From the play by award-winning writer Steven Peros and acclaimed director Peter Bogdanovich ("Last Picture Show, The (1971)," "Mask," "Paper Moon (1973)") comes The Cat's Meow (2002), an extraordinary look at a fateful excursion of "fun and frolic" aboard William Randolph Hearst’s private yacht in November of 1924 that brought some of the century’s best known personalities of the day and resulted in a still-unsolved, hushed-up killing. As Hearst, ( Edward Herrmann, "Nixon (1995)
," "The Paper Chase") and his lover actress Marion Davies (Kirsten Dunst, "Bring It On (2000)," "Virgin Suicides, The (1999)," "crazy / beautiful (2001)") set sail from San Pedro Harbor early one Saturday morning, hosting a small group that includes the brilliant but self absorbed Charlie Chaplin, (Eddie Izzard, "Shadow of the Vampire (2000)," "Velvet Goldmine (1998)", "Mystery Men (1999)") film pioneer Thomas Ince, (Cary Elwes, "Kiss The Girls (1997)", "Twister (1996)") preoccupied with his recent financial setbacks, ambitious gossip columnist Louella Parsons, (Jennifer Tilly, "Bullets Over Broadway (1994)," "Bound (1996)") and the eccentric bristish Victorian novelist Elinor Glyn, (Joanna Lumley) it becomes clear that although witty repartee and double entendre are the order of the day, deceit and deception are also on the menu.
