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Gretchen Mol stars as America's first sex icon

Sept. 25, 2006

KALAMAZOO--Western Film Society presents Gretchen Mol starring in the title role of "The Notorious Bettie Page" Friday through Sunday, Sept. 29-Oct. 1, in the Little Theatre at Western Michigan University.

Show times are Friday and Saturday at 7 and 9:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 and 5 p.m. General admission is $5 and $3 for students. The 2006 release is rated R for nudity, sexual content and some language.

Billed as "The Pin-Up Sensation that Shocked the Nation," the movie is based on the true story of Bettie Page, a highly successful model in the 1950s, who gained notoriety as one of the first sex icons in America. Page was Playboy magazine's Miss January 1955, and was widely known as "the girl with the perfect figure." Her provocative photos, including some depicting mock bondage, were highly controversial in the '50s and eventually led to a U.S. Senate investigation. The enigmatic Page earned a bachelor's degree from Vanderbilt University (then Peabody College) and was, according to all accounts, an intelligent, complex and modest person, despite her public persona.

"The Notorious Bettie Page" is directed by Mary Harron ("I Shot Andy Warhol") and written by Guinevere Turner ("The L Word"). It was nominated for Most Original Film at the 2006 Golden Trailer awards.

The Little Theatre is located at the corner of Oakland Drive and Oliver Street on WMU's historic East Campus. There is free off-street parking behind the theatre. For more information, call the movie line at (269) 387-8221 or visit Western Film Society at www.rso.wmich.edu/wfs.

Media contact: Lauren Reile or Shilo Brungardt, westernfilmsociety@yahoo.com

WMU News
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