Kim Novak Movies
Kim Novak was among Hollywood's most enigmatic sex symbols of the '50s and early '60s. Blonde and beautiful, she exuded a daunting intellectual chilliness and an underlying passionate heat that made her especially alluring. One of the last of the studio-made stars, she rebelled against her "manufactured" image, struggling to be seen as more than just another brainless glamour gal. Novak brought to many of her roles a certain melancholic reluctance about freeing up her character's sensuality. It seemed as if her beauty was a burden, not an asset.She was born Marilyn Pauline Novak and raised in Chicago, the daughter of a Czech railroad man. Before she was discovered in Los Angeles by Columbia Pictures helmer Harry Cohn (who chose her as a replacement for his increasingly difficult and rebellious reigning screen goddess Rita Hayworth), Novak worked odd jobs that included sales clerk, elevator operator, and a spokesmodel for a refrigerator company. Cohn signed her to his studio around 1954. While being properly prepared for stardom, Novak engaged in the first of many battles with Cohn when she refused to allow the studio to bill her as "Kit Marlowe." She felt the name rang false and battled to keep her family name, and then compromised by allowing herself to be called Kim because in her mind, Kit was too close to "kitten," as in the sexy kind. In her later years, Novak would acknowledge the studio head's role in her stardom, but also took plenty of credit for her own hard work.
Though Novak had already made her screen debut with a tiny role in The French Line (1954), her first starring role for Columbia was playing opposite Fred MacMurray in Pushover (1954). At first, she appeared uncomfortable with acting before cameras, but she soon relaxed and the following year had her first big break in Picnic (1955). The film was a hit and Novak found herself the hottest sex symbol in town, a title she wore with discomfort. Unlike other similar stars, Novak was pragmatic and did not lose herself in the glamour of the studio's carefully manufactured blonde bombshell image of her. Despite her dislike of such publicity chores as providing "cheesecake" shots for the press, and going out on studio arranged "dates" to keep her name in print, she was a trooper and toed the company line; some of her alleged lovers from this period include Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant, and Aly Khan.
Through the '50s, Novak appeared in a broad range of films of widely varying quality. In 1958, Novak appeared in her most famous role, that of enigmatic Madeleine in Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece Vertigo. It was a difficult role, but one she rose to admirably. She did have one conflict with Hitchcock on the set concerning the stiff gray suit and black shoes she would be required to wear for most of the picture. When she saw costume designer Edith Head's original plans for the suit, Novak, fearing the suit would be distracting and uncomfortable and believing that gray is seldom a blonde's best color, voiced her concerns directly to Hitchcock who listened patiently and then insisted she wear the prescribed garb. Novak obeyed and to her surprise discovered that the starchy outfit enhanced rather than hindered her ability to play Madeleine.
Novak's career continued in high gear through 1965. After appearing in The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders (1965) and marrying her second husband, her film appearances became less frequent. After the loss of her Bel Air home to erosion following a bad fire season in the 1970s, Novak retired and moved to Northern California. There, she and her husband, Dr. Robert Malloy, a veterinarian, raised llamas. She continued to appear on television and in feature films, but only when she wanted to. At home on the ranch she spoke of her screen persona "Kim Novak" as if she were a totally different person. In 1997, she dusted off the old persona to go on an extensive promotional tour to alert the public to the fully restored version of Vertigo. When not busy in Hollywood, Novak continues working on her autobiography. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Tyrone Power stars in this tear-jerking biography of the beloved but short-lived pianist and bandleader Eddy Duchin. Boston-born Eddy Duchin (Tyrone Power) moves to New York City to pursue a career as a pharmacist. However, Eddy is also a skilled piano player, and when he meets pretty socialite Marjorie Oelrichs (Kim Novak) who hears him play, she encourages him not to short-change his musical abilities. Marjorie helps get Eddy a job playing at the Central Park Casino; his playing goes over well with the crowd, and Eddy goes over well with Marjorie. Able to support himself full-time with his music, Eddy asks Marjorie for her hand in marriage; she accepts, and soon Marjorie is expecting a child. Tragically, she dies while giving birth to their son Peter; Eddy, shattered by the experience, finds himself unconsciously blaming Peter for Marjorie's passing, and leaves the boy behind with his family and their nanny, Chiquita (Victoria Shaw), while Eddy and his manager Lou Sherwood (James Whitmore) head out for the first of many lengthy world tours. Years later, while serving in the Navy during World War II, Eddy realizes the error of his ways, and begins a long and difficult reconciliation with Peter (Rex Thompson), while falling in love with Chiquita. Eddy and Chiquita marry and budding pianist Peter joins Eddy on stage for an emotional duet; however, Eddy's new contentment with life is cut short when he contracts leukemia. Pianist Carmen Cavallaro dubbed in Duchin's piano parts for non-musician Tyrone Power. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tyrone Power, Kim Novak, (more)
- 1955
In this film noir, five college students laughingly devise a perfect plan for robbing a casino in Reno. At first they do it just to pass the time, but one of them is deeply in debt and becoming increasingly distraught about it. He successfully cajoles his peers into carrying through with their plans. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Guy Madison, Kim Novak, (more)
When Otto Preminger was willing to release his drug-addiction drama Man With the Golden Arm without the sanction of a Production Code seal, it proved to be yet another nail in the coffin of that censorial dinosaur. Based on the novel by Nelson Algren, the film stars Frank Sinatra as Frankie Machine, expert card dealer (hence the title). Recently released from prison, Frankie is determined to set his life in order -- and that means divesting himself of his drug habit. He dreams of becoming a jazz drummer, but his greedy wife Eleanor Parker wants him to continue his lucrative gambling activities. Since Parker is confined to a wheelchair as a result of a car accident caused by Frankie, he's in no position to refuse. Only the audience knows that Parker is not crippled, but is faking her invalid status to keep Frankie under her thumb. Gambling boss Robert Strauss wants Frankie to deal at a high-stakes poker game; terrified that he's lost his touch, Frankie asks dope pusher Darren McGavin to supply him with narcotics. When McGavin discovers that Parker is not an invalid, she kills him, and Frankie (who is elsewhere at the time) is accused of the murder. He is willing to go to the cops, but he doesn't want to show up with drugs in his system. So with the help of sympathetic B-girl Kim Novak, Sinatra locks himself up and goes "cold turkey"-a still-harrowing sequence, despite the glut of "doper" films that followed in the wake of this picture. After Parker herself is killed in a suicidal fall, the path is cleared for Frankie to pursue a clean new life with Novak. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Parker, (more)
One of the biggest box-office attractions of the 1950s, Picnic was adapted by Daniel Taradash from the Pulitzer Prize-winning William Inge play. William Holden plays Hal Carter, a handsome drifter who ambles into a small Kansas town during the Labor Day celebration to look up old college chum Alan (Cliff Robertson, in his film debut). Hoping to hit up Alan for a job--or a handout--Hal ends up stealing his buddy's fiancee Madge Owens (Kim Novak). Hal also has a catnip effect on spinster schoolteacher Rosemary Sydney (Rosalind Russell), so much so that Rosemary makes a fool of herself in front of the whole town, nearly driving away her longtime beau Howard Bevans (Arthur O'Connell). Persuaded by his friends and family that Hal is no damn good, Madge is prepared to break off her relationship. As anyone who remembers the film's famous overhead closing shot knows, however, Madge is ultimately ruled by her heart and not her head. For a film set in Kansas, there's an awful lot of New York talent in the supporting cast (Susan Strasberg and Phyllis Newman come immediately to mind); still, the Midwestern ambience comes through loud and clear, especially during the perceptively detailed Labor Day picnic sequence. Broadening the film's appeal is its George Duning-Steve Allen title song, a variation of the old standard "Moonglow". Two sidebars: The original Broadway production of Picnic starred Ralph Meeker and Paul Newman; for the film version of Picnic, William Holden was obliged to shave his chest, lest his hairy torso cause the female moviegoers to conjure up impure thoughts. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Holden, Rosalind Russell, (more)
- 1955
Dale Robertson stars as the Son of Sinbad in this tongue-in-cheek Arabian Nights romp. Hoping to rescue Bagdad from the forces of the dreaded Tamerlaine, Sinbad Jr. enlists the aid of the Khalif (Leon Askin) by promising to deliver the secret of "Greek Fire". To expedite this, he enlists the aid of the lovely Kristina (Mari Blanchard), who has memorized said secret. When the bad guys threaten the safety of hero and heroine, slave girl Ameer (Sally Forrest), who heads the all-female descendants of the original Forty Thieves, come galloping to the rescue. Personally produced by Howard Hughes, Son of Sinbad seems to be a clearing house for all of Hughes' voyeuristic fetishes; at one point, stripteaser Lili St. Cyr performs an exotic (and erotic) dance wearing the equivalent of a postage stamp, earning a Condemned rating from the Catholic Legion of Decency. The overabundance of feminie pulchritude gets a little wearing after a while, and it is up to Vincent Price to steal the show as Omar the Tentmaker, improvising passages of his unpublished "Rubiyat" (with a few anachronistic Shakespearean quotes thrown in) as he tries to keep apace with the hero. Also on hand is an uncredited (and fully clothed) Kim Novak as a handmaiden. More silly than sexy when seen today, Son of Sinbad is acceptable nonthink entertainment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dale Robertson, Sally Forrest, (more)
- 1954
Two bank robbers get away with 250,000 dollars in unmarked, unrecorded bills, murdering a guard in the process. The police know the leader was Harry Wheeler (Paul E. Richards) and turn their attention to his girlfriend, Leona McLane (Kim Novak), detective Paul Sheridan (Fred MacMurray) arranging to pick her up in a "chance" meeting at a movie and spend some time with her. After one day, he knows what he needs to -- that she's not in touch with Wheeler, but expects to be -- but he keeps things going between them for three more days. By the time the department has a full surveillance team in place, he can't get her off his mind, and when she discovers that he's a cop and raises the notion of letting events take their course with Wheeler (i.e., him ending up dead) and the two of them keeping the money, he's hooked. Sheridan is fast on his feet and a quick thinker and sees how he might pull this off and get the two of them away clean. But he doesn't bargain for the alcoholism of one of the detectives (Allen Nourse) on the surveillance team, the inquisitive nature of his squad commander (E.G. Marshall), or the attachment that his younger associate (Philip Carey) develops for a nurse (Dorothy Malone) living in the building they're observing. Kim Novak had previously appeared in small roles in some films at RKO, but The Pushover marked her formal introduction to audiences as a star, and she more than lives up to the billing and the buildup she received, her acting ability and her physique easily carrying her end of the picture (she's onscreen alone for long minutes under observation, and is convincingly seductive), while MacMurray gives one of the best performances of his career, rivaling his work in Double Indemnity, The Caine Mutiny, and The Apartment. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred MacMurray, Kim Novak, (more)
- 1954
Like so many other films that were once considered "lewd" and "scandalous", The French Line seems as harmless as Pollyanna when seen today. Essentially a remake of The Richest Girl in the World, the film stars Jane Russell as Mary Carson, an incredibly wealthy Texas oil heiress. Lucky in investments but unlucky in love, poor Mary can never keep a fiance: either they're fortune-hunters or they don't want to marry anyone so rich and powerful. Thus, while on an ocean voyage to France, Mary poses as the model of dress designer Annie Farrell (Mary McCarthy), hoping to attract a man who is interested in her for herself, and not her millions. That man turns out to be dashing stage star Pierre (Gilbert Roland), but there's many comic complications and misunderstandings before the happy ending. What shocked the censors in 1954 was Jane Russell's sizzling musical number "Lookin' for Trouble", in which she performed an uninhibited bump-and-grind while wearing nothing more than a seven-ounce glorified bikini. While Ms. Russell herself was offended by her skimpy costume, she saw nothing wrong with the dance itself, pointing out that she intended it as a parody of a "burleycue" number. The professional blue-noses disagreed, however: the film was condemned by the Catholic Legion of Decency and denied a Production Code Seal. Eventually, producer Howard Hughes got the Seal--along with a million dollars' worth of free publicity, which is what he intended all along. Filmed in 3D, The French Line is the film that was ballyhooed with the classically tasteless ad campaign "J.R. in 3D--It'll knock both your eyes out!" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Russell, Gilbert Roland, (more)
- 1954
After several years of domestic squabbles, the marriage of Nina and Robert Tracy (Judy Holliday, Jack Lemmon) goes "phffft"! Upon receiving their divorce papers, Nina and Robert are certain that they'll remain friends, no matter how many new lovers they pick up along the way. Nina dallies briefly with bombastic Charlie Newton (Jack Carson), while Robert has a fling with the luscious Janis (Kim Novak). These romantic episodes only serve to make Nina and Robert realize how much they're still in love with each other. According to costar Jack Lemmon, the original title of this film was Phfffft!, but after an all-night bull session at Columbia Pictures it was decided to take out one of the "F"s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judy Holliday, Jack Lemmon, (more)
