Colman Domingo is set to make his feature directorial debut with Scandalous, a period drama about the 1950s romance between movie star Kim Novak and singer Sammy Davis Jr., and the bigoted scrutiny that the pair faced once their relationship came to light. Sydney Sweeney and David Jonsson are in talks to play the two leads.
Miramax is working to fast track the project, which remains in early stages of development. Producers have hopes to shoot next year after Domingo and Sweeney have finished filming the third season of HBO’s Euphoria.
Kim Novak and Sammy Davis Jr. first connected when they both appeared as guests on The Steve Allen Show in 1956. The two continued to meet, with Davis making visits to the set of Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo during the next year.
They met again at a Thanksgiving charity ball in California, which led to the pair spending the holidays together. Harry Cohn, head of Columbia Pictures where Novak was under contract, voiced unease about their relationship.
The romance exploded into the public eye when a Chicago columnist published an account of Davis and Novak’s relationship in 1958, claiming the two could soon be married.
Novak issued a public denial of the account. Days later, Davis married Loray White, a Black chorus singer. The couple’s union lasted one year.
Novak married white actor Richard Johnson in 1965. The two later divorced, with Novak married Robert Malloy in 1976. The pair remained together until Malloy’s death in 2021. Novak is now 91 years old. Davis died in 1990 at the age of 64.
via: Variety
