The Cat's Meow [WS]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Peter Bogdanovich turns his sights on the 1920s for a fictitious look at the possible reasons for the death of silent movie producer Thomas Ince (played here by Cary Elwes) after spending a holiday with media tycoon William Randolph Hearst (played by Edward Herrmann). The film begins and ends on Ince's funeral, attended by best-selling novelist Elinor Glyn (Joanna Lumley), who was present when the young producer finally died and who leads the audience through the unsure details of what may have occurred to cause the tragedy. Then, through flashback, we see Elinor arriving on the dock to Hearst's party, which is attended by a number of Hollywood players. Among those in attendance are Ince, his business manager (Victor Slezak), and his irritating mistress (Claudia Harrison. Charlie Chaplin (played by British comic Eddie Izzard) is recovering from a box-office bomb and fearing his 16-year-old mistress is pregnant, not to mention that he is seeing Hearst's lady on the side, the vampish actress Marion Davies (played here by Kirsten Dunst). Also seen are Louella Parsons (Jennifer Tilly), a clumsy movie critic who works for Hearst, and Joseph (Ronan Vibert), Hearst's private secretary. The film was funded in Europe and also includes in its large cast James Laurenson, Chiara Schoras, and Claudie Blakley. ~ Jason Clark, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
• Features:
  • cc
  • Director commentary
  • Behind-the-scenes footage
  • Restored 1916 Chaplin short "Behind the Screen"
  • "Seein' Stars" newsreel from 1919
  • "Anatomy of a Scene" courtesy of Sundance Channel
  • 16X9 widescreen
  • English and Spanish subtitles
  • 5.1 Dolby Digital

AWARDS

• Telluride Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 2001

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Kirsten Dunst - Marion Davies
       Eddie Izzard - Charlie Chaplin
       Edward Herrmann - William Randolph Hearst
       Cary Elwes - Thomas Ince
       Joanna Lumley - Elinor Glyn
       Jennifer Tilly - Louella Parsons
       James Laurenson
       Ronan Vibert - Joseph
       Chiara Schoras
       Claudie Blakley

• Director:

  Peter Bogdanovich

• Producer:

  Julie Baines, Carol Lewis, Dieter Meyer, Kim Bieber

• Screenwriter:

  Steven Peros

• Play Author:

  Steven Peros

• Cinematographer:

  Bruno Delbonnel

• Featured Music:

  Ian Whitcomb

• Editor:

  Edward Norris

• Production Designer:

  Jean-Vincent Puzos

• Co-producer:

  Ernie Barbarash

• Executive Producer:

  Michael Paseornek, Wieland Schulz-Keil

• Costume Designer:

  Caroline de Vivaise

• Casting:

  Sarah Beardsall

REVIEW:

• The Cat's Meow is that increasingly rare American film, a classically composed movie narrative that uses an intriguing "what if" scenario to delve into complex matters of character and the heart. Captivated by the Hollywood Babylon legend regarding Thomas Ince's untimely demise ever since friend/idol/mentor Orson Welles mentioned it to him, film history buff Peter Bogdanovich frames the action aboard the Hearst yacht in assured, unobtrusive long takes that let moods of bright public hysteria and private conflicted anguish tellingly coexist. Though the idea of Hollywood venality is nothing new, Bogdanovich's sensitivity for the Hearst-Davies relationship and the consequences of hubris, unsurprisingly, enable Edward Herrmann's W.R. and Kirsten Dunst's incandescent Marion to be complicated, sympathetic figures rather than period caricatures. Eddie Izzard's lascivious Chaplin, Cary Elwes' scheming Ince, and Joanna Lumley's humorously tart Elinor Glyn also inject the tale with broad, energetic life. Jennifer Tilly's grating Louella Parsons is not so fortunate. Though The Cat's Meow is a well-crafted amusement, whether anyone outside of devout cineastes will care enough about a collection of deceased jazz age icons to return Bogdanovich to Hollywood's good graces after nearly a decade remains questionable. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi