Kim Novak was recruited by Columbia's legendary Harry Cohn to rival Fox's Marilyn Monroe in what was the Battle of the Blonde Bombshells in the 1950s. This standoff was so deliriously deranged Fox even came up with two of its own rivals for Monroe - Jayne Mansfield and Sheree North.The men were pigs - Fox created, exploited and then systematically destroyed Marilyn - but the women, to their credit, were all different, not cookie-cutter replicas of each other: Monroe was vulnerable but shrewd and, in a passive-aggressive way, self-protecting; Mansfield had a brain and a solid Broadway background, and North was a savvy woman and world-class actress who could also sing and dance. And Kim, well, she was totally unexpected - not a "dumb blonde" at all but a haunted, quietly sensual woman with a look of deep hurt in her eyes.
Novak competition for Monroe? Now really, could you see Novak in any of Monroe's roles? "Gentleman Prefer Blondes"? "Some Like It Hot"? I don't think so. "The Misfits" maybe, but that's it.
Having lived most of her career in the shadow of Monroe, Novak can be seen now as something of a slow starter, given that her career is only starting to be appreciated. The estimable Jonathan Rosenbaum offers some vivid commentary on her that's worth checking out.
Anyway, I think that it's safe to say that Novak not only has a much more impressive filmmography than Monroe, but also that she worked with a more eclectic and fascinating collection of moviemakers.
This is evident in the titles that Turner Classics has strung together for Kim Novak Day scheduled for Tuesday, August 12th. Here's the line-up (with all times est), annotated only when I have something to say:
6:00 AM - "The Eddy Duchin Story" (George Sidney, 1956,123 minutes) Letterbox Format. Novak,although briefly on screen, is the invaluable glue of this powerful tale of a father and son trying to bond, belatedly. It's more than just a musical biopic.
8:30 AM - "Jeanne Eagels" (Sidney, 1957, 109 minutes) Worthy of serious re-evaluation.
10:30 AM - "Phffft!" (Mark Robson, 1954, 88 minutes) The riotous Rhumba sequence with Jack Lemmon and Judy Holliday is a keeper, along with Jack Carson's inspired speech of facial hair in attracting/repelling women. Kim, free of her "Pushover" babyfat and looking more like herself, has a comic highlight here when she switches on the beaming lights in a window statue that is used to alert potential intruders that it's an, ahem, inopportune time to enter.
12:00 PM - "Kiss Me, Stupid" (Billy Wilder, 1965, 125 minutes) Letterbox Format.
2:00 PM - "The Notorious Landlady" (Richard Quine, 1962, 123 minutes) Letterbox Format. Lemmon signed on for this when it was titled "The Notorious Tenant" (based on a Margery Sharp short story of the same title) and he was the title star. Columbia newcomer Victoria Shaw was slated to play his fetching landlady until Kim showed an interest in the project. Quine, close with both Kim and Jack, as a natural fit as the director. The title was changed to accomodate Kim, its new star.
4:15 PM - "Of Human Bondage" (Ken Hughes, 1964, 100 minutes) Letterbox Format.
6:00 PM - "Middle of the Night" (Delbert Mann, 1959, 117 minutes) Letterbox Format. Kim demonstrates surprising chemistry opposite Fredric March in this most affecting May-December love story from Paddy Chayefsky.
8:00 PM - "Pushover" (Quine, 1954, 88 minutes) Letterbox Format. Kim's First, directed by Quine.
9:45 PM - "Five Against the House" (Phil Karlson, 1955, 83 minutes) A nifty little caper/noir. Kim's third film and her transformation to "star" is complete.
11:15 PM - "Vertigo" (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958, 130 minutes) Letterbox Format. You know the drill.
1:30 AM - "The Legend Of Lylah Clare" (Robert Aldrich, 1968, 130 minutes) Letterbox Format. Aldrich's neglected camp classic. Both it and Kim are very good, compulsively watchable.
4:00 AM - "Strangers When We Meet" (Quine, 1960, 117 mins) Letterbox Format. It's been called Quine's masterwork recently and it is.
Kim makes her sex-starved suburban housewife's ache almost palpable.
Three key titles that are missing are Joshua Logan's "Picnic" (1955), of course, Otto Preminger's
"The Man with the Golden Arm" (also '55), Sidney's "Pal Joey" (1957) and Quine's "Bell, Book and Candle" (1958), which, for me, provided Novak with her signature role -a contemporary witch in '50s Greenwich Village. For what it's worth, Novak did her very best work for Quine, making four films with him.
She was his muse and he was her lover.
Coincidentally, Quine has been in the spotlight of late, with his name and some of his titles popping up regularly among the discourse on Dave Kehr's blog and with the ongoing "Richard Quine at Columbia" retrospective at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
LAWeekly.com offers two wonderful pieces on Quine - one a late-in-life interview with the director by Philippe Garnier and an asssessement of the Museum's program by Scott Foundas.
(Artwork: Novak gets made over, but not as Monroe, in Hitchcock's "Vertigo," in "Strangers When We Meet," with Lemmon in "The Notorious Landlady," with Fredric March in "Middle of the Night," with Kirk Douglas in "Strangers When We Meet" again, and director Richard Quine on the job)
10 comments:
My TiVO and DVD recorder both got quite a workout yesterday (Novak day on TCM). I TiVo'ed Eddy Duchin, Jeanne Eagels, Notorious Landlady and Middle of the Night, and recorded Pushover to disc. Unfortunately, I forgot to set the recording speed to LP, so I only got the first half hour of Five Against the House. If I hadn't already seen it twice, I'd be livid.
What a great opportunity to reevaluate a woman whose career, as you noted, has only recently started to get the respect it's due. And I've been thrilled that Strangers When We Meet has been getting so much love lately (here and in Kehr's blog). I loved it even in my youth, but it just looks better and better with each viewing (especially now that I can enjoy it letterboxed - I've rarely seen a more perfectly composed film). It's Kirk Douglas' story, but Novak is the heart of the film, and she was never better.
Thanks. BTW, I added a line under "Strangers When We Meet," regarding Novak's hungry performance in it. Terrific acting by her here.
Re "Five Against the House," thanks to my taping ineptitude, I missed the first 20 minutes! Hopefully, Turner will air it again sometime soon.
Another favorite Novak title missing from the Turner line-up: "Boys Night Out." It was not only made the same year as "The Notorious Landlady" (1962) but came out the same month!
Thanks for this entry. I've always felt a little lonely as a lifetime Novak fan, so it's really enjoyable to see her get some of the respect she's due, even at such a late date.
I DVR'd "Phffft!," "Notorious Landlady," "Middle of the Night," "Pushover," "Five Against the House," and "Strangers When We Meet." Saturday will be a Novak marathon.
I do wish there was some magical way to make Minelli the director of "Pal Joey." I enjoy it as is, but I can't help imagining how much better it might be with Minelli in the director's chair.
wwolfe--
Kim rocks. Kim rules. What would be great now is if the Society of Lincoln Center centered one of its tributes around her. She's worked with some great filmmakers and I'm sure she has the some tales.
That's hilarious, Joe. Too bad we're not in proximity -- we could grab our partial copies of "Five Against the House" and have a viewing party (pizza on me).
Funny thing about Novak: for years I think I bought into the general dismissal of her talents, probably exacerbated by the knowledge that Hitch wanted Vera Miles for Vertigo instead. Also, I think when you're first getting into film, it's easy to be dazzled by capital A "Acting" and overlook such a quiet performer as Novak, or dismiss her as just another pretty face. Let the career rehabilitation continue!
Jay--
That's one reason why I've never been too crazy about Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn. Too actor-ish. I always found the maligned Joan Crawford to be better than either of those two. Same with Novak.
As for Hitch, he's my favorite director, but his opinions of the actors with whom he worked are bizarre at best. Vera Miles! In "Vertigo"! I can't even imagine it (and I like Miles). God knows what Hitch saw in her that he so wanted her in the film and God only knows what she would have done with the role. The right actress got the part, against all odds.
I also think Tippi Hendre was the right actress for "Marnie" (great performance) and not Grace Kelly - again an actress Hitch preferred and originally wanted.
I read once where he didn't much care for "Strangers on a Train" because he thought the two lead actors were bad. Granger is fine and Walker is outstanding.
Great director, bad judge of actors.
Hmm... now I'm wishing I'd recorded Of Human Bondage on Tuesday so I could do a Novak/Bette Davis comparison. I love Davis and Hepburn when they're well cast, and can't imagine Novak in their signature roles, but it works both ways, of course. The mind boggles at the notion of Hepburn in Vertigo or Davis in Strangers When We Meet!
Hadn't heard the Hitch anecdote, but Robert Walker in Strangers on a Train may be the best performance in a Hitchcock film. Odd if he couldn't see that.
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I no longer get TCM (my cable network decided it was the same thing as AMC and decided to drop it which was so outrageous that it still makes me angry). Luckily Netflix has filled the void since. That is one fantastic line-up of Novak films and you're right, there is no comparison between Novak and Monroe. Just like comparing apples to ...pears. I can't possibly envision one replacing the other in their respective film roles. It just won't work. And I'm so glad that TCM was showing the more obscure Novak gems as well - Bell, Book, and Candle is one of my all-time favorites of hers. And what an endearing minor (but very valuable) part in Kiss Me Stupid. :-)
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