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The 'Illegal' Bettie Page Photos We Almost Never Saw (NSFW)

The 'Illegal' Bettie Page Photos We Almost Never Saw (NSFW)
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A documentary slated to hit New York City this month boasts a hefty tease. The film, titled "Bettie Page Reveals All," will present to those who see it an archive of never published photos of the celebrated pin-up queen. Nude photos, to be precise; ones so salacious they were almost confiscated by the police in 1952.

The photos were originally taken at a "camera club," a secretive type of photography gathering that took place in empty offices across New York City in the 1950s. Through this system, photographers could shoot women like Page in the buff, without running up against the laws that technically prevented such pictures from being published. Famous photographers like Weegee and Gordon Parks frequented the events.

“Nudity back then was very unusual,” photographer Dick Heinlein explained to The New York Post. He's the one who snapped the never before seen camera club images that appear in the film, and somehow managed to avoid handing his film over to authorities once the venue was raided.

“Out of the woods, here comes this squad car!," he recounted from the night. "They had their guns drawn on a bunch of photographers [ordering us], ‘Take the film out of your cameras!’"

Thankfully, Heinlein's images survived as a relic of photography's closed-door past. Watch the video above for a peek at "Bettie Page Reveals All," directed by filmmaker Mark Mori and narrated by the mysterious Page herself. The film opens at the Village East Theater on November 22, 2013.

You can gaze upon some (non-nude) images that will appear in the film below and head to the gallery for a look at some more familiar (and very NSFW) Page photographs from the past.


Bettie Page in Mark Mori’s BETTIE PAGE REVEALS ALL (Music Box Films).


Bettie Page in Mark Mori’s BETTIE PAGE REVEALS ALL (Music Box Films).


Bettie Page in Mark Mori’s BETTIE PAGE REVEALS ALL (Music Box Films).


Bettie Page in Mark Mori’s BETTIE PAGE REVEALS ALL (Music Box Films).


Bettie Page in Mark Mori’s BETTIE PAGE REVEALS ALL (Music Box Films).


Bettie Page in Mark Mori’s BETTIE PAGE REVEALS ALL (Music Box Films).

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Before You Go

More Betty Page Photos (NSFW)
Other Betty Page Photos(01 of16)
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In this photo taken in 1954 by photographer Bunny Yeager, model Bettie Page poses on a merry-go-round at an amusement park in Miami. Yeager was a model who become a pin-up photographer in the 50's and 60's. (AP Photo/Copyright Bunny Yeager) NO SALES (credit:AP)
Other Betty Page Photos(02 of16)
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Pin-up model and cultural icon Bettie Page poses for photographer and silent movie star Harold Lloyd using his Sterio Realist 3D camera, at his home 'Greenacres' circa 1955 in Beverly Hills, California. Images available in 3D by request. (Harold Lloyd/Getty Images) (credit:Harold Lloyd/Getty Images)
Other Betty Page Photos(03 of16)
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Bettie Page For Confidential Advertising, In The Forties. (Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images) (credit:Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone/Getty Images)
Other Betty Page Photos(04 of16)
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American pin-up Bettie Page, Playboy playmate of the month for January 1955 poses for a glamour shoot, 1950s. (Weegee(Arthur Fellig)/International Center of Photography/Getty Images) (credit:Weegee(Arthur Fellig)/International Center of Photography/Getty Images)
Other Betty Page Photos(05 of16)
Open Image Modal
Pin-up model and cultural icon Bettie Page poses for photographer and silent movie star Harold Lloyd using his Sterio Realist 3D camera, at his home 'Greenacres' circa 1955 in Beverly Hills, California. Images available in 3D by request. (Harold Lloyd/Getty Images) (credit:Harold Lloyd/Getty Images)
Other Betty Page Photos(06 of16)
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American pin-up Bettie Page, Playboy playmate of the month for January 1955 climbs onto a haystack, 1950s. (Weegee(Arthur Fellig)/International Center of Photography/Getty Images) (credit:Weegee(Arthur Fellig)/International Center of Photography/Getty Images)
Other Betty Page Photos(07 of16)
Open Image Modal
Pin-up model and cultural icon Bettie Page poses for photographer and silent movie star Harold Lloyd using his Sterio Realist 3D camera, at his home 'Greenacres' circa 1955 in Beverly Hills, California. Images available in 3D by request. (Harold Lloyd/Getty Images) (credit:Harold Lloyd/Getty Images)
Other Betty Page Photos(08 of16)
Open Image Modal
American pin-up Bettie Page, Playboy playmate of the month for January 1955 poses for a group of eager photographers, 1950s. (Weegee(Arthur Fellig)/International Center of Photography/Getty Images) (credit:Weegee(Arthur Fellig)/International Center of Photography/Getty Images)
Other Betty Page Photos(09 of16)
Open Image Modal
Pin-up model and cultural icon Bettie Page poses for photographer and silent movie star Harold Lloyd using his Sterio Realist 3D camera, at his home 'Greenacres' circa 1955 in Beverly Hills, California. Images available in 3D by request. (Harold Lloyd/Getty Images) (credit:Harold Lloyd/Getty Images)
Other Betty Page Photos(10 of16)
Open Image Modal
American pin-up Bettie Page, Playboy playmate of the month for January 1955 poses in a suspender belt, 1950s. (Weegee(Arthur Fellig)/International Center of Photography/Getty Images) (credit:Weegee(Arthur Fellig)/International Center of Photography/Getty Images)
Other Betty Page Photos(11 of16)
Open Image Modal
Pin-up model and cultural icon Bettie Page poses for photographer and silent movie star Harold Lloyd using his Sterio Realist 3D camera, at his home 'Greenacres' circa 1955 in Beverly Hills, California. Images available in 3D by request. (Harold Lloyd/Getty Images) (credit:Harold Lloyd/Getty Images)
Other Betty Page Photos(12 of16)
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Portrait of the most legendary pin-up, Betty PAGE, around the 1950s. Born in 1923, Betty PAGE was one of the stars most sought out by photographers. To this day, the Hollywood starlet remains worshipped. (credit:Gamma-Keystone/Getty Images)
Other Betty Page Photos(13 of16)
Open Image Modal
Pin-up model and cultural icon Bettie Page poses for photographer and silent movie star Harold Lloyd using his Sterio Realist 3D camera, at his home 'Greenacres' circa 1955 in Beverly Hills, California. Images available in 3D by request. (Harold Lloyd/Getty Images) (credit:Harold Lloyd/Getty Images)
Other Betty Page Photos(14 of16)
Open Image Modal
Pin-up model Bettie Page poses for a portrait wearing lingerie in circa 1952. (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) (credit:Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Other Betty Page Photos(15 of16)
Open Image Modal
Pin-up model and cultural icon Bettie Page poses for photographer and silent movie star Harold Lloyd using his Sterio Realist 3D camera, at his home 'Greenacres' circa 1955 in Beverly Hills, California. Images available in 3D by request. (Harold Lloyd/Getty Images) (credit:Harold Lloyd/Getty Images)
Other Betty Page Photos(16 of16)
Open Image Modal
Pin-up model and cultural icon Bettie Page poses for photographer and silent movie star Harold Lloyd using his Sterio Realist 3D camera, at his home 'Greenacres' circa 1955 in Beverly Hills, California. Images available in 3D by request. (Harold Lloyd/Getty Images) (credit:Harold Lloyd/Getty Images)
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