Synopsis
Cult Epics has done a real service by assembling this boxed set. While I would hesitate torecommend each disc on its own, as a collection, this is a valuable historical document, andBettie Page fans should be in heaven.
Bettie Page Bondage Queen is probably the strongest collection, assembling some 25bondage shorts by Irving Klaw (complete with voice-over introduction). Klaw contributes somemore shorts (of Bettie dancing) to Bettie Page Pin Up Queen, b…t the bulk of this discconsists of Bettie’s segments from Striporama, Varietease and Teaserama.Valuable as it might be to combine all these segments into one place, I can’t help but regret thefact that we’re getting mere segments from those classic burlesque documents, rather than thecomplete films. 100 Girls by Bunny Yeager is essentially a slide show narrated by thefamous glamour photographer. Again, the historical interest is there, but the format (shotsaccompanied by brief comments on each model by Yeager) is a bit numbing and repetitive. Notmuch depth here, either.100 girls in 45 minutes: you do the math.
Audio
The sound is what it is, and a rating of both it and the picture is really rather pointless, giventhe source material. Bunny Yaeger’s narration and the music for the bondage films are at the highend of the quality spectrum here. The music on Pin Up Girl has loud hiss, and the audioon the burlesque film sequences is pretty darn muzzy. But to expect otherwise would beunreasonable.
Video
If the footage is new (i.e. the shots of Yaeger’s work), the picture looks good. Most of thematerial, however, comes from aged, scratched 16mm prints, so there is plenty of grain, damage,and fuzzy picture quality. Again, one couldn’t really expect more, and the transfers themselvesare good. My one complaint would be the presence of the Cult Epics logo in the lower right ofsome of the footage. I understand the copyright motivation here, but it is a bit distracting.
Special Features
Bettie Page herself pens an essay for both Pin Up Queen and Bondage Queen,with the former being a bit more substantial. Other print essays (a Page bio, the history offetishism, and a list of the Top 100 Glamour Girls) leave one wishing for more. The photogallery is a nice touch. The menus are basic, and lack scene selection screens.
Closing Thoughts
Again, each disc has its weaknesses on its own, but all three together are a nicecollection.
Special Features List
- Bettie Page Bio
- Written Commentaries by Bettie Page
- Photo Gallery
- History of Fetishism and S&M
- Top 100 List of Glamour Girls
