Why is Kim Novak calling Sydney Sweeney's biopic on her life 'sexualized'? Actress shares concerns at Venice Film Festival

Kim Novak has criticized Sydney Sweeney's upcoming biopic titled Scandalous!, which is based on her life.

Novak, who was the face of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 film, Vertigo, was honored with the lifetime achievement award at the Venice Film Festival. At the festival, a documentary based on her life and career, titled Kim Novak’s Vertigo, is being featured.

In an interview with The Guardian, the 92-year-old actress shared that she is concerned that the film will reduce her relationship with Sammy Davis Jr. to lust. She said:

“I don’t think the relationship was scandalous. He’s somebody I really cared about. We had so much in common, including that need to be accepted for who we are and what we do, rather than how we look. I'm concerned they're going to make it all se*ual reasons.”

Scandalous! Stars Sweeney as Kim Novak and David Jonsson as Davis Jr. It focuses on the secret romantic relationship between the singer/dancer and the actor at the height of Hollywood’s Golden Age.

Continue to read more.

All we know about the relationship between Kim Novak and Sammy Davis Jr.

The relationship between Kim Novak and Sammy Davis Jr. gained spotlight in early 1958.

According to a report in People magazine, the two connected in 1956 when they appeared as guests on The Steve Allen Show.

Speaking of the “wild” attraction between the two, Leamer wrote:

“The entertainer was no photographer, but to spend time with Novak he pretended to be an avid shutterbug. As he shot his close-ups of her, she asked slyly, ‘Did you ever think of taking off the lens cover?’”

He added:

“Sammy had an innocent boyish quality and a crush on me. We had fun together.”

Leamer quoted Kim Novak in his book, sharing how she was genuinely in love with Davis Jr.

"Something inside of me rebelled when I was told not to see him. I didn't think it was anybody's business.”

Their relationship was ruined due to prevailing racism in 1950s America, as written by the author Laurence Leamer in his book, Hitchcock’s Blondes.

According to a report in Entertainment Weekly, only 4 per cent of Americans approved of interracial marriages in a Gallup poll in 1958. Legalisation of interracial marriages did not occur until 1967.

According to People magazine, Davis' friend and biographer quoted him in the 2000 book Sammy:

“We became conspirators, drawn together by the single thing we had in common: defiance.”

The couple’s relationship ended after Columbia Pictures boss Harry Cohn, who had Novak signed under a contract, issued threats to Davis.

Trending

After their short-lived romance, Davis married a Black woman named Loray White, and Novak married a white actor named Richard Johnson in 1965.

Kim Novak gained attention when she challenged the system at the height of her career by creating her own production company.

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback