June 17, 1970 –
The cult classic, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (co-written by Roger Ebert – yes that Roger Ebert,) directed by Russ Meyers and starring Dolly Read, Cynthia Myers, Marcia McBroom, John LaZar, Michael Blodgett, David Gurian, and Edy Williams, opened on this date.
Budgeted at a modest $900,000 (approximately $4.5 million in 2005 dollars), the film grossed ten times the amount in the US market, qualifying it as a hit for the beleaguered 20th Century-Fox. Though tame by modern standards, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls was slapped with an “X” rating, and there was much negative publicity generated by the fact a major studio had allowed a “pornographer“, Russ Meyer (labeled “King Leer” by the mainstream press at the time) to make a Hollywood film under its aegis
The Haus of Dcaligari 