In 1970, Twentieth Century-Fox, impressed by the visual zing “King of the Nudies” Russ Meyer had been bringing to bargain-basement exploitation fare, handed the director a studio budget and the title to one of its 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 cinema’s great outsider artists.

BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

High-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
Audio commentary from 2003 featuring screenwriter Roger Ebert
Audio commentary from 2006 featuring actors Dolly Read, Cynthia Myers, Harrison Page, John LaZar, and Erica Gavin
New interview with filmmaker John Waters
Episode from 1988 of The Incredibly Strange Film Show on director Russ Meyer
Q&A about the film from 1992 featuring Meyer, Ebert, LaZar, and Read; and actors David Gurian, Charles Napier, Michael Blodgett, and Edy Williams, with host Michael Dare
Interview with cast members from 2005
Above, Beneath, and Beyond the Valley; Look On Up at the Bottom; The Best of Beyond; Sex, Drugs, Music & Murder; and Casey & Roxanne, five documentaries from 2006 about the making of the film, featuring the cast and crew
Screen tests
Trailers
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: An essay by film critic Glenn Kenny and excerpts from a 1970 account in the UCLA Daily Bruin of a visit to the film’s set

New cover by Jim Rugg

Now Available

BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

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Criterion

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The War of the Worlds (#1037)

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Mulholland Dr. (Blu-Ray, #779)

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Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (#836)

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