DJ Kim (Novak, that is) gets set to spin some platters on the hi-fi in Richard Quine’s 1954 Pushover. That’s Fred MacMurray’s back in the back. Pushover, Novak’s first credited role, is included in the upcoming Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics II set, which I’m going through and enjoying quite a lot, and will have more to say about soon.
If I ever get around to my dissertation on Quine, Novak’s place in his filmography will play a great part in it. She creates indelible impressions in two of his best films, 1958’s genuinely eccentric Bell, Book, and Candle and 1960’s searing Strangers When We Meet. She’s memorable in this picture as well, but more for her aura than her actual performance. But, you know, whatever works.
This scene occurs right after the picture’s opening, in the wake of a literal “my place or yours” proposition. It’s pretty racy stuff, made racier by…well, what was it that Truffaut said to Hitchcock about Novak? Oh yes: “Very few American actresses are quite so carnal on the screen. When you see Judy [in Vertigo] walking across the street, the tawny hair and make-up convey an animal-like sensuality. That quality is accentuated, I suppose, by the fact that she wear no brassiére.” To which Hitchcock replise: “That’s right, she doesn’t wear a brassiére. As a matter of fact, she’s particularly proud of that!”
Must’ve driven the poor guy batty.
“the upcoming Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics II set…”
Want.
Alas a mole in Sony confirms Strangers is no longer a Sony property. THe last run it had was a gorgeous print too!
I weep as it’s my Total Fave Quine (with Pushover.)
Yes. Richard Quine is rarely discussed. Just thinking of who he frequently worked with – Novak, Jack Lemmon, Ernie Kovacs, Blake Edwards. And, what a creepy sleazebag he made Walter Matthau in Strangers When We Meet, or what a tragic little sap he made Mickey Rooney in Drive a Crooked Road! Looking forward to your dissertation.
Wait for it…
You know, that Kim Novak had some big breasts.
I really like the two Quine pictures included in the Jack Lemmon Film Collection Set Film Set Collection.
Operation Mad Ball, for one, looks a lot better today than does Operation Petticoat.
Agree that Quine is unfairly neglected, as are Henry Hathaway and Jean Negulesco. Used to read/hear more about Robert Aldrich, but his rep seems to have undeservedly declined.
Another underrated Quine film to check out is “The World of Suzie Wong” featuring Geoffrey Unsworth’s gorgeous cinematography of Hong Kong. “Bell, Book and Candle” may be Quine’s masterpiece, but I also have a soft spot for his “Sex and the Single Girl” with its Joseph Heller screenplay and terrific cast (Henry Fonda, Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, Lauren Bacall, Edward Everett Horton …)
“Bell, Book and Candle” is on TCM this week…maybe even tonight?