The Hard Hollywood Life of Kim Novak — 10th anniversary restoration / by Karina Longworth

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

The first episode of You Must Remember This tells the story of actress Kim Novak -- a top box office draw of the late 1950s and the iconic star of Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo -- and her painful struggles to assert herself from the mid-20th century through well into the 21st, in a Hollywood that repeatedly sent her the message that she was only valuable for the way she looked, while also insisting that she didn’t quite look good enough. Originally released in April 2014, this episode has been “lost” for almost as long due to copyright issues with its soundtrack. Today, in honor of the podcast’s ten-year anniversary, we’re rereleasing this episode with new music, largely re-recorded voiceover, and just enough of the original episode intact so you can hear how far the show has come over the course of a decade.

A young Marilyn Pauline "Kim" Novak

Kim Novak and William Holden, Picnic, 1955

Music:
The music used in this episode, with the exception of the intro, was sourced from royalty-free music libraries and licensed music collections. The intro includes a clip from the film Casablanca.  

Excerpts from the following songs were used throughout the episode:

"Out of the Skies, Under The Earth" by Chris Zabriskie

"Balcarabic Chicken" by Quantum Jazz

"Gibraltar" by Unheard Music Concepts

"Rite of Passage" by Kevin MacLeod

"Dinner Music" from the compilation "Musique Libre de Droit Club"

"Tikopia" by Kevin MacLeod

"Dakota" by Unheard Music Concepts

"Piano Spa" from the compilation "Musique Libre de Droit Club"

Kim Novak, The Legend of Lylah Clare, 1968

This episode was written, narrated, edited and produced by Karina Longworth.

Research and production assistant: Lindsey D. Schoenholtz.

Social media assistant: Brendan Whalen.

Logo design: Teddy Blanks.

Kim Novak and Mattthew McConaughey at the Oscars, 2014