Rating: NC17
Genre:
Comedy
Release Date: 06/13/2006
SubTitles: English/Espanol
Dubbed: English/French
Sound: DD1/DD2
Run Time: 109 Minutes
Distributor/Studio: 20th Century Fox
After nearly a decade as one of America's most successful independent filmmakers, legendary
sexploitation auteur
Russ Meyer first reached out for the brass ring of major studio success with this frantic cult favorite, once described by
Meyer and screenwriter
Roger Ebert as "the first
exploitation-
horror-camp-
musical."
Kelly McNamara (
Dolly Read),
Casey Anderson (
Cynthia Myers), and
Petronella Danforth (
Marcia McBroom) are the three members of an all-girl
rock band called "the Kelly Affair" who pull up stakes for Hollywood in search of stardom; they're accompanied by their manager,
Harris Allsworth (
David Gurian), who also happens to be
Kelly's boyfriend.
Kelly has an aunt in Hollywood, fashion mogul
Susan Lake (
Phyllis Davis), who takes
Kelly under her wing and informs her she's entitled to a share of a recent family inheritance, much to the chagrin of
Susan's lawyer, the shifty
Porter Hall (
Duncan McLeod).
Susan arranges for
Kelly and her bandmates to attend a wild party thrown by
Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell (
John La Zar), a flamboyant and very successful record producer;
Z-Man renames the band "the Carrie Nations," signs them to a record deal, and they're one of the biggest acts in America practically overnight. However,
Harris is pushed out of the picture as the band's manager by
Z-Man, and as
Kelly's boyfriend by actor and gigolo
Lance Rocke (
Michael Blodgett), sending
Harris into a deep depression even after he becomes the new boy-toy of
adult film star
Ashley St. Ives (
Edy Williams). Meanwhile,
Petronella finds love with law student
Emerson Thorne (
Harrison Page) until her head is turned by heavyweight boxing champion
Randy Black (
Jim Iglehart), and
Casey explores her sexual boundaries with
Roxanne (
Erica Gavin), a beautiful lesbian designer. This nonstop train of decadence, drugs, and betrayal finally comes off the rails during a drug-fueled orgy at
Z-Man's mansion, which erupts into violence when the
rock mogul's darkest secret is revealed. Featuring one-hit wonders
the Strawberry Alarm Clock, supporting performances by
Meyer regulars
Charles Napier and
Haji, and a bit part from future
blaxploitation icon
Pam Grier,
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls proved to be
Meyer's biggest box-office success, though after his next film (
The Seven Minutes) bombed at the box office, he returned to independent production in 1973.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide