If last Thursday marked a movie milestone, it’s interesting that “Mank” began streaming on Netflix the very next day. A beautifully shot homage to old Hollywood, it stars Gary Oldman as the alcoholic screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz, engaged in the creation of the 1941 masterpiece “Citizen Kane.” Or at least its first draft.
While many have marveled at the audacity of the young Orson Welles (Tom Burke) to take on press baron William Randolph Hearst (Charles Dance), it was Mankiewicz who was really biting the hand that fed him.
He’s seen in flashbacks as a frequent dinner guest at Hearst’s San Simeon mansion and a friend and confidant to Hearst’s lover, Marion Davies (Amanda Seyfried).
Employing the meandering chronology of “Kane,” the film recalls Depression-era fights between studios and screenwriters, and the film moguls’ creation of fake news and newsreels to cripple the candidacy of Upton Sinclair, a progressive candidate for governor of California. It doesn’t take much to see that “Mank” wants to paint MGM maestros Louis B. Mayer (Arliss Howard) and Irving Thalberg (Ferdinand Kingsley) as the inventors of the kind of emotionally manipulative smear jobs perfected by Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News.
While the film shows a bedridden Mankiewicz finishing his massive script in a sprint, it’s clear that “Kane” would reflect bilious sentiments harvested over the course of what W.H. Auden dubbed “a low dishonest decade.”
“Mank” is a very smart film, gorgeously produced. Even so, it’s easier to admire than love. Only time will tell if viewers will want to watch it more than once.
And while “Mank” is a prestige project for Netflix, it’s also a rather odd fit. Given its vast streaming catalog, Netflix has made a conspicuous choice to avoid films much older than “Footloose.” It makes sense given the service’s assiduous courtship of viewers raised in the 1980s. Do those viewers even like films released in black and white?
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— “One Night Only: The Best of Broadway” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-PG) offers viewers a chance to see productions that can’t be staged.
— The Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots meet in NFL action (8 p.m., Fox).
— A domestic situation on “Station 19” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-14).
— Hugh Bonneville narrates “Silent Night: A Song for the World” (8 p.m., CW, r, TV-PG).
— COVID cases rattle Bailey on “Grey’s Anatomy” (9 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
— A bold gamble for peace on “Star Trek: Discovery” (10 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
— “Time Person of the Year” (10 p.m., NBC) continues a tradition dating back to Charles Lindbergh’s selection for 1927.
— Katherine connects the dots on “A Million Little Things” (10 p.m., ABC, TV-14).
CULT CHOICE
— A child schemes to reunite her divorcing parents (Eleanor Parker and Errol Flynn) in the 1946 romantic comedy “Never Say Goodbye” (8 p.m., TCM, TV-PG). Made decades before either version of “The Parent Trap.”
SERIES NOTES
Intemperate remarks on “Young Sheldon” (8 p.m., CBS, r, TV-PG) … Second thoughts on “B Positive” (8:30 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14) … On two helpings of “Mom” (CBS, r, TV-14): jealousy (9 p.m.); concern (9:30 p.m.).
LATE NIGHT
Joe Manganiello is booked on “Conan” (11 p.m., TBS) … James Corden and Fleet Foxes appear on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (11:35 p.m., CBS) … Jimmy Fallon welcomes Bruce Springsteen, J. Balvin and Mandy Moore on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) … Emily Blunt, Kyle Chandler and Sturgill Simpson appear on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (11:35 p.m., ABC).
Blake Shelton, Jenny Slate, My Morning Jacket and Kaz Rodriguez visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC) … Andrew Rannells appears on “The Late Late Show With James Corden” (12:35 a.m., CBS).
