Kim Novak films on TCM: 5 titles starring one of Columbia’s top names of the 1950s
Five Novak vehicles released at the height of her stardom will be presented this evening: Joshua Logan’s Oscar-nominated Picnic (1955), starring William Holden; Delbert Mann’s drama Middle of the Night (1958), with Fredric March; Richard Quine’s The Notorious Landlady (1962), with Fred Astaire and Jack Lemmon; and two directed by George Sidney: The fictionalized biopic Jeanne Eagels (1957), with Jeff Chandler, and the musical Pal Joey (1957), with Frank Sinatra and Rita Hayworth.
Based on William Inge’s play, Picnic is set on Labor Day, as a handsome vagrant (William Holden) disrupts the deceptively placid lives of those he encounters in a small Kansas town. Even if not exactly a great movie – Joshua Logan’s direction makes some of the action and acting much too stylized – the underlying psychology, the social commentary, James Wong Howe’s camera work, and Rosalind Russell are all major pluses.
Some consider Middle of the Night one of the best Delbert Mann efforts (it certainly features one of Fredric March’s finest characterizations, though Novak is hardly at her best), while Pal Joey is one of Sinatra’s most popular musicals.
Now, although some George Sidney films are pretty good (Annie Get Your Gun, Show Boat, Scaramouche), nearly everyone involved in Pal Joey tries too hard to make it look “effortless.” The one exception is Rita Hayworth, who single-handedly brings class and wit to Pal Joey’s unappealing artificiality.
5:00 PM Picnic (1955)
Director: Joshua Logan.
Cast: William Holden, Kim Novak, Rosalind Russell, Cliff Robertson, Betty Field, Arthur O’Connell, Susan Strasberg, Reta Shaw, Elizabeth Wilson, Nick Adams.
113m7:00 PM Jeanne Eagels (1957)
Director: George Sidney.
Cast: Kim Novak, Jeff Chandler, Agnes Moorehead, Charles Drake, Larry Gates, Virginia Grey, Gene Lockhart, Joe De Santis, Murray Hamilton.
109m9:00 PM Pal Joey (1957)
Director: George Sidney.
Cast: Rita Hayworth, Frank Sinatra, Kim Novak, Barbara Nichols, Bobby Sherwood, Hank Henry, Elizabeth Patterson.
109m11:00 PM Middle of the Night (1959)
Director: Delbert Mann.
Cast: Kim Novak, Fredric March, Albert Dekker, Glenda Farrell, Martin Balsam, Lee Grant, Lee Philips, Edith Meiser, Joan Copeland, Betty Walker.
117m1:15 AM The Notorious Landlady (1962)
Director: Richard Quine.
Cast: Kim Novak, Jack Lemmon, Fred Astaire, Lionel Jeffries.
123m
“Kim Novak Films on TCM” notes
TCM Kim Novak film schedule via their website: