Bettie Page Reveals All

source: Bettie Page Reveals All

A documentary that held me to the end. This is such an interesting story about the life of a woman I can say I truly love and so many would agree with me. Not only does it show the part of her life we all want to see in detail, but it shows us her insights as we watch because...She is a voice over for a lot of this flick! That alone is worth the ticket. Add to that the fact that her insights are so interesting. She was such a thinker.

Centerfolds, pin-ups, and cover girls generally do not warrant a feature-length documentary, especially one in which they are called upon to narrate. I think most people would agree, such women tend not to be known for their intellects, so one may wonder how anyone could possibly be interested in their memories and life stories. Admittedly, as much as many of the frames and shots were exciting to watch (aided by both Pause and Zoom features), overall I found this documentary a bit of a bore. This may have something to do with the fact that Bettie Page (in her prime) was before my time. Nevertheless, the numerous febrific stills of hers continue to remain dateless and no doubt have aroused a whole new and younger generation of fans. This, the enduring and mysterious power of posthumous sex appeal, something which only few women ever manage to attain. 'Twas a sad day on earth when Ms. Page was laid to rest but a day worth celebrating in heaven. You see, Bettie Page was not only a poser of nudes and an actress in 16mm bondage films, but would go onto become a believer as well. How sincere of one is anyone's guess, but the film opens with video clips of her memorial service, conducted by the late oily pietist, Reverend Robert Schuller. Viewers do learn a bit about Bettie that perhaps they did not know, beforehand. Personally, I was unaware of her precise measurements (she informs they were 36-24-37, at their peak). BP was born in Nashville, in April of 1923. As a young woman she showed remarkably good taste in men, refusing to date or bed any man who drank or smoked. As I listened to her narrate, I never realized that this woman most known for her iconic bangs spoke in a southern twang. (Who knew?) More bio. Unable to make it in Hollywood, the beaming beauty eventually found her way to the Big Apple, where she ended up making it in pictures, after all. First, only photo shoots, then onto films which allowed her to gyrate and wiggle. At nights Bettie loved to go out dancing. Without the least bit of shame in that husky voice of hers, the narrator reveals how much she enjoyed what is otherwise referred to as the horizontal two-step. Was this gal an angel sent from above or what? At one point during the narration, Ms. Page tells of the desire she once had in becoming a missionary, and I for one believe her. It seems not everyone, however, is willing to accept the fact that a woman most known for her wickedly chiseled figure would end up renouncing carnality for the spiritual path. The expression 'God works in mysterious ways' here comes to mind. All in all, BETTIE PAGE REVEALS ALL is without question easy on the eye but maybe not so much on the ear. There is nudity aplenty, including FFN, therefore certainly not a film for men who'd much rather sit in on a senate investigative committee.

I'm almost embarrassed to admit that for the longest time, I thought the character of Bettie Page was fictional. Granted, I had seen pin-up pictures of her, but almost always the context seemed to be of someone impersonating the former glamor queen. This story even alludes to that fact at one point, as Bettie's life and career seemed outsize to the actual person, reaching a crescendo that found her face and figure on display in magazines and posters throughout the entire world. The film itself takes an interesting approach, we never see the real Bettie Page, though her voice is heard throughout the picture, having been recorded in a series of interviews while she was alive. She's quite frank about growing up with a father who was a sex fiend who molested her, and a mother who didn't want girls, only to be 'blessed' with four girls and a boy during that relationship. Bettie took to modeling and posing quite naturally, never really feeling self conscious about her body and having an instinct for presenting herself in the most entertaining ways. You could tell that she enjoyed her career and that she didn't regret her occupation of choice, although once she decided to call it quits, it was pretty much final. She disappeared from public life entirely at the age of thirty four, had relationships, married, had three kids, went to Bible school, and eventually suffered a mental breakdown. She was even institutionalized for ten years at the Patton State mental hospital in California after attacking a landlady, but persevered to live a long life until her death at the age of eighty five in 2008. Suffice it to say that if you're a Bettie Page fan, this documentary is better than any pin-up magazine, as you'll get unrestricted access to Bettie Page from every conceivable angle, with and without clothes on. And she does them all with a smile and the greatest attitude you'll ever experience.

I've seen artwork and pictures of her on social media networks, but I really didn't know much about the person until I chanced this documentary on Amazon Prime Video. I did not know how famous she really was in her day. The documentary has tons of photo and video clips from back in the day as well as interviews of people she worked with. She narrated most of the documentary herself, but unfortunately it's all a voiceovers so we don't see Bettie Page in 2008 before her death. This is a pretty good documentary to get a sense of the model behind the photography. How accurate it really is will be anyone's guess. But this is probably the way she wanted to be remembered by herself and her friends. It's worth a watch.

This very effectively tells the story of the astonishing Bettie Page, the original sexy pin-up girl. The filmmakers did a great job of assembling tons of her modeling work, which does get a little repetitive. They also did an extended audio interview with Page, who is very open about her often pretty wild life. There are also conversations with photographers, fans, and some of those close to her. She really went through a lot - a poor family, a sexually abusive father, relationships with a lot of men - and then later on, becoming a devout Christian and suffering a mental breakdown. Of course, as everyone noticed, she looked amazing on film (I was surprised she was only 5'5"; she seems so tall and slim) and loved being a model.

Come on ....did no one at all listen to the audio levels...at all? I mean this is such a fascinating story ....if you can hear it. Betty's voice is very muffled and quiet, and they decided to play a sound track throughout the entire documentary. So you crank the volume way up to hear her...then all of a sudden they insert other people speaking or a newsreel and it blasts your ears and speakers. I had to stop watching after about 15 minutes...

Believe me - When it comes right down to being "naughty-but-nice" - I'd definitely say that Bettie Page, the all-American, pin-up girl, (whose heyday was the 1950's) was certainly the #1 sweetheart in the erotic realm of kink & *. (Spanky-Spanky) As a model for such magazines with titles like "Teasarama" - Bettie Page was certainly no stick-figure super-model as we so often see today. No. This full-figured gal was all * and butt. And, yes, she was totally uninhibited about displaying her ample charms to the camera. Through a vast collection of dazzling stills and film clips, as well as narration by Bettie Page, herself (at the age of 70+) - Director Mark Mori reveals to the audience a "Bettie Page" as she's never been seen nor heard before. *Note* - The censors have deemed this DVD as being "restricted" material due to its obvious sexual content. Viewer discretion is advised!

Let me tell ya - By the time that this celebrity-documentary called "Bettie Page Reveals All" had come to its closing credits - I found myself seriously wishing that Bettie Page (who provided narration throughout) had refrained from "revealing all" as she did in this decidedly disillusioning story. And, what it was that I wished Bettie hadn't revealed to me had to do with her "born-again" conversion to Christianity.... I mean, here was a very uninhibited woman (in her youth) who gleefully sold herself as a sex-object (for the lusting eyes of men and lesbians) - And, yet, in the same breath, she was claiming how much she loved the bible and all that it represented (in the name of morals and personal ethics). This religious revelation of Bettie's struck me as being so hypocritical that, by the time the whole show was over, I was totally fed-up with this deluded woman and saw her as, pretty much, just a self-deceiving bimbo. Anyway - I don't totally write-off this documentary as being worthless. No. There certainly were some segments in it that were actually quite entertaining, especially when it came to focusing in on Bettie's somewhat brief-but-productive career as a soft-core pin-up girl of the 1950's.

...just as its subject was and always will be, "Bettie Page Reveals All!" presents a lovingly illustrated biography of the quintessential American pin-up, Bettie Mae Page, the Queen of Curves. Its strengths lie in being structured around the last audio interviews with Bettie; its weaknesses lie in the paucity of new information, at least for the hardcore Bettie fan, who will have already devoured the several biographies available. The only thing new I learned was that Bettie didn't much care for Mary Harron's "The Notorious Bettie Page." Still, it's as complete a videography as the general audience might expect, well worth the time spent with it. Long live Bettie Page!