Years before Truman Capote (Tom Hollander) alienated The Swans, he was the object of their affection. Hot off the release of In Cold Blood, Capote threw an iconic party. The 1966 Black and White Ball not only became known as the party of the year. It became the iconic New York event for decades. Directed by Gus Van Sant and written by Jon Robin Baitz, “Masquerade 1966” provides a unique visual style to the series as it mimics the iconic documentarians, the Maysles Brothers.
Also Read: Feud: Capote vs The Swans Review
Capote vs. The Swans – Masquerade 1966 Recap
An opening crawl explains that Capote and Maysles worked together in 1966 as he prepared for his iconic ball. Capote and Babe Paley (Naomie Watts) discuss the differences between Manet and Monet. The Maysles (Pawel Szajda & Yuval David) walk around the scene, their floating camera capturing the conversations between the two. Babe tells Truman that she loves him, and Truman tells her their love is unique.
The rest of the Swans join them at a later dinner. While C.Z. (Chloë Sevigny) appears uncomfortable with the cameras, the others grow increasingly aware of them. Babe reminds the others that Truman has control over the footage, which puts everyone at ease. Truman also lays out his plan for the Mascerade – he will throw a party at the Plaza Hotel with a “Guest of Honor.”
Soon, the women make the case to the Maysles for why they should each be the Guest of Honor. First up is Slim (Diane Lane), who believes she helped make New York the capital of the world. She also read all of his drafts of In Cold Blood, so she feels entitled to the position. The Maysles then discuss Babe’s relationship with Truman. She knows how he feels about her, but still skirts questions about her marriage and buying Truman a house. When asked about the relationships between glamorous women and gay men, she believes they are brought together by the details.
At The Plaza, Babe and Truman discuss the colors of the tablecloths. However, Babe grows emotional when one of Bill Paley’s (Treat Williams) mistresses arrives as a liaison. She leaves, and Truman apologizes to the camera. He talks her down, but she admits that Bill got another girl pregnant. Babe tells the Maysles to shut off the cameras, and Truman concurs. However, they continue to film until Babe notices and forces them to turn it off again.
Truman waxes poetic about how he will offer unique insight into the aristocracy. No one sees how “new money” and legacy families interact, including the scandals. He also mentions C.Z.’s explicit nude painting by Diego Rivera. He spills gossip about her more bohemian side, but that was erased when she married her wealthy husband. Truman believes the world beats up his Swans, but he believes he can protect them.
The Maysles follow Truman to C.Z.’s house, where the IRS completes a seizure of her assets. C.Z. tears up in the kitchen while speaking with Truman, and the Maysles video them from the window. As she fears the repercussions in society, Truman promises her that she will be on his arm when he walks into the ball. The Maysles ask C.Z. about her husband and about the ball. The Maysles capture another moment of her emotional frustration, and when she notices, she chases them to turn off the camera.
Al Maysles asks whether this means C.Z. will officially be the Guest of Honor, but Truman tells them its not official. We see the Maysles filming Slim during a dress fitting, where she outs Yuel Brenner for exposing himself to her. She also tells Truman he cannot invite Pamela Harriman to the ball. Pamela stole her husband, and she has not gotten over it yet. When Slim discovers that Truman invited her already, Slim angrily yells at him for doing it. Truman calms Slim down by declaring Slim the winner in life. Slim reiterates to the Maysles its not about Pamela, and reveals that Truman promised to make her the Guest of Honor.
While dancing one night with Albert, Truman draws the inspiration for the name of Answered Prayers. Truman then surprises high society by naming Katherine Graham (Marin Ireland) as the Guest of Honor. We attend the ball, and the party is in full swing. Everyone shows up dressed to the nines, with Babe wearing a giant Swan feather dress, and the others wearing gorgeous outfits.
The Maysles ask Truman why he picked Katherine. After an initial compliment, he explains her story – including her husbands suicide as a key part of the tale. While she seems very uncomfortable about that being part of the calculus, she smiles and continues to greet guests. The Maysles wander through the party, and the Swans pretend they did not want the honor.
The party continues to grow more raucous as the night grows late. Pamela and her husband run into Slim, and while they bicker, they all seem to agree the food is not good. Truman notices a party crasher and grows excited as he goes to throw them out. He gets even more aggressive when he runs into Ann Woodward (Demi Moore) – who asks Truman if they can stay. However, he cruelly throws her out and makes a spectacle after she compares herself to his mother. The scene grows quiet as they leave.
Truman grows annoyed with Joe (Jack Dunphy) and Joanne (Molly Ringwald) when they start dancing at the party. At the bar, Truman becomes vulgar and tells them they are making a fool of him. They try to turn the tide of the conversation, but he eventually forces them each to leave as he grows spiteful. Later, Truman dances alone in the center of the room.
The Maysles interview Lee (Calista Flockhart) after the event. When they ask her if she is frustrated by Truman, she expresses her frustrations. She knows that he performs the role of “best friend” for each of them, but she does not believe in best friends. The Maysles watch back the footage of the party with Truman, which causes him to reflect on the night. He rewatches the confrontation with Ann and the interview with Lee.
Seeing the footage causes him to stop the Maysles. He believes that it makes a better book than a movie. Albert tries to push back and believes that it would make an excellent movie. However, he acknowledges that it might make Truman look bad. After all, he’s not an observer anymore. Truman is now part of the society.
After the footage ends, the show returns to full color. Truman sits watching the dance floor when his mother (Jessica Lange) arrives and begins critiquing the event. While Truman tries to explain why Kay Graham is the Guest of Honor, he admits it was all for his mother. The two of them begin dancing in the middle of the ballroom, mirroring the scene from earlier when Truman was alone.
“Masquerade 1966” Critique
While there’s a surface level visual mimicry of the Maysles, the actual footage barely matches their iconic works. While their non-fiction storytelling would help define documentary filmmaking, yet Murphy, Sant, and Baitz make the episode feel far too modern. It’s not just the language, but the content that was undeniably taboo. To make matters worse, we actively see Truman stop the Maysles from crafting the documentary. This makes “Masquerade 1966” an extremely hollow episode of television.
Additionally, the footage – specifically the drama of it all – feels closer to modern day reality TV than 1960s documentary. Characters do not just curse, they openly mock and cruelly gossip. They chase cameras. They instigate public fights. Despite the more restrained era, this pushes the boundaries of what was proper and taboo. Yes, the 1960s were a time where more open conversations were held. But they were not so off-putting and vulgar in these environments. Even though there’s plenty to entertain in the text of this moment, “Masquerade 1966” feels tonally inconsistent with the characters we’ve come to know.
The actual structure of the episode feels broken as well. It’s too repetitive, with Capote visiting each woman at their time of need. Yes, he did function in this way for these women. But the repetitive structure becomes boring despite the visual unique episode. Capote vs. The Swans works best as the unexpected occurs. Yes, we know history, but the uniqueness of these subjects means there’s plenty to learn.
Perhaps most frustrating of all, we lose the momentum for the series. We saw how the women had responded to Capote after his egregious actions. We’ve moved on from a cold war, to one quickly heating up. Yet as this occurs, we jump backwards in time to when all characters are on good terms. It’s more frustrating than formally inventive.
Mixing up timelines of stories is far from new, even in this format. However, undercutting the momentum of the series does not help matters. We already knew why the women trusted Capote. We did not need more of evidence to this fact. The only real pull from this episode comes when The Maysles provide Truman the name of his novel. This is far from interesting.
Perhaps most hilarious of all is that Capote did film a very straightforward, emotional piece with Maysles. His 30 minute interview with them, A Visit With Truman Capote, highlights his time researching In Cold Blood. He does more than take them through the case, but even breaks down emotionally. This work is far more enriching than anything on camera here.
While less groundbreaking than The Salesman or Grey Gardens, it showcased their ability to capture something unique about their subjects, even in everyday circumstances. If it did not release around the same time, and carry Capote at the same age, it might have been easy to see how the man would grow into the version “Masquerade 1966” portrays. However, as the film and show occur in the same time, it makes the issues even more glaring.
Conclusion
While there’s plenty of craft on display in “Masquerade 1966,” this episode begins some of Capote vs. The Swans worst tendencies. The women are sidelined once again. Capote emerges as the center of the universe and then dominates the episode. However, his character leaves his feelings on his sleeve, making the exploration of his emotions far less intriguing. We gain no new info from The Swans or Capote, and thus, “Masquerade 1966” feels like an artistic challenge, rather than part of a cohesive series.
5/10
Full season review of Feud: Capote vs. The Swans here!
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