July 7 - The Amazing Howard Hughes

Here is a film with a scene that happens today – July 7. I hope you enjoy the movie and watch it tonight.  

THE AMAZING HOWARD HUGHES

When his father dies in 1924,  Howard Hughes has himself declared a competent adult, even though he’s underage and takes over the Hughes Tool Company. After hiring Noah Dietrich, who gradually becomes his main gopher, Hughes moves to Hollywood and starts producing movies. He learns to fly and starts the Hughes Aircraft Corporation. He films Hell’s Angels, but after sound is introduced, Hughes re-shoots the entire film as a  talkie. Hughes starts to become obsessive about his health and breaks the world airplane speed record.  Hughes meets Katherine Hepburn and flies around the world. He films The Outlaw with Jane Russell and makes millions during the Second World War through government contracts. On July 7, 1946 [1:00:47 to 1:04:08] while test flying the FX-11, Hughes crashes and is almost killed. Congress investigates Hughes’ wartime contracts. Hughes accuses Senator Brewster, who‘s spearheading the investigation of corruption. Hughes says Brewster told him that if Hughes would merge TWA with Pan-Am, the investigation would go away. Hughes says that if the ‘Spruce Goose’ won’t fly, he’ll leave the country. It does fly. Hughes refuses to give Paul Jericho a screen credit because he thinks Jericho is a communist.  Hughes recruits a group of Mormon men to act as his bodyguards and aides and eventually fires Noah Dietrich. Hughes becomes a complete recluse only emerging to show that Clifford Irving’s alleged biography of Hughes was a fake. Hughes died in 1976.    

An interesting film. However it is a gloss and not a complete bio. Many, many details were omitted or just touched upon. Should either have just concentrated on a period of Hughes’ life or been longer to allow for a more detailed story.

Howard Hughes-Aviator by George J. Marrett (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, 2004)

    pps. 73-78

Producer – Herbert Hirschman

Director - William A. Graham

Awards – The film won the Outstanding Achievement in Film Sound Editing for a

                 Special Emmy. The film was also nominated for the Outstanding Achievement

                 in Makeup Emmy at the 30^th Primetime Emmy  Awards.

Screenplay -   John Gay

Runtime – 3 hours 35 minutes

Released – April 13, 1977

Starring -  

Tommy Lee Jones as Howard Hughes

Ed Flanders as Noah Dietrich

Lee Purcell as Billie Dove

Sorrell Brooke as Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia

James Hampton as Wilbur Peterson

Howard Hesseman as Jenks

Tovah Feldshuh as Katharine Hepburn

Marla Carlis as Jane Russell

Watch a clip from The Amazing Howard Hughes