--- ---  # A Guide to Who's Who in David Fincher's Old Hollywood Drama _Mank_  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Dec 5, 2020 4:14 PM UTC  Amanda Seyfried as Marion Davies, an actor and mistress of media tycoon William Randolph Hearst Amanda Seyfried as Marion Davies, an actor and mistress of media tycoon William Randolph HearstNetflix  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Dec 5, 2020 4:14 PM UTC Perhaps the Golden Age of Hollywood wasn’t so golden after all. At least that seems to be the idea behind award-winning director [David Fincher’s](https://time.com/4966408/david-fincher-mindhunter/) new movie _Mank_, a black and white drama about [_Citizen Kane_](https://time.com/4298943/citizen-kane-original-review/) screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz which arrived on Netflix Dec. 4 with much awards fanfare. Told in a series of flashbacks from the three months in 1940 that Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman) spent at a secluded southern California ranch writing the first draft of what would become 1941’s _Citizen_ _Kane_, the historical drama charts the screenwriter’s fall from Hollywood grace over the course of the 1930s. It culminates in Mankiewicz’s legendary battle with Orson Welles (Tom Burke) over screenplay credit for _Citizen Kane—_a controversy that continues to inspire debate to this day. In _Mank_, Fincher ([_Gone Girl_](https://time.com/3472314/gone-girl-movie-book-feminist-misogynist/), [_The Social Network_](http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,2021322,00.html)) portrays Mankiewicz as a brilliant, witty and observant writer who could never quite overcome his own demons—alcoholism and a gambling addiction among them. In a recent interview with [_Vanity Fair_](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/12/netflix-mank-real-life), Mankiewicz’s grandson Ben Mankiewicz said that the film’s representation of Mank aligns with his perception of his grandfather. “It fully comports with my image of my grandfather, as relayed by mostly my father, but also my mother, the few years that she got to spend with him—that he was the smartest person in the room, the funniest person in the room…even when he had been drinking, which was often,” Mankiewicz said. “He was never mean. Ever. My father really admired him—even though, of course, he wished that he hadn’t self-destructed in the way that he did.” But while Mank is certainly the film’s central figure, it’s the Old Hollywood elites surrounding him—including actor Marion Davies (Amanda Seyfried), media mogul William Randolph Hearst (Charles Dance) and MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer (Arliss Howard), who ground the story in the larger context of the Golden Age, and in particular the messy influence of politics and media moguls on Hollywood picture-making. Below, read a who’s-who of the major characters in _Mank_. **_Read TIME’s review of_** **Mank** [**_here_**](https://time.com/5908264/mank-review-netflix/) ## Herman Mankiewicz  Herman Mankiewicz, MGM contract writer and the screenwriter for "Citizen Kane." Ca. 1940s. Corbis via Getty Images From his struggles with alcohol to his friendship with Marion Davies, the broad strokes of Mankiewicz’s life as depicted in _Mank_ are largely based in truth. Mankiewicz began his writing career as a journalist and sometimes playwright who served as the original theater critic for the _New Yorker_ and a member of the Algonquin Round Table. After arriving in Hollywood in 1926, he found success working for studios like Paramount and MGM on movies such as _Man of the World,_ _Dinner at Eight_ and, later, _The Wizard of Oz_. He also recruited a number of his fellow East Coast writers to join him in Tinseltown, including his brother Joseph (played in _Mank_ by Tom Pelphrey). By the early 1930s, the timeframe of the earliest events in _Mank_, Mankiewicz had earned a reputation as one of the great personalities in the biz and begun rubbing shoulders with Hollywood power players like Mayer and Hearst. However, he was also known for his self-destructive tendencies and social outbursts, and by the summer of 1939, found himself unemployed. At around the same time, he broke his leg in a car accident. As depicted in the film, it was at that low point in Mankiewicz’s career that 24-year-old Hollywood newcomer Welles hired him to work on _Citizen Kane._ While Fincher’s portrayal of Mankiewicz’s support for Socialist activist Upton Sinclair’s 1934 bid for California’s governorship is questionable (it’s believed that his politics leaned somewhat conservative), Mankiewicz did in fact help rescue German refugees ahead of World War II, as mentioned in the film—although he didn’t save an entire town. In the biography [_Mank: The Wit, World and Life of Herman Mankiewicz_](https://www.amazon.com/Mank-world-life-Herman-Mankiewicz/dp/0688033563), author Richard Meryman wrote, “Herman became the official sponsor for hundreds of German refugees and took responsibility for total strangers fleeing to America. \[Producer\] Sam Jaffe protested that he could not possibly fulfill these obligations. Herman continued to sign a stack of affidavits and said, ‘Yes, but the government doesn’t know that.’” ## Orson Welles  Orson Welles Bettmann Archive Welles only appears in a handful of scenes throughout _Mank_ _,_ but his shadow hangs over Mankiewicz’s struggle to finish the script that he’s been hired to write— tentatively titled _American_ _—_in a matter of months. Just as _MANK_ _‘s_ opening title card states, “In 1940, at the tender age of 24, Orson Welles was lured to Hollywood by a struggling RKO Pictures with a contract befitting his formidable storytelling talents. He was given absolute creative autonomy, would suffer no oversight, and could make any movie, about any subject, with any collaborator he wished.” After garnering nationwide fame from his 1938 radio broadcast of H. G. Wells’ classic science fiction novel _The War of the Worlds_, Welles was given carte blanche by RKO to make his first feature film. But, as _Mank_ suggests, he was a Hollywood outsider and disliked by many in the industry. Enter Hollywood insider Mank. Ultimately, Welles, _Citizen Kane_‘s director, star and co-writer, and Mankiewicz would share screenwriting credit for the film, but neither attended the 1942 Academy Awards, where they both won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. ## Marion Davies  Headshot of actress Marion Davies (1897-1961), for MGM Studios, April 23rd 1932. Getty Images We first meet Davies in _Mank_ when she’s screaming from atop a pyre constructed as part of a movie set on William Randolph Hearst’s—or as she calls him, Pops’—infamous San Simeon estate. “This is all Pops’ idea,” she tells Mank. “He wants me ready to take on the talkies.” In real life, the Brooklyn-born Davies was the longtime live-in mistress of Hearst and a Golden Age starlet who starred in a total of 46 films (including 16 talkies) over the course of her career. Davies was renowned for the lavish events she hosted for Hollywood’s elite as well as her generosity to charities. “The perception was that she was not that bright, a comedienne, a really very flighty young woman,” Amanda Seyfried, who plays Davies in _Mank_ _,_ told [CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mank-citizen-kane-screenwriter-herman-mankiewicz-david-fincher/). “She was actually so much smarter than people gave her credit for.” As depicted in Fincher’s film, Davies also had a close friendship with Mankiewicz. “What I knew from my dad was that my grandfather had a very close relationship with her,” Ben Mankiewicz told [_Vanity Fair_](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/12/netflix-mank-real-life)_. “_Hearst kept the house dry, but there was a secret bar, as it was described to me—and Marion and Herman would sneak away during Hearst’s screenings and have a drink and talk.” **_Read about Amanda Seyfried in TIME’s_** [**_Best Movie Performances of 2020_**](https://time.com/5915528/best-movie-performances-2020/) ## William Randolph Hearst  Publisher William Randolph Hearst Sr., relaxing after a game of croquet on the grounds of his 60,000 acre estate. The LIFE Picture Collection via—Time Life Pictures The inspiration for the titular Charles Foster Kane in _Citizen Kane_, Hearst was a powerful media magnate best known for developing America’s largest chain of newspapers in the late 19th century—including a number of publications that dealt in sensational yellow journalism. Despite running for office as a Democrat several times early in his career—winning two terms to the U.S. House of Representatives but losing bids for New York City mayor, New York governor and U.S. president—Hearst’s political leanings later shifted to the right. When the 1934 California gubernatorial race rolled around, Hearst threw all his support behind Republican incumbent Frank Merriam in order to defeat Democratic nominee Upton Sinclair (played in _Mank_ by Bill Nye—yes, the Science Guy). However, it’s unclear if this is the event that prompted Mankiewicz, who was once friends with Hearst, to turn on him, as _Mank_ suggests_._ The portrait that _Citizen Kane_ painted of Hearst and his Xanadu-like San Simeon castle was none too favorable, prompting Hearst to undertake a smear campaign against the film and Welles, its director. ## **Louis B. Mayer**  Louis B. Mayer, circa 1941 NY Daily News via Getty Images—1941/Daily News, L.P. (New York) As the head of MGM, Louis B. Mayer was an ultra-powerful figure in Hollywood at a time when the studio system reigned supreme. After co-founding MGM in 1924, Mayer propelled the studio to great success, earning it the nickname of the “Tiffany studio,” where there were “more stars than there are in the heavens.” Despite personally earning the highest paycheck in America, Mayer really did ask his employees to take a 50% pay cut during the Great Depression, as we see in the film. He then broke his promise to pay them all back once the banks reopened. As state chairman of the Republican party in California, he also called on his employees to make voluntary donations to Frank Merriam’s campaign and, alongside MGM executive Irving Thalberg (played in _Mank_ by Ferdinand Kingsley), produced a series of fake newsreels in support of Merriam amid the 1934 California gubernatorial race. Mayer was also reportedly a predatory figure. “Long before Weinstein there was Louis B. Mayer, who co-founded Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios in 1924,” _Variety_ wrote in 2017\. “Mayer, the ground zero of this kind of abuse, had means, motive, opportunity and that critical piece of the puzzle: the whip. If women didn’t comply, he’d threaten to ruin their careers or those of their loved ones.” One example of the control Mayer and MGM exercised was in the career of [Judy Garland](https://time.com/5684673/judy-garland-movie-true-story/); it was reported that the studio used amphetamines and barbiturates to control young actors like Garland on set and that Mayer [groped and](https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/ct-judy-garland-harassment-20171114-story.html) [sexually harassed her](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/11/14/ill-ruin-you-judy-garland-on-being-groped-and-harassed-by-powerful-hollywood-men/) for years. ## Irving Thalberg  Portrait of producer and movie executive for MGM studios Irving Thalberg (1899 - 1936), circa 1932. Getty Images Nicknamed the “boy wonder of Hollywood,” Irving Thalberg served as MGM’s head of production from 1925 until his death at the age of 37 in 1936\. Over the course of those years, he oversaw nearly every creative aspect of the [estimated 400 films](https://www.amazon.com/Hollywood-Dreams-Made-Real-Thalberg/dp/0810972344) that he helped produce, becoming known for his unique vision and inherent flair for storytelling and transforming the movie business in the process. As depicted in _Mank_, Thalberg worked closely alongside MGM studio head Mayer and produced fake election newsreels as part of a smear campaign against 1934 California gubernatorial candidate Upton Sinclair, prompting the [New York _Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/19/archives/film-thalberg-father-of-the-attack-ad.html) to dub him the “Father of the Attack Ad” in 1992. Thalberg’s premature death from pneumonia came as a great shock to many in Hollywood. The True Story Behind David Fincher's New Movie Mank ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5917900/mank-true-story-david-fincher/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5917900/mank-true-story-david-fincher/"},"headline":"A Guide to Who's Who in David Fincher's Old Hollywood Drama Mank","datePublished":"2020-12-05T16:14:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:55:32.617Z","description":"The true story behind the new Netflix drama","url":"https://time.com/5917900/mank-true-story-david-fincher/","keywords":["movies","Explainer"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8f0313423aae513e/698a13d6b3fce34b090c758c/Mank_FirstLook_02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8f0313423aae513e/698a13d6b3fce34b090c758c/Mank_FirstLook_02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Mank","caption":"Mank","creditText":"Netflix","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5917900/mank-true-story-david-fincher/","name":"A Guide to Who's Who in David Fincher's Old Hollywood Drama Mank"}}]}] ```