The Notorious Bettie Page |  | Director: Mary Harron
Actors: Gretchen Mol, Lili Taylor, Chris Bauer, Jared Harris, Sarah Paulson
Studio: Hbo Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.98
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Seller: inetvideo
Rating:  70 reviews
Sales Rank: 5452
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 91 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 93295
UPC: 026359329524
EAN: 0026359329524
ASIN: B000GB5M42
Theatrical Release Date: 2005
Release Date: September 26, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | In an incandescent performance, Gretchen Mol (The Shape of Things) stars as Bettie Page, who grew up in a conservative religious family in Tennessee and became a photo model sensation in 1950s New York. Bettie's legendary pin-up photos made her the target of a Senate investigation into pornography, and transformed her into an erotic icon who continues to enthrall fans to this day. Complemented by |
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Product Description
Movie DVD
Amazon.com
The cult pin-up idol Bettie Page gets the full-fledged biopic treatment in The Notorious Bettie Page, a movie that somehow seems as tame and innocent as the naughty photographs Bettie made in the 1950s. After a few scenes of Bettie growing up, the film quickly leads us to her more-or-less glory years, when she posed for countless peekaboo photos and some nudie films. These would make her an underground star for decades--long after she gave up modeling for religion, in fact. Gretchen Mol, a premature starlet in a redemptive role, does nicely at suggesting Bettie's too-trusting nature, maintaining her equipoise in a sleazy world. Her nude scenes are as liberated and no-sweat as those old nudist films always wanted people to believe. Director Mary Harron plays most of the film in the black-and-white that Bettie thrived in, which seems fitting enough (although the Kodachrome-bright color interludes are welcome). There's an air of "Ed Wood" about the project, and Harron maintains a similarly jovial tone, but the film does have a tendency to fall into the and-then-this-happened metronome rhythm of film biography. Even a promising venture into the Senate hearings on pornography is a minor joke. Jared Harris and Lili Taylor, veterans of Harron's "I Shot Andy Warhol," play colorful characters out of the grindhouse world, but few supporting players get a chance to make an impression. The main draw is Mol's commitment to the role and the film's goofy re-creation of a most peculiar subculture at an unlikely time. --Robert Horton
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 70
 Entertaining if a bit conventional biopic January 11, 2010
Andres C. Salama (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
An entertaining though somewhat conventional biopic of the famous bondage model from the fifties. Gretchen Mol acquits herself nicely in the title role - even though she looks to be quite a bit taller than Bettie was. As played in this movie, Page was a naive and devoutly Christian girl from Tennessee, who nevertheless, after moving to New York, became the main model of a genre that was considered extremely shocking, not to mention illegal, at the time (of course, by the standards of today's pornography, Bettie's photos look now almost innocent). Why she did so is never quite explained, unless you consider a flashback to a gang rape during her teenage years as a valid explanation. In a final analysis, you probably can't explain why a nice girl agree to model in what was then considered extremely shocking set pieces, except by falling into amateur psychology. Though the religion of her main photographers, Irving and Paula Claw, is never mentioned explicitly, it is nevertheless quite obvious - therefore, the most provocative thing in this movie is not the nudity but the subtext of a small town southern Christian girl exploited by callous Jewish pornographers. Nicely shot in black and white with a few color scenes.
 A disappointingly superficial Bettie Page biopic. April 6, 2009
Kelly Garbato (Kearney, MO USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
After reading Eric Schlosser's REEFER MADNESS (which details, among other things, the history of pornography and "adult" entertainment, including the U.S. government's attempts to outlaw such vices, First Amendment be damned!), I rented THE NOTORIOUS BETTIE PAGE, thinking that it might be interesting to see the '50s "war on porn" brought to life. While the film does begin with a Congressional inquiry into the "illegal" activities of Irving and Paula Klaw (who employed Page for a time), this angle is used as a vehicle with which to explore Page's life, and the anti-pornography craze soon fades to the background. When the topic is covered, it's done so superficially, with little attention to detail.
Which is all fine and good - after all, the film is called THE NOTORIOUS BETTIE PAGE for a reason - except the movie also fails to offer much insight into Page's childhood, her path to becoming a pinup model, or her life after sex work. Page's conversion to Christianity, for example, concludes the film - but the audience is left with little idea as to the how's or why's of her newfound fundamentalism.
All in all, THE NOTORIOUS BETTIE PAGE is stylistic but superficial - which is frustratingly disappointing, given the subject matter. The filmmakers missed an incredible opportunity to examine not just the rise and retirement of the Notorious Ms. Page, but also government corruption and censorship, the beginnings of the sexual revolution, the effects of sexual abuse on women, and the state of feminism in the '50s.
Though THE NOTORIOUS BETTIE PAGE is rated R, I thought it was rather tame. Only two of the photo shoots involve nudity; while risqué outfits and poses are depicted throughout the film, it's nothing you couldn't find on the cover of MAXIM or FHM nowadays. Two instances of rape are implied, though never shown, which is a relief - too often, violence against women is sexualized and glamorized, and I admire the filmmaker's decision to merely hint at the sexual traumas endured by Page.
history touches all fields. March 25, 2009
Mark Weston (New York)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
being a possible porn film I thought the director and producer kept a level of professionalism throughout the film.
Superficial Portrait of the Legendary "Dark Angel" Pin Up January 8, 2009
Gary F. Taylor (Biloxi, MS USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Born in 1923 in Nashville, Tennessee, Bettie Page endured childhood sexual abuse and a disastrous marriage before she arrived in New York in the 1940s. Paige hoped to create a career as an actress, and indeed her talents were such that she was able to enroll in the celebrated HB Studio acting school--but it was a model that she would find fame, first doing "cheesecake" photographs for popular men's magazines of the day and later as a "specialty" model in bondage, S&M, and fetish photographs. Although most models in these genres had very short careers, Page was so popular that her career ran about a decade.
Censorship issues put an end to Page's work as a specialty model in the late 1950s; by this point, however, Page was less interested in modeling than in Christianity. She increasingly turned to the church, attending at least three Bible colleges and ultimately becoming a full-time employee for evangelist Billy Graham. But the early years of abuse and her time in spotlight took a toll as the years passed. In the late 1970s she experienced a complete mental collapse and spent some two years in a California state hospital.
A resurgence of interest in Page's work began in the late 1970s, but she herself would remain entirely oblivious of it until 1990s. Living in poverty in a group home, she eventually sought to exercise control over the distribution of her image, and in consequence was able to live in some comfort until her death in 2008. It had been a rocky ride for the woman known as "The Dark Angel," true, but an interesting one just the same. It is therefore somewhat disappointing that to date no film has successfully captured the essence of Page or her story.
THE NOTORIOUS BETTIE PAGE is more or less correct so far as the known facts are concerned, but it never delves deeply enough to create a truly interesting script, much less story. Although the film tries to organize the story within a framework the Senate Subcommittee Hearings on Juvenile Delinquency (which was a factor in ending Page's career), it lacks general focus and comes to a rather abrupt end when Page turns fully toward the church.
When all is said and done, THE NOTORIOUS BETTIE PAGE is at most a mildly interesting portrait of the celebrated "Dark Angel" pin up, entertaining enough but not in the least memorable. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, a making-of documentary--and, surprise, footage of Bettie Page, who was clearly a lot more sizzling and interesting than this little film allows.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
 It is a good day for creeping porn? January 6, 2009
R. Bagula (Lakeside, Ca United States)
0 out of 18 found this review helpful
I suppose this is supposed to be ok because she became a lay minister at the end?
For me this movie is the beginning of a social rot that eventually will have to be dealt with.
There is probably a reason why we wear things and certain behavior is controlled by law in almost all organized societies?
What some people think is a more open culture is actually probably just a sign of social decay. We had 40000 years in the stone age and as a result
there were social codes that were pretty universal with a few exceptions.
Until mankind gets better at controlling his urges, he has to try to stall inside certain bounds or
all social conduct is in danger?
Pornography is one thing we are in serious trouble over as a society.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 70
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