Valley of the Dolls is a 1967 American drama film directed by Mark Robson and produced by David Weisbart, based on Jacqueline Susann's 1966 novel.

The film stars Barbara Parkins, Patty Duke, and Sharon Tate as three young women who become friends as they struggle to forge careers in the entertainment industry.

Recent Radcliffe graduate Anne Welles is hired as a secretary at a theatrical agency which represents Helen Lawson, a cutthroat Broadway diva.

Soon Anne's poise and natural beauty attract the attention of her boss's client, Kevin Gillmore, who hires her to promote his line of cosmetics in television and print ads.

She becomes pregnant but undergoes an abortion after learning that Tony has the hereditary condition Huntington's chorea—a fact his domineering half-sister and manager Miriam had been concealing.

Faced with Tony's mounting medical expenses, Jennifer reluctantly makes French "art films"—softcore pornography—to pay the bills.

A major difference from the novel is that the film is clearly set in the mid-to-late 1960s, amidst the collapse of the studio system, and unfolds over the course of a few years.

However, through the Deutsch and Kingsley rewrites, the ending is changed to Anne leaving Lyon and her job to return to Lawrenceville, described as the one place she found real happiness.

These changes, so out of keeping with Anne's established character (well-known to millions of readers), prompted Ellison to remove his name and credit from the film.

[3] Robson and producer David Weisbart interviewed several prominent actors and actresses for the trio of women, including Ann-Margret, Jill Ireland,[3] Natalie Wood, Kim Novak, Lee Remick, and Debbie Reynolds.

[4] Susann had wanted Mia Farrow for the role of Ann, but Candice Bergen – who had recently signed with Fox – was cast in late 1966.

Hartman had allegedly made a successful screen test that "floored" director Mark Robson and producer David Weisbart, the former already enthralled with her performance in Francis Ford Coppola's You're a Big Boy Now.

"[4] Hayward reportedly had a difficult relationship with the cast and crew, and her clashes with Duke became part of the dramatic tension between their characters.

In early March 1967, Garland flew to New York for the wedding of her daughter, singer-dancer Liza Minnelli, to Australian performer Peter Allen, and to meet with the author of Valley of the Dolls, Jacqueline Susann, at a press conference to promote the upcoming film.

Additionally, both Garland and Susann appeared as "mystery" guests on an episode of CBS's game show What's My Line, on Sunday, March 5, to further promote the film.

However, after a week of filming, Garland was largely unable to function; not only was she a raging alcoholic but she was addicted to Demerol (pethidine).

Susann, who was cast in a bit part in the film, was sharing Garland's dressing room at the time, and found the drug on the floor in her closet.

Garland was also given the copper-sequined pantsuit designed by Travilla for the film, which she wore during her final New York Palace Theatre engagement in August 1967.

[8][9] In the years after the film's release, Patty Duke repeatedly spoke of the harsh treatment Garland had received by the studio and crew.

[10] In 2009, Duke addressed an audience at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, admitting that, despite Garland having had issues with substances, Robson and others exacerbated the situation by making her wait several hours before filming her scenes, fully aware that she would be bored, upset and drunk by that time.

[2][3] At a time when Fox was releasing most of its films under the roadshow theatrical model, Valley of the Dolls was one of the rare exceptions to the studio's practice.

The critical consensus reads: "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".

[14] Leonard Maltin's "TV movies" gave the film a BOMB rating: "Scattered unintentional laughs do not compensate for terribly written, acted and directed adaptation of Jacqueline Susann's best-seller".

Two updated versions of the Jacqueline Susann novel were later broadcast as TV series: The film has developed a cult following, with critics and audiences citing its campy sensibility.