Meet Kim Novak, the Woman at the Center of Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Vertigo’

Nobody has a more intimate view of Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo than Kim Novak (aside from Hitchcock himself). Nearly 70 years after Novak starred opposite James Stewart in the 1958 psychological thriller, the documentary Kim Novak’s Vertigo returns to the Hitchcock masterpiece through the eyes of the woman at its center. Directed by Alexandre O. Philippe, the film gives Novak the chance to revisit her most iconic role while reflecting on Hollywood, identity, and the dizzying pressures of becoming one of the most recognizable stars of the studio era. 

Filmed in Novak’s home, the documentary offers an unusually intimate glimpse into the life, legacy, and inner world of the actress. Novak was 92 when the documentary was filmed, but she’s effervescent, and as viewers we’re lucky to get to spend this much time with her. Philippe, whose previous documentaries include the Psycho-focused 78/52 and Lynch/Oz, dispenses with the usual talking heads and film historians. This is Novak’s story, and he lets her tell it.

Surrounded by her paintings, photographs, and other remnants of her past, Novak looks back at the strange experience of becoming a movie star during the height of Hollywood’s studio system. Born Marilyn Pauline Novak in Chicago, she was signed by Columbia Pictures, renamed Kim, and quickly groomed for stardom. Before long, she was appearing opposite some of the biggest actors in Hollywood in films like Picnic (with William Holden), The Man with the Golden Arm, and Pal Joey (both with Frank Sinatra).

The pace of the Hollywood machine was relentless, and so was the pressure to fit the image the industry had created for her. At one point in the documentary, while reflecting on the sheer number of movies she made during those years, Novak says something simple and devastating: “You start to lose who you are.”

Suddenly, Vertigo feels a little more disorienting.

In Hitchcock’s film, Novak plays Judy Barton, a woman hired to impersonate the elegant and mysterious Madeleine Elster. Stewart plays Scottie, a retired detective with severe acrophobia who falls in love with Madeleine and then, later, becomes obsessed with turning Judy into her.  He chooses her clothes. He dictates her hairstyle. He keeps going until the real woman standing in front of him has been transformed into the fantasy in his head. Judy has been turned into someone else’s idea of the perfect woman. 

The same thing was happening to Novak in Hollywood. That connection is where Kim Novak’s Vertigo becomes especially fascinating. We’ve spent decades analyzing what Hitchcock was doing in Vertigo, what Scottie wants, what Madeleine represents, and what the movie says about obsession, desire, and the male gaze. Philippe allows us to dissect all of this from the perspective of the woman at the center.

The film’s intimacy extends beyond Vertigo. Novak talks candidly about the studio system, acting, fame, and her decision to eventually leave Hollywood behind. She chose a quieter life, devoting herself to painting, animals, and the kind of personal expression that didn’t require her to become somebody else.

Now, at 92, with her silver screen heyday behind her, Novak is still just as mesmerizing. Though cinema has frozen her forever as Madeleine, walking across a restaurant in an emerald green dress looking impossibly beautiful and almost unreal, Kim Novak’s Vertigo introduces us to the very real woman behind the character. And that woman is funny, sensitive, rebellious, artistic, and still wrestling with what those years meant to her. You don’t have to be a Vertigo obsessive to find the documentary compelling. It’s also a fascinating firsthand account of Old Hollywood and a thoughtful look at what happens when a person becomes an image for millions of people.

For decades, we’ve watched Kim Novak in Vertigo. This time, we get to hear what she has to say about it.

Stream Kim Novak’s Vertigo now on Kino Film Collection.

Kim Novak's Vertigo (2026)