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The Notorious Bettie Page

  • 20052005
  • RR
  • 1h 31m
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
11K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Gretchen Mol in The Notorious Bettie Page (2005)
Theatrical Trailer from Picturehouse Entertainment
Play trailer1:50
1 Video
56 Photos
  • Biography
  • Drama

The life of Bettie Page, a 1950s pin-up model and one of the first sex icons in America, who became the target of a Senate investigation because of her risqué bondage photos.The life of Bettie Page, a 1950s pin-up model and one of the first sex icons in America, who became the target of a Senate investigation because of her risqué bondage photos.The life of Bettie Page, a 1950s pin-up model and one of the first sex icons in America, who became the target of a Senate investigation because of her risqué bondage photos.

IMDb RATING
6.5/10
11K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Mary Harron
  • Writers
    • Mary Harron
    • Guinevere Turner
  • Stars
    • Gretchen Mol
    • Lili Taylor
    • Chris Bauer
Top credits
  • Director
    • Mary Harron
  • Writers
    • Mary Harron
    • Guinevere Turner
  • Stars
    • Gretchen Mol
    • Lili Taylor
    • Chris Bauer
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 108User reviews
    • 117Critic reviews
    • 64Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 4 nominations

    Videos1

    The Notorious Bettie Page
    Trailer 1:50
    The Notorious Bettie Page

    Photos56

    Lili Taylor in The Notorious Bettie Page (2005)
    Gretchen Mol in The Notorious Bettie Page (2005)
    Gretchen Mol in The Notorious Bettie Page (2005)
    Gretchen Mol in The Notorious Bettie Page (2005)
    Mary Harron in The Notorious Bettie Page (2005)
    Gretchen Mol and Mary Harron at an event for The Notorious Bettie Page (2005)
    Gretchen Mol and Mary Harron at an event for The Notorious Bettie Page (2005)
    Gretchen Mol at an event for The Notorious Bettie Page (2005)
    Gretchen Mol at an event for The Notorious Bettie Page (2005)
    Gretchen Mol at an event for The Notorious Bettie Page (2005)
    Gretchen Mol at an event for The Notorious Bettie Page (2005)
    Gretchen Mol at an event for The Notorious Bettie Page (2005)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Gretchen Mol
    Gretchen Mol
    • Bettie Pageas Bettie Page
    Lili Taylor
    Lili Taylor
    • Paula Klawas Paula Klaw
    Chris Bauer
    Chris Bauer
    • Irving Klawas Irving Klaw
    Jared Harris
    Jared Harris
    • John Willieas John Willie
    Sarah Paulson
    Sarah Paulson
    • Bunny Yeageras Bunny Yeager
    Cara Seymour
    Cara Seymour
    • Maxieas Maxie
    David Strathairn
    David Strathairn
    • Estes Kefauveras Estes Kefauver
    John Cullum
    John Cullum
    • Preacher in Nashvilleas Preacher in Nashville
    Matt McGrath
    Matt McGrath
    • Nervous Manas Nervous Man
    Austin Pendleton
    Austin Pendleton
    • Teacheras Teacher
    Norman Reedus
    Norman Reedus
    • Billy Nealas Billy Neal
    Dallas Roberts
    Dallas Roberts
    • Scottyas Scotty
    Victor Slezak
    Victor Slezak
    • Minister in Miamias Minister in Miami
    Tara Subkoff
    Tara Subkoff
    • Juneas June
    Kevin Carroll
    Kevin Carroll
    • Jerry Tibbsas Jerry Tibbs
    Ann Dowd
    Ann Dowd
    • Edna Pageas Edna Page
    Michael Gaston
    Michael Gaston
    • Mr. Gaughanas Mr. Gaughan
    Jefferson Mays
    Jefferson Mays
    • Little Johnas Little John
    • Director
      • Mary Harron
    • Writers
      • Mary Harron
      • Guinevere Turner
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    The Moth Diaries
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    7.0
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    Bettie Page: Dark Angel
    3.4
    Bettie Page: Dark Angel
    The Expecting
    5.7
    The Expecting

    Storyline

    Edit
    Portrait of an American innocent. In 1955, Bettie Page (1923-2008) waits to testify before a U.S. Senate sub-committee investigating the effects of pornographic material on American adolescents and juveniles. In flashbacks, we see her childhood in Tennessee, a brief marriage, a gang rape, and her going to New York City in 1949. There she takes acting lessons, models for photos, and acts in short films for adults, earning the nickname "The Pin-Up Queen of the Universe". We see her relationship with merchants Irving and Paula Klaw, photographers John Willie and Bunny Yeager, boyfriends, and the public. Through it all, she is wholesome, sporting and forthright - Eve before the fall. —<jhailey@hotmail.com>
    • bondage
    • photographer
    • acting
    • acting lesson
    • pornography
    • 234 more
    • Plot summary
    • Plot synopsis
    • Taglines
      • The Pin-Up Sensation That Shocked The Nation.
    • Genres
      • Biography
      • Drama
    • Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
      • Rated R for nudity, sexual content and some language
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      A good friend of Bettie's, Hugh Hefner held a private screening of this movie for Bettie Page and a small group of friends. Bettie reportedly liked the movie and remarked that Gretchen Mol was much prettier than she was. Her only complaint was the film's title, saying "I was NEVER notorious!"
    • Goofs
      In the famous 'Jungle Bettie' pics, Bettie posed with cheetahs. In the movie they are jaguars.
    • Quotes

      Bettie Page: I'm not ashamed. Adam and Eve were naked in the Garden of Eden, weren't they? When they sinned, they put on clothes.

    • Crazy credits
      craft service - Grover Cleveland, craft service assistant - Benjamin Harrison
    • Connections
      Featured in HBO First Look: The Notorious Bettie Page (2006)
    • Soundtracks
      I Surrender, Dear
      Written by Harry Barris and Gordon Clifford

      Performed by Artie Shaw

      Courtesy of Bluebird / Novus / RCA Victor

      By Arrangement with Sony BMG Music Licensing

    User reviews108

    Review
    Top review
    8/10
    The Truth About Sex in America
    Canadian filmmaker Mary Harron is a cultural gadfly whose previous films laid bare some the artistic excess of the Sixties and the hollow avaricious Eighties. With "The Notorious Bettie Page" she points her unswerving eye at Fifties America, an era cloaked in the moral righteousness of Joe McCarthy, while experiencing the beginnings of a sexual awakening that would result in the free love of the next decade. Harron and her co-writer Guinevere Turner, are clearly not interested in the standard biopic of a sex symbol. This is a film about the underground icon of an era and how her pure unashamed sexuality revealed both the predatory instincts and impure thoughts of a culture untouched by the beauty of a nude body. If the details of Bettie's life were all the film was concerned about, then why end it before her most tragic period was about to begin. Clearly, Harron is more interested in America's attitudes towards sexual imagery then and now. Together with a fearless lead performance by Gretchen Mol and the stunningly atmospheric cinematography of W.Mott Hupfel III, she accomplishes this goal admirably, holding up a mirror to the past while making the audience examine their own "enlightened" 21st Century attitudes towards so-called pornography. As America suffocates under a new conservatism, this is a film needed more than ever.
    helpful•69
    31
    • mhusher
    • Sep 28, 2005

    FAQ1

    • What happened in the rape scene?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • May 5, 2006 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Picturehouse Films
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • The Ballad of Bettie Page
    • Filming locations
      • New York, USA
    • Production companies
      • HBO Films
      • Killer Films
      • John Wells Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $1,415,082
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $143,131
      • Apr 16, 2006
    • Gross worldwide
      • $1,778,006
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 31 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

    Related news

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    Jul 13Trailers from Hell
    Comic Book Preview – Bettie Page: The Curse of the Banshee #1
    Comic Book Preview – Bettie Page: The Curse of the Banshee #1
    Jun 1Flickeringmyth

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