Blame Orson Welles For whatever reason, Welles never let go of his vendetta against William Randolph Hearst. As if CITIZEN KANE was not enough, he continued to spew lies and rumors about Hearst for the rest of his life, probably because Hearst fought back against Welles' movie.
THE CAT'S MEOW is based on a rumor Welles purred into the ear of Peter Bogdanovich. Welles said that Kane was better than Hearst because Kane was not a murderer. He then claimed that Hearst had murdered Thomas Ince in 1924, blah blah blah.
Welles merely repeated the unfounded rumor that had been floating around for decades, spiced with a few lies, about the ill-fated yachting trip in November of 1924.
Yes the yachting trip included Hearst and Ince along with Marion Davies, Charlie Chaplin, Elinor Glyn, Louella Parsons and others. Welles had it that Hearst shot Ince, thinking he was Chaplin, in a jealous rage. More likely, Ince suffered a stomach ailment (he had ulcers) and became ill and died several days later.
Welles' story, elaborated by Bogdanovich, then claims that Parsons witnessed the story and blackmailed Hearst into a lifetime job. Hearst then supposedly had the power to demand the silence of everyone else onboard. Hmmmm, what could be wrong with this scenario?
So many holes in this plot. If Hearst was so jealous of Chaplin, why have him on the yachting trip? If Hearst was so jealous of Chaplin, why was Chaplin a frequent guest at San Simeon and Marion's famed Ocean House for the next decade?
The film would have you believe Chaplin wanted Davies for a supporting role in THE GOLD RUSH. Davies was a major star and NEVER got anything less than first billing. Davies would never have taken the saloon girl role under Chaplin. Davies had been the #1 female box office star of 1923. And Chaplin never appeared with a female star of equal stature.
The film casts Hearst as a maniac, totally out of control. There's no evidence that supports this. Hearst was so powerful via his media empire, he didn't have to pitch fits.
The film places Margaret Livingston onboard. Livingston, best remembered as the City Woman in SUNRISE, always denied she was there. Davies stated in her memoir she had never met Livingston. More likely, Davies' sisters and friends like Aileen Pringle, Eileen Percy, and Seena Owen were there. Hearst and Davies famously traveled with Davies' showbiz friends like Dorothy Mackaill and William Collier, Jr.
At the time of this trip, Hearst was not a big power in Hollywood since he and Davies had only moved to Hollywood that year. They didn't join MGM until 1925. While Hearst had his media power on the West Coast, it didn't extend to the movie colony.
Welles published an "apology" to Davies in the foreword to her memoir THE TIMES WE HAD, which was published more than a decade after her death, in which he claims he had never meant to demean her talent in KANE by his portrayal of her as the no-talent Susan Alexander character (but apparently he never said anything while she was alive). And Bogdanovich does Davies no favors in THE CAT'S MEOW.
In the movie she IS having an affair with Chaplin and admits she's just a gold digger and doesn't really love Hearst. In the clip of the movie they watch (it's supposed to be YOLANDA), Davies is depicted as a bad actress who clowns around constantly while filming. She's portrayed as the typical blonde bimbo. In real life, Davies was a hard-working actress and was a savvy film producer and businesswoman.
Don't even get me started on the atrocious Eddie Izzard as Chaplin.
Bottom line: what damage Welles inflicted on the careers and reputations of William Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies, Bogdanovich repeated and cemented with this film of lies.