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The Cat's Meow review
:. Director: Peter Bogdanovich
:. Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Edward Herrmann
:. Running Time: 1:50
:. Year: 2001
:. Country: USA
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A Hollywood legend can mean many things. Here Peter Bogdanovich takes on a murder and cover-up that may or may not have happened aboard William Randolph Hearst's yacht Oneida in the middle of the Roaring Twenties.
The premise of the film is that film producer Thomas H. Ince (Cary Elwes) was mistakenly killed by Hearst (Edward Herrmann), who in a fit of jealous rage over his mistress Marion Davies (Kirsten Dunst) thought he was aiming at Charlie Chaplin (Eddie Izzard). Chaplin was his target because he believed him to be having an affair with Davies. There was no real investigation into his death and it was reported that while he fell ill on the yacht, he did not die until several weeks later at his home. Since he was then cremated, there was no way to further research the mysterious circumstances of his death. Though it's plausible that in Bogdanovich's version Hearst had the power to cover the story up, it's not as if today's publicists lack the force to fend off any sharks that smell blood. In any case, all of this intrigue makes for a good film.
Like Gosford Park, Bogdanovich introduces us to a world of people who try to show off their strengths and hide their weaknesses in a bubble that includes lots of booze, the Charleston, drugs and sex. Hollywood obviously hasn't changed that much in seventy years. This weekend on a yacht is principally seen through the eyes of British writer Elinor Glyn (Joanna Lumley), who knows what to share and when to keep quiet. As movie critic and gossip columnist, Louella Parsons (Jennifer Tilly) is the exact opposite, vulgar and gauche but steely. While Parsons tries to get on everyone's good side, Glyn's keenly observes the shenanigans between married moguls and producers and their actress-mistresses during nights of jazz and Prohibition-era liquor. Chaplin chases Dunst from room to room while the paranoid Hearst secretly spies on everyone. In fact, Hearst has intentionally invited Chaplin to observe him with Marion.
Interestingly, in Chaplin's My Autobiography, he brushes off rumors of an improper death and denies he was aboard the yacht when Ince died. He writes: "Ugly rumors began to spread that Ince has been shot, and Hearst was implicated. These rumors were completely untrue. I know this because Hearst, Marion and I went to see Ince at his home two weeks before he died; he was very happy to see the three of us and believed that he would soon be well." Hmm.. In Chaplin's version he, Hearst and Davies seem to be the best of friends.
The ensemble acting is quite good. Dunst captures a gaiety that defines the era, though she doesn't share much chemistry with Hermann, who plays Hearst as a completely whipped, belligerent baby with a gun. Dunst and Izzard play a wonderfully flirtatious cat-and-mouse game and Izzard is especially fun to watch as a cocky womanizer. And as the doomed Ince, Cary Elwes brings his usual sophistication that audiences should see more often. Jennifer Tilly is hilarious as the girl who's not totally welcome at the party but insists on joining in all the same.
Bogdanovich's film cruises down the muddied waters of a raunchy era whose excesses still resonate today.
Sources: Chaplin, Charles. My Autobiography. New York: 1964.
Anji Milanovic
 Movie Reviews: from 1998 to 2011
Movie Reviews: from 2012 to present
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