The Notorious Bettie Page

"The Pin-Up Sensation That Shocked The Nation."

2006 1h 31m EN

😐

6.3

MID

★6.3TMDB · 199

ComedyDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Bettie Page grew up in a conservative religious family in Tennessee and became a photo model sensation in 1950s New York. Bettie's legendary pin-up photos made her the target of a Senate investigation into pornography, and transformed her into an erotic icon who continues to enthrall fans to this day.

“The Pin-Up Sensation That Shocked The Nation.”

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Cast

Gretchen Mol
Bettie Page
Chris Bauer
Irving Klaw
Jared Harris
John Willie
Sarah Paulson
Bunny Yeager
Cara Seymour
Maxie
David Strathairn
Estes Kefauver
Lili Taylor
Paula Klaw
John Cullum
Preacher in Nashville

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Mary Harron
Writers: Guinevere Turner, Mary Harron
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $1M — a 15675.3× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 20 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Mary Harron, shot by W. Mott Hupfel III. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Mark Suozzo. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Tricia Cooke shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Gretchen Mol and Chris Bauer and Jared Harris carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The Pin-Up Sensation That Shocked The Nation.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Mary Harron directs. W. Mott Hupfel III behind the camera. Mark Suozzo scores. Tricia Cooke cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $0.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Grossed $1M — a 15675.3× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
3Released 20 years ago.
4Directed by Mary Harron, shot by W. Mott Hupfel III. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Mark Suozzo. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Tricia Cooke shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Gretchen Mol and Chris Bauer and Jared Harris carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "The Pin-Up Sensation That Shocked The Nation.".
9IMDB entry: tt0404802 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: W. Mott Hupfel III
Original score: Mark Suozzo
Editing: Tricia Cooke
Production design: Gideon Ponte
Costume design: John Dunn
Makeup / hair: Michelle Johnson
Sound: Wyatt Sprague
Stunt coordinator: Michael Russo
Runtime: 91 min · 1h 31m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $90
Box office: $1,410,778
Return: 1567531% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Notorious Bettie Page (2006)

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Mary Harron

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Community reviews

What people are saying

talisencrw2016-01-18
★ 8/10
Harron's biography, specializing on Page's early life, start in pin-ups and notoriety due to being the target for a Senate hearing on indecency and her subsequent born-again Christianity, is very enjoyable, and Gretchen Mol is great at portraying the inner sexiness, naivety and Southern charm that made the Nashville-born Page take the world by storm. Though it made the biopic more graceful by concentrating on the earlier times, it would have been more complete had it also included her later, troubled times, punctuated with brushes with the law and institutionalization for schizophrenia, as well as being greatly financially troubled due to not getting royalties for her years of photo-work and celebrity. Thankfully, late in life, that was rectified and she was able to live her last years decently and in happiness, dying of a heart attack at 85, three years after seeing Harron's work come to light, and her success come full circle...
JPV8522024-07-30
★ 6/10
Well acted and directed bio-drama that most of the time feels pretty surface level in terms of Bettie Page, though Gretchen Mol did a good job in the role. 3.0/5
CinemaSerf2026-07-06
★ 7/10
“Adam and Eve were naked in the Garden of Eden. When they sinned they put on clothes…” That was the philosophy of this legendary model. She (Gretchen Mol) started off life as a god-fearing lass but quickly realised that many of the men around her, whom she ought to have been able to trust, were brutes. Rather than cower away and pine, though, she decides to head to New York City where she soon finds herself with a photographic contract modelling lingerie and swimwear. It's only a short hop from there to starring in proscribed adult movies - but during all this time she has never strayed far from her Christian roots and it may well be that that is to where she will return once the fuss has died down and the industry moved on considerably from her own comparatively tame involvement with pornography. All the while, the US Senate (David Strathairn) is being told that the biggest danger to the fabric of their society is not communism, but a creeping licentiousness that is an affront to God. With multiple investigations going on and sting operations trying to ensnare the publishers, distributors and sellers of her material, it actually becomes quite dangerous for her to work even as this witchhunt exposes the hypocrisies of censorship far more effectively than anything she displays. The story here is a little bit on the fluffy side. Possibly because it is trying to squeeze in far too much plot into ninety minutes and so doesn't really have much time to develop her character or those of the folks around her. Mol, though, delivers engagingly as her portrayal of this ground-breaking woman who was certainly an exhibitionist, but who was also a feminist - and a proud and purposeful one at that, takes shape. The score and the look of this production also work well to support some writing that spotlights the extent of the double standards that prevailed in a 1950s America that certainly didn't always practice what it preached and often found women even more vociferous than their menfolk whe it came to being offended.