I remember first seeing this film in early 1968. Theatre packed - cheesey then a little, but looking at it thru the filters of time, this picture was sooo 1967. Big hair... Flashy trashy clothes. Everything looks impeccably in it's place for the camera shot. At a $5MM shoot, it's amazing that it looks as well as it does. The cast led my an amazingly beautiful Barbara Parkins stands out because they are so beautiful in that plastic world. Sharon Tate in one of her few roles is haunting in her performance. Patty Duke and Susan Hayward (in her final film performance) give their all to try and chew up the scenery. Which isn't really hard because the one GIANT flaw is they don't have a decent story to write a decent screenplay from. It's an "OK" story, but not compelling and certainly not great piece of film. So watch the film, laugh at the cheesy dialogue, wince at the politically incorrect lines. BUT realize - as bad as this picture is and was, it's still better than some of the $50MM films that we're paying $10 or more now to see in our cineplexes (when they are open).
Review of Valley of the Dolls
