Review - The Notorious Bettie Paige

This biopic of famed 50's pin-up Bettie Paige unfortunately falls short of the mark. The film tells Bettie's story from her troubled childhood to her transition into starring in adult photographs and films, earning her the nickname of the “Pin-up Queen of the Universe.” After the US Senate starts a crackdown on these lewd photographs we follow Bettie as she leaves the adult photograph industry and the public eye behind and eventually becomes a born again Christian.

Gretchen Moll plays Bettie, and is the highlight of this uneven film. She throws herself fully into the role and is entertaining as the young, innocent and bubbly pin up girl. The supporting cast are also good with Lili Taylor and Chris Bauer putting in enjoyable turns as adult photographers Paula and Irving Klaw. Sadly while the acting is above par, the directing by Mary Harron and writing by Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner is rather mediocre.

The main problem I found with the film is that we learn very little about Bettie as a person. Like the Andy Kaufman biopic “Man in the Moon,” the film is quite happy to re-enact scenes from Bettie's life but never give any further insight about her character. Bettie's troubled childhood is glossed over, even though she was abused by her father and as a teen was gang raped. Absolutely no screen time is given to how this affected Bettie. Even during her modelling career we're never allowed a deep look into Bettie's character – the film is just happy to re-enact the process of how the photos were taken and the films made. The only aspect of Bettie's life the film does touch upon is her religious beliefs. There's a nice scene where Bettie is asked what God thinks about her posing nude. She replies that God must want her to pose nude or he wouldn't have given her this “talent.” It's the only part of the film that gives a little insight into Bettie as a person and it's a shame the rest of the film couldn't follow this scenes example.

Bettie Paige in real life was a very private person, so it's possible the reason the film doesn't reveal much about Bettie's thoughts is that she has never spoken about it in public. Unfortunately the direction and cinematography don't do much to make up for the weakness of the script. Filmed mainly in black and white the film looks rather lifeless – it's flatly lit and the direction is rather dull. The film is punctuated with scenes in Miami which are filmed in a lush 50's Technicolour style – these scenes look great and add some much needed life to the film. But overall “The Notorious Bettie Paige” is a disappointment. The life of a bright and bubbly individual has been turned into a rather stoic and workmanlike film.