FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, ‘BETTIE PAGE REVEALS ALL’—
IN A GROUNDBREAKING DOCUMENTARY MAKING ITS
WORLD PREMIERE AT THE FILM FESTIVAL DURING VIVA LAS VEGAS
ROCKABILLY WEEKENDER APRIL 5-8, 2012 AT
THE ORLEANS HOTEL AND CASINO
* * *
Produced and Directed By Academy Award Nominee and Emmy Winner Mark Mori,
the Feature-Length Film—Authorized By the Legendary Pinup Model—
Features Narration By Bettie Page and Interviews with
Luminaries Including Hugh Hefner, Dita Von Teese,
Bunny Yeager, Paula Klaw and Rebecca Romjin
Shooting to fame in the 1950s 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.
With the release of “Bettie Page Reveals All,” a feature-length film by Academy Award nominated documentary filmmaker and Emmy winning TV producer Mark Mori, the world at last gets to hear Page’s story, narrated by Page herself in the years prior to her death at age 85 in 2008. The compelling 100-minute film is the only one authorized by the famed former pinup as the official film biography on her life.
The documentary makes its world premiere during the Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekender event April 5-8, 2012. The screenings will be at the Century Orleans 18 Theatre, 4500 West Tropicana Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89103.
Free screenings for the Las Vegas entertainment industry will take place on Thursday, April 5 at 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. (ID will be requested for verification.) Public screenings are scheduled as follows: April 5 at 3:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m., and 9:30 p.m. Friday, April 5-through Sunday, April 8: 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m., and 9:30 p.m.. Tickets are $10/person and may be purchased online at www.bettiepagerevealsall.com or at the door.
On Friday, April 6, there will be a VIP/Media Screening and a Bettie Page Lookalike Contest. Contest arrivals start at 5:30 p.m. The first 25 entrants and their guests will receive free admission to the film (regular price: $10/ticket) and the winner will receive a Bettie Page movie prize package, including a DVD of the film. VIP and Media arrivals will be at 6:30 p.m., with an introduction and screening at 7:30 p.m., followed by a short, lively Q&A session and press interviews. Celebrities and VIPs attending include Robin Leach, 2011 Playboy Playmate of the Year Claire Sinclair, iconic Burlesque dancer Tempest Storm, Tatyana Khomaykova and Jan Glaser (Bettie Page Clothing), Mark Roesler (film co-producer and Page’s former agent), and many more TBA.
The setting for the premiere is spot-on because the ongoing fascination with Page perfectly parallels America’s obsession with all things ‘50s-‘60s retro via events like the Rockabilly Weekender and the TV smash “Mad Men.” Throughout the decades since, Page has inspired millions of women around the world to want to dress the “Bettie Page way” – while remaining reclusive at out of the spotlight for many years.
“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 1960s 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, which was co-produced by Mark Roesler with the participation of CMG, and Bettie Page, LLC, 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 obtained through FOIA, as well as from the 1955 Kefauver hearings on pornography and crime, which had been sealed for 50 years.
With commentary from people who knew her, photographed her and made love to her, “Bettie Page Reveals All” is steeped in mirth, mayhem and mystery.
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 including pop music icons like Katy Perry, Beyonce and Madonna 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.”
Over the past 20 plus years, Mark Mori’s films have garnered numerous awards, theatrical distributions and television broadcasts worldwide. His most notable projects include “Building Bombs,” Academy Award nominee for Documentary Feature (Producer/Director); “Blood Ties: The Life and Work of Sally Mann,” Academy Award nominee Documentary Short (Executive Producer); “The Fire This Time,” Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize nominee, PBS Frontline (Co-Producer); and “Kent State and the Day The War Came Home,” News & Documentary Emmy Award winner (Executive Producer).
Mori and “Bettie Page Tells All” were profiled in the February 26, 2011 edition of The Wall Street Journal.
