The character of Neely O'Hara was partially based on Judy Garland's own history (with pills, alcohol, and failed marriages). It was Garland's real-life pill addiction that contributed to her leaving this film.
The Helen Lawson character was based loosely on Ethel Merman and the Neely O'Hara character was based a bit on Betty Hutton. Ethel Merman actually ordered a musical number cut during previews of the show "Panama Hattie" before it opened on Broadway. The singer of that number was Betty Hutton, who was creating quite a sensation with her performance of the song. Just like in "Valley of the Dolls", the producer of the show took Hutton to Hollywood and made her a star to make up for her treatment in the show. (Betty Hutton starred in the film version of Annie Get Your Gun, adapted from the Broadway show starring Ethel Merman.)
The novel and its movie adaptation are loosely based on novelist Jacqueline Susann's experience as an actress from the late 1930s to the late 1950s.
The novel begins during a heat wave in New York City at the end of WWII whereas the film opens in the middle of winter with lots of snow. This occurred because the producers were anxious to get the film into production and didn't want to wait for the warmer weather; a fact which infuriated the book's author Jacqueline Susann. The film version was also updated so that instead of taking place from 1945 through the 1950s, the storyline ran from the mid to late 1960s.
The novel the film is based on was the top selling novel of 1966. It has sold over ten million copies.
The outdoor scenes of the railroad train from Lawrenceville are actually of the New York Central Harlem Division in Westchester County, New York which is now part of the Metro-North Railroad.
There are shots of the exterior of the Playhouse Theatre in New York. This venue was the home of the original Broadway production of "The Miracle Worker", in which Patty Duke, who plays Neely O'Hara in "Dolls", starred as Helen Keller from 1959-1961.
This film is listed among The 100 Most Amusingly Bad Moves Ever Made in Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson's book THE OFFICIAL RAZZIE® MOVIE GUIDE.
This is the first of composer John Williams' 43 Oscar nominations (as of 2005). Williams is currently the most Oscar-nominated living person.
Three of the actresses concerned with this movie would turn down roles in The Graduate later the same year. Candice Bergen (the first choice for Anne Welles) turned down the role of Elaine Robinson, as did Patty Duke (who played Neely O'Hara), and Susan Hayward (Helen Lawson) was the original choice for Mrs Robinson. However, both films featured small roles by a young Richard Dreyfuss.
Upon its release the picture was roundly scorned and condemned by critics. Moaned Bosley Crowther in the December 16, 1967, issue of The New York Times, "... all a fairly respectful admirer of movies can do is laugh at it and turn away." Nevertheless, audiences filled the theaters, and the film became 20th Century-Fox's top moneymaker of 1968.