Dolls! Dolls! Dolls!: Deep Inside Valley of the Dolls, the Most Beloved Bad Book and Movie of All Time

A blissful treasure trove of gossipy insider details that Dolls fans will swiftly devour.
--Kirkus Reviews

The unbelievable-but-true, inside story of Jacqueline Susann's pop culture icon Valley of the Dolls--the landmark novel and publishing phenomenon, the infamous smash hit film (the best worst movie ever made), and Dolls's thriving legacy today

Since its publication in 1966, Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls has reigned as one of the most influential and beloved pieces of commercial fiction. Selling over thirty-one million copies worldwide, it revolutionized overnight the way books got sold, thanks to the tireless and canny self-promoting Susann. It also generated endless speculation about the author's real-life models for its larger-than-life characters. Turned in 1967 into an international box-office sensation and morphing into a much-beloved cult film, its influence endures today in everything from films and TV shows to fashion and cosmetics tributes and tie-ins. Susann's compulsive readable exposé of three female friends finding success in New York City and Hollywood was a scandalous eye-opener for its candid treatment of sex, naked ambition, ageism, and pill-popping, and the big screen version was one of the most-seen and talked-about movies of the time.

Dolls! Dolls! Dolls! digs deep into the creation of that hugely successful film--a journey nearly as cut-throat, sexually-charged, tragic, and revelatory as Susann's novel itself--and uncovers how the movie has become a cherished, widely imitated camp classic, thanks to its over-the-top performances, endlessly quotable absurd dialogue, outré costumes and hairdos, despite the high aspirations, money, and talent lavished on it. Screenwriter-journalist-film historian Stephen Rebello has conducted archival research and new interviews to draw back the velvet curtain on the behind-the-scenes intrigue, feuds and machinations that marked the film's production. In doing so, he unveils a rich, detailed history of fast-changing, late 1960s Hollywood, on screen and off.

Author: Stephen Rebello
Publisher: Penguin Books
Published: 06/02/2020
Pages: 352
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.40w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9780143133506


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 05/01/2020 pg. 118
Kirkus Reviews 05/01/2020
Publishers Weekly 06/08/2020
Booklist 06/01/2020 pg. 17
Shelf Awareness 06/26/2020

About the Author
Stephen Rebello is a screenwriter and author of the bestselling Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of 'Psycho'. He has written screenplays for Disney, Paramount, Focus Features, and others. His other books include Reel Art and Bad Movies We Love, written with Edward Margulies, and he has written for GQ, Playboy, Movieline, Hollywood Life, Statement, More, and Cosmopolitan. Born in Massachusetts and a resident of Southern California, he is a contributing editor at Playboy.