Valley of the Dolls (Criterion Collection)

Cutthroat careerism, wild sex, and fierce female protagonists are all on offer in this adaptation of Jacqueline Susann's sensational and wildly popular novel. Patty Duke (The Miracle Worker), Barbara Parkins (Peyton Place), and Sharon Tate star as three friends attempting to navigate the glamorous, pressurized world of big-time show business the valley is not a place but a narcotized state of mind, and the dolls are the pills that rouse them in the morning and knock them out at night. Blending old-fashioned gloss with Madison Avenue grooviness, this slick look by director Mark Robson (Peyton Place) at the early days of sexual liberation and an entertainment industry coming apart was a giant box-office hit and has become an unforgettably campy time capsule of the 1960s.