Picturehouse Films/HBO Films. D: Mary Harron. Gretchen Mol, Lili Taylor, Sarah Paulson, Tara Subkoff, Jonathan M. Woodward, Chris Bauer, Jared Harris, David Strathairn, Others. 91 Min.
The Notorious Bettie Page is an excellent film which, sadly, slightly exceeds the talents of its director, Mary Harron.
On the bright side, there's Gretchen Mol, a fair-haired beauty with few major roles in her résumé, but who'll probably find herself nominated for an Oscar for her bravura performance here. Mol doesn't just look like Bettie – and we mean exactly like Bettie whenever the camera is more than five feet away – she also portrays an innocence rarely seen anywhere these days; a purity that would put Voltaire's Candide to shame. Bettie's been raised a good Christian, with all the implications that that state of mind brought with it in the late 1940s, including an understanding that all of God's creations are good, including her own beautiful nude body.
But when this movie really gets going, the time is the early 1950s, and the place is New York City, captured by cinematographer Mott Hupfel in glorious black-and-white — in part, we suspect, because all the period film clips editor Tricia Cook could find of that time period's milieu were non-color. Bettie arrives, having left an abusive husband and having survived a brutal gang rape, to become a faceless seamstress in a garment sweatshop, but taking acting lessons in her spare time ... and it isn't long before she answers an ad to model for a private camera club.
It's clear from the start that Bettie's a natural in front of the camera. She takes direction well, even from the club amateurs, and although she sometimes hesitates momentarily when asked to assume an unusual pose, the audience can almost see her mind assessing the situation: "Hmm... they want me to do something unusual. I've never done that before. It seems a bit weird ... but what the heck; it's not going to hurt anybody if I do it" – so she smiles and assumes the position.
(Perhaps of interest to photographers, one of the camera club members is depicted taking shots of Bettie with a Stereo Realist, the most ubiquitous 3D camera of its day – but fans of 3D will notice that the actor holds the camera with its lenses oriented vertically, thereby eliminating the 3D effect the camera is supposed to produce.)
Bettie's same accepting attitude carries through her first meeting with one of the photographers who was destined to make her famous: Paula Klaw (Lili Taylor), sister of producer/publisher Irving Klaw (Chris Bauer) and co-owner with him of Movie Star News, the Times Square area store that served both as an outlet for Klaw's nudie and bondage products as well as the studio in which those products were shot.
Interestingly, Movie Star News ads were carried in, among other publications, DC Comics (Superman, Batman, etc.) of the late '50s and early '60s, hawking head shots and movie stills from some of Hollywood's most famous actors – but along with each purchase, the Klaws always included a flyer hinting at the more "specialized" material they also had for sale.
Here, the Klaws are depicted as cold creatures focused solely on getting their fetish and bondage movies and stills shot quickly, but bright-eyed innocent Bettie scarcely notices Paula's lack of warmth; her own innate goodness provides all the self-assurance and comfort she needs. It's a quality that leads Paula to comment that, "Even when she's nude, she doesn't seem naked."
Bettie weightlessly continues her double life – acting classes two or three days per week; fetish modeling the rest of the time – acquiring an actor boyfriend Marvin (Jonathan M. Woodward) along the way, who takes her to parties populated by New York's theater crowd – and of course, Bettie gets hit on by sleazy producers at every turn. She handles it well, gently brushing them off even while understanding exactly what they're after – but Bettie's the epitome of "not that kind of girl."
By 1955, the Klaws have run afoul of a zealously religious politician, Sen. Estes Kefauver (David Strathairn, whose brilliant performance as Edward R. Murrow in Good Night, And Good Luck, now out on DVD, should not be missed). Kefauver's called together a congressional investigating committee to look into the recent "explosion" of porn – shades of Sam Brownback! – and so the Klaws shut down operations for a while, suggesting to Bettie that she take a vacation "somewhere warm – why not Miami?"
In a time-worn cliché, all the Florida scenes are shot in Kodacolor – movie fans will recognize the '50s ultra-saturated film-look immediately – and after Bettie enjoys surf and sand for a few days, she looks up the other photographer who's made her a household name, Bunny Yeager (Sarah Paulson), who immediately recognizes Bettie's wholesome – and incredibly saleable — face and bod. Bettie, who seems to spend about a third of the movie topless (though in reality, it's probably no more than 15 minutes total), has no problem posing completely nude for Yeager – but this being the 1950s, all poses are chosen to hide Bettie's pubes, which are glimpsed only briefly early in the movie.
While in Florida, Bettie picks up another boyfriend – no doubt a subtle nod to Bettie's innocently liberated attitude – but once back in New York, things start to go sour for her. First, she's subpoenaed to testify before the Kefauver Commission, though after waiting outside the hearing room for 12 hours – and listening through the door – she's sent home without being called ... and without any satisfactory explanation. (One critic who knows the real Bettie personally has speculated that the commission realized that she was too self-assured and articulate to further their anti-porn agenda.)
Then, Marvin gets his first look at some of the fetish photos Bettie's been posing for over the years they've been together, and he's horrified – and the dialog in which Marvin tries to explain what's wrong with the pics, with Bettie responding, "It's just costume stuff; it's all silly," is one of the philosophic high points of the movie. It's just too bad that director Harron, who's mostly directed cable TV episodes before this, doesn't have quite the talent to give this confrontation the gravitas it deserves.
See, it's that dialog, as well as Bettie's earlier overhearing testimony about how some dad found his suicided son tied up in one of Bettie's most famous poses, that begins to cause Bettie to doubt the innocence of her fetish photo work, and eventually leads her to convert to an anti-porn religionist. Most telling is the movie's final scene, where Bettie is handing religious tracts by the beach, and one of the passersby recognizes her as "the notorious Bettie Page," and asks her if she regrets her former career of nude modeling.
"Adam and Eve were naked in the Garden," the demurely-dressed Bettie replies, "but when they sinned, they put on clothes." Unfortunately, Mol – and Harron – just aren't up to imbuing that line with all the irony it's meant to have: That Bettie was actually holier when she was posing nude than she is handing out religious tracts while dressed – and sadly, that's the artistic lack with which the audience will leave the theater.
The Notorious Bettie Page was previewed several days ago at the Playboy mansion, with the movie's producers and the 80-year-old Bettie Page herself in attendance – and reports are that Page was less than happy with her on-screen portrayal, muttering frequently during the showing, "That's not right." We may never know just how much dramatic license the movie takes with Page's actual life, but as comedian Robert Wuhl wryly observed in his own HBO comedy special, "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."
The Notorious Bettie Page "prints the legend," and does it very well. Whether people see it for Mol's incredible resemblance to Bettie – and, of course, the frequent topless/nude scenes – or for the social commentary that runs throughout the film, they won't be disappointed with the experience.
