Notorious Bettie Page: Amazon.ca: DVD

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The Irving Klaw Classics, Vol. 1: The Bettie Page Films

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The Irving Klaw Classics, Vol. 1: The Bettie Page Films
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Bettie Page: Varietease/Teaserama
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3.5 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)

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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful evocation of the period, Oct 5 2006

By	Max "davidinscarboro@aol.com" (Scarborough, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

Bettie Page is presented in a very positive light in this glossy biopic. Gretchen Mol does an amazing job, acting innocent while looking hot. The film is in black-and-white for the New York scenes, but switches to colour for scenes in Miami. The colour is vibrant, with the look of Technicolor from the fifties, somewhat reminiscent of the Florida scenes from the fifties in The Hours. Very wholesome and charming.

I would have given it five stars, but be warned, this is one of those DVDs that force you to watch endless trailers before you can look at the movie you paid for. Maybe we should all boycott such DVDs until the producers wise up.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Great Performance in a Mediocre Film, Jul 11 2007

By	Kasey Driscoll - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

Mary Harron, one of a slew of concerned filmmakers to appear in Kirby Dick's recent indictment of the MPAA This Film is Not Yet Rated, writes and directs her third picture. The Notorious Bettie Page is about the cult icon and pinup and bondage model that influenced pornography's entry into the cultural mainstream. Bettie Page unwittingly became kind of symbol of women's liberation long after she rediscovered Christianity. She slipped into the mainstream in variable flashes in comic books, music, television, and of course a new generation of inspired Goth burlesque models. This film is her biopic and unlike many biopics the melodrama is downplayed which is of course good for both the subject matter as well as the length of the picture (just 90 minutes). It comes off as a bit more honest and real then some other biopics but on the other hand it sacrifices being as entertaining for these same reasons. Strange considering the rumors of her violent life after she left modeling.

Bettie Page is played by Gretchen Mol and the rest of the cast is good but they are truly drowned out by a boring script, and of course Gretchen herself. Mol's performance is anything but boring and shows a deep understanding of what makes Page a worthy icon. Mol seemingly disappeared for years and then suddenly showed up and did this. I don't want to dwell on how daring she is for the nudity she does in this movie, because even without that kind of commitment and risk Mol deserves the highest praise possible. She was outstanding and was arguably snubbed of some awards.

Mol is the only great thing about this movie. Page was naive to her situation and just happens to not be shy about showing off her body. You can even see in some of the bondage photos with whips in her hand that she may as well be holding a duster instead...while delicious cookies are being prepared in the kitchen. That innocence combined with the suggestive subject matter is what makes Page so enticing and exceptional. Gretchen Mol got that vibe just right and it permeates throughout this film.

In short, Bettie becomes a model and eventually meets Irving and Paula Klaw who begin shooting her bondage photos. She then goes on to model for Bunny Yeager and those photos show up in Playboy. Bettie gets caught up in a senate hearing about pornography and then she finds Protestantism and leaves modeling. The film doesn't bother to address the more controversial and debated elements to her later life (those mentioned in The Real Bettie Page: The Truth about the Queen of Pinups).

Mary Harron's vision focuses on her career and then just before her disappearance. These early years are worth knowing about even though the story doesn't contain some of the dramatic elements we might find in say Walk the Line or Ray. So it sticks to the public's perception of Bettie. Instead of going with the tabloid drama of her later life it focuses on why she is an icon and that is overall probably more important anyway. There is more that troubled me though as the film also doesn't even touch on the political commentary it could have. Maybe that's alright as well because Bettie Page didn't seem to understand or even care about her role in fighting censorship. Something tells me there could've been a more exciting story here but on the surface The Notorious Bettie Page is a beautifully shot film with one great performance...perhaps that is all it needed.

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