Movie Review: Valley of the Dolls (1967)

I’ve always found it interesting that Sharon Tate, who had a high-profile marriage to high-brow filmmaker Roman Polanski (director of Chinatown and Rosemary’s Baby) and of course an unfortunate end at the hands of the Manson Family, wasn’t herself much of a high-brow actress. Take a look at this movie, probably her best known. It’s pure sensationalism.

The movie itself basically seems to say that any woman — even the most beautiful — can spiral into a life of drugs and sex.

And that’s really all it has to say. It’s based on a 1966 novel by Jacqueline Susann that’s still one of the best-selling of all time, despite no one really thinking it’s all that great.

The book and the movie came out at the right time. Right around the time of the Sexual Revolution, and a time in which drugs were becoming more and more widely known if not necessarily more widely used.

The movie follows three women in their individual but inter-related struggles: Neely O’Hara (Patty Duke), Anne Wells (Barbara Parkins), and Jennifer North (Tate). Duke is the only one I really find convincing here.

It’s not a good movie. There is a bit of a cult appeal to it, as it’s got more in common with Reefer Madness than you might expect a big-budget Hollywood movie to have. But it’s definitely not good.

Rating: 3/10