Many of us were intrigued by photos of Sharon Stone leaving a restaurant in Los Angeles arm in arm with a very cute young fellow. And I mean young! There was a lot of “You go, cougar girl” talk. But nobody knew who he was. I put in a call to Sharon’s rep, asking politely, “Who’s the boy with Sharon?” Came the PR response: “Hahahahaha. I have no idea.” I replied, “Could you ask her?” No response. Thanks. I’ll remember that the next time Sharon talks “karma.”

But here is some news concerning Sharon that did intrigue me: The great columnist Army Archerd of Variety recently interviewed Kim Novak, who is retired and living happily in Oregon with her veterinarian husband. They spoke of Kim’s 1958 movie, “Bell, Book and Candle,” in which she plays a seductive young woman who casts spells – she’s a witch. The movie also starred James Stewart, Jack Lemmon and Elsa Lanchester as Kim’s dotty old auntie, also a witch. 

Miss Novak told Army there’s been talk of remaking “Bell, Book and Candle” with Sharon in the lead, and Kim in the small, wacky Elsa Lanchester role!! Hey, any excuse to get Novak back on-screen is fine with me. She hasn’t made a movie since 1991’s little-seen “Liebestraum.” 

And for those of you who remember Novak, or who might want an education of one of the big stars of the 1950s/early ’60s, check out Turner Classic Movies on August 12th. All Kim, all day long. Film fans know her primarily from Hitchcock’s “Vertigo,” but she had an interesting career. Her husky voice and rather hesitant underplaying, criticized in her day, seems more impressive now. Among the films TCM is serving up are two rarities – “Middle of The Night,” with Fredric March, in which Novak plays an insecure young woman who marries a much older man. And “Jeanne Eagels,” in which Kim portrays the tormented, drug-addicted stage star of the 1920s. She is marvelous in “Middle” and out-of-sight campy in “Jeanne.” (In fact, her outrageous posturing in the latter film would serve as a sketch for a deliberately funny performance years later, in “The Mirror Crack’d.”)

Novak is the blonde who got away. She was an even more sensitive type than Marilyn Monroe. Kim really couldn’t deal with Hollywood. She more or less began to withdraw in the mid-’60s; she saw the handwriting on the wall. Times were changing, and she was tired of the grind. Her studio boss, Harry Cohn, once told her, “Remember this, never forget it: You’re just a piece of meat. That’s all you are.” Novak, chilled to the soul, wondered if stardom was worth it. 

So, she was smart with her money and her career. There were no suicide attempts, substance abuse, mental breakdowns. She got out while the getting was good. 

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