Beyond the Valley of the Dolls? (1 Viewer)

I went to order a copy of the 2-disc DVD of BTVOTD to send to a friend as a birthday present and found out that the DVD is out of print. Does anyone know if this means that the film is headed to Blu? I hate that it's out of print. That was a great gift to give on birthdays and holidays. The film is utterly insane and wonderfully entertaining. I would love to have it on Blu.

I think it's Fox so probably something Twilight Time will deal with sadly.

Maybe Roger Ebert has a spare copy or two

It's available right now on Amazon marketplace for $16.86 + shipping (4 copies left).

Deleting a DVD does not mean it is heading for Blu.

Anchor Bay is also doing some Fox titles in Blu, I understand. Haven't looked into this yet.

As far back as 2007, Fox withdrew BVD from theatrical circulation, claiming soundtrack issues. However, many speculate that there is an ongoing dispute between them and the not-well-liked custodians of Russ Meyer's estate that is the real reason for its unavailability. As such, I doubt we'll be seeing a Blu-Ray release anytime soon.

Thanks for all the responses. Mark, the news about the Meyer estate is very interesting.

Originally Posted by Mark Edward Heuck /t/322551/beyond-the-valley-of-the-dolls#post_3954510
As far back as 2007, Fox withdrew BVD from theatrical circulation...

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I saw a print of it last year in LA. Roger Ebert's wife introduced it, reading a letter written by Roger.

I just watched this, again, but for the first time on an HD television. The DVD's picture quality is really superb. I saw this film so many times when it was originally in theaters. Also, was at the premiere party (yet, not the premiere itself), at David Gurian's place in the Hollywood hills. Whatever became of David Gurian, and why didn't he participate in the DVD supplementals?

John, I have always wanted to know what happened to him. He was so handsome. It's amazing how he remained a man of mystery and nothing can be found on his current wherabouts or profession, although I heard he was a photographer at one time. I did connect with him briefly about 10-15 years ago, maybe on My Space or something, I can't remember. I asked him if he was the David Gurian from BVD and he responded "Yes. I know U?" and I made the mistake of sending him a long e-mail back telling him what a big fan I was, going on and on about how much I loved BVD, yada, yada, yada, and never heard back from him again.Obviously I scared him off. I think it's so cool that you were at the premiere party at his house, that must have been a blast! What other movies did you work on? Los Angeles in the 60s and early 70s, that must have been a fun place to be.

I saw BVD at a drive-in in the mid seventies and it's been a cult favorite ever since.

If you do a search on You Tube for: "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls Screening, July 12, 1990" you'll find a multi part series of interviews "Produced by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association in conjunction with Robert Rosen at the UCLA Film and Television Archives, this screening was shot by The Voyager Company for a laserdisc on the Criterion label that was blocked by 20th Century Fox and never released. In attendance for a discussion after the film, Russ Meyer, Roger Ebert, John LaZar, David Gurian, Dolly Read, Charles Napier, Michael Blodgett, Edy Williams, and host Michael Dare. This is raw, unedited footage provided by Susan Arosteguy at The Criterion Collection. Cameraman unknown."

Much of the material Criterion produced ended up on the BVD DVD set that Fox released. I believe there was some sort of trade, their VAM for Fox licensing something.

macarthurp said:

John, I have always wanted to know what happened to him. He was so handsome. It's amazing how he remained a man of mystery and nothing can be found on his current wherabouts or profession, although I heard he was a photographer at one time. I did connect with him briefly about 10-15 years ago, maybe on My Space or something, I can't remember. I asked him if he was the David Gurian from BVD and he responded "Yes. I know U?" and I made the mistake of sending him a long e-mail back telling him what a big fan I was, going on and on about how much I loved BVD, yada, yada, yada, and never heard back from him again.Obviously I scared him off. I think it's so cool that you were at the premiere party at his house, that must have been a blast! What other movies did you work on? Los Angeles in the 60s and early 70s, that must have been a fun place to be.

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I did not work on the film. I was at the part throught an affiliation with a band that played the premiere. I stayed in touch with Cynthia Myers, over the years, but lost touch, a few years before she got sick and passed away. I even made a copy of my laserdisc edition of the film, so she could have it in widescreen! She was so spectacularly beautiful. She should have been a big star.

Gurian was arrested in 1996 for running a prostitution ring. There used to a picture of his mug shot online, but it appears to have disappeared. I know it was 18 years ago, but he looked good. Here's the article about the arrest:http://articles.courant.com/1996-02-09/news/9602090577_1_prostitution-case-prostitution-charge-prostitution-and-possession

Wow, Bradley, thanks for posting! Unbelievable! I know many others have wondered over the years whatever happened to him and this is the first time I've seen this. I had heard rumors that at one time (long before this arrest) he took photographs of Vanna White for Playboy so the fact that the newspaper article mentions that he said he was going to open a photography studio makes sense. It would serve as the perfect coda should they ever do a sequel to BVD, considering the fact that poor Harris got corrupted when he moved to L.A.

Saw Beyond the Valley of the Dolls a year after graduating high school. When people discussing BTVOTD would express outrage over what they saw as the film's gratuitous sex scenes, I would join right in with their outrage, as I pointed out how angry the film had made me by presenting its one lousy lesbian

scene in such a tame manner that it was practically fit for viewing at a church social. The fact that a film billed as being highly sexual, would stop so short of portraying any explicit act that 2 lustful women would undertake to pleasure each other, was, to me, very depressing.


After seeing Beyond the Valley of the Dolls in the summer of 1970 at Long Island, New York's Wantagh Theater, being a paying customer I should have sued 20th Century Fox for false advertising, especially since that studio had cooperated with Playboy magazine for that publication's pictorial & article which promoted the movie as a sex film.


With word that the movie would include a hot girl/girl scene, my feverish teenaged mind had hoped for a scene where each woman would bury her tongue deeply into the area normally covered up by the lower front of the other woman's panties. But sadly, that was not to be.


For rather than making even a minimal attempt at satisfying a young man's fantasies, the film portrayed 2 supposedly horny women who literally displayed less passion than 2 sisters greeting each other at the airport. In the film, nary was even a French kiss to be seen. Yup, an ironclad case

of false advertising.


20th Century Fox was also the studio, that 5 years earlier, had put out The Sound of Music. Considering the deceptive promotional tactics that the company later employed in connection with BTVOTD, I'm somewhat surprised that the studio did not utilize some similar tricks to promote The Sound of

Music. After all of the grandmothers & church ladies had seen the film in its initial runs, Fox could have adopted quite a different promotional approach

for the final reissue of the film. As we know the character of the nun, played by Julie Andrews, abandons her vow of chastity, so that she is able to be

romanced by a widower. Now, considering the degree of exaggeration that Fox was willing to undertake in promoting its Russ Meyer film, it wouldn't be

too much of a stretch to imagine the company trying to entice some of the more randy members of the population into seeing The Sound of Music, through the use of posters and other ads that would basically promote Julie Andrews as a slut. And the sound of music referred to by the title could be stated as being a sort of music without words that emanates from a woman out in the wild. (or from one of wild abandon)


Well, this has been fun. But after coughing all night, maybe I just should try to get some sleep at almost 6:30 in the morning, here.

Here's his photo from 1996.
http://tinyurl.com/ltcdqut

Thanks for posting the picture. Aside from it being a mug shot, (unfortunately) David Gurian has aged well, still has those beautiful eyes. Hope he's cleaned up his act and is doing better now.

I hope he's doing better too. BTVD is a movie that has given me much joy over the years. I am very happy to hear that it is headed to Blu in the next year or two.