CRITERION COLLECTION: BEYOND THE VALLEY OF DOLLS

In 1970, 20th Century-Fox, impressed by the visual zing King of the Nudies Russ Meyer (Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!) brought to bargain-basement exploitation fare, handed the director a studio budget and the title to one of it's biggest hits, Valley of the Dolls. With a satirical screenplay by Roger Ebert, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls follows three young female rockers going Hollywood in hell-bent sixties style under the spell of a flamboyant producer whose decadent bashes showcase Meyer's trademark libidinal exuberance. Transgressive and outrageous, this big-studio version of a debaucherous midnight movie is an addictively entertaining romp from one of the movies great outsider artists.