The Cat's Meow (2001)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Peter Bogdanovich

Writers (WGA):

Steven Peros (screenplay)
Steven Peros (play)

Release Date:

19 September 2002 (Australia)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

"The Whisper Told Most Often..."

Plot:

Semi-true story of the Hollywood murder that occurred at a star-studded gathering aboard William Randolph Hearst's yacht in 1924.

Plot Keywords:

William Randolph Hearst | Hollywood | Yacht | Gossip Columnist | Gossip

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Kirsten Dunst	...	Marion Davies
Edward Herrmann	...	W.R. Hearst
Eddie Izzard	...	Charlie Chaplin
Cary Elwes	...	Thomas Ince
Joanna Lumley	...	Elinor Glyn
Jennifer Tilly	...	Louella Parsons
Claudia Harrison	...	Margaret Livingston
Victor Slezak	...	George Thomas
James Laurenson	...	Dr. Daniel Goodman
Ronan Vibert	...	Joseph Willicombe
Chiara Schoras	...	Celia
Claudie Blakley	...	Didi
Ingrid Lacey	...	Jessica Barham
John C. Vennema	...	Frank Barham
Steven Peros	...	Elinor's Driver

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexuality, a scene of violence and brief drug use.

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA | Germany | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Finland:K-11 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Singapore:NC-16 | UK:12A | USA:PG-13 | Canada:PG (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Kyparisi, Greece

Company:

Lions Gate Films

Trivia:

Despite the fact that the real Charles Chaplin had bright blue eyes, Eddie Izzard wore dark contact lenses to keep with the public image of Chaplin as dark featured.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When he looks up Ince's address, Hearst's address book shows two-letter state abbreviations (CA). These did not come into use until some fifty years later. Further, the address book displays at least one ZIP code, introduced in 1963.

Quotes:

Charlie: If you were starving and you had no food, would you eat your shoe?
Marion: What?
Charlie: Your shoe. Would you eat it?
Marion: Um, of course I would.
Charlie: You would?
Marion: I'd have to boil it first.
Charlie: *That's* funny.

Movie Connections:

References Yolanda (1924)

Soundtrack:

Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me

An interesting semi-fictional tale of Hollywood folklore

The Cat's Meow is a semi-true story of a murder that occurred on William Randolph Hearst's yacht one evening in 1924. While much of the screenplay is presumably speculation, it is interesting to see the effects the murder on some of his other guests, like Marion Davies, Hearst's mistress, Charlie Chaplin and Luella Parsons, among others.

This film couldn't fail for me – its subject matter involves William Randolph Hearst, a foe of my main obsession Orson Welles, and it contained one of my favorite entertainers in the cast, Eddie Izzard as Charlie Chaplin. However, while watching the film I had to consider whether the movie was a well-written drama or simply too slow in its development, making the climax more of a let-down than anything. If the film wasn't book-ended by compelling writing that made you both look deeply into the subject matter from the beginning, then reflect on the past events at the conclusion, I would have said the latter was true. And while Eddie Izzard was fantastic as Chaplin, and Kirsten Dunst wasn't her usual irritating self as Davies, it was Joanna Lumley who I thought was the breakout star of the film. Her role was small, but integral to the progression of the film – acting as narrator, analyst and the film's conscience.

While not a fast paced, action filled film, The Cat's Meow is pleasant to experience based on its dramatic merits. Bogdanovich is more of an actor as of late than a director, but this film's character-driven dramatic elements harkens back to his best known classic, The Last Picture Show. If you are a fan of film history as I am, you will find this film interesting and thought-provoking.

--Shelly