
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... (Full plot summary below)
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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.
Leave your thoughts about The Notorious Bettie Page.
| Sight and SoundLinda Ruth WilliamsThe Notorious Bettie Page may be nothing but a series of beautiful poses, but audiences will be more than happy with the result. |
| Planet Sick-BoyJon PopickA biopic that is neither overly long (see Ray) nor slave to a paint-by-numbers format (see Ray). |
| Philadelphia WeeklySean BurnsContent to skate along the shiny surface of a potentially fascinating subject, it's a monotonously upbeat would-be romp. |
| St. Paul Pioneer PressChris Hewitt (St. Paul)A lively film that is disappointing because it so clearly has the raw materials to be much, much better. |
| PopMattersCynthia FuchsMen can ogle and evaluate all they want. The film's Bettie is what they've made, but she eludes them. |
| Salt Lake TribuneSean P. MeansMol's guile-free performance captures what seems to be the essence of Bettie Page, that of a woman who could turn dirty pictures into good clean fun. |
| St. Paul Pioneer PressChris HewittA lively film that is disappointing because it so clearly has the raw materials to be much, much better. |
| Reel Times: Reflections on CinemaMark PfeifferThe Notorious Bettie Page may be the sweetest movie ever made about pornography. |
| ComingSoon.netEdward DouglasGretchen Mol gives a career-defining performance as the '50s pin-up model |
| FilmJerk.comBrian OrndorfThose searching for a deeper portrait of Bettie and her ills are bound to be disappointed, so my advice is to sit back and bask in the heyday of peppermint candy pornography. |