Do You Remember: The Love Story of Sammy Davis Jr. and Kim Novak
She was meant to be the next Rita Hayworth. He was the entertainer who dominated Vegas. Their romance almost ended with his murder.
Recently, the legendary actress Kim Novak was interviewed by The Times. She talked about her life and career and her choice to stay out of Hollywood, but the bit everyone is talking about is her shade towards Sydney Sweeney. You see, the good jeaned one has spent the past couple of years trying to get a Novak biopic off the ground. Tentatively titled Scandalous, the movie would focus on Novak’s romance with entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. There haven’t been any updates on it for a while, but Colman Domingo is still attached to direct, and David Jonsson is on board to play Davis. Novak said she thought Sweeney was all wrong to play her, although her reasoning, that she’d be too boobs-forward and sex-focused, is a bit questionable.
But you can’t exactly blame Novak for wanting the world to treat her story well. For decades, she had no control over her own narrative, and every detail of her private life was controlled by her studio. Her love of SDJ was treated as salacious and taboo because of its interracial dynamic, and she never got to marry him because the world so hated it. I can see why she wouldn’t want that painful part of her life turned into a juicy awards-bait flick for a registered Republican.
It reminded a lot of people of Novak’s legacy, and of how she never got her dues during her career peak. She’s phenomenal in Vertigo, which we now understand to be one of the greatest films ever made, and she was just never credited for it at the time. We’re lucky to still have her around, giving interviews and opening up about the stuff she was never able to discuss while under the thumb of the studio system. So, why don’t we delve into her romance with the best member of the Rat Pack (yeah, I said it) before Sweeney tries for another round of Oscar bait?
Marilyn Pauline Novak was a model who spent a summer promoting a line of refrigerators before heading out to Los Angeles to try her hand at acting. After a couple of films as an uncredited extra, she was discovered by an agent and signed to Columbia Pictures. During the '40s, Columbia was seen as a lower-tier studio, big on comedy shorts and B-movies, but also home to a ton of legendary stars, like Rita Hayworth and Cary Grant. The studio held on strong as the '50s began, weathering the Paramount decrees, which ended vertical integration and forced the studios to divest the theatre chains they owned, far better than places like Warner Bros.
Harry Cohn, the co-founder and President of Columbia, was what we would call in the industry a total arsehole. He was a dictator who wielded immense control over most aspects of production and never yielded to anyone. He could scream and curse at actors, but he could also be charismatic and appealing. Moe from The Three Stooges once said he was "a real Jekyll-and-Hyde type guy," one who seemed to enjoy his reputation as a tyrant. He also 100% took advantage of women, demanding sex in return for career boosts. Those who dared to say "no" risked being fired or punished. Even Rita Hayworth was fined for "insubordination" when she rejected him. Jean Arthur, the Oscar-nominated star of A Foreign Affair and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, quit the industry to escape his harassment.
Cohn was obsessed with Novak. He saw her as the studio's next Rita Hayworth, and they were determined to mould her into the ideal sex symbol much as they had done to the former Margarita Cansino (a process, in which they tried to make her look as white as possible, he took all the credit for.) He made Novak lose weight and had her hair dyed white-blonde. He also wanted her to change her name to Kit Marlowe, claiming nobody would watch a movie with a "Polack" lead. She fought back and made a compromise: She'd go by Kim but keep her surname.
She was moved into the Studio Club, a dormitory for Columbia's young stars that had a strict curfew and higher-than-normal security details. Cohn wanted to keep his eye on his new star and ensure no men were allowed near her. Other than himself, of course. But Kim wasn't willing to be pushed around.
