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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.
All Critics (36) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (12) | Rotten (24) | DVD (9)
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 26, 2019 | Full Review…
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.
TIME Staff
Parkins and Tate, the latter particularly good, suffer from under-emphasis in early reels, and corny plot resolution. Mar 11, 2009 | Full Review…
Parkins and Tate, the latter particularly good, suffer from under-emphasis in early reels, and corny plot resolution.
Variety Staff
Too dull even to function as camp. Oct 17, 2007 | Full Review…
Too dull even to function as camp.
Dave Kehr
Jacqueline Susann's 'exposé' of Hollywood gets the cliché-ridden treatment it deserves from Robson. Jan 26, 2006 | Full Review…
Jacqueline Susann's 'exposé' of Hollywood gets the cliché-ridden treatment it deserves from Robson.
Chris Petit
It's an unbelievably hackneyed and mawkish mish-mash of backstage plots and Peyton Place adumbrations. May 9, 2005 | Full Review…
It's an unbelievably hackneyed and mawkish mish-mash of backstage plots and Peyton Place adumbrations.
Bosley Crowther
It tries to raise itself to the level of sophisticated pornography, but fails. And it is dirty, not because it has lots of sex in it, but because it firmly believes that sex is dirty. Oct 23, 2004 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…
It tries to raise itself to the level of sophisticated pornography, but fails. And it is dirty, not because it has lots of sex in it, but because it firmly believes that sex is dirty.
Roger Ebert
I knew the clothes would be terrific when I spotted "Handbags by..." in the opening credits. And it's the outfits (along with the unintentionally fevered atmosphere) which stretches this film up to two stars. Apr 4, 2019 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…
I knew the clothes would be terrific when I spotted "Handbags by..." in the opening credits. And it's the outfits (along with the unintentionally fevered atmosphere) which stretches this film up to two stars.
Sarah Cartland
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 | Full Review…
Valley of the Dolls rose from the ashes to become a so-bad-it's-good cult film of the highest order.
Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
In its melodrama, Valley of the Dolls may be reduced to trashiness, but we'd be denying its skill and sensitivity, and perhaps the value of trash. It's not so bad it's good; it's just good in a different way. Jul 19, 2018 | Full Review…
In its melodrama, Valley of the Dolls may be reduced to trashiness, but we'd be denying its skill and sensitivity, and perhaps the value of trash. It's not so bad it's good; it's just good in a different way.
Chelsea Phillips-Carr
It thinks it it is incredibly sophisticated and clever, when it is just the dumbest damn thing. Dec 4, 2016 | Rating: 5/10 | Full Review…
It thinks it it is incredibly sophisticated and clever, when it is just the dumbest damn thing.
Tim Brayton
The newfound envelope-pushing in cinema, tested so brilliantly in 1967 by Bonnie and Clyde and The Graduate, is botched here. Oct 8, 2016 | Rating: 1.5/4 | Full Review…
The newfound envelope-pushing in cinema, tested so brilliantly in 1967 by Bonnie and Clyde and The Graduate, is botched here.
Matt Brunson
It has much of what we require from truly great camp; namely, it takes itself with utter seriousness, and the further it goes down that rabbit hole, the less aware it seems of its own ridiculousness, the funnier it becomes. Oct 2, 2016 | Full Review…
It has much of what we require from truly great camp; namely, it takes itself with utter seriousness, and the further it goes down that rabbit hole, the less aware it seems of its own ridiculousness, the funnier it becomes.
Jason Bailey
A terrible film that feels tremendously dated today, as I imagine it did just as well back in the 1960s (although obviously not from a thematic point of view), like a mawkish vintage soap opera that is not ashamed of its laughable dialogue and absurd situations.
Super Reviewer
A fairly good take at the life of the 60s but I didn't care for it very much.
Valley of the Dolls follows the lives of three young women as they struggle to succeed in the cutthroat world of show business. Along the way they contend with drug abuse, alcoholism, adultery, abortion, Huntington's disease, suicide and Susan Hayward. In 1967 it's racy, risqué and controversial. In 2011 it seems exaggerated, sensationalized and preachy.
Maybe it's a bit slow and we've seen this theme often, but this movie has something, it's very timely for the late sixties, and the cast is great. It's a good drama, even though some people think of it as campy now, I still like it.
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