Rated D+ (Solo)
DIRECTOR: Mark Robson
Based on Jacqueline Susann’s trashy but compulsively readable novel about three women (Patty Duke, Barbara Parkins, and Sharon Tate) trying to forge careers in the entertainment industry, each descending into barbiturate addiction – the valley of the dolls. TCF quickly realized that they had a real turkey on their hands, but the film, coasting on the book’s popularity, was a hit. Over time, Fox also realized that, thanks to Miss Patty Duke’s Neely O’Hara and, to a lesser degree, the terrible performance of Susan Hayward as fading star Helen Lawson, they also were the proud owners of a gay kitsch cult classic – A MOVIE TO BE SCREENED AT MIDNIGHT WITH A GAY CROWD. In other words, it’s a Rocky Horror GROUP experience and should NEVER be seen alone. Duke is so bad in this movie precisely because she thinks she is giving a shoo-in Oscar-caliber performance. Amid all the campness, Parkins and a surprisingly moving Tate survive relatively unscathed.
Andre and Dory Previn wrote the campy yet haunting theme of the film. As sung by Dionne Warwick, it reached #2 on the Hot 100 but was NOT nominated for an Oscar in the Best Original Song category.
The two Best Quotes in the movie are, of course, courtesy of Neely:
I have to get up at five o’clock in the morning and SPARKLE, Neely, SPARKLE!
Neely O’ Hara
Ted Casablanca is not a fag, and I’m the dame to prove it
Neely O’ Hara
