ALFRED HITCHCOCK WOULD BE AMUSED

In San Francisco if you've been by the Palace of the Legion of Honor, Mission Dolores or Fort Point lately and noticed an intense woman with dark hair sketching furiously, it might have been Kim Novak. She's been coming to San Francisco for decades, retracing the path of her most famous character, Madeleine in "Vertigo." In a move that would have amused Hitchcock, Novak disguises   herself by wearing a brown wig. And here's a further irony: She swears she has spotted people taking their own "Vertigo" tour. "They do little things that Madeleine does, like they are reliving the scenes," says Novak, who has sketches to prove it.She hasn't been a major star for more than 40 years. Yet, like Madeleine, Novak continues to draw fans. Every decade or so, when she makes herself available to the public, there's enormous curiosity about the blond sex symbol who went on to have a life apart from Hollywood.
The latest occasion for a Novak sighting is the release of five of her films in a DVD boxed set. They are a mixed bag - "Picnic" shows her at her most sultry, dancing with William Holden to "Moonglow"; "Middle of the Night" implausibly pairs her with Fredric March, bringing out the worst in both of them - but are of interest because all were made under Harry Cohn's rule at Columbia Picturesduring the last gasp of the studio system.
Novak, who is 77 and became a grandmother six months ago, has spent recent mornings at her mansion in Eagle Point, Ore., talking to the media. It reminds her of her studio days, when she would take the train across the country and be met by the press at every stop. Photographers would keep telling her to lift her skirt a little higher, please. "That's why I never wear a skirt anymore," she says. "I only wear pants."
That attire also suits her life of painting, sculpting and riding horses on her several hundred acres. She and her husband of 34 years, veterinarian Robert Malloy, used to raise llamas.
"We don't raise them anymore, but we still have some," Novak says. "They are all pretty old, living out their days like we are."

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