Monday, June 15, 2009

Hammers High: The Hoax

Howard Hughes was a personality of billion shades. This world knows him as a pioneer in cinema and aviation, a multi-billionaire and an exclusive case of schizophrenia who died of kidney failure. He was a phenomenon for Hollywood.

Famed saga Citizen Kane was loosely built (as personality, not characterization) on Howard Hughes. Caprio made a mark as Aviator based on his life. Melvin And Howard showed how low a man can fall to take advantage of a sick billionaire. But apart from the league, there is a movie that shows the real fame of Howard Hughes. The movie was The Hoax, directed by Lasse Hallstrom and starring Richard Gere based on a true incident.

From year 1966 to 1976, Howard led a very nomadic yet recluse life. He stayed in hotels and stayed away from public due to his fear of contracting with germs. Lack of social life led to spread of rumors and a writer Clifford Irving took advantage of the scenario.

He created sensation by claiming that he co-authored the autobiography of Howard Hughes. Howard didn’t respond with a counterstatement at that time. He was at pinnacle of his reclusion. Silence was taken as a nod. That was 1972. The autobiography was heavily booked as people took it for a genuine book. However, just before the publication of the book, Howard finally stood against the fraud and as a result of his crime, Irving was sentenced to jail for 17 months.

In 1977, Clifford Irving released a book titled The Hoax. It was an account of the events. Thirty years after the release, the movie starring Richard Gere was made. Howard Hughes had a very complicated story. He was a businessman, but more interested in art of cinema and aviation. A man who had a scrambled life.

For The Reel; Written By: Sujoy Ghosh

2 comments:

Lt. Ankur Jain said...

Howard was a great showman. He spend $3.8 Mn on hells angels.
Watch his biopic Aviator. Ultimate performance by Leonardo da Caprio

alinaqvi86 said...

Aviator only shows us part of Hughes complex life ........ but this blog entry does tell us something new

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