thursdays with kim

At long last, Turner Classic Movies showcases Kim Novak as its Star of the Month, starting tonight @ 8 p.m. (est) with a repeat of Robert Osborne's recent sit-down with the enigmatic star, an excellent Q-&-A session in which Novak proves, as she invoked in her final line in Quine's "Bell, Book & Candle" ('58), that "I'm only human."  No, there's no star turn here.

 Just some good revealing conversation.

Novak was Columbia's atypical answer to Fox's resident blonde, Marilyn - atypical in that Novak was always rather remote and reserved, compared to Monroe's playfulness, and her blondness wasn't fixed but often morphed from color to color, ranging from stark white ("The Eddie Duchin Story") to something resembling smoke ("Bell, Book & Candle").

Like Monroe, Novak had a relatively brief film career, but of her own accord, and she worked with some fascinating filmmakers - Hitchcock, Preminger,  Quine, Wilder, Logan, Medak, Figgis, Hemmings.

The 16 titles selected by Turner provide a good glimpse of her often unnoticed versatility, but conspicuously missing are her haunting work in Quine's "Strangers When We Meet" ('60) and her game take on Doris Day in Gordon's "Boys' Night Out" ('62).  Hitchcock's "Vertigo" ('58) is, of course, the pick of the litter, but this time out, pay close heed to her palpable melancholy in Sidney's wrenchingly funereal "The Eddie Duchin Story" ('56) and her perfect duet with Jack Lemmon (that's him above paying homage) in Quine's faux Hitchcock romp, "The Notorious Landlady," ('62), masterfully written by Blake Edwards and Larry Gelbart.

Thursday, September 5

8 p.m. – Kim Novak: Live from the TCM Classic Film Festival (2013)

10 p.m. – Vertigo (1958)

12:15 a.m. – The Man With the Golden Arm (1955)

2:30 a.m. – Pushover (1954)

4:15 a.m. – Five Against the House (1955)

Thursday, September 12

8 p.m. – Picnic (1955)

10 p.m. – Pal Joey (1957)

Midnight – The Eddy Duchin Story (1956)

2:15 a.m. – Jeanne Eagels (1957)

Thursday, September 19

8 p.m. – Bell, Book & Candle (1959)

10 p.m. – Kim Novak: Live from the TCM Classic Film Festival (2013)

11 p.m. – Kiss Me, Stupid (1965)

1:15 a.m. – The Notorious Landlady (1962)

3:30 a.m. – Phffft! (1954)

Thursday, September 26

8 p.m. – Middle of the Night (1959)

10:15 p.m. – Of Human Bondage (1964)

Midnight – The Legend of Lylah Claire (1968)

2:15 a.m. – The Great Bank Robbery (1969) – TCM Premiere

4 a.m. – Kim Novak: Live from the TCM Classic Film Festival (2013)