Valley of the Dolls (1967)

We didn’t say we were making a list of the best films of the 1960s — just the most enjoyable.

Sure, Lawrence of Arabia might be better and more important than Valley of the Dolls, but you’ll have much more fun watching this dishy, wildly over-the-top adaptation of the sensational Jaqueline Susann bestseller.

Barbara Perkins, Patty Duke and Sharon Tate star as young women struggling to make it in the entertainment industry, who are driven to pill-popping by the demands and bad men all around. It received critical pans, but it’s a fabulous time capsule of the supposedly swingin’ — but actually often dark — 1960s. Watching the film makes you dream of the long, thriving cinematic career Sharon Tate should have enjoyed.

It’s noteworthy that revered critic Roger Ebert wrote the screenplay for the film’s 1970 sequel, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, after collaborating on the story with Russ Meyer.