The Cat’s Meow
Picture: B+ Sound: B Extras:
B Film: A-
Directors like Peter
Bogdanovich make few films, but when they do the film counts big time! As was
the case with The Cat’s Meow, a version of the story on how William Randolph
Hearst apparently tried to kill Charlie Chaplin aboard his yacht in November of
1924. This film is indeed a rendition of what might have happened and after
watching makes a good argument for the likeliness of the story as well.
Making some wise choices
for this film was the casting choices of Kirsten Dunst as Marion Davies
(Hearst’s lover), Eddie Izzard as Charlie Chaplin, and Edward Herrmann as
Hearts. Some other talent includes Jennifer Tilly, Cary Elwes, and Joanna
Lumley all of which makes this entire film fun to watch. Aboard the yacht were
film pioneer Thomas Ince, novelist Elinor Glyn, and gossip columnist Louella
Parsons, which make the entire event more interesting considering the fact that
a murder took place on this yacht, yet even with a columnist and novelist
aboard, no one was ever prosecuted for the events. It is as if it never
happened! However, a film like this helps us piece together the pieces to a
still unsolved mystery.
This is exactly the type
of film that Bogdanovich needed to make to get him back on his feet, but
unfortunately the film went rather low profile receiving a limited release.
Bogdanovich has recently been out of the spotlight doing more critic-type of
stuff and TV work, which we certainly enjoy as well including his audio commentary
for the Citizen Kane DVD, one of the best DVD sets released to date from
Warner. Of course Bogdanovich was on a roll during the 70’s with his brilliant
Last Picture Show (1971), What’s Up Doc? (1972), and Daisy
Miller (1973).
It is fair to say that
this film has just about everything going for it including a great cast, a
competent director, and many other great production values that help tell this
already interesting story. Adding to that is the ‘look’ of the film, which was
created by cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel. Although only working on a few
projects, Delbonnel was responsible for the camera work on Amelie, which
might not have been the greatest film, it still was well received by audiences
all over. Both films possess an interesting look that might be attributed to
the German manufactured cameras for The Cat’s Meow. There is a certain
amount of sepia-like tone that pulls out certain colors like blues, greens, and
other primary colors and makes them look flat, but still vibrant.
The DVD is presented in a
luscious 1.85 X 1 anamorphic transfer, which looks very solid. Colors are
nicely rendered with only a slight softness occurring primarily in darker
scenes. Detail is sharp for the most part and whites are bright, but never
overly so. Audio is a noble Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, which captures the essence
of the film adequately, even for a dialogue and music heavy film. DTS would
have been a nice addition, but Lions Gate has yet to support a DTS audio option
for their catalog.
There are a handful of
extras for this DVD release making it worthy of being called a special
edition. This film begs for supplements based primarily on the fact that this
is Bogdanovich’s return to serious filmmaking so anything that he has to say
about this film is certainly nice to have. Not only that, but there are some
other nice gem extras about the making of and behind the scenes type of
features that we are used to on the DVD format. All this is available on
either the basic or Signature Series DVD version of the film.
Once again another film
proves that if a story is good enough, it can almost tell itself, of course
with the assistance of a competent cast, director, and production crew. The
Cat’s Meow scores on all levels, which puts some faith back into cinema in
general. The DVD serves the film all the justice than can be expected,
especially considering the sad fact that this film received such a small
release, despite the critical attention that it garnered.
- Nate Goss
