It is with a saddened heart that I write this. This past weekend marked the final broadcast of the 35-year run for the Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel created movie review program. The heads of Buena Vista Television must wear mouse-ears while eating the fries of its subsidiary golden-arched fast-food chain while listening to Hannah Montana when making such decisions.

This slice of Americana and its trademarked ‘Thumbs Up Thumbs Down’ rating system has found its way off the weekly TV GUIDE listings.

As far back as my memory allows, I remember watching Siskel and Ebert review movies. I usually found them after my Saturday morning cartoons and before I went out to play. As I got older and the cartoons were less interesting, SISKEL AND EBERT or AT THE MOVIES (as it is now commonly called) continually kept a captive hold of me.

Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel offered something that was not around back then, real movie reviews. The New York papers had a small box of thumb nail movie reviews in their flimsy entertainment sections that told me nothing.

Sometimes the TV news offered a generic 30 second movie review on the morning show – which I never made a point to watch – wherein some strange-looking hairy-mustached man was talking about a film.

I savored AT THE MOVIES for the film clips. It was more exciting than looking in the Daily News for the movie ads. It fired my imagination and gave me an excuse to bolt out of the door unattended to any movie theater in Brooklyn.

As my penchant for films increased, Siskel and Ebert molded my mind into thinking of film as more than simply a reason to sit in a dark theater and eat popcorn and drink soda. I like to believe that they incubated the cinematic snobbery that I possess today.

A highlight was watching them trade jabs at one another, and at times, I thought one would get up and smack the other over a difference of opinion. Did these two loathe one another? It was great to hear them as they appeared uncensored on THE HOWARD STERN SHOW or when they appeared on some lame late night talk show.

Tragedy struck as Gene Siskel passed away in 1999 due to complications from surgery for cancer. Ebert voiced his opinion about his loving friend and cohort and the question of their love or hate was immediately laid to rest.

To fill in and never to replace, Richard Roeper took the seat next to Ebert.

Roeper had a successful show run. Once again, tragedy returned to the balcony and Roger Ebert, due to thyroid cancer, no longer made appearances on his show.

Richard Roeper hosted the show with various critics, film directors, and celebrity guest hosts including Kevin Smith, A.O. Scott and Michael Phillips. Then the greatest tragedy occurred. The same mouse-ears-wearing think tank revamped the show with two Bens. Ben Mankiewicz of TCM and Ben Lyons from E!

Two words sum this up: Travesty! Horror!

In all fairness to Ben Mankiewicz, it was not his fault. He was stuck with what amounted to a buffoon sidekick. The only saving grace are the clips of Mankiewicz responding to obviously something akin to throw-up from Lyons’ mouth and Lyons reacting with a quick taken aback head jerk and stunned, wide-eyed look of stupidity. If I were Mankiewicz, I would have taken that living breathing Barney Fife and given him a Scorsese type beating.

Roger Ebert defends Ben Lyons and claims that it is not his fault for his lackluster show performance. Excuse me, Mr. Ebert, but yes, it is. He smeared your child with abject heinous deplorable stupidity and you should not take the polite high road and excuse him. If one is presented with a job that requires skills that are out of his range, then do not accept it.

Especially since Lyons’ father is a film reviewer. Especially since this is television. To rectify the casting debacle, Lyons should have been required to hide behind the seat and occasionally mumble something, and for every utterance of stupidity, Mankiewicz should have kicked the seat and thrown popcorn and soda at the crouched, cowering, gentle Ben.

Once the year sentence was done, a pair of film critics were brought to the balcony. Michael Phillips of Chicago and fellow Brooklynite A.O. Scott did the show justice. In recent weeks, they showed clips of Siskel and Ebert reviewing movies, bantering and bickering, and going off in tirades.

And this past weekend, August 2010, after 35 years, Phillips and Scott were the pallbearers for the show that suffered death at the hands of a mouse.

20th Century Fox, 1969
109 Minutes / 1:2.35 AR / Rated NC-17

In a recent performance of ‘This Filthy World”, a one-man-show by John Waters, I asked him to talk about Russ Meyer. In response, he mentioned a few of Meyer’s films. Reaching BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, he exclaimed it was “Either the best film ever made, or the worst”. While I’m sure that deep in his heart, Waters knows the former is closer to reality, the idea that a film such as BTVOTD is bad exists only because common film standards predetermine for us that exploitation and camp are of a lesser nature and that loving and learning from such films should always be under a humorous or apologetic guise. Russ Meyer never apologized, and neither should you when you purchase this DVD.

Consider the following concept: A big Hollywood studio commissions an independent, exploitation film director and a first-time screenwriter to make the sequel to one of their big hits, with a free hand to do whatever they want! Unbelievable scenario? Well, in 1969, after a string of big-budget flops, 20th Century Fox was in deep trouble. They were looking anywhere for salvation, which is where they found Russ Meyer.

Meyer has been directing, producing, editing, shooting, co-writing, distributing and promoting his own films since 1959. He was a true independent and a cinematic innovator, but Hollywood only took notice when his 1968 film, VIXEN!, became a huge hit, earning over $6,000,000. Seeing how he could produce great quality (and profit) for a small budget, Fox signed Meyer for a 3-picture deal, starting with a sequel to their 1967 hit VALLEY OF THE DOLLS. Meyer brought in young film critic, Roger Ebert, to pen the screenplay. After throwing the idea of a literal sequel out the window, they created a film like no other.

“You’ll meet three girls, young, beautiful, talented, a tight trio that was the heart and soul of a rock group. Life was sweet, man, but not enough. The whole world was out there waiting and the beat inside pushed them to where it’s happening: Hollywood, USA.” – From the trailer.

BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS is a classic Hollywood soap a la PEYTON PLACE, and it’s a campy sex film and a sharp satire, all at the same time. Influenced by army propaganda films (from his background as an army photographer in WWII), Meyer films from every possible angle and cuts as if he’s shooting a machine gun. Some scenes never even get establishing shots, continuity is of no importance and camera placement need make no sense. What Meyer creates is a giant montage, so full of images, characters and ideas that the film bears endless repeated viewings – there is something new to discover each time. In fact, this is hardly a film — It’s an experience.

It is a wonder that this film ever got made in a studio (look for the 20th Century Fox theme music in the background of an especially violent scene). Although Meyer worked hard to get an R-Rating, the MPAA slapped the film with an X, and while it was a big success at the box-office, a few other surprising hits released by Fox (MASH, PATTON and BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID) helped bury the shame of their X-Rated film.

Now, after years of waiting, and a failed attempt by Criterion to release it, Fox finally decided to acknowledge this should-be-classic and release a 2-Disc special edition DVD. Re-mastered from a new print, the film looks and sounds better than any of its previous releases.

We start off the first disc with two audio commentaries. The first, by Roger Ebert, was originally recorded for the Criterion disc and is everything an audio commentary should be. Ebert is sharp and entertaining, he offers great anecdotes and serious analysis of some of Meyer’s techniques (including an interesting analogy to Eisenstein). Ebert went on to write Meyer’s BENEATH THE VALLEY OF THE ULTRA-VIXENS, and to judge by their collaborations, maybe he should take some time off writing film reviews and pen another screenplay.

The cast commentary, with Dolly Reed, Cynthia Meyers, Harrison Page, Erica Gavin and John LaZar is in desperate need of a moderator as it is unfocused and repeats itself too often. The interesting thing about it is the tension between LaZar and Page, who don’t try to hide their hostility towards each other. When LaZar compliments Page on his acting, the latter responds with a yawn. It’s so brutal; at time it becomes uncomfortable listening to it (For further stories about LaZar [Z-Man], check out David del Valle’s April 2006 Camp David column on FIR’s website). How unfortunate that most of them didn’t follow DOLLS to pursue a prosperous acting career, they are all truly gifted and talented actors. A large part of the success of this film is their honest portrayal of these outrageous characters.

The second disc includes 6 photo galleries with great photographs from the set of the film, and a few screen tests and trailers. Also on disc 2 are 6 featurettes, each focusing on a different aspect of the film. There is a feeling of these just being thrown together but it’s better, much better, than nothing.

Note that this release is probably the only reasonably priced and best looking DVD of a Russ Meyer film available today in the U.S. Until someone is able to salvage the original prints of his films from the controlling parties at the Russ Meyer Company, we may never be able to witness these provocatively influential and innovative films in their full glory.

Try as I might to sum this film up, I find the final words from its theatrical trailer the most appropriate as they are still, 36 years later, relevant “If you have been waiting for something new, waiting for a film to shake you into the freaked-out mind-blowing scene of right now, than come see it, man, and find out why it’s called BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS!”

2-disc set includes audio commentaries by Roger Ebert and cast, trailers, screen tests, photo galleries and 6 featurettes.

Crew: Produced and Directed by Russ Meyer
Written by Roger Ebert
Cinematography: Fred J. Koenekamp
Editing: Dann Cahn & Dick Wormell
Original Music: Stu Phillips

Cast: Dolly Reed as Kelly McNamara
Cynthia Meyers as Casey Anderson
Marcia McBroom as Petronella Danforth
John LaZar as Ronnie ‘Z-Man’ Barzell
Michael Blodgett as Lance Rock
David Gurian as Harris Allsworth
Edy Williams as Ashley St. Ives
Erica Gavin as Roxanne
Harrison Page as Emerson Thorn
Charles Napier as Baxter Wolfe
Duncen McLeod as Porter Hall
Phyllis Davis as Susan Lake