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I know
some fans of Bettie Page visit this site; check
out this trailer of The Notorious Bettie Page.
March 21, 2006 update- This movie is now available as a limited two DVD
set that includes the movie and many extras.
 BETTIE
PAGE DARK ANGEL
(Cult Epics)
Docudrama. 75 Minutes. Unrated. Lots
of tease with just a tiny bit of skin to keep you interested. Bettie Page Dark Angel
deals with a turbulent time in Bettie's life;
She’s started doing loops for Irving Klaw, which involve
spankings, wrestling, and lots of bizarre bondage.
In addition to that, we get her Howard Hughes screen test, her
investigation by the senate and threats against her life.
To
begin with, this is an extremely low budget affair.
The filmmakers try to disguise this by doing most of the shoot
indoors, giving them maximum control with the smallest cast possible.
This actually gives the film a weird, insulated effect that works
to its advantage. The cast is
real life goofy from Irving Klaw who, although he sells bondage flicks,
insists that his girls wear two pair of panties so nothing accidentally
shows up on the loops. To
Bettie Page who actually believes that this kind of exposure will help her
get into
Hollywood
. A particular point of genius is that the film switches to black and
white whenever they are shooting a loop.
We get nothing but what the camera captures.
And, if you've ever seen a genuine Klaw short, you know the camera
never moves. It does give the
illusion that we are watching these little clips of weird depravity first
hand. Now, here are my two problems. First, this is titled Bettie
Page Dark Angel and I guess I
expected something grittier and dirtier, if you know what I mean.
The whole flick is too well lit and clean and wholesome in
appearance. We know that by
this time in Bettie's career she was a pretty naughty girl.
Where is all that? What
we get is a clean film dealing with a dirty subject.
I think I've seen more skin in an episode of The Brady Bunch.
Bettie did nudie stuff and I've got the magazines to prove it.
The film is released by Cult Epics and they release vintage porn,
so it seems that they should have gotten something a little more
realistic. And finally we must deal with Paige Richards.; she is daring to
portray our beloved Bettie. Having
seen the real Bettie on film and heard her speak and act, I would have to
say that Paige does a great inservice to our favorite pin up queen.
I've seen a lot of women portray Bettie in pictorials and I can see
the only reason that they would cast Paige Richards is that she was
available at the time. In the end Bettie Page Dark Angel
promises many things and delivers none of them.
The DVD features some minor behind the scenes footage, trailers for
other Cult Epics films that I would rather have been watching and, true to
director Nico B's MC career, original music recordings. If you're a true
Bettie Page fan, skip this. It'll
just piss ya off. - Douglas A. Waltz
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