To me, the DVD event of the summer is The Kim Novak Collection (Sony). The almost supernaturally beautifully blonde with the smoky voice was Columbia Studio's goddess in the 1950s, and this collection includes some her finest work. 1955's Picnic (pictured above), based on the William Inge stage play, stars William Holden as a drifter who blows into a midwestern town during labor day and falls for the beautiful Novak. This has definitely been remastered -- the scene where Holden and Novak dance to "Moonglow" looks and sounds better than ever, and remains one of the most romantic moments in film history. Jeanne Eagels (1957) stars Novak as the doomed Broadway star who self-destructed at an early age, and she gives a wonderful, fierce, performance. Bell Book And Candle (1958) is a fun, breezy romance between Jimmy Stewart and Novak (as a witch living in Greenwich Village), with terrific support from Elsa Lancaster and Jack Lemmon. The DVD transfer looks stunning. Middle Of The Night (1959) is Paddy Chayefsky's touching story about a May/December romance Novak and Fredric March. Pal Joey (1957), based on the John O'Hara book and stage play, stars Frank Sinatra playing a cad, Rita Hayworth as his wealthy patron and a beautiful Novak as a sweet chorus girl. It's filled with great songs like "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered," "My Funny Valentine" and "The Lady Is A Tramp." Novak, with author Stephen Rebello, does spotty audio commentary throughout about her films and is incredibly honest and revealing. She discusses working on the dance sequence with Holden in Picnic, getting deep into the role for Jeanne Eagels and her relationship with Sinatra, who she admits could be the sweetest, kindest, man in the world, but wasn't particularly nice on the Pal Joey set. (Although she admits he might have just been in character for the role.) There's also an extra showing of Novak in her woody, beautiful, home with her horses and her artist studio which nicely captures the content, extremely happy woman she is today. I really think she has been criminally under appreciated as an actress, and maybe this fabulous box set will somehow set the record straight.