The Notorious Bettie Paige

[katiemakeup]

Just watched this movie. The story and directing were lackluster. The director chose to gloss over the tragedy and focus on the wide eyed innocence of B.P.
Gretchen Moll deserves praise for capturing what "Pinup Girl of the Universe" is all about. She brought great humor, innocence, charm, and sexiness to the role.
The transition from black and white to color was effective as a device for the story change.

I agree. I have always liked Gretchen Moll, and thought she was really very good! And how could you not love Lily Taylor! I also liked the b&w for NY and the color film for Miami angle. Usually I like to try and read up on a person before I see a movie about them b/c I know the movies never capture all of them, but I didn't get a chance to read up on Bettie...and I felt this movie just scratched the surface of Bettie, and kind of jumped around a bit... I felt like in such a short time span of a basic movie, you should concentrate on one aspect of their life- instead of scrambling to touch on everything, leaving the viewer short.

Take for example, the Aviator- it focused on his aviation career. With Bettie, maybe they could have focused on her troubled past and her inner conflict between modeling and devotion to her God... or focus on her pin up career & how she helped define a new generation of titilation & censorship. I liked it though.

 

[Doh!]

I can't add much more to this discussion 'cause I pretty much agree with all of the above. The film could've used more drama but it's definitely worth watching. Also, there's footage on the DVD of the real Bettie stripping, but she doesn't seem too happy to be doing it (unlike most of the stills I've seen of her where she seems to be having fun with her role).

There was talk years ago of Scorcese doing a version; I'm sure it would've been a much darker piece.

 

[GOK]

But, she wasn't the brightest girl. She didn't look at things deep enough to see what they actually meant.

Actually, she was a very intelligent girl from what I can make out...but as you say, I think it was overridden by her na?Øvet?© - at least at the beginning. As much as I like Bettie, I do find it difficult to believe that she had no inkling about the photos. And let's not forget that she had enough nous to walk out on the male that she married (I cannot use the words man and husband here because frankly, a person that behaves like that is neither, IMO). [huh]

 

[Feraud]

There was talk years ago of Scorcese doing a version; I'm sure it would've been a much darker piece.

Now that would have been a great film!


I tend to wonder how naive Bettie really was. I did not think she was tricked into doing a nude photo spread one time, regretted it, and never stepped in front of a camera again. Paige did a lot of material! This makes me wonder what her motivation was? Did she think the photos were a stepping stone to bigger and better things? Plenty of young starlets have done nude photos. Bettie probably made decent money and that is always a motivator. The film hinted at abuses in her childhood. This too probably played into the skewed sense of "innocence and fun" she considered her work to be.

 

[fortworthgal]

I need to pick this up and watch it. Target here has it for $14.99.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

.

Let's keep this in perspective; how much is there to say? This is not a woman who cured a disease or set aviation records. This is a woman who took her clothes off and looked cute doing it. That is about as challenging as, well, putting your clothes on!

Now, a later generation has come along and turned her into some sort of trendsetting hero; that's fine. It always strikes me as rather ironic; whether she feels liberated or exploited, the net effect is the exact same thing. I have a joke with Daisy, when we're watching television and a stripper comes on, I say, "Wait... she's going to say how 'empowered' she is, and sure enough she says it!"

With Ms Page, I see an attractive young woman who fell into a sad lifestyle and paid a terrible price for it.

The most compelling thing about her is the dissonance between what she was doing and how cute she looked doing it. In this, Gretchen Moll did well. Ms Moll is a wonderful actress. You don't see much of that in this film; you see her as an adorable actress, which she is also, but easy charm is no match for emotional complexity.

In this, I fault the director. There is no accumulating drama, no compelling story arch. This film begins and ends and seems as hollow and empty as I imagine Ms Page's life felt to her.

I think the amazing thing about Ms. Page is that, like Rorschach's blob's of ink, everyone projects their own images upon her. It's a shame the director's wasn't more compelling.

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

Actually, she was a very intelligent girl from what I can make out...but as you say, I think it was overridden by her naïveté - at least at the beginning. As much as I like Bettie, I do find it difficult to believe that she had no inkling about the photos. And let's not forget that she had enough nous to walk out on the male that she married (I cannot use the words man and husband here because frankly, a person that behaves like that is neither, IMO). [huh]

IMO, I disagree on the intelligence of Page. I can't make out any intelligence on her part. If she was intelligent she would have known from the start what her photos were really being used for. Yes, she did know better and walk out on an abusive husband. But, she went right into the arms of another man. An intelligent woman wouldn't get into a car with a stranger who says he wants to take her dancing! IMO, it is portrayed in the film that she thought her pictures were a stepping stone to a bigger and better career. Her lack of intelligence lead her to believe that posing nude and in compromising positions would get her the notice that she needed by bigger and better publications. I saw a girl who couldn't think for herself. Example, warning small spoiler, when Irving tells her to take a few weeks off and talks about how he would go to Miami, she takes off and goes to Miami. She does exactly what the man says. She's also convinced that the pictures she is posing for are for a group of upper class well to do men, and this makes it OK. She sees herself as an actress, as a professional. IMO, she is genuinely shocked when she finds out the true nature of the photos. No, I don't see her as intelligent. I felt badly for the horrible things that happened to her in her youth. But, with a better head on her shoulders she could have done more with her life. She was a cute girl, really nothing more than that. Ignorance is sometimes bliss. If we measured intelligence by girls like Betty Page, the standards for intelligence would go way down.

 

[Hondo]

I haven't had the time to view this film (I love Gretchen Moll) but I firmly agree with "Hemingway Jones" and were speaking about someone today who is about 87 yrs old!
Most of us probably won't live that long, God Bless her

 

[flat-top]

Also, there's footage on the DVD of the real Bettie stripping, but she doesn't seem too happy to be doing it (unlike most of the stills I've seen of her where she seems to be having fun with her role).

I've seen Bettie's work for years, but after watching the movie, then watching this DVD extra, I felt there was a sort of bittersweetness to it. It's also completely silent (no rousing burlesque music overdubbed), which added a sort of sadness to it.

 

[Tomasso]

The Notorious Bettie Paige

 

[Story]

http://www.midhudsongalleries.com/id6.html