The Notorious Bettie Page As far as the general public is concerned Betty Page was a hair stylist.Luckily, this biography about the infamous banged icon can elucidate them.After leaving her sexually abusive upbringing for a fresh start - and new hairdo - in NYC, good Christian Bettie Page (Gretchen Mol) takes an innocent modelling job for photographer Bunny Yeager (Sarah Paulson), alongside jungle cats.Bunny's muse attracts smut-peddling siblings (Lili Taylor, Chris Bauer), who take Betty underground where her bondage photos and films thrive on the fetish market.Her erotic portfolio eventually lands the naïve bible thumper before a 1955 commission on youth and pornography.An intimate and engaging study of history's most elusive and influential pin-up model, this 2005 Indy darling from director Mary Harron beautifully tells Betty's depressing story of faith, filth and accidentally infamy.Nevertheless, the submissive in any BDSM relationship is always the one cleaning up afterwards. Yellow Lightvidiotreviews.blogspot.ca

Those naughty magazines on display at the beginning may have been available in some big cities in the early 50's, but they sure as heck weren't in small town America. My first exposure (no pun) was an early edition of Playboy, circa 1955, which none of us teenage boys could believe. Of course, Hefner didn't traffic in fetishes like the Klaws, still the lid was down pretty tight on the female form during the period. Notice too, how the Congressional sub-Committee links pornography with rotting the country's foundation— an extension of the McCarthy chill that in fact spread beyond politics to the culture as a whole. (For a deeper look at the anti- pornography hysteria, check out "Perversion for Profit", a half-hour curiosity TMC revives from time to time.)The movie itself is pretty shallow. Incredibly, Bettie is portrayed as an uncomprehending innocent even amid all the lurid graphics, shady characters, and eager men. And since the movie follows her, we don't get much insight beyond the superficial into either her emotions or the world she's a part of. What we do get are miles of titillating footage of Bettie posing in various stages of undress. That's okay to a point, but then what's the point of the film beyond that of exploiting an underground icon for titillation purposes. At least, the screenplay has the good sense to resist passing judgment on her career, and thus on itself. All in all, the movie may be pretty to look at and so certainly is Bettie, but don't expect much more than a glossy surface.

A show well worth peeping. Starring the woman who played lady cop Annie in the U.S. version of the (woefully underrated) Life on Mars TV show, the Notorious Bettie Page is a pretty good movie. It goes into surprising depth RE the increasingly federalized attempts to legislate all aspects of the sex biz out of existence, as well as covering a lot of Miss Page's (very interesting) personal biographical history. Star Gretchen Mol (who seems to specialize in period pieces - the '70s in Life on Mars, and now the '50s) does well with projecting both innocence and naughtiness. I've met part-time pornographer Bunny Yeager and can vouch that the movie's portrayal is fairly accurate, if a bit superficial - much more could have been done with the motivations behind choosing such an "outlaw" endeavor, in a social-status era when jail wasn't anywhere near the worst thing that could result.All in all, tho, a well-done flick --

Bettie Page was an icon of the '50s, she has been called the pin up queen, the bondage queen among others. She was without doubt one of the most photograph women of the decade gracing countless girlie magazines. She would also gain notoriety for appearing in numerous one reel burlesque films as well as bondage films. Whereas there were hundreds of women who did the same things as Bettie, most of them disappeared into obscurity. Miss Page would have a revival of sorts in the 1970's and cement her position as an icon of the 1950's. This movie "The Notorious Bettie Page", is a film biography of Miss Page. In many ways it's a typical biography and in some ways it isn't. Had this been made for Lifetime television it would probably portray Bettie as a victim of men. Early in the movie we see this to be somewhat true. We see her being possibly abused by her father, being married young and having to deal with an abusive husband and going on a car trip with a stranger and nothing good happening. Instead of seeing a broken woman though, as would be a case in a Lifetime movie what emerge is a stronger and more confident Bettie. When she finally make it to New York we see her as a woman not afraid to take on new challenges. It's interesting how this movie portrays the porn industry of that era. We don't see mobsters running things, what we see is a more mom and pop business. Yes it's still a low class industry but one that where the participants actually enjoy being with each other. We don't see Bettie get pushed or threatened to do something against her will. As a matter of fact the threats come more from the Authorities, particularly from politicians who want to make a name for themselves. This is where the movie really divert from what could have been just a typical biography. It shows us the attitude towards sex during that era. There's obviously a demand for it but the authorities continue to have a very restrictive attitude. Bettie and her cohorts are threatened with jail time even though what they were doing was basically tame. In the heart of this movie is Gretchen Mol. She gives a magnificent performance. How the Oscars overlooked her I don't know. I have to admit I have had a crush on Miss Mol for a while now and I thought not only did she looked great in this movie she also showed her acting ability. Yes she did a lot of nudity in this film but what's so remarkable is that she was so at ease in front of the camera pretty much what you see with the real Bettie Page. When she spoke, she spoke with a natural southern accent and even her voice sounded different. I couldn't think of a better actress for the role. Gretchen Mol won me over with her looks a long time ago, this time she won me over with her acting."The Notorious Bettie Page" is more than your typical film biography, it shows us the inner strength of a woman and the rather unhealthy attitude toward sex of a particular era. On top of that we get a dazzling performance from a beautiful and talented actress.