When Pauline Kael did her celebrated combination of original research and character assassination, entitled "Raising Kane", she mentioned that in the course of the final version of CITIZEN KANE that we have Orson Welles pruned out some events put into the script by Herman Mankiewicz. Mankiewicz, for example, wanted to make the eventual collapse of the first Kane marriage to Emily Norton Monroe to be caused by Kane's accidental encouragement of the assassination of Emily's uncle, the President of the United States. This was based on an incident that Hearst's enemies seized on involving Ambrose Bierce (a Hearst columnist in 1900-1901) writing a quatrain about the killing (in 1900) of Governor-elect William Goebel of Kentucky, that suggested that the missing assassination bullet was headed for Washington "to stretch McKinley on his bier." When Leon Czolgosz shot and killed the President in September 1901 Hearst's foes recalled the lines and said Hearst encouraged political murder. The original script for Kane had Emily accusing Charles for her uncle's death, and never forgiving him.

That was cut, with Emily's growing dislike for Charles based, instead on his ego, his concentration on his newspaper empire and political ambitions, and his neglect of her (and probably their son). The business with Susan Alexander is the final straw.

It was not the only cut of a sensational nature. In the final film Susan tells the reporter that he should speak to Raymond the butler because "(h)e knows where all the bodies are." In the original script Raymond was (with Susan) a witness to Kane actually killing a man, but covering it up. This is why Raymond remains so important to Kane in his later years. It also helps explain Susan's growing dislike for her husband.

It too was cut. Welles was wise here - everyone in Hollywood would have known what that was about, and any denials about Kane not being based on Hearst would have been dismissed because the dead man would have been too much of a coincidence to ignore.

In 1941 it was generally suspected throughout Hollywood (and in much of the U.S.) that William Randolph Hearst was in some way responsible for the death (in 1924) of movie director/producer/pioneer Thomas Ince. Ince had been one of a set of guests invited on Hearst's luxury yacht, the "Onieda" for a cruise. Others on the cruise included novelist Elinior Glyn, Hearst's mistress Marion Davies, the great Charlie Chaplin, Tom Ince, and a newcomer to the Hearst empire, gossip writer Louella Parsons. At some point on the trip (which was supposed to be a two week cruise) Ince was rushed ashore in serious condition and taken to a hospital. He died two days later. The cause was varied according to the bulletins, usually being either a heart attack or a stomach ailment. However, rumors soon emerged that an incident happened on board the Oneida that led to the shooting of Ince, probably at the hands of Hearst.

The story has never completely died, and even today there is a small body of evidence that Ince did not die a natural death. The basic scenario was that Ince was on deck when Hearst was chasing Chaplin (who had been fooling around with Davies) and in shooting at Chaplin Hearst accidentally wounded Ince. Hearst was powerful enough to clamp down on the tragedy, but at the same time there was a cost: Louella Parsons was just a new employee at the time. Now, she blackmailed her boss into making her a national columnist and a real power in Hollywood.

Peter Bogdanovitch (who directed THE CAT'S MEOW) was a close friend of Orson Welles. One can't quite get it out of one's head that this film, a twisted "prequill" to KANE, was meant as Bogdanovitch's homage to the classic film and his attempt to smear Hearst, who after 1941 did everything he could to hurt Welles.

The period detail is very good, and Edward Herrmann makes a dandy Hearst (sort of a return to the mad playboy husband of Goldie Hawn in OVERBOARD, which also takes place on a yacht). Certainly he is supremely confident as the millionaire, but he is also smart. A running story line is that Tom Ince (Cary Elwys) is trying to get Hearst's backing for a rejuvenation of Ince's film career (supposedly on the verge of collapse in 1924) but that Hearst is not stupid enough to waste his money that way. However, Herrmann does also demonstrate that he is more than a little possessive about Ms Davies (Kirsten Dunst),and that he is worried about that little cockney Chaplin (Eddie Izzard) going after his woman. Certainly Chaplin's reputation with the ladies was enough to give any man pause. Jennifer Tilly (Louella Parsons) certainly is keeping her eyes open (she is, after all, a gossip writer),and it pays dividends at the end. As for Joanne Lumley as Elinor Glyn, she gives the film a kind of narrative and framework (Glyn, by the way, if you can't recall her was the woman who termed the euphemism for sex appeal as "it", and was to make a screenplay called "It" that starred Clara Bow, who became the "It girl" - otherwise she has become pretty forgotten).

The film is worth watching - not perhaps another PAPER MOON or LAST PICTURE SHOW, but better than AT LONG LAST LOVE. Do I think Hearst killed Ince? If he did it was a sheer accident, because who would kill a well known figure under such circumstances as part of a comprehensive murder plan!

No one will ever know what really happened aboard William Randolph Hearst's yacht on that fateful weekend in 1924. Director Peter Bogdanovich recreates it based on rumors in "The Cat's Meow," a 2001 film starring Kirsten Dunst, Edward Herrmann, Cary Elwes, Eddie Izzard, Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Tilly. The weekend in question is a celebration of producer Thomas Ince's birthday aboard Hearst's yacht with a guest roster that included Hearst, Marion Davies, Ince, his mistress, Margaret Livingston, Louella Parsons, writer Elinor Glyn, Charlie Chaplin and others. Thomas Ince was removed from the yacht, supposedly ill, and died in his home several days later, supposedly of heart failure. Rumor has it that Hearst, suspecting an affair between Davies and Charlie Chaplin, shot Ince by accident, either mistaking him for Chaplin or because Ince happened to be on the dock at the same time and got in the line of fire. Morning newspapers (not Hearst papers) claimed that Ince had been shot; the evening papers did not carry that story, nor did the Hearst papers. No one who was on board the yacht ever spoke of the incident except in the most ambiguous of ways. Louella Parsons' column became syndicated in over 600 papers, and she worked for Hearst until she retired; Ince's mistress Livingston received a whopping increase in salary. She finally retired to manage her husband Paul Whiteman's band.

That's the story Bogdanovich goes with, and it makes for a meandering but intriguing story. The "meandering" part is not so much a fault of the film but done on purpose - it's a weekend yacht party, after all, and Bogdanovich shows us the parties, the conversations and the intrigues of various guests. He captures the atmosphere of the '20s and the splendor of Hearst's yacht very well.

It's hard to say how accurate the actors were with their characterizations; for my part, I don't know what Charlie Chaplin, Hearst, Glyn or Parsons were really like. From seeing Marion Davies in films and in photographs, Dunst seems too young, though her acting is good. Herrmann I suspect captures Hearst beautifully - powerful, a good host, a sometimes brutal man and very much in love with Marion. (When he saw Citizen Kane, believing that Susan Alexander was based on Marion, he was most upset at the portrayal of Susan as a drunk.) Tilly plays Parsons as if she was an airhead - I believe externally in real life, Parsons did come off as a silly, ineffectual woman, all the better to gain your confidence; in fact, she was an ambitious person who wielded a lot of power. Tilly captures this; in her last scene, Parsons gets down to business and drops a lot of her act. Lumley's Elinor Glyn is elegant, intelligent and more of an observer (she narrates the film) - I suspect that is true as well. Cary Elwes doesn't register much as Ince, who is portrayed as a desperate man trying to get his career back on track with Hearst's help.

Eddie Izzard's Chaplin is problematic. Physically he seems all wrong - Chaplin was quite good-looking and much slighter than Izzard; Izzard hints at a British accent but doesn't really come off as very British or very graceful, which Chaplin definitely was. The writing of this character may be incorrect as well, as it's doubtful that Chaplin would have actually wanted Marion to leave Hearst.

All in all, though it's not an edge of your seat kind of film, "The Cat's Meow" is a good film about a fascinating piece of Hollwyood lore. It seems likely that Ince did not die of indigestion, heart failure, or suicide, but that something did happen and the guests were sworn to silence; it's also more than likely that the police and DA cooperated in covering it up. There is an interesting sidebar to this story - Davies' secretary Abigail Kinsolving, was considered a suspect in Ince's death (strange, since he supposedly died of heart failure). She claimed to have been raped by Ince, and it was noted by guests on the yacht that she had bruises on her body. She had a baby some months later and died in a car accident near San Simeon. Two suspicious things there: she was found by Hearst bodyguards, and there was a suicide note that wasn't in her handwriting. Her orphaned daughter was supported by Marion Davies. Did Kinsolving know too much? Whether she did or not, the rest of us know too little.

It's November 1924. Media mogul William Randolph Hearst (Edward Herrmann) is throwing a birthday cruise for movie mogul Thomas H. Ince (Cary Elwes) on his yacht Oneida. Hearst brings his mistress starlet Marion Davies (Kirsten Dunst),Charlie Chaplin (Eddie Izzard),writer Elinor Glyn (Joanna Lumley),film critic Louella Parsons (Jennifer Tilly),and actress Margaret Livingston (Claudia Harrison) who is having an affair with Ince.

This is a fictionalization of an infamous Hollywood story. Ince officially died of heart failure. There is nothing impossible about this version although truth is not the issue. Some of these characters have lost their power and notoriety over the years. There is a reason why Citizen Kane is legendary beyond its great movie-making. Nobody knows the power of Hearst today. Izzard doesn't feel like Chaplin. Quite frankly, I don't know most of these real-life characters and the random partying doesn't like me get to know them. When the death occurs, I don't have a feel for the story other than Hearst's jealousy.