuesque, Monroe-ish actress who wants to be accepted as a human being, but is regarded as a sex object by all the men she meets, and Neely O'Hara, a talented young actress who's accused of using devious means by a great older star (Helen Lawson) to reach the top, pulling an 'All About Eve'-type deception in order to steal a good role away from her.

This product was added to our catalog on Monday 30 November, 2020.