Kim Novak Attacks the Use of ‘Vertigo’ Score In ‘The Artist’

January 10, 2012

Jean Dujardin and Missi Pyle in 'The Artist'/Photo by The Weinstein Company

As one of the sole remaining representatives of the Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece “Vertigo,” Kim Novak has strong opinions about the film’s memorable score being pasted into 2011′s “The Artist.” As Novak’s manager explained, “When you sit in a theater and familiar music comes on that engenders ready-made emotion from a past film, and they use that music to evoke those same emotions, it’s quite hurtful.” Novak has bought ads in several trade publications calling attention to the debacle. You can hear an example of the music in question right here.

Carol Channing documentary? Carol Channing documentary! The legendary film actress and “First Lady of Broadway” (who is still making public appearances well into her nineties) has been committed to celluloid one last time, and I gotta admit the film looks like a whole lot of fun. Here’s hoping its lengthy and successful run at festivals yields an actual theatrical release.

While we’re checking in on oldsters, Dick Van Dyke is newly engaged at the age of eighty-six. The Emmy-decorated TV and film star (“Mary Poppins” anyone?) has been on his own since the death of his longtime partner in 2009; it’s nice to imagine wedding bells in his future.

Now that the “Smurfs” movie is safely behind us, we can once again look fondly upon the many odd comic strips that became adapted into animated TV shows. Nearly everyone remembers the Garfield cartoon-crossovers, but this “Tales from The Far Side” special is news to me. They missed a big one though — come on guys, no love for “A Family Circus Easter“?

Tags: Alfred Hitchcock, Carol Channing, Dick Van Dyke, Family Circus, Garfield, Kim Novak, The Artist, Vertigo

1 Comment

PATRICIA FENN says:

February 9, 2012 at 10:34 am

I saw “The Artist”. When I hear the Bernard Herrmans score from “The Vertigo”, come on, I whispered this to the friend with whom I attended the film.

Frankly, I didn’t feel otherwise affected by the use of score nor did I make a connection between the two films, at all. I think “Vertigo” was so indelible in its story-line, it stands on its own. “The Artist” was cute, but by no means comparable to “Vertigo”.

I think the kissing scene in “Vertigo” is one of the memorable scenes only eclipsed by a few: the kiss in the elevator in “Driver”; the beach scene kiss in “From Here to Eternity”; and the kiss from the returning Denys Finch Hatton in “Out of Africa”.

I also think you have to have a strong history of film history to recall and identify “Vertigo”s music score.

PAT

Reply