The Notorious Bettie Page

I believe that James Reasoner's review took the Don and Phil approach: "The movie wasn't so hot, it didn't have much of a plot." He's probably right, since what we have is a biopic without the usual story arc. We have the humble beginnings, we have the ascent to stardom (of a sort), but we don't have the fall and the comeback. Bettie Page just left, disappeared, and never returned. Well, okay, she returned, but hardly anyone has ever seen her, and she didn't return to stardom. Well, okay, not in person, though her photos certainly made a huge comeback on their own.

I liked the B&W photography, Gretchen Mol's performance, and the whole attitude of the movie, which was, to quote Dolly Parton in another movie set in the same time period, "there ain't nothin' dirty goin' on." Bettie Page is portrayed as a non-smoking, non-drinking, Bible-believing young woman who enjoyed what she was doing and didn't think she was hurting anyone. Thank goodness for our vigilant government, always out to protect us from outselves and to be sure that our youth don't see any photos of nekkid woman. Irving Klaw was shut down, and Bettie Page went into her long exile from the public.