Barnes & Noble

Bettie Page, the '50s pin-up queen who became a bona fide pop-culture icon more than 20 years after she posed for her last picture, is a perfect subject for a biopic. Director Mary Harron’s film chronicles the story of this former schoolteacher turned fetishist icon, who later finds herself targeted by a censorious Senate investigation. While displaying the requisite abandon during scenes of the fetching model plying her trade, Gretchen Mol’s touching performance makes believable Page’s shifts from conservative southern gal to bondage model to eventual spiritual convert. Nicely limned supporting turns are contributed by Chris Bauer (as the beleaguered porn producer Irving Klaw), Lili Taylor (as Paula, Klaw’s no-nonsense sister), Sarah Paulson (as veteran glamour photographer Bunny Yeager), and David Strathairn (as the headline-grabbing Senator Estes Kefauver).The real Bettie’s girl-next-door appeal and cheeky sense of humor may be best shown in a silent, three-minute film clip, circa 1952, included here, in which she demurely strips in preparation for bed. Badly lit and shakily shot, the clip speaks to the “accessibility” that made, and has kept, Page a uniquely American celebrity. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

Celebrated and vilified in equal measure, the pinup goddess Bettie Page inspired a legion of followers -- and an indecency scandal -- by appearing in a series of nude, sado-masochistic, and/or revealing magazine spreads in the 1950s. An era later, writer/director Mary Harron casts a knowing eye upon the woman who indirectly gave birth to modern pornography in the biopic The Notorious Bettie Page. As a teen, Page (Gretchen Mol) is a smart, plucky girl with ambitions beyond her Tennessee roots. Suffering varying degrees of abuse from her father, her first husband, and suitors of dubious virtue, Page makes her way to New York City, where an amateur photographer discovers her lounging on the beach. It isn't long before images of the shapely brunette reach Irving and Paula Klaw (Chris Bauer and Lili Taylor), brother-and-sister entrepreneurs who publish illicit magazines dedicated primarily to men's fetishes. The casual nudist Page eventually finds herself acquiescing to their requests to don thigh-high boots, whips, and chains, which raise the ire of the smut-fearing senator Estes Kefauver (David Strathairn). The Notorious Bettie Page had its North American premiere at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival. Michael Hastings

Product Details

• UPC: 026359329524
• Source: HBO HOME VIDEO
• Region Code: 1
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby AC-3 Surround Sound
• Editions: Subtitled
• Time: 1:30:00
• Sales Rank: 4,482

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