| Release: 04/12/02-(PG-13)-(1:52)-[LION'S GATE FILMS]- KIRSTEN DUNST, EDWARD HERRMANN, EDDIE IZZARD, CARY ELWES, JOANNA LUMLEY, JENNIFER TILLY: To me there is always something to like about a film that takes a look at a mystery based on a true event. In "The Cat's Meow" there is a murder at crux of the story that actually happened... although there is no way of knowing at this point what REALLY happened that night on the yacht of William Randolph Hearst except to say that Thomas Ince was shot and died only two days afterwards. According to other sources, however, it is said that Ince didn't die from a gunshot wound, but from indigestion and ulcers...thus making the story more a Hollywood fable than anything else. Another way of looking at this film would be to call it an American Gosford Park. The film is set in a similar time period, and deals with the rich and upper crust, in this case of the Americas... and more specifically Hollywood. It is late 1924 and the super-rich Hearst (Hermann) is hosting a weekend party on his rather large yacht for the birthday of millionaire director Thomas Ince (Elwes). Guests included the director, a partner, and his mistress, Charlie Chaplin (Izzard), Marion Davies (Dunst), Novelist Elinor Glyn (Lumley), and a few other assorted and colorful characters. The party, magnificently set in those roaring 20's is a mixture of the fun of the day, the desperation of those on board and the anger and jealousy of the host who is convinced that his mistress, Davies, is carrying on with Chaplin. Between glasses of champagne (only one allowed during prohibition), and Charleston’s (the dance is announced and everyone is to jump up and go for it) there is a dark brooding turmoil brewing. Chaplin, who chases the beautiful young movie star Davies with aplomb, is not at all affected by the fact that there is an increasingly jealous host not trying very hard to make his riches and power clear. It is on the evening of Ince's birthday celebration that Ince himself supposedly brought the affair between Chaplin and Davies to the attention of Hearst. A short time later Hearst angrily tore through the rooms of Chaplin and Davies and then retrieved his gun to find the couple. At this point, however, it would seem that Ince himself had decided to take some of the situation into his own hands by talking to Davies about Hearst. Ince, you see, was angling to talk Hearst into a partnership with a new film studio that would assist in the revival of his own sinking career. As rumor has it, and the movie portrays Ince had taken Chaplin's hat and was mistaken by the enraged Hearst for Chaplin. As a result he was shot in the head. Louella Parsons, played here accurately by Jennifer Tilly, was there to witness the event and thus, according to rumor, secured herself a lifetime contract with Hearst papers. Whether or not these events are the truth or part of the pretty myth is actually irrelevant. Bogdonovich has a firm grasp on a period and the characterizations and portrayals of the people that make it what it is supposed to be. It is a clever script and a worthwhile story to be told. I was most impressed with Dunst as Davies... a young beauty that fit the mold of the rising star of the time. Izzard, too, was well cast and played the character to the hilt. "The Cat's Meow" is an enjoyable escape to a time far past. (B)
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