X-Rated: Beyond the Valley of the Dolls w/Matt Harding of Severin Films

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970) is an X-rated studio film written by Roger Ebert, directed by Russ Meyer, and still more culturally radioactive than most modern movies. So we had to talk about it.

This week on Morally Offensive, the ex-Catholic hosts are joined by Matt Harding of Severin Films to dig into Meyer’s psychedelic cult classic and its strange place in American film history. We unpack Roger Ebert’s involvement in the script, Russ Meyer’s obsession with buxom women, and how that fixation shaped both the visual language and politics of his films.

We get into the feminist debates around Meyer’s work, the film’s relationship to 60s counterculture, and the way Beyond the Valley of the Dolls became a cultural reference point for everything from Sublime lyrics to Austin Powers parody. We also go on a side quest through Catholic film criticism, breaking down a period review that condemned this movie while praising the morality of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, which somehow manages to be more disturbing in its own way.

If you’re into film history, cult cinema, Catholic moral panic, and movies that make everyone uncomfortable for different reasons, this episode lives right in that space.

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Severin Films
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