Movie material
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V. GANGADHAR takes a look at the life of Howard Hughes, even as "The Aviator" based on his life seems set to storm the Oscars.
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AFP
Leonardo Di Caprio in a scene from "The Aviator".
MOVIE mogul Cecil B. de Mille never designed aircraft; flyer Charles Lindhberg did not make movies. Howard Hughes did both. Moreover, he was a billionaire, he dated numerous Hollywood beauties; married three of them and remained a recluse most of his life. At the age of 74, he was found dead in his hotel apartment. Ideal material for a hit movie?
Hollywood had made hundreds of movies based on famous biographies — Caesar, Hitler, Gandhi, Napoleon, gangster Al Capone — because plenty of material was available and the world knew what these men represented. But Hughes?
Inspirations
When he died in 1976, Hollywood was in the dark about his life. But director Martin Scorsese was inspired by the Hughes legend. His film "Aviator" — based on the life of Hughes — has Leonardo di Caprio in the lead role and a bevy of beauties playing Hollywood immortals like Jean Harlow, Katherine Hepburn and Ava Gardner. A box office hit, the film has been nominated in 11 categories for the Oscars.
What kind of a person was Howard Hughes? The Bohemian billionaire, who inherited the hugely profitable Hughes Tool Company, squandered $10,00,00, 000 on aircraft which never flew, movies which flopped and companies which folded. Millions were also spent on his round-the-world trips and the starlets whom he wooed, won and then discarded.
Hughes operated in mysterious ways. Hughes Tool Company never declared any dividend, did not hold board meetings and had no offices. Howard, having, bought off all other shareholders was answerable to no one and operated through telephones while living in posh hotels.
A fascination for movies and movie stars came at an early age. From 1925 to 1956, he made dozens of movies but only a few did well. Howard fancied himself a director and often interfered with the directors, sacking them. Starting with a flop, "Swell Hogan", Howard poured money into his movies. While making "Hell's Angels" — about aerial dogfights during World War I — he filled hangars with old warplanes and used enormous quantities of raw stock of film. The film made at a cost of $ 35,00,000 lost over $ 15,00,000 and was later converted into a talkie from a silent movie.
Movie bug
AP/TURNER CLASSICS
Howard Hughes in front of a Boeing Pursuit Plane.
The movie bug never left Howard, and films like "Front Page", "Scarface" And "The Outlaw" did quite well. He was smitten by Jane Russell, the heroine of 'The Outlaw', which cost $ 3, 400, 000 and faced censor trouble because of the heroine's costumes.
In 1948 Howard bought RKO Studios but his eccentric management quickly led to its decline. Imagine casting popular Western star John Wayne as Genghiz Khan in an expensive flop "The Conqueror"!
He married and divorced Ella Rice, wooed Bette Dove and wept when rejected by Ginger Rogers. He had a long romance with Katherine Hepburn; another beauty Ava Gardner hit him on the head with a heavy object when he slapped her and started to walk out of her flat. Actress Terry Moore split with her boy friend hoping to win Howard's favour but he was not interested. Jean Peters was luckier; she finally got Howard to marry her and remained married to him from 1957 to 1970 though she met him only for few hours every week.
Howard made life difficult for everyone including himself. Highly secretive, he was afraid of robbers, kidnappers and germs. He shut himself up in hotel rooms, refused to meet anyone and used the telephone to communicate. He did not smoke, drink or gamble and lived on a diet of medium rare steak, salad, peas, vanilla ice cream and cookies.
The man loved aeroplanes and had the courage to fly them. An early flyer, he set speed records while flying the H1 aircraft. A revamped version of this plane enabled Howard to fly from coast to coast in the U.S. in seven hours 28 minutes at a speed of 332 miles an hour.
On July 10, 1938, Howard began his epic round-the-world flight in the plane "Lodestar" and, on his return, was hailed as a national hero.
Failures too
If these were successes, there were failures too. His mammoth "Flying Boat" with the wingspan of a football field, the height of an eight-storeyed building and a seating capacity of 700 was a white elephant. No one could find a use for it, after a short demonstration flight when it rose 70 feet in the sky and then landed in water. Flying an F-11 fighter aircraft, Howard crashed and was seriously injured. He could not fly again. But his courage and spirit of innovation could not be challenged.
Later in life, he became more secretive. He invested heavily in Las Vegas real estate and bought and sold a number of hotels. Howard had few friends. A staunch Republican, Howard hated Communism and was close to President Nixon. Did he have a role in Watergate? It was not clear though he was in touch with Nixon. His enormous wealth and anti communism made him popular with rightwing, Republican elements in the U.S.
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