How did Patty get this far in life without viewing the campy, craptastic masterpiece that is Valley of the Dolls? Who knows. She did, however, finally get around to it, but found herself zipping through the unbearable Patty Duke musical numbers to each new scene with Sharon Tate as Jennifer North. It was, in short, a painful experience for Panamint Patty: Sharon whispering, "I'm pregnant."
Sharon by the pool of a gorgeous mansion in the Hollywood Hills looking both chic and right at home at the same time.
Sharon giving in to a svengali movie director to make less-than-optimal career moves.
And finally, Sharon being taken out of a building in Beverly Hills motionless, and under a white sheet.
Sigh. She was sooooo beautiful. Her acting skills are not particularly well developed yet, likely because she was still so darned young. Or perhaps because not even Meryl Streep could have worked her magic on this absolute dog of a script. However, her screen presence is undeniable: she really is so beautiful to look at that it hurts. What a star.
Patty wonders if her family was able to watch this and other movies that she starred in after her death: was it comforting to them, or as it was to this outsider, an unsettling experience? If you have never seen it, then do. You may laugh, you may cry, you may just go, "meh." But as a student of this subject, it is an absolute must.
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