Search - Bettie Page - The Girl in the Leopard Print Bikini on DVD

Yawnnnnn...

Michael Lawson | Flagstaff, AZ USA | 11/17/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"There is absolutely nothing new here! If you are even half into Bettie you've seen everything this DVD has to offer. What is so disappointing is that there is maybe a one line mention in this video of the infamous "camera clubs" who were responsible for most of the overtly sexual (and most enjoyed) documentation of Bettie. If you were hoping to see some rare nude posing clips (they exist!) or even some of her standard camera club fare, forget it. The whole discussion of what she did in her modeling years is centered around Irving Klaw and his Movie Star News(later, Nutrix Company)photos and clips. There are images from her appearances in Irving Klaw burlesque review movies, and plenty of talk of her bondage modeling, but this was only a fraction of Bettie! Now, Irving Klaw is important in the Bettie Page story, but maybe, maybe, 20% of all her modeling was for him, and the other 80% of what she did is totally missing in action in this production. I object! The viewer is instead treated to quick frame clips of old stag movies and some stock nudie footage circa 1960's, while the narrator explains the changing sexual morays post 1950's, and how Bettie contributed to that. If you know nothing about Bettie Page, this video does provide an adequate introduction, but what you won't find here is a DVD that gives us the beautiful and rare images of Bettie, and maybe does some real research into what was not an empty-headed little nudie cutie, but an extremely complated, troubled, intelligent woman who is simply the most beautiful thing many of us have ever seen."

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criderman | 11/11/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"...but still no cigar--there has been a lot of Bettie (sic) Page DVDs and videos out there and I hate to tell you this but after perusing most of them from various places, you can forget about seeing any of the "peep" dance shorts in any kind of watchable quality--the only footage that won't give you a headache is either the bondage footage or the "Varitease", "Strip-O-Rama" or any of those color burlesque show films--so unless either some body like a relative of Irving Klaw, Bunny Yeager or even Page herself discovers a treasure trove of unseen footage or even watchable "masters" of the aforementioned dance shorts, we have to make do with DVDs like this--this documentary tries to be a "True Hollywood Story" and I have seen the real "THS" on E! about Page--but I actually preferred this DVD to the "THS", which surprised me, mainly because of two things: 1) more Page footage than E! was able to show on TV due to current FCC constraints, and 2) there is none of that "re-creation" of important events in Page's life by actors to get that dramatic effect--no, this DVD is pretty straight-forward but has one fatal flaw: a good third of the running time is more about the sexual mores of America during the decades of Page's life and career and that seemed to me just padding to peddle a DVD to the Page fan and the curious about her life--that's why I subtracted two stars--all in all, though, there is some bonus footage that features about 8 loops from Page's career, including a few of those almost literally unwatchable dances, but there are some bondage films in surprisingly nice shape and the obligatory footage from those color films--I recommend this only for the Page enthusiast/completist, and for the uninitiated, a little over a sawbuck is not bad for a brief documentary that would show you more than TV about a wonderful erotic chapter in the secret history of American culture..."