THE NOTORIOUS BETTIE PAGE (2006) ¢ ¢ ¢ 1/2
D: Mary Harron
Gretchen Mol, Chris Bauer, Jared Harris,
Lili Taylor, Cara Seymour, John Cullum,
David Strathairn, Austin Pendleton, Dallas Roberts
Bettie Page might not be the world's most famous pinup model, but she's probably the most famous pinup model whose fame derives entirely from being a pinup model. Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe, Raquel Welch and Nastassja Kinski were famous pinups, too, but they had significant acting careers, a goal that eluded Bettie Page. This movie zeroes in on the period from the late 1940s through the mid-1950s, when Bettie, played ingenuously by Gretchen Mol, made her mark posing for private photographers and tabloid periodicals, often sold under the counter in shadowy bookstores and newsstands. It's a sketch more than a portrait, but Harron's use of both black and white and supersaturated color effectively captures the look and feel of the world Page hung around in, and the players seem right at home in the middle of the 20th century. The effect is a little like looking at one of Bettie's photographs, where you see this nice girl from Nashville playing dress-up in and out of lingerie and bondage gear, projecting an unlikely (but undeniable) air of beguiling innocence, and inviting the viewer, with a wink and a smile, to make up the rest.
