The Hoax - A Review
Lasse Hallstrom's Film About Fake Howard Hughes' Autobiography
It is the dream interview or the dream photograph - capturing a celebrity recluse who has completely shut out the outside world. Mystery translates into unbridled curiosity, with the media fanning the mystique. Will the world ever read a J D Salinger interview or get to see the author of The Catcher in the Rye?
Unauthorised biographies give tidbits of information, revealing little and creating more confusion. But how about certified confusion, a faked autobiography of a reclusive celebrity?
Clifford Irving's fake autobiography
Clifford Irivng tried just that in the early 1970s, putting together an autobiography of millionaire and aviator Howard Hughes, without ever speaking to Hughes. His audacity and self-confidence conned a slew of 'experts'. This included publishers McGraw-Hill and Life magazine, which had paid to publish excerpts of the book.
Film 'Hoax' on Clifford Irving
Lasse Hallstrom's compelling film The Hoax (based on Irving's 1981 book The Hoax) is the celluloid journey of Irving's convincing pitch as Hughes' conscience-keeper. Richard Gere puts in a breezy performance, oozing the kind of supreme self-confidence Clifford Irving would have required to pull off such a con job.
Irving practices forging Hughes' handwriting, and writes numerous letters in Hughes' name. He even fools handwriting experts, who certify that the letters are genuine. McGraw-Hill hands Irving a million dollar contract. Irving was counting on Hughes refusing to come out of his isolation.
But then you can't fool all the people all the time. While the mask slowly slips, Irving struggles to distinguish between himself and his subject, Howard Hughes. Irving starts falling prey to obsessions and hallucinations.
The Mysterious Howard Hughes
Hughes remains the mysterious figure talked about all the time, without ever showing himself. But he has the last word, speaking on the telephone to a group of journalists, where he denounced Irving's work. That was the last time the reclusive millionaire's voice was heard in public before he died in 1976.
Martin Scorsese's The Aviator gives a visual study of how Hughes the Hollywood producer and daring aviator withdrew into his cult of secrecy.
The Hoax and Watergate
The Hoax also subtly brings in political references, and suggests that Irving's hoax and revelations of links between Hughes and Richard Nixon led to Watergate. The film shows how an alert mind can take advantage of media and public curiosity.
Irving was indicted for fraud and spent 17 months in prison.
'Autobiography of Howard Hughes' can be bought from Clifford Irving's own website , and you can download a few chapters free.
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