Shooting to fame in the '50s with her fetish modeling and racy pinup photos, Bettie Page continues to enchant and inspire multiple generations of women (who continue to emulate her jet black hair, blue eyes and trademark bangs) and men (who long for her). But the story behind her allure, the real person underneath that timeless youthful, sexy image, has been a mystery for the ages—until now.
Groundbreaking Bettie Page Reveals All Documentary In World Premiere at Viva Las Vegas Film Festival
With commentary from the people who knew her, photographed her and made love to her, "Bettie Page Reveals All” is steeped in mirth, mayhem and mystery.
With
the world premiere in Las Vegas
of
Bettie Page Reveals All,
a feature-length film by Academy
Award nominated documentary
filmmaker and Emmy
winning TV producer Mark Mori
(photo right), the world at
last gets to hear Page's story,
as narrated by Page herself in
the years prior to her 2008
death at age 85. The compelling
100-minute film was authorized
by the famed former pinup as the
only film biography on her
life.
The documentary made its world debut during the Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekender event in April at the Century Orleans 18 Theatre. The setting for the premiere was spot-on because the ongoing fascination with Page perfectly parallels America's obsession with all things '50s-'60s retro, such as events like the Rockabilly Weekender.
Throughout the decades, Page inspired millions of women around the world to dress the "Bettie Page way” – while remaining reclusive and out of the spotlight for many years.
Prior
to the premiere,
a Bettie Page Lookalike Contest
was held (won by Roxy at
left), followed by an
introduction and screening, then
a short, lively Q&A session.
Celebrities and VIPs attending
included Robin Leach, 2011
Playboy Playmate of the Year
Claire Sinclair, iconic
Burlesque dancer Tempest Storm
(at right), Tatyana
Khomaykova and Jan Glaser
(Bettie Page Clothing), Mark
Roesler (film co-producer and
Page's former agent),
LasVegaZine.com editor
Arthur Bloberger and many more.
"Bettie Page Reveals All” offers
an intimate look at the rise,
fall and resurrection of one of
the world's most recognized and
controversial sex symbols. With
her razor sharp wit and husky
Tennessee twang, Page emerges
from decades of seclusion to
reveal her secret past. Drawn
from conversations Mori had with
her after a new surge of pop
culture popularity brought her
tentatively out of hiding in the
late '90s, the documentary finds
Page recounting how her
unabashed sexual expression and
provocative fetish poses set the
stage for the '60s sexual
revolution and ushered in a new
era of fashion.
Adding
keen insight to Page's story is
a unique array of pop culture
names with unique connections to
the icon. Playboy Founder Hugh
Hefner featured her as "Miss
January 1955,” one of the
earliest Playmates of the Month.
Page also inspired
careers for burlesque
dancer and pinup model Dita Von
Teese; contemporary
pin-up artist Olivia; Bunny
Yeager, whose early photographs
of Page helped propel the pinup
to stardom; and Paula Klaw, who
along with her brother Irving
were renowned fetish
photographers who worked
extensively with Page in her
heyday.
The film includes appearances by
Rebecca Romijn, Tricia Helfer,
Tempest Storm, Sam Menning, Rev.
Robert Schuller, Joey Arias and
photographers who worked with
Bettie, ex-husband Harry Lear,
ex-boyfriends, auto designer
Richard Arbib and Brigadier
General and Nixon Advisor
Charles West. Mori illustrates
the story with previously
unpublished and rare photos and
film of Page as well as new
information and documents from
her FBI files, as well as from
the 1955 Kefauver hearings on
pornography and crime, which had
been sealed for 50 years.
Mori says, "I was inspired to
make this film and bring
Bettie's joie de vivre to a
wider audience by the joyous
free spirit that she portrays in
her photos as well as my
conversations with her. That joy
endures in the influence she has
had on of women all over the
world, as well as fashion
designers, artists and
filmmakers. She's a force of
nature representing joyful
sexual freedom that two
generations of women can
identify with. There's something
very natural about her, and
there's a cool
anti-authoritarian quality to
her lack of awareness over why
people made such a big deal
about her.
"The film couldn't sustain itself for 100 minutes if she wasn't so personally charming and compelling, and that voice is the key,” he adds. "Bettie had a quality that millions of people and subcultures have projected themselves onto. This movie may shatter some of that mystique but my goal was to create a new mystique and take it to another level. I just wanted to be truthful and dig deeper into what she was all about. I feel honored to bring Bettie's own statement about her life and who she is to the world.”
For more information about this incredible film, visit Bettie Page Reveals All.
Photos by Scott Harrison / RETNA / HARRISONPHOTOS.COM