The Notorious Bettie Page (2005) User Reviews

Uproarious & Glorious

[reelreviewsandrecommendations · 7/10 · 18 December 2023]

Bettie Page is a young brunette bombshell from Nashville, Tennessee. Life in her home state was far from pleasant, so the infectiously optimistic Page moved to New York City with hopes of making it as an actress. While at Coney Island one day, an amateur photographer spies Page's good looks and natural style, and asks if he can take a few photographs of her. This starts a new chapter in Page's life, as she becomes a sought-after model and pin-up star. Will Page be able to sustain her celebrity, or will she burn out, or- perhaps worse- fade away?

Directed by Mary Harron, 'The Notorious Bettie Page' is a touching comic-drama retelling the life of a fascinating real-world icon. Written by Harron and Guinevere Turner, the narrative is surprisingly wholesome and light-hearted- considering Page's profession- though also wildly enjoyable. While one who wanted to know the psychological reasons behind Page's willingness to appear topless despite her religious inclinations might be left a little cold by proceedings, the film still entertains greatly.

Page is portrayed as a sweet beacon of light and hope, who is instantly likable. Charming, slightly naïve but by no means unintelligent, the audience roots for her throughout her journey within the pin-up world. This is not to say that Harron and Turner's characterization is especially rich, however, as- on paper- both Page and her supporting characters are all a little one-dimensional. Further, their handling of themes- such as the gulf between conservatism and liberalism, the rise and fall of fame and the power and influence of media- feel undeveloped and a tad hackneyed.

However, Page- as presented in the film- is someone you couldn't help for fall for, while Harron and Turner's dialogue is generally strong- not to mention comedically sharp. Their wry approach to comedy works wonders: they craft an understated, funny story as well as a compelling one. While slightly lacking in psychological or thematic depth and characterisation, their narrative impresses all the same.

Moreover, Mott Hupfel's cinematography is evocative and atmospheric. He switches between black and white and colour, depending on the tone and context of the scene, in a way that creates a striking visual contrast between Page's vibrant personality and the repressive society around her, as well as between her private and public life. Furthermore, he utilises a variety of techniques and shots- including close-ups, wides, static and tracking shots- to create tension. In addition, his use of lighting creates atmosphere, compounding the drama and suspense of scenes; most notably when Page testifies before the Senate.

Additionally, Gideon Ponte's production design faithfully creates a 1950's visual aesthetic, bolstering the realism of the venture. From the inclusion of vintage cars to elaborate items of clothing created by John Dunn, everything on screen looks period accurate. Alexandra Mazur's set decoration really is impressive, while Thomas Ambrose's art direction uses a retro colour palette, with muted tones, evoking a warm feeling of nostalgia.

Gretchen Mol stars as Bettie Page, delivering a confident performance of wit and energy. She makes Page exceedingly amiable; someone anybody would like to spend time with. Yet she also imbues the character with a thoughtful depth missing from Harron and Turner's screenplay; making her fascinating and multifaceted. Alongside her, Chris Bauer and Lili Palmer do typically fine work as a brother and sister team of magazine peddlers who take Page under their wing, while Sarah Paulson and Jared Harris impress as photographers Bunny Yeager and John Willie, respectively.

In conclusion, Mary Harron's 'The Notorious Bettie Page' celebrates the life and legacy of a woman who defied conventions and expectations, though isn't as insightful as perhaps it could have been. Despite lacking in thematic and psychological depth, though, the film is a delight, featuring strong dialogue, stunning visuals and a spirited central performance from Gretchen Mol. Uproarious, glorious- this film proves Bettie was more than just notorious.

Well-made biopic, but a little thin

[pb104-1 · 7/10 · 17 January 2006]

Bettie Page was a icon of the repressed 1950s, when she represented the sexual freedom that was still a decade away, but high in the hopes and dreams of many teenagers and young adults. Gretchen Mol does a superb job of portraying the scandalous Bettie, who was a small town girl with acting ambitions and a great body. Her acting career went nowhere, but her body brought her to the peak of fame in an admittedly fringe field. Photogrsphed in black and white with color interludes when she gets out of the world of exploitation in New York, this made-for-TV (HBO) film has good production values and a very believable supporting cast. The problem is, it's emotionally rather flat. It's difficult to form an attachment to the character, since Bettie is portrayed as someone quite shallow and naive given the business she was in. The self-serving government investigations are given a lot of screen time, which slows down the film towards the end. But it's definitely worth watching for the history of the time, and to see the heavy-handed government repression that was a characteristic of the fifties. 7/10

Gretchen Mol is Bettie Page

[johno-21 · 7/10 · 7 February 2006]

I saw this movie at the 2006 Palm Springs International Film Festival and it is a movie and not a film since it apparently was shot by HBO to be shown on their cable network sometime this year. This movie presents Page as a bondage and discipline fetish pinup and B&D stag film actress who had enough talent to become a real actress. Page was a little more than that and the film touches on some of her other roles in modeling but not enough to balance out the career of the 50's pinup icon. This film is supposedly based on the book "The Real Bettie Page" by Richard Foster. It's shot in black and white for that 1950's nostalgia feel. I have the book called "Bettie Page The Life of a Pinup Legend" that has a lot of great photos chronicling the career of Page and I must say that this movie reproduces on film, with Gretchen Mol as Page, many of those famous photo's very accurately. Mol herself with the Bettie Page black wig and brown contact lenses is Bettie Page. Not only does she have the Bettie Page look but she has the smile and characteristics of her personality that came through the camera down perfect. And her body is as close to a replica of Page's as possible. Terrific casting. The story is kind of thin and tabloidesque and certainly could have been a lot better. But this is a pretty good TV movie. I would rate it a 7.0 of a scale of 10 and recommend it's viewing when it comes on TV.

Appealing but none too Revealing look at an Icon

[gortx · 7 May 2006]

One of the great pioneers of Pre-XXX exploitation cinema, David Friedman, has often said that one of the main keys to his success (particularly in regards to his sexploitation films) was that he always teased the audience. Show them just enough to lure them in (and give them some of what they want), but not enough so that were satisfied and didn't have to come back (but leave them asking for more).

Certainly, Bettie Page and the Klaws knew how to tease their audience when they did their photo and film shoots. Unfortunately, the same could be said for this film and it disappoints for that reason. Harron's film is all surface and tease (and well done in that regard), but we never learn that much of the person behind the bondage.

For a low budget film Harron is quite deft in combining stock footage, set decoration-wardrobe and film stock manipulation to bring the era to life. The recreations of Bettie Page's career are handled with care and attention to detail. Were the same only able to be said about the screenplay which is banal and...ahem...only skin deep.

Judging the acting is more problematic in that Harron has chosen to go along with what seems to be the prevailing technique current filmmakers have when portraying characters of the 1950's - They seem to smile, grin and leer in a bizarre ritualistic way as if they were the members of a cult who can communicate with one another through their teeth and eyes! Mol does her best within this construct, even if she's too thin to realistically depict the voluptuous Page as she was (fortunately, Harron was wise enough to find a suitable actress without anachronistic implants).

It's not quite correct as many have contended that the film doesn't tell a linear narrative story (many have argued that it's just a slice of her life, nothing more). There IS an arc to the story. What's crucially missing are the thoughts and feelings of Bettie herself. Surely, a girl with such a strict religious background (which she returned to), would have believed something more strongly about the sexual nature of her work than "Adam and Eve were naked". When the film gets more serious towards the end, both it and Mol's performance are harmed because the audience has gotten used to the winks and the smiles, and haven't been given reason to think any more deeply than that.

In the end, it's like that glossy magazine you see on the newsstand, all bright, shiny and alluring, but you suspect that inside it will be a teasing disappointment.

P.S. Just a note on the Black & White photography. Pity that better care wasn't given to the film stocks used for the release prints. They seem to have blue tint to them, so you don't get the full dark blacks and bright whites of true B&W film stock. Hopefully, this will be corrected on DVD.

Also, because Page is such an icon, there's an odd sense that you don't WANT to know the details behind the image (even when they are so superficial as here). Of course, recent biographies and a recent L.A. Times interview with Page herself have sort of let the cat out of the bag prior to this film.

not too surprising it's an HBO film, but a good one nonetheless, with a terrific lead in Moll

[Quinoa1984 · 7/10 · 30 April 2006]

I had a vague idea of who Bettie Page was, partly due to her appearance in the very wee days of Playboy (apparently, when she got her photo taken of her and her Santa hat, just that, she didn't know what the mag was). The movie, co-written and directed by American Psycho's Mary Harron, fleshes out the key parts of her life well enough. A southern belle of a church goer has some bad experiences and leaves them behind to seek better times in New York City, where she gets into modeling, and from there a lot more. Soon, she becomes the underground pin-up sensation, with bondage the obvious (and "notorious" of the title) trait attributed to her. The actress Gretchen Moll portrays her, and gets down the spirit of this woman about as well as she could, which is really a lot of the success of the film. She's not a simplistic character, even if at times her ideas of morality are questionable ("well, Adam and Eve were naked, weren't they?" she comments a couple of times). Apparently, the filmmakers leave out the later years of Page's life and leave off with her in a kind of redemptive period, leaving behind the photo shoots for Jesus.

In all, the Notrious Bettie Page is not much more than a kind of usual bio-pic presented by HBO films, albeit this time with the stamina for a feature-film release. The best scenes that Harron captures are Page in her "questionable" positions, getting photos of her in over-the-top poses and starring in ridiculous films of whips and chains and leather uniforms. This adds a much needed comic relief to the film's otherwise usual nature. It's not that the story behind it is uninteresting, which involves the government's investigation into the 'smut' that came out of such photos and underground magazines. But there isn't much time given to explore more of what is merely hinted at, with Page and her complexities or her relationships or to sex and the fifties. It's all given a really neat black and white look and sometimes it seemed as if Harron was progressing some of the black and white photos to be tinted more as it went along. It's a watchable view if you're not too knowledgeable of Bette Page, and probably for fans too.

Gory Days

[europolismovie · 6/10 · 7 June 2007]

On the 26th of September 1983 a short dumpy 60 year old woman stood trial for the attempted murder of Leonie Haddad, a lady whose husband had recently died and had agreed to take in a lodger who came via a housing authority for the elderly. Haddad was not made aware that her new lodger had, in fact, come fresh from The Patton State Mental Hospital where she had been incarcerated for an inexplicable knife attack on a married couple three years previously. Haddad soon realised that something was 'rotten in Denmark' when the woman began to lock herself in the bathroom with a tape recorder reciting prophesies about' seven Gods'. Haddad's fears were confirmed one night when she awoke to find her lodger sitting astride her chest holding a bread knife announcing that "God has inspired me to kill you". Haddad managed to knock her assailant out with a telephone but not before she had lost a finger and suffered deep lacerations to her face and chest. It was a miracle she survived. The lodger was judged to be innocent by reason of insanity but sent, kicking and screaming, back to the laughing academy. Ten years later she was released and found that she was now a celebrity; but not for the brutal attacks on her innocent victims, but for her incarnation of 25 years earlier when she was known as the 'Queen of the Curve's, the 'Tennessee Tease' and 'Miss Pin Up Girl of the World' – the Notorious Bettie Page.

Director Mary Harron, mainly known for 'American Psycho' takes us back to the glory days of a legendary cheesecake and bondage model (played solidly enough by Gretchen Mol) who inadvertently wrote the blue print for fetish iconography and whose influence can be detected in everything from comic books to catwalks. T.N.B.P is day-glo fun ride through an evocative depiction of the1950's where Page, with the familial help of good intentioned boyfriends and photographers, becomes the number one star of pocket sized men's glossies with titles like Wink, Tab and Parade. Her real dream of movie stardom evades her and a brush with the authorities over obscenity charges in 1957 is the inciting incident which leads her to retire from modelling and give herself to God. The overall style of the film is light and frothy and only darkens momentarily with an allusion to her father's incestuous attentions and a sexual assault which inexplicably appears to have no discernible effect on her. Mol plays Page as she seems in her photographs, happy, carefree and fun - even the bondage shots betray little more than a good humoured incomprehensibility. The film ends on the upbeat with Page cheerfully handing out bibles in a park with no indication of the real life unhappy marriages, personal tragedy and decent into murderous insanity which lay before her; avoiding what I think is the essential core of Page's story - rebirth and resurrection.

Having emerged from a decade of incarceration Page found that her cult had been in the ascendance since the mid 1980's and that she had become a huge underground icon, during which, many were asking "whatever happened to Bettie Page". Her 'mysterious' disappearance fed the fires of any number of conspiracy theories only adding to the allure of her legend. When the world's media finally caught up with her she gave no hint of her darker past and she was soon giving interviews for magazines, T.V and being photographed at Playboy parties with the likes of Pamela Anderson and the equally tragic Anna Nicole Smith. She found that she was now more famous than she ever was in her 'glory years' but in the glare of this 'resurrection' it was only a matter of time before the full story would come to light.

The only notorious thing about The Notorious Bettie Page is they left out the part when she became truly notorious.

Show some Constraints

[ferguson-6 · 7/10 · 22 April 2006]

Greetings again from the darkness. Mary Heron is amassing quite the list of films which provide a glimpse into their specific era. Her previous "I Shot Andy Warhol" and "American Psycho" were at their best when commenting on the quirkiness of society during that period. Although "The Notorious Bettie Page" is obviously about Ms. Page, it is every bit as much a peak behind the curtain at the world of kinky photo shoots in the 50's.

The film is fun to watch both from the perspective of the story and the technical aspect of the way it was filmed and put together. The grainy B&W film and photos capture the time and the introduction of color in Miami Beach through the photos of Bunny Yeager is very well done.

The supporting cast is strong with David Strathairn (fresh off his Edward R. Murrow role), Chris Bauer (as Irving Klaw) and Lili Taylor. The star of the film is the wonderfully talented and underrated and underworked Gretchen Mol. Ms. Mol always brings an edge and spirit to her roles. She was absolutely mesmerizing in the little seen, Jason Alexander directed "Just Looking" in 2000. Here she is the notorious Bettie Page. Her smile is captivating and her body is flawless. She really seems to enjoy this role and helps us understand how the girl next door from Tennessee could become the underworld Pin-up queen.

As one would expect, the soundtrack from the era is terrific. Patsy Cline and Peggy Lee are just two of the featured performers. Although the film hints at providing a history into this industry, the final third kinda falls flat preventing pure movie magic. But the magic of Gretchen Mol and Bettie Page make this a fun movie to watch and one that will yield endless showings on HBO in the near future. Now will someone please turn Ms. Mol into the star she should be?

A Cliffs Notes version of Bettie's life.

[grendelkhan · 7/10 · 29 September 2006]

Although The Notorious Bettie Page is well acted and shot, is is, at best, a Cliffs Notes version of Bettie's biography. The film mainly centers on her work with Irving and Paula Klaw, the brother and sister team who produced the bulk of her most famous photos. It does not detail her life after posing, aside from her religious rebirth. It cites "The Real Bettie Page", by Richard Foster as a source, but it ignores Bettie's later years of mental illness and incarceration in a mental hospital. The narrow focus of the biography can be debated, but the majority of Bettie's fans and the "civilians" would probably be more interested in her modeling career, which is what they get.

The film is well acted, with Gretchen Mol faithfully reproducing the look of Bettie, as well as conveying the sweetness that her photos exuded. The character is played as rather naive, a probable byproduct of interviews given by Bettie in recent years. It is more likely that Bettie was aware of the nature of her photos but rationalized it as acting and costumes.

The supporting cast is also outstanding, with Chris Bauer and Lili Taylor playing Irving and Paula Klaw, and David Strathairn as Estes Kefauver. The film errs with the character of John Willie, played by Jared Harris. John Willie never met Bettie Page and was not involved in photo shoots with the Klaws. Harris plays Willie a bit like Peter O'Toole, in his more debauched state.

Despite the quality of acting, the film is a bit of a disappointment in terms of depth. The story is rather cursory and we never feel that we truly get to know Bettie. Much like her photos, it's just an image. It does tend to exaggerate Bettie's notoriety. Her photos were mainly seen in and around New York, in a very narrow market of underground and cultish publications. Her real fame came after her photos were reprinted in the late 70's and 80's, and the Cult of Betty Page (as her name was usually spelled) grew. Bettie's greatest exposure (pardon the pun) was in Playboy, appearing in the January 1955 issue (the Christmas photo, which is staged in reverse in the film).

The film is well done, if rather shallow. It is able to sustain interest until the end and showcases many fine performances. It hits the high points of Bettie's life, but ignores many details which would have given it far greater depth. The ending is rather a let down. It feels rather abrupt. Still, the movie is definitely worth viewing by anyone interested in Bettie, or even the time period. The soundtrack is great, really pulling the viewer into the 1950's. If nothing else, the film stands as a showcase for America's burgeoning sexuality and the clash with its Puritan past. It's also a peek at an icon for both men and women.

This Movie's Got Legs - And Charm.

[fightin-phaeton · 9/10 · 17 May 2006]

For a film that's ostensibly about sex and leather, it doesn't have any right to be as oddly sweet as it is. The story of Bettie Page, a good Christian girl from the South who's momma wouldn't let her date until she married, who moved to New York and ended up becoming the most successful pin-up of her age, is driven by an outstanding performance from Gretchen Moll. Her Page can't quite reconcile the pictures that she takes (nobody's allowed to touch, it's all fun and respectful) with the pornography trials and supposed ill-effects that her images have on the world around her.

Page has been an inspiration to every burlesque artist since, not just because she had a figure to die for, but because she invested every picture with an innocent sense of fun that was uniquely sexy and simple at the same time. Rather like this film, in fact. Filmde in both black and white and glorious technicolour, it's a lovely way to spend a couple of hours.

saint or sinner?

[come2whereimfrom · 7/10 · 22 August 2006]

Everything about 'girl next door' Bettie Page's pictures by today's standards is pretty tame, but in the time when she was modelling they were quite the opposite. Split between black and white and colour with some great splashes of humour the film tells the all but short story of Bettie's modelling career from swim suits, past nude and up to bondage. The real essence of the portrayal captured so well by Gretchen Moll (if Reese can get an Oscar for June Carter then surely Miss. Moll should be eligible for contention) as Bettie is one of innocence and wonder. Brought up as strict Christian and never losing her naivety, the fact that she is so oblivious to what she is doing, seeing her photo shoots as dressing up and ultimately performance, is what made Bettie such an great model and now icon. It is really a story of dreams; after all she wanted to be an actress and acts when she poses giving the shots an air of fun and an almost frivolous nature. It is testament to her and Gretchen's performance that by the tale end of the film you have almost totally forgotten a horrible act that happened near the beginning, and that was Bettie's power, hypnotising you into losing your troubles and just being mesmerised by her. The forest scene where she strips off completely for the first time is almost garden of Eden like and when she professes that 'weren't Adam and Eve naked after all' it is not just her trying to justify what she does in the eyes of her God, but it is that she really believes it. Adored and hated in equal measure in her lifetime and revered now as the mother of everyone from fetishists to suicide girls this is more about what Bettie (if even unwittingly) changed and how peoples perception became altered by a challenge to the normality they were used to. With elements in common with 'The People vs. Larry Flint' but told from the models point of view, the film closes with actual footage of Page dancing so stupidly it amazes you how anyone could have ever found her remotely offencive. Saint, sinner, nice or naughty this is an interesting insight to one woman who to some is regarded as highly as say Elvis.

Fill-in-the-blanks biography of the pin-up queen...only occasionally gives us a true sense of time and place

[moonspinner55 · 5/10 · 16 July 2010]

Gretchen Mol's impeccable casting as the winking, ticklish nudie-cutie Bettie Page could not have been a better choice, but that was the film's biggest inspiration and nothing else here quite measures up. A naïve gal from Tennessee, church-going and raised by a strict mother, hits New York City in 1949 after walking out on her marriage to an abusive soldier. Bettie wins a few modest beauty contests before stepping into her future role as a pin-up model for men's entertainment magazines; with times and tastes quickly changing however, the era of the cheesecake photo passes and Bettie smoothly segues into a harder type of pornography: bondage photos and light S&M shorts. Nothing in this girl's life appears to happen according to a plan...it's all serendipitous. Bettie is asked, "You wanna try this?" or "Can you do something like this?", and her answer is always, "Sure, why not!" To her it was all fun and games, accompanied by a big country smile and an innocent shrug. When her steady fellow points out to her how disreputable her S&M photos are, her answer is to fly off to Miami Beach, where she picks up a muscle-boy and dances under the stars. Are we to assume Bettie was not so sweet and innocent, that she knew exactly what she was doing? A flashback to Page's childhood suggests a certain looseness already forming (also a hint of sexual abuse by a man who appears to be her father). The subplot about a formal investigation into smut-peddlers is a squashy mess, and the black-and-white cinematography is mostly disappointing. Still, Gretchen Mol is something else entirely; creating a genuine character out of this noodle-headed script shows true talent, and she matches up with our memories of the legendary Bettie Page quite nicely. We never feel anything for this Bettie, we're never moved by her sordid ups-and-downs, though that's due to the handling. Mol rises above the sloppy material and gives it more than just a nostalgic kick. She's in the spirit, even if the rest of the picture could certainly use some soul. ** from ****

Nororious or safe?

[donandlisanyc · 10/10 · 16 April 2006]

If this film strikes you (as it did us and, apparently, others departing the theater) as disappointingly thin, it may be because the subject herself is mildly disappointing. The film faithfully presents us Bettie Page as she probably was: a playful almost-innocent from the rural South whose career as "the pinup queen of the universe" was for her just goofy, natural fun. Her eventual moral qualms, religious conversion and sudden departure from nude and bondage modeling are biographically accurate, yet hard to understand given how untroubled she seemed by her livelihood.

There are many reasons to see this film even so, not least of which are the amazing b&w noir cinematography of W. Mott Hopfel III (complete with old fashioned wipes and dissolves), the 1950's-faithful acting of the cast under the direction of Mary Harron, pitch-perfect performances by some of our most underrated supporting actors (including Chris Bauer, Lili Taylor, Sarah Paulson, Austin Pendleton, Dallas Roberts and Victor Slezak), not to mention the Oscar-worthy and technically difficult lead performance of Gretchen Mol.

Ms. Mol does several scenes fully naked and most others in amazing period lingerie and "specialty" costumes (gloriously assembled by costume designer John A. Dunn), yet she astonishingly maintains Bettie Page's unstudied pleasure in her lush body. To watch Ms. Mol as Ms. Page, an aspiring actress, progressing through degrees of progressively less "bad" auditions and student acting scenes is to see a truly fine actress in complete control of her craft.

The script does effectively bring us into 1950's America, where childhood sexual abuse, lawless abduction and rape, and the legal suppression of brands of pornography which today seem laughably tame, is a reality. 50's New York is evoked with seamlessly-inter cut news reel footage. 50's Miami comes alive in super-saturated, 16mm-style color. The real Bettie Page seems to scamper, smile and pose before us, and yet the effect is curiously lightweight, barely lewd and not at all dangerous.

How odd that bondage's greatest icon should be so lacking in venom, and that this technically excellent biopic should have so little sting.

Gretchen Mol was meant to play The Pinup Queen of the Universe

[Mr-Fusion · 7/10 · 30 September 2014]

Bettie Page was the most photographed woman of the '50s, and a look at both her life and the nature of sexuality in America at that time would make for a pretty solid biopic. But at 90 minutes, there's no hope of examining everything. That said, THE NOTORIOUS BETTIE PAGE does cover the broad strokes. It's very nicely photographed, in both black and white and a blast of chroma during the Miami period. And the animated magazine covers was a novel touch; this is a well-produced little movie.

But it's the nail-on-the-head casting of Gretchen Mol in the titular role that's the real reason to watch this. Mol is perfect; she's gorgeous and seems to imbue that almost innocent quality of the real-life Page, a woman who wasn't inhibited because she didn't see the harm in taking pictures in less (or no) clothing. I was already a fan of the actress, but to her immense credit, she brings the role to life on the screen. Her work here is top-notch.

7/10.

Inaccurate Account of How Bettie Felt About this Film

[fayrbarkley · 11 December 2013]

I was at the small gathering at Hef's house for this movie. In fact, I had dinner with Bettie just before the movie. We were both Southerners and enjoyed each others' company in a well connected conversation about alternative medicine and spirituality. After dinner, we went into Hef's screening room. I always sit directly in front of Hef's sofa, nearest to the screen. Bettie was several rows back in a chair. All was fine until the rape scene. Betty screamed,"No! No!" from the back of the room and ran out, through the lobby, outside and into an SUV. I followed her. She let me into the SUV with her and I proceeded to calm her down. She was crying,"No one was supposed to know that!" Apparently, only Bettie and one other person (a relative) knew about the gang rape. She was very upset and felt betrayed that her lifelong secret had been exposed and she had to witness it in a room full of strangers. Hef never did come out to see what was going on. Richard Bann, a long timer at Hef's did come out. My friend Elliot Silverstein (director of Cat Ballou and A Man Called Horse) came out. I waved them away. I sat and talked to Bettie for quite a while until her driver appeared and took her away. For ANYONE to say this movie pleased Bettie and she liked it is not true! And whoever wrote that was NOT in the room when this film premiered at Hef's. I was there. I sat in the car with this marvelous woman, then in her 80s and held her hand as she cried. That is the God's honest truth. My heart went out to her. She truly felt that Hollywood had beaten her down yet again.

Fascinating biopic lacking a dynamic resolution

[fertilecelluloid · 7/10 · 18 April 2006]

The first two-thirds of this biopic of fetish model Betty Page are very interesting. Betty, as portrayed with enormous sincerity by Gretchen Mol, comes across as a pleasant, girl-next-door type, who saw nothing wrong with what she did (and there certainly wasn't anything "wrong" with it). Director Mary Harron, who also made "I Shot Andy Warhol" and "American Psycho", recreates Betty's America by mixing old black and white stock footage with new, degraded, black and white footage. Once Betty lands in Florida and starts working with Bunny Yeager, color is introduced. Betty's notoriety was mostly the result of her work with Paula and Irving Klaw (Lili Taylor, in a great performance, and Chris Bauer), as well as John Willie (Jared Harris). The scenes where Harron recreates Betty's bondage photography sessions are fascinating and adroitly executed. The early purveyors of fetish material are not portrayed too condescendingly and we get a sense that these folks were part of a tight "community". Betty never had too much of a problem with her notoriety, although we get the impression that her reputation prevented her from gaining legitimacy in the straight acting world. Because the film's third act is virtually non-existent, we are left with the impression that we have been watching a feature length documentary on Betty Page rather than a structured drama. Flaws aside, it's a film well worth catching and represents yet another fine feather in the cap of producer Christine Vachon.

The movie wasn't deep enough: SPOILERS

[bjorkpluto · 6/10 · 15 May 2006]

I give this movie a 6 out of 10. I thought that Gretchen Mol was a good choice for Page and she played her well. However, I don't like how Mary Haron and Guinevere Turner made Page out to be an idiot. I find it hard to believe Page was so incredibly naive. Page seemed oblivious to ANYTHING and EVERYTHING. The movie in the beginning alludes to Betty getting raped by her father as a child. However, I think the writers did not peel beneath the surface enough. Then they show Betty about to get gang raped. Again, not saying we needed to see the rape. However, we NEEDED to know how Betty felt a about that traumatic EXPERIENCE. This is my complaint there wasn't e enough TRUTH shown in the film. And the scene with the black photographer was he Betty's lover? Who was he? The movie didn't SHOW ME ENOUGH. I want to SEE the movie and I felt like I was being TOLD. The movie seemed to PUSH the image and message that Betty Page is a nice sweet Southern Girl that got into taking nude photos/pornography and making S&M films. We know Page is not a bad person. However, the filmmakers seemed too TIMID to me, they held back and that HURT THE FILM.

Has Class - Lacks Soul

[kmcnab · 6/10 · 19 May 2006]

The Notorious Bettie Page is a interesting biopic of the lady whose risqué photos and films upset the conservative notions of certain people.

Mol certainly looks the part, but whether it is intentional or not, the Bettie Page portrayed on screen is both a victim and a fool. Mistreated by men all her life, yet unable to recognise that the pictures she willingly poses for are for the innocent entertainment of 'classy' gentlemen.

It is a film that doesn't seem to know whether it is a banner for free speech and expression, or a diatribe about the nature of sin. Either way, it's a got enough to say to pass an enjoyable few hours.

Mol's Striking Performance Transcends a Luscious Albeit Skin-Deep Look at a 1950's Icon

[EUyeshima · 7/10 · 21 April 2006]

Gretchen Mol so perfectly embodies the title role both physically and dramatically that you can almost forgive the somewhat lackluster treatment of 1950's pin-up model Bettie Page's early life story presented in this 2006 movie. In a deceptively facile performance, the actress successfully submerges her blonde, Nordic beauty to play the naïve, raven-haired Southern girl with a refreshing lack of self-consciousness. Director Mary Harron and screenwriter Guinevere Turner deserve kudos for making a film that does not judge Page's notoriety or provide dime-store psychoanalysis on why she felt comfortable posing for fetish and bondage photos sold under the counter and by mail order. The offset to the filmmakers' approach is that we get is a series of episodes that are intended to show how her persona was formed, all within the context of her guileless acceptance no matter how outwardly outrageous some of the things that are asked of her.

The time-spanning plot tracks Page from her abused adolescence in Nashville through a brief first marriage to a life-changing trip to New York that begins her inadvertent modeling career while she attempts to become a respectable stage actress. Tenaciously holding on to her strong religious beliefs, Page gains the attention of an army of shutterbug club photographers who have her pose in various states of undress. With each new session, she is asked to pose in increasingly deviant situations. As a framing device for the plot, the filmmakers use the 1955 Senate subcommittee hearing headed by Presidential hopeful Estes Kefauver, who is aggressively looking to clean up the pornography industry. In the eye of the media storm is Page, who views her scandalous photos as harmless expressions of her unfulfilled acting career. With a lot of questions left unanswered, the story simply stops at a point soon after her retirement from modeling with no indication of what happens to Page afterward.

On the plus side, the movie has a great period look with cinematographer Mott Hupfel bringing out a luscious sheen to the black-and-white camera-work with effective forays into saturated color, in particular, when the story moves to Miami. Other than Mol, Harron seems to encourage her cast to act in the stilted, exaggerated style of movies produced during the 1950's as Chris Bauer and Lili Taylor (who seems to be channeling Thelma Ritter) play the Klaws, a money-minded couple who run the photography studio responsible for most of her pictures; Jared Harris especially oily as bondage expert and magazine publisher John Willie; and David Strathairn in an extended cameo as Kefauver.

Above everything else is the intoxicating Mol, who holds the disparate events of Page's life together though her genuinely magnetic quality. Try to take your eyes off her as she unaffectedly poses au natural in the park for a gawking amateur photographer, and you see an actor completely comfortable with herself. But more importantly, look at her as her scandal-ridden reputation weighs on her as others point out how base and lurid her photos are, and you see a beacon into the radical transformation that Page must have experienced. It's a triumphant performance for an actress victimized by premature publicity heralding her as the next big thing nearly a decade earlier. I just wish the rest of the film reflected a little more of the depth that Mol does.

Bettie fans (and Mary Harron fans) won't be disappointed

[scarbiedoll · 10/10 · 17 September 2005]

More a snapshot of the most popular pinup of all time than your typical dragged out biopic, this fun and fabulous film has the look and feel of the era with an excellent soundtrack and everything you would want in an indie-type film. I think the tendency would be to portray Bettie Page as some sort of sex vixen, like a Jayne Mansfield. But if you've truly looked carefully at Bettie's poses, she always looked happy. Not a "you wish you could get with me" haughty look, nor the "I'm just doing this because my acting career didn't work out" look of a porn star. And so, the ladies involved with this film (three female producers, a female writer/ director, female co-writer and the lovely Gretchen Mol, who I'm sure helped shape this role with her own sugary influence) really captured the idea of a sweet, somewhat naive, southern girl who really enjoyed having her photo taken and hoped that good ol' JC wouldn't be too upset with her.

Gretchen Mol turns out a career high performance (she may just have the most perfect breasts ever), which I am happy about, because she did have the curse. Several years ago, she made the cover of Vanity Fair when no one really knew who she was, touting her as the next It-girl. And let's be frank, that was a bit presumptuous. I mean unfortunately she has never made it to Gwyneth status, though not for lack of talent. Making a few poor film choices when you are a pretty blonde in fickle Hollywood renders you forgettable I'm afraid. If this doesn't put her back on the A-list, well I'll be a monkey's uncle.

Intensely private, Bettie herself has not seen the film yet. Bettie left the pinup party on a high note and fell in love with her old flame, Jesus. Whatever floats your boat honey. You were one helluva woman. I hope you're happy wherever you are.

Congratulations Mary Harron, you've done our cult idol justice.

THE NOTORIOUS BETTIE PAGE (Mary Harron, 2005) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 15 March 2007]

I knew going in who Betty Page was and what kind of work she did to get her notoriety; it's no surprise that the film is made by a woman but, thankfully, there's no overt feminist statement here - however, neither is there much psychological insight into the woman herself! In fact, for all the (admittedly quaint) transgression involved - and considering the fact that Harron had previously made American PSYCHO (2000) - the film retains a fairly detached viewpoint, which rather betrays its being an HBO-funded project.

Even so, Gretchen Mol is very adequate in the lead and the film is nonetheless interesting (especially with the points it makes about censorship vis-a'-vis erotica and vintage Hollywood films, and the trial sequence towards the end which effectively puts the axe to Page's professional 'career' and eventually leads to her spiritual rebirth) and enjoyable (thanks also to a practiced if low-key supporting cast that includes Jared Harris, Lili Taylor, Austin Pendleton and David Straitharn) all the way through.

Also notable is its vacillation between black-and-white and color: the former is perhaps too austere to be accurate, but the nostalgic oversaturated palette of the latter is quite effective and gives the footage an admirable home-movie quality.

Fairly shallow biopic

[kingbad · 5/10 · 16 September 2005]

Saw this at the Toronto film festival (popular movie, as it was directed by a Canadian). I was disappointed at how it chose to skim over it's main character's motivation in making the controversial fetish and bondage photos and movies that led to her notoriety. It simply wasn't believable that Bettie Page was so galactically stupid that she wasn't aware that her work was targeted toward sexual gratification of fetishists, but was simply "dressing up in costumes and having fun". Her constant surprise at being objectified by weirdos really struck a false note with me; also, her intense religious upbringing and mental instability were glossed over or ignored. Gretchen Mol certainly looked the part; however, it doesn't really take a good actress to portray a bad actress.

An interesting biopic about the pin up girl Bettie Page and shows how far we have come in terms of sexuality in America.

[ScottDMenzel · 8/10 · 24 April 2006]

"The Notorious Bettie Page" is about a woman who always wanted to be an actress but instead became one of the most famous pin up girls in the history of America. Bettie Page played by Gretchen Mol was one of the first sex icons in America. The type of modeling Bettie Page took part in included nudity and bondage which lead to a U.S Senate investigation in the 1950s.

Walking out of the film, all I could think about was how far we have come in terms of pornography since the 1950s. You can go on the internet now and find some of most disturbing and shocking images ever shot, that the footage questioned in "The Notorious Bettie Page" seems almost childlike and innocent. Most of the footage including the bondage did not feature nudity when Bettie Page was involved yet today we have sick images where we can see women having sex with animals. I find that maybe the envelope has been pushed a little too far since the 1950s because looking at this movie in terms of today's pornography, it was very tastefully done.

To be honest, I was pretty impressed with "The Notorious Bettie Page," I found the film to be very well done and interesting. The movie is exactly what the trailer leads you to believe it will be and is a very interesting look at one of the first female sex icons in America. Gretchen Mol looks just like Bettie Page and gives a very fine performance. I also thought that since the movie was shot in black and white it made the film seem realistic because it made the audience believe they were watching a film created in the late 1950s.

My only complaint about the film was the running time, there seemed to be a few scenes that were cut and seemed to be a little shorter than they should have been. I looked this up and it seems that 10 minutes was cut from the film since its original showing at the Toronto Film Festival. Also the ending was pretty tame and I was expecting a little more from it or maybe some paragraphs to come on the screen to tell the audience more about Bettie Page's life where the film left off. Those are my only two complaints about the film other than that the directing was solid, the acting was great especially Gretchen, and the writing was good.

Mary Harron, who directed "American Psycho", which is one of my favorite films, is the director and writer of "The Notorious Bettie Page." I feel that Mary is a very talented director who knows how to create a setting and create great movies based on characters because like "Psycho", Bettie Page is a character study and a fine one at that. Harron captures the 40s and 50s with ease as well as all the characters. She is a very talented director who I hope will be around for many years to come.

Bottom Line: "The Notorious Bettie Page" is definitely worth a look. It's a very interesting story that shows how far America, as well as the world, has come in terms of pornography. The film also provides a fine performance by Gretchen Mol who literally nails the role of Bettie Page on the head. And top it off with a talented director who was able to capture the look and feel of a previous era and you have a good movie on your hands. Sadly, this film is probably going to flop since not many besides people who grew up in this era will show interest in the film but I think it's worth checking out.

MovieManMenzel's final rating for "The Notorious Bettie Page" is a 8/10. It's an interesting character study about one of the most famous pin up girls and sex icons in American history.

fails when we realize that the film is only repeating itself with slimier and kinkier occurrences

[samseescinema · 6/10 · 17 April 2006]

The Notorious Bettie Page

rating: 2 out of 4

The entire premise for The Notorious Bettie Page, I'll admit, is a little out of context for me. I'm simply too young for her to have affected my generation. Going in to the film, while other critics chuckled about the dusty Bettie Page mags they still have tucked away in storage somewhere, I didn't even know who Ms. Page was. So maybe the core effect The Notorious Bettie Page is lost on me. But probably not. Director Mary Harron, you see, is locked in a love affair with shock. Her previous films—particularly American Psycho—live and die mostly through the gasps and wheezes their shock values present. The method works, but sometimes feels paper thin. This time, however, Harron taps an era that was dynamite shock for its time, and dissects it with a thorough hand. This singular shock stretched over 90 minutes is round and dulled and leaves us only with what lies beneath. And as with most Mary Harron films, what lies beneath can easily be discarded.

The film, as you'd guess, is the biopic of Pin-Up Girl of the Universe, Bettie Page (Gretchen Mol). We follow Bettie through her adolescence in the South, up until the end of her career as a nudist and infamous fetish model. The ride begins innocently enough, however, with simple bathing suit photography and beach-front posing. But one door leads to another and soon she's strapping on eight-inch stilettos and whipping another girl's bottom.

Playing Bettie Page is the luminous Gretchen Mol. Having never seen a Bettie Page photo before, I can't attest to her authenticity in physique; but I certainly can say that Ms. Mol fits the role written for her in the mostly shapely and curvy of manners. And besides her anatomical advantages, Ms. Mol also does well to employ a supreme naivety to her character. Never once was I skeptical of her childish reasoning that went along with the moral ambiguity of her kink-show modeling career. Her version of Bettie Page is the Southern girl written about in love songs: shyly playful, piously Catholic, not without the syrupy Southern drawl, and--here the stereotype wanders--prancing about in the nude or leather fetish wear.

But besides Bettie, the rest of Notorious' characters flit about in a fringe existence. Most of them work only to drag Bettie closer to her inevitable damnation, while the rest work to huffily tell her otherwise. Beyond this, they're only faces. This wouldn't be so bad if Bettie Page was engaging enough to carry Notorious. But she's instead a predictably tedious naivety that blushingly agrees to every proposal. Just as long as it makes the boys happy, she says. That's what God would want, she thinks. Just as long as she's making people happy. We all know where this leads. The film doesn't stray far from this downward spiral process Bettie wraps herself into, and fails when we realize that the film is only repeating itself with slimier and kinkier occurrences.

On a technical level, Harron lives up to her own notoriety. She hops about between black and white and color, depending on the time period and locale. Miami is vivid with a fuzzily bright palette, while New York slices fedoras with high contrast black and white. The effect is rewarding in that it reminds us of the time period, working to immerse us further into the shock Bettie's creating.

But The Notorious Bettie Page is admittedly flaccid when it comes to its shock factor. I'm willing to concede that those of Ms. Page's generation may relapse into the eye-opening astonishment of the fifties, but for those of us unaware of Bettie Page's reign, Mary Harron's film is just another in a long line of mildly engaging biopics.

A poor attempt at a great story and legend

[asdodge · 3/10 · 21 July 2008]

Sadly, Marry Harron decided to do a fictional account of Bettie Page's life to go along with her own issues with men. As typical in all her work, every major male character is portrayed as weak, bumbling, or twisted. To add to her fiction, she projects ideas and issues that are not true, according to Bettie Page herself. Bettie did not leave the biz because she thought it was morally wrong or had religious issues (though she became a born-again later in life, through the influence of her 3rd husband- a minister). She left it, because she was in her late 30's, her acting career had gone nowhere and she felt she was losing her looks. The hints of molestation and rape are unvalidated and denied in Bettie's own words and are the director's attempts to claim that any woman who did what Bettie did must have been victimized by men. Harron fails to point out that Bettie designed her own clothes in almost all her shoots (not handed to her by "sick" fetishists). Harron also fails to make a point that Bunny Yeager, who did many famous photo shoots of Bettie, also did many "naughty" shoots with Bettie and was not the morally upright professional photographer portrayed in the film.

The only saving grace is Gretchen Mol looks very much like Bettie. Otherwise, there are other movies and documentaries more accurate and honest to her life and the people in it.