Marcia McBroom’s film résumé is sparse—seven roles total, including in Willie Dynamite and the underrated The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings. She’ll likely never be forgotten, though, because she portrayed Petronella Danforth, one third of the beautiful girl group The Kelly Affair, later called The Carrie Nations, in the eternal camp classic Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. When we first saw the movie in college it helped make the distinction between bad and “bad” crystal clear. Today it remains a Friday night dorm room favorite and an indispensable gateway into the realm of bad-as-in-hilarious cinema. This photo dates from around 1970. 

Above: Canadian actress Barbara Parkins, who appeared in such films as Valley of the Dolls, The Kremlin Letter and The Mephisto Waltz, and starred on television in Peyton Place, seen here in 1970. 

American actress and model Edy Williams, who featured in such amusingly titled films as I Sailed to Tahiti with an All Girl Crew, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Rented Lips and Dr. Minx, seen here circa 1972. 

Last December we posted a rare and beautiful German one-sheet for the sexploitation classic Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. Today we have the not-quite-as-rare but equally cool Japanese promo art. Check out our original entry on this film. It premiered today in Tokyo in 1970.    

The sexploitation film Starlet, featuring Deirdre Nelson as an actress trying make it big in Hollywood, and Shari Mann as the roommate who is swept along for the ride, is a more serious film than the festive promo poster suggests. It’s sort of like a low budget Valley of the Dolls, with quite a bit of mise-en-abîme action devoted to the process of shooting low budget nudie flicks. You can see a trailer for Starlet here, and for you BDSM types, check this rather amusing clip of Shari Mann being whipped by pilgrims during a take from one of the films-within-a-film, as her director and a few producers stand by shaking their heads at the atrocious quality of her acting. We shook our heads a few times too, but the movie remains worth a look. Starlet premiered in the U.S. today in 1969.

Here we have a beautiful German poster for the classic sexploitation film Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. It starred a cast of dozens, and was directed by boob maven extraordinaire Russ Meyer. But believe it or not, the most important fact here is that the script was written by film critic Roger Ebert when he was young and, apparently, horny.

Dolls follows the misfortunes of an all-girl band called the Carry Nations, as they’re sucked into the usual Hollywood vortex of drugs, booze, and soft-focus sex. Ebert may or may not want to lay claim to this effort, but we gotta tell you, the man is a frickin’ genius with dialogue. Everyone who’s seen the movie loves when Z-Man exclaims, “This is my happening and it freaks me out!” And it’s a good line. You’ll hear no demurral from us on that point. It isn’t farfetched to imagine Ebert saying that about his own creation.

But as dialogue goes, we present for contemplation the less-cited Z-Man line: “You will drink the black sperm of my vengeance!” That is spun gold. In short, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls is one of the most fantastically entertaining bad films ever made, and we suggest you go rent it right now, and smoke a joint before you cue it up, because it’s even funnier when you’re stoned. The West German premiere was today in 1970.