While very much a product a time, BVD both embraces and lampoons the cultural changes swirling around them. Co-written by Russ Meyer with vaunted film critic Roger Ebert, BVD is part sexploitation, part musical that moves at a dizzying pace. That’s probably a stretch, but it’s the best description I can think of for this piece of camp kitsch. The films narrative, such as it is, follows nascent rockers the Kelly Affair featuring Kelly MacNamara (Dolly Read), Casey Anderson (Cynthia Myers), and Petronella “Pet” Danforth (Marcia McBroom). Along with their manager (and Kelly’s boyfriend) Harris Allsworth (David Gurian) the group set off to Los Angeles to find Kelly’s estranged aunt, Susan Lake (Phyllis Davis), heiress to a family fortune.
Arriving in Los Angeles, Kelly is greeted fondly by her aunt and told she will be left part of the inheritance. However, Susan’s financial manager Porter Hall (Duncan McLeod) works to discredit Kelly and her band as degenerates, in a bid to embezzle the money for himself. Meanwhile, Aunt Susan introduces the band to record producer Ronnie “Z-Man” Barzell (John Lazar), who talks as if he’s stuck in a bad Shakespearean play. At one of his big, wild parties, Z-Man persuades the band to perform, which is an immediate success. Z-Man becomes the bands manager, renaming them the Carrie Nations. This sets up a simmering feud with Harris, now out as the bands manager and dumped by Kelly.
From there, BVD goes full on weird. Harris is seduced by porn actress Ashley St. Ives (Edy Williams, who went on to marry Meyer), while Kelly attempts to force Aunt Susan to give her a larger inheritance than she was originally promised. Pet (Marcia McBroom) cheats on her law student boyfriend Emerson (Harrison Page) with a Muhammad Ali-esque heavyweight champ. Casey gets pregnant, has an abortion. Then, wary of men, she has a lesbian affair with a busty clothes designer (Erica Gavin). Harris ends up a paraplegic after a failed suicide attempt. BVD ends in a murderous rampage, that tastelessly reminiscent of Sharon Tate’s (co-star of Valley of the Dolls), 1968 murder at the hands of the Manson Family.
Russ Meyer made no secret of the fact that he was obsessed with breasts. Though he cut some of the nudity in what ended up being a futile attempt to avoid an X rating, there’s plenty of sex, drugs, booze and boobs to go around. However, viewed in 2016, it doesn’t seem so much explicit, as garish. Despite the criticism thrown at it, BVD holds a special place in the hearts of many pop culture enthusiasts, due in large part to a brief appearance by sixties pop group The Strawberry Alarm Clock who perform their best known hit, ‘Incense and Peppermints,’ but also the catchy title song.
Presented in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio, Criterion’s 1080p transfer looks very good. Sharpness is quite good throughout, though a slight softness does appear in a few wide shots. That is hardly an issue, given that jagged edges, edge enhancement and other issues don’t crop up at all. The rather ‘psychedelic’ color palette appears appropriately vivid and while the blacks aren’t necessarily inky, they are certainly accurate. With the exception of a few soft spots, details are impressive and faces appear normal. While I noticed a speck or two during the “traveling west” montage, overall, the image is very clean.
The LPCM Mono track is nothing special, but it does the job just fine. Sa you would expect from a mono setup. It doesn’t offer much in the way of effects enhancement. Of course, we are talking about a film from 1970 here, so naturally, it sounds pretty flat. Dialogue is clean and clear, but the highlight comes from the soundtrack by Stu Phillips who wrote most of the music with Bob Stone including: “In The Long Run,” “Look Up At The Bottom,” “Come With The Gentle People” and “Sweet Talkin’ Candy Man.”
English SDH subtitles are included.
The following extras are available:
- Audio Commentary from 2003 Featuring Screenwriter Roger Ebert: Ebert provides a scene-specific commentary, in which he is both informative and entertaining. He discusses how he got the screenwriting job, the film’s development and talks A LOT about Russ Meyer. He also chats about the cast and crew, filming, etc. Every time I listen to an Ebert commentary, I’m saddened he didn’t get a chance to do more. Give this one a listen.
- Audio Commentary from 2006 Featuring Actors Dolly Read, Cynthia Myers, Harrison Page, John LaZar, and Erica Gavin: The actors sit together for this for this scene-specific commentary, which unfortunately, is rather annoying. There’s a lot of “Look at that!” and discussion of how young they look with little information. John LaZar comes across as a real jerk, complaining that he didn’t get paid enough for the film, even openly wondering why he’s there recording the commentary. This is only for the obsessive fan.
- Beyond the Beyond (HD, 29:43) Recorded for Criterion in 2016, filmmaker John Waters discusses the visual style that made Russ Meyers films unique, the public acceptance of his work, his relationship with Roger Ebert and more.
- The Incredibly Strange Film Show (HD, 38:19) An episode of Jonathan Ross’ The Incredibly Strange Film Showoriginally aired in September 1988 on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. The show examines the work of Russ Meyer. Included in it are clips from archival interviews with the director, critic Roger Ebert, actress Tura Satana among others, as well as many film clips.
- Cast and Crew Q&A (HD, 49:21) Produced by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association in conjunction with Robert Rosen at the UCLA Film & Television Archive in Los Angeles in 1990, this Q&A features director Russ Meyer, screenwriter Roger Ebert, actors John LaZar, David Gurian, Dolly Read, Charles Napier, Michael Blodgett, Edy Williams, and host Michael Dare.
- Above, Beneath and Beyond the Valley: The Making of a Musical-Horror-Sex-Comedy (SD, 30:01) This archival documentary examines the filmmaking style of Russ Meyer. Included are interviews with Roger Ebert, Stan Berkowitz (Russ Meyer production assistant), Manny Diez (assistant to Russ Meyer), Jimmy McDonough (Russ Meyer biographer) and others.
- Look On Up at the Bottom: The Music of Dolls (SD, 10:58) Roger Ebert, composer Stu Phillips, Marcia McBroom, Cynthia Myers, and Jeff McDonald (vocals/guitar, Redd Kross) and others discuss the music in the film.
- The Best of Beyond (SD, 12:21) Various cast members, Chuck Kelly (music consultant, Pulp Fiction), critic Michael Musto and others discuss the films cult status.
- Sex, Drugs, Music & Murder (SD, 7:34) A look at the socio-economic environment at the time of the film’s release in 1970. Many of those previously interviewed show up here, see; cast and crew.
- Casey & Roxanne: The Love Scene (SD, 4:19) Cynthia Meyers and Erica discuss their lesbian love scene.
- Screen Tests (HD, 7:29) 1.) Michael Blodgett and Cynthia Myers 2.) Harrison Page and Marcia McBroom
- Memories of Russ (HD, 8:16) Produced in 2005, actors Charles Napier, Harrison Page, Erica Gavin, and Haji, and Russ Meyer’s longtime friend and collaborator/production consultant Jim Ryan discuss their relationship with Russ Meyer and specifically, their involvement with Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.
- Behind-the-Scenes-Promo
- Teaser: original teaser for Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.
- Trailer: original theatrical trailer for Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.
- Additional Trailers: Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! Vixen.
- Booklet: 34-page illustrated booklet featuring Glenn Kenny’s essay “My Happening”, and Stan Berkowitz’s essay “The Black Lot of Beyond”
