Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
Dir Russ Meyer / 1970 / USA
The Australian Commonwealth Censor banned Russ Meyer's Studio debut in June 1970. The 9867 feet (109min 56sec) print was Refused Registration on the grounds of indecency and Drug Abuse. At the time there was no R rating available, that did not appear until November 1971.
It remained unseen in Australia until 1981 when 20th Century Fox's Magnetic Video label released it on tape. The early days of video were a grey area for censorship, so its banned status was probably of little concern. The running time of the tape was 108m 15s which seems to indicate that it is an NTSC-PAL conversion.
An application in July 1989 to have the film passed by the Censorship Board was unsuccessful. The Board thought that it could be passed with an R18+, but felt that it had no power to review its 1970 ban. Filmpac Holdings quite rightly decided to appeal this absurd decision, and in September 1989 it was taken to the Review Board.
What follows is the Review Board report where they overturn the Censorship Board's decision and grant an R18+. The tone of the report is particularly dismissive of the film.
Applicant: Filmpac Holdings Limited
Decision Reviewed: Refuse to register by the
Film Censorship Board
Decision: Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls was made in 1970 and was refused
registration at that time pursuant to Customs (Cinematographic Films)
Regulations 13(1) (a) and (d). A 16mm version was resubmitted to the
Censorship Board in July 1989. Although of the opinion that the film could
be accepted for registration with an 'R' classification under current
guidelines, the Censorship Board felt obliged to maintain its 1970
decision to refuse registration, on the grounds, as it believed, that it
had no power to review its own decisions.
The legal complexities of this matter have been the subject of much advice, and were on the whole more daunting than any questions raised by the content of the film itself. This is a lurid and conspicuously dated account of pill-popping and general depravity in the showbusiness world of Los Angeles, and was a sequel to an earlier film based on a best-selling novel. It was not clear to the Board of Review why anyone should want to secure the film's release after 19 years, or indeed at any time, but we agreed with the Film Censorship Board that under current censorship guidelines the film should not be refused registration.
It was our conclusion that community standards had changed sufficiently since 1970 to justify the release of the film, though whether these changed standards signified an advance or a decline in public taste we were unable to say.
Accordingly, the Board of Review directed Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls be registered and classified 'R' (for Restricted Exhibition). 21 September 1989.
The result of the appeal was a 1990 video release on the CBS/Fox label. The rating was R18+ (Drug Abuse and Occasional Graphic Violence and Sexual Activity). Despite the new rating, the film is not uncut. The opening credits have been re-edited, and the climax is missing a 23 second scene where Z-Man shoots the girl in the bed..
An uncut version finally appeared in Australia in October 2003 when 20th Century Fox released it on R4 DVD. It runs 104min 35sec, and carries the same R18+ (Drug Abuse and Occasional Graphic Violence and Sexual Activity) as the 1990 VHS.
Russ Meyer's SUPERVIXENS and UP! also had censorship problems in Australia.
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CBS/Fox Video VHS |
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The following 23 second scene is missing from the 1990 CBS/Fox VHS release. It appears in the DVD from 96:10 - 96:33. |
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In the DVD, parts of the above scene are replayed over the opening credits. In the CBS/Fox tape it is completely missing. Instead we see the scene that plays after this at the end of the film. This consists of Z-Man and the band talking on the phone. The rest of the credits are also edited differently. Below are a couple of scenes from the opening credits. |
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