Scandale à Hollywood

I have little interest in the affair between William Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies. However, I do enjoy Robert Mitchum films and decided to watch this, even if I didn't care about this power couple....as it's hard to really care about them for so many reasons...such as Hearst's ruthlessness, adultery, alcoholism and more.

Despite the couple not being folks I'd care to spend time with, the film is entertaining and interesting...and also very much a broad overview of their lives together. In fact, this is my biggest complaint....as the pair were together for decades but the film never gives you any sense of this and misses much of their lives together. It really should have been a miniseries, not a 94 minute film. It's like watching a movie about Germany or the 19th century....there's just too much material and what you get is a bit sketchy. Also, no attempt was made to make Hearst (Robert Mitchum) or Davies (Virginia Madsen) look like they aged at all during the film...whereas in real life, both naturally aged. Hearst got greyer and Davies put on some pounds. In this sense, the film was disappointing as some makeup and prosthetics seemed oddly absent.

Overall, a mildly interesting overview of their lives together...but not deep enough or well made enough to make it anything other than a time-passer. The actors tried their best but the film needed more.

The Hearst Castle has only been used once for a movie set. They used the outdoor Neptune pool for a scene in Spartacus. This movie does show exteriors of the Hearst Castle but any interiors must have been filmed somewhere else. Either England or Canada. Did I say Virginia Madsen was young? Well Robert Mitchum is old! But somehow they are both convincing as lovers. Shows what good acting is all about. The supporting cast could have used a little more star power. Who was that guy playing Charlie Chaplin? Marian Davies had a terrific career in movies both before & after the introduction of sound & I don't think that comes across.

This is a TV movie with good production values. It was filmed in the actual Hearst Castle. Madsen and Mitchum give good performances. Over all enjoyable. It is still available on some on-line video retailers.

If you don't know anything about newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst or silent film actress Marion Davies, you probably won't come across this tv biopic while you're trying to decide what to watch this evening. You wouldn't know what to look for! But if you did know what to look for, look no further than this lovely, adorable, sweet yet dramatic, well-acted love story starring Robert Mitchum and Virginia Madsen.

If you've been reading my reviews, you know how I feel about virile, studly actors being put out to pasture when they get old, and thankfully, Robert Mitchum's career didn't take that turn for a very long time. At sixty-eight years old-which, back then, was the equivalent to seventy-eight nowadays-he starred in two romantic films! In Reunion at Fairborough, he actually had a bedroom scene with Deborah Kerr, and in The Hearst and Davies Affair, he had beautifully tender scenes with twenty-four-year-old Virginia Madsen! A perfect choice to be cast as the powerful, magnetic mogul with a dashingly romantic side, it's easy to see why Virginia's character can't resist him, even though he's married.

Virginia looks beautiful in her wigs and 1920s dresses, designed by Dianne Cohoon. Fans of the golden age will love the sets and throwbacks to silent films, including Lorne Kennedy playing Charlie Chaplin. If you've already seen The Cat's Meow, rent this one for the bigger slice of the story. Plus, you'll get to see Robert Mitchum acting exactly the same as he did thirty years earlier: singing, dancing and romancing!

Where May I watch this film? It seems interesting. Robert Mitchum is one of the best.