"The Cat's Meow"
On one November weekend in 1924, 14 guests were invited to take a cruise on the luxurious yacht of pioneer media magnate William Randolph Hearst (Edward Herrman). Debauchery, illicit drug and alcohol and a love triangle are all overshadowed when one of the pampered guests is shot in a crime of passion in Peter Bogdanovich's "The Cat's Meow."
While I have a problem with the plodding, by-the-numbers direction by Bogdanovich and the caricatures, rather than characters, created by the script spawned by a play, which, in turn, was adapted from the original script by Steven Peros, I have high praise for one cast member, in particular, in "The Cat's Meow." Kirsten Dunst is absolutely captivating as Hearst's loyal mistress, actress Marion Davies. The 19-year old actress is called upon to play a character nearly a decade older and she not only pulls it off, she shows an acting maturity and presence that overshadows the rest of the cast. Dunst is developing into one fine actor and is eminently likable as Davies.
The rest of the cast, led by Herrman and Cary Elwes as film pioneer Thomas Ince, all give solid, if two-dimensional, performances. Herrman is full of bluster and insecurity as mogul Hearst. He obviously adores his lover, Davies, but is in a state of turmoil over her past (and present) association with film icon Charlie Chaplin (Eddie Izzard). The veteran thespian combines self-confidence and uncertainty, along with jealousy and a violent streak, that make the character an unlikable cuss. Elwes plays Ince as an ingratiating toady who sucks up to Hearst without shame in an effort to get the mogul to back the filmmaker's movies.
Joanna Lumley, as transplanted English novelist Elinor Gyln and the film's narrator, is witty and urbane as she disdains Hollywood society while embracing it wholeheartedly. Comedian Eddie Izzard comes across well (although his character reminded me more of Orson Wells than the Little Tramp) as the womanizing Chaplin who can't keep his hands off of his host's mistress. Jennifer Tilly plays columnist Louella Parsons at the very dawn of her long career as Hollywood's number one gossip. The character comes across, initially, as a dim bulb that sucks up to her boss, Hearst, but gets to put a conniving spin on Louella's character by the film's end.
I have no squawk about the technical side of things in "The Cat's Meow." Photography, by Bruno Delbonnel ("Betty Blue"), is lush with golden tones that match the opulence of the setting - Hearst's 220-foot yacht. Production designer Jean-Vincent Puzos creates a world, almost totally aboard ship, that captures the decadent lifestyle that only money can buy. Costume designer Caroline de Vivaise must have had a ball creating the wardrobes of the rich and famous during the roaring 20's, especially with the gorgeous rags worn by Dunst.
I wouldn't call "The Cat's Meow" the comeback film for Peter Bogdanovich, but it is quality filmmaking that carves out a spin on the events that led to the death of one of Hollywood's pioneers. The real draw, though, is the performance by Dunst that is, alone, worth the price of admission. I give it a B-.
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