Bettie Page was the toast of her small Tennessee, a stunning and spunky beauty who caught everyone's eye and also had earned a full ride to a local community college. Throughout those early years, she also suffered lurid physical and sexual abuse from the likes of her husband, admirers, and even her father. So to escape the horrors, she headed to New York to pursue an acting career where she was discovered laying out at a beach by a local photographer. Soon, she would become a national pinup queen while naively becoming involved with some bondage photography which would lead to a Senate investigation and earn her the title The Notorious Bettie Page. "The Notorious Bettie Page" is a well made biopic from writer/director Mary Herron. Deciding to shoot in black and white, with occasional color photography, the film has a clear, crisp look that nicely captures the era. As Page, Gretchen Mol wonderfully embodies the sex icon. The cast is also rounded out nicely and features fine work from David Strathairn as a straitlaced Senator, Lili Taylor and Chris Bauer and a pair of sibling pornographers, and Jared Harris as a quirky photographer.
