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Valley of the Dolls

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Valley of the Dolls

PG-13

Released Dec 15, 1967

2h 3m

Drama

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Popcornmeter

32%

Tomatometer

41 Reviews

58%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

In New York City, bright but naive New Englander Anne Welles (Barbara Parkins) becomes a secretary at a theatrical law firm, where she falls in love with attorney Lyon Burke (Paul Burke). Anne befriends up-and-coming singer Neely O'Hara (Patty Duke), whose dynamic talent threatens aging star Helen Lawson (Joey Bishop) and beautiful but talentless actress Jennifer North (Sharon Tate). The women experience success and failure in love and work, leading to heartbreak, addiction and tragedy.

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Critics Consensus

Trashy, campy, soapy, and melodramatic, Valley of the Dolls may be a dud as a Hollywood expose, but has nonetheless endured as a kitsch classic.

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Anne Cohen

Refinery29

A must-watch even if the movie had nothing else going for it, which happily, it does.

Jul 22, 2019

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TIME Staff

TIME Magazine

The cliche of show business as a dream world may have been wide-eyed and saccharine. But Novelist Susann's view of Hollywood as nightmare Valley merely adds up to the old naivete in reverse.

Mar 27, 2019

Full Review

Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

Senses of Cinema

Valley of the Dolls rose from the ashes to become a so-bad-it's-good cult film of the highest order.

Aug 27, 2018

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Bianca Garner

Filmotomy

This isn’t a complete disaster of a film that the likes of Roger Ebert would make you believe. And there are highs and lows with this film...

Oct 10, 2024

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Rob Gonsalves

Rob's Movie Vault

I can’t remotely claim this is a good movie, but I sure did enjoy terrible moments like the duet in a sanitarium.

Rated: C-

Aug 30, 2022

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Eve Tushnet

Patheos

The cliches in the addiction storyline land with a real clunk because of the decision to call speed pills “dolls.”

Jul 14, 2022

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Shioka O

I know it's terrible as movie at that time, but it's a descent campy satiric tragicomedy and somewhat entertaining, makes you keep watching. I liked the strong 60s style. One of few movies which Sharon Tate is in.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/18/25

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angel d

FOR SOME REASON THEY DIDN"T REALIZE THEY WERE MAKING A COMEDY! The acting is terrible. The dialogue cringe worthy. The songs banal. This film is so bad you'll want to watch it again and again.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

09/08/24

Full Review

Alec B

Part of the movie's strange appeal is the fact that it is both salacious and moralizing. It wants you to know what they are showing you is wrong while the filmmakers also delight in showing you this tawdry melodrama. If you can make it through the slow first half the sudden decent in the second is so bizzare that you can't stop watching it.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

06/15/24

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Matthew R

Iconic. Camp classic.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/21/23

Full Review

CodyZamboni Z

Trashy, Campy, With terrible overheated acting, Cheesy in the extreme, But still has a quasi entertainment value, It's also a little sad.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/17/25

Full Review

Russ

A film you watch to see if it's as bad as its reputation, and the answer is: "Not a lot worse than other Hollywood films of its era." The three principle actresses do a fair job given the limitations of the screenplay, which is choppy, to say the least. Things progress in an orderly manner, then drop off the cliff at almost exactly the halfway mark, at the pool scene between Martin Milner and Patty Duke. There's no exposition as to how she became a pill-popping diva. My most serious criticism is reserved for the producer or casting director for roping an aging Susan Haywood into this train wreck. Did she need a paycheck bad enough to be humiliated?

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

06/12/23

Full Review

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Mark Robson

Director

Barbara Parkins

Anne Welles

Patty Duke

Neely O'Hara

Sharon Tate

Jennifer North

Paul Burke

Lyon Burke

Tony Scotti

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Synopsis

In New York City, bright but naive New Englander Anne Welles (Barbara Parkins) becomes a secretary at a theatrical law firm, where she falls in love with attorney Lyon Burke (Paul Burke). Anne befriends up-and-coming singer Neely O'Hara (Patty Duke), whose dynamic talent threatens aging star Helen Lawson (Joey Bishop) and beautiful but talentless actress Jennifer North (Sharon Tate). The women experience success and failure in love and work, leading to heartbreak, addiction and tragedy.

Director: Mark Robson
Producer: David Weisbart
Screenwriter: Helen Deutsch, Jacqueline Susann
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Red Lion, Twentieth Century Fox
Rating: PG-13 (Some Sexual Content|Partial Nudity|Language|Substance Abuse|Thematic Elements)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 15, 1967, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 18, 2012
Runtime: 2h 3m
Sound Mix: Stereo
Aspect Ratio: 35mm

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