THE CAT'S MEOW (2002)

Highly speculative silent-era Hollywood tale on the probable/never-solved murder of troubled producer Thomas Ince during a glamorous sex & alcohol fueled cruise on William Randolph Hearst’s luxury yacht in 1924.  With a passel of Hollywood celebs and hangers-on invited (Charlie Chaplin, Marion Davies, racy novelist Elinor Glyn, movie columnist Louella Parsons) and Hearst consumed by the wandering affections of mistress Davies, it’s a boat party fated to hit the shoals.  An excellent cast (Kirsten Dunst a stutter-free Davies; Cary Elwes as the once powerful Ince; Eddie Izzard a bit thick-waisted for Chaplin, but he wins you over; Edward Herrmann’s superbly multidimensional Hearst), convincing 1924 detail (excepting a few out-of-period recordings); rich lensing from Bruno Delbonnel in his first Stateside gig; and remarkably unfussy work from director Peter Bogdanovich, held down to good effect by the ship’s tight quarters.  Judging by the credits, Bogdanovich was more hired hand than initiator on this one, which may explain why the film takes a while to find it’s footing.  Scripter Steven Peros an obvious hack, referencing out-of-school tales as if he did his research thru old fan magazines like Modern Screen & PhotoPlay, then adding on limp witticisms & comebacks.  A factious tone largely dropped as the film goes along.  Did Bogdanovich rewrite the second half?  Really pulling itself together when tragedy strikes in the last act, starkly revealing the film that might have been.  Pretty good though, even as it stands.

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: Good companion piece to MANK/’20, also featuring a stutter-free Davies.  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2021/01/mank-2020.html

READ ALL ABOUT IT: Silent Hollywood’s most intriguing unsolved murder involved actress Mary Miles Minter and director/mentor William Desmond Taylor.  The infamous 1922 mystery investigated decades later by director King Vidor with late-in-life girlfriend silent film star Colleen Moore during their retirement.  Vidor’s biographer Sidney Kirkpatrick put it between covers as A CAST OF KILLERS; Paul Newman almost made it at Paramount, Minter & Taylor’s old studio.