Valley is one of those films that was critically panned on release, but was so scandalous when it came out that it couldn’t help but be a commercial success. It is such a cult classic, that ‘Valley of the Dolls’ has entered the public lexicon, however most people under 40, in fact, have not actually seen the film. Criterion is correcting that by preserving the cautionary tale of fame and heavy barbiturate use in a beautiful Blu-ray edition. Barbara Parkins, Patty Duke, and Sharon Tate play three young, ambitious women who become friends while trying to make it in the entertainment industry in New York. Over the course of several years they all become successful, end up in L.A., and involved with the titular ‘Dolls’ or ‘downers’ for the squares. It’s a campy, melodramatic tale of drugs, madness, and fame that we now see weekly on TV but at the time it was a pretty shocking spectacle for a film.
Criterion Collection, of course, has put out a perfect 2K restoration of the film. The picture is clean and the technicolor is perfectly preserved. The extras on the disc are a little more spotty than usual as many involved with the film have passed in the intervening half century (some quite violently. For our younger cinephile readers, look at the wiki page on the Manson Family for details). There is an audio commentary with Barbara Parkins, new interviews, and critical video essays. Also included are some tributes and promotional films as well as screen tests and the trailer.
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
So the first thing you’re going to notice when you first this movie up is the disclaimer stating that it is not a sequel. It’s true, though it’s made by the same studio, uses the full title of the original, and was in fact taken from the planned sequel’s title; it is a satire. Except it’s not really, made by a famous midnight movie director, Beyond has nothing in common with Valley. Not in its style, its characters, or its content. This film is a stand-alone exploitation story about some women in band going to L.A. (okay that sounds similar, but trust me, it’s not when you see it). Additionally, there is some nudity and exceptional violence that landed it an X rating (later revised to NC-17 in 1990).
Quality of content notwithstanding, the image is quite good in this hi-def transfer. The list of extras is a sprawling hodge podge of film segments. There are a couple different audio commentaries, including one of note by screenwriter Roger Ebert (yes, that Roger Ebert). There are also numerous documentaries, interviews, and TV episodes revolving around BVD; virtually every piece of content produced in relation to this satire/non-sequel/exploitation film.
Frankie Scarlatti is a young boy in school in a small town in 1962. One day he is locked in the cloakroom of his school by a couple of bullies. While inside, he sees a ghost girl reenacting her attack and murder. Then an unseen man breaks into the cloakroom to recover some evidence. Frankie is caught and strangled but recovers and learns that a number of the town’s children have been killed over the years by an at-large serial killer. Soon the ghost girl returns to Frankie, driving him to seek the killer and the truth behind the mysterious Lady in White.
I have to admit I had never seen this film before now. It’s an interesting little tale, spooky, but I wouldn’t quite call it a horror film. At most, Lady in White could be a young adult version of a ‘The Changeling’-like ghost story. The film is charming and looks great but it suffers from some plot holes, poor pacing, and some atrocious voice overs. On the whole, the film and its soundtrack have not aged well though Lucas Haas shows off his considerable talent even at a young age as Frankie.
For Lady in White fans, there is a special bonus with this release. In addition to the theatrical release and the director’s cut, there is a special extended director’s cut that brings the film up to a mind boggling 2 hours and 6 minutes. There is also a director’s commentary, introduction, deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes footage, photo gallery, and the theatrical trailer.
Adam Ruhl is a writer and life long Cinephile. He is the Executive
Cinema Editor of Pop Culture Beast’s Austin branch; covering festivals,
conventions, and new releases. When not filing reports, Adam can be
found stalking Alamo Drafthouse Programmers for leads on upcoming
DrafthouseFilms titles. Adam once blocked Harry Knowles entrance to a
theater until he was given extra tickets to a Roman Polanski movie.