Review of The Notorious Bettie Page (2006) by Donald W — 10 Jul 2014

This is Bio Pic on the life of pinup queen Bettie Page. It's set during her hey days in the early 1950's with a little of her childhood in Tennessee. I remember when I was a kid in the late 1960's the drug store in Coyle, Oklahoma still had magazines in the magazine rack with pictures of Bettie Page.

I didn't know who she was till years later when Playboy published some articles about her. In this movie they did a really good job of making up the actress to look like Bettie Page. They also did a good job of recreating the black and white silent S&M movie made with the real Bettie Page.

Most of the movie is in Black and White until she goes to Florida where the movie switches to Color. The story fictionalizes some of her life events. Bettie was raised in the Baptist Church and after she quit modeling she went to work for Billy Graham.

In the movie they tried to show her religious experiences but I don't think they got the Baptist religious services quite right. They also tried to portray her as a naive young woman. Near the end of her life Playboy published an interview with the real Bettie Page.

There was nothing naive about her. She was tough old lady. She knew what she was doing in the 1950's. Her way of expressing herself reminded me of my Aunt Alice who was about the age of the real Bettie Page and also was raise in the country during the depression.

The strength of the movie is visual. The story is weak and is more myth than reality. They ended the movie when she "disappeared" after the Congress began to investigate the early porn magazines and comic books.