''The Amazing Howard Hughes'' is a 1977 American made-for-television

biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...

about American aviation pioneer and filmmaker

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in t ...

, based on the book ''Howard: The Amazing Mr. Hughes'' by Hughes' business partner

Noah Dietrich Noah Dietrich (February 28, 1889 – February 15, 1982) was an American businessman, who was the chief executive officer of the Howard Hughes business empire from 1925 to 1957. (Even though these dates have been recorded as the official period of e ...

. The film starred

Tommy Lee Jones Tommy Lee Jones (born September 15, 1946) is an American actor and film director. He has received four Academy Award nominations, winning Best Supporting Actor for his performance as U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard in the 1993 thriller film '' The ...

Ed Flanders Edward Paul Flanders (December 29, 1934 – February 22, 1995) was an American actor. He is best known for playing Dr. Donald Westphall in the medical drama series ''St. Elsewhere'' (1982–1988). Flanders was nominated for eight Primetime Emm ...

, and

Tovah Feldshuh Terri Sue "Tovah" Feldshuh (born December 27, 1948) is an American actress, singer, and playwright. She has been a Broadway star for more than four decades, earning four Tony Award nominations. She has also received two Emmy Award nominations f ...

. ''The Amazing Howard Hughes'' recounts the life and times of Howard Hughes, and was made within a year of Hughes's death in April 1976. It was originally broadcast in two parts on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

on April 13 and 14, 1977.

Plot

Howard Hughes (

), from early life, is portrayed as an eccentric perfectionist and later, a

hypochondriac Hypochondriasis or hypochondria is a condition in which a person is excessively and unduly worried about having a serious illness. An old concept, the meaning of hypochondria has repeatedly changed. It has been claimed that this debilitating cond ...

. He grew up as a wealthy but isolated individual who was able to indulge some of his obsessions. As a Hollywood producer, he was able to create some of the most iconic films of the era, including '' Hell's Angels'' (1930), '' Scarface'' (1932) and ''

The Outlaw ''The Outlaw'' is a 1943 American Western film, directed by Howard Hughes and starring Jack Buetel, Jane Russell, Thomas Mitchell, and Walter Huston. Hughes also produced the film, while Howard Hawks served as an uncredited co-director. Th ...

'' (1943, 1946). His passion as an aviator led to both designing as the head of the Hughes Aircraft Company, as well as flying top-secret aircraft he had built in record-breaking speed and endurance flights (

Hughes H-1 Racer The Hughes H-1 Racer is a racing aircraft built by Hughes Aircraft in 1935. It set a world airspeed record and a transcontinental speed record across the United States. The H-1 Racer was the last aircraft built by a private individual to set the ...

). As well as pouring money into films and projects such as the huge

H-4 Hercules The Hughes H-4 Hercules (commonly known as the ''Spruce Goose''; registration NX37602) is a prototype strategic airlift flying boat designed and built by the Hughes Aircraft Company. Intended as a transatlantic flight transport for use duri ...

aircraft, Hughes is also seen with many of the women in his life, including

Jean Harlow Jean Harlow (born Harlean Harlow Carpenter; March 3, 1911 – June 7, 1937) was an American actress. Known for her portrayal of "bad girl" characters, she was the leading sex symbol of the early 1930s and one of the defining figures of the ...

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...

, Katharine Hepburn (

), and

Jane Russell Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell (June 21, 1921 – February 28, 2011) was an American actress, singer, and model. She was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s. She starred in more than 20 films. Russell moved from th ...

(Marla Carlis). One incident in a 1946 involved a test flight of the XF-11, an experimental aircraft. The test flight culminated in a horrific crash, resulting in a concussion that left Hughes with brain damage and mental dysfunction, going into his old age and eventual death. His final years were spent as a recluse and while aboard a private flight to Houston, Hughes died.

Cast

* Lee Purcell as

Billie Dove Lillian Bohny (born Bertha Eugenie Bohny; May 14, 1903 – December 31, 1997), known professionally as Billie Dove, was an American actress. Early life and career Dove was born Bertha Eugenie Bohny in New York City in 1903 to Charles and Ber ...

Sorrell Booke Sorrell Booke (January 4, 1930 – February 11, 1994) was an American actor who performed on stage, screen, and television. He acted in more than 100 plays and 150 television shows, and is best known for his role as corrupt politician Jefferson ...

as Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia * James Hampton as Wilbur Peterson * Howard Hesseman as Jenks *

as Katharine Hepburn * Marla Carlis as

Ed Harris Edward Allen Harris (born November 28, 1950) is an American actor and filmmaker. His performances in ''Apollo 13'' (1995), '' The Truman Show'' (1998), '' Pollock'' (2000), and '' The Hours'' (2002) earned him critical acclaim and Academy Award ...

as Russ

Production

Development

In 1971, Bob Thomas was contacted by director

George Sidney George Sidney (October 4, 1916May 5, 2002) was an American film director and producer who worked primarily at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. His work includes cult classics '' Bye Bye Birdie'' (1963) and ''Viva Las Vegas'' (1964). With an extensive backgr ...

, who had gotten to know the writer while the latter was researching ''King Cohn'', a biography of Harry Cohn. Sidney said Stanley Meyer, the financier, was looking for someone to help write Noah Dietrich's memoirs. Thomas met with Dietrich and wrote a book about Hughes. They struggled to find a publisher due to the fact Clifford Irving had released Hughes' diaries. When it was revealed the diaries were fake, the book found a publisher, Fawcett, the next day. Fawcett released a million copies but only sold a third of them, which Thomas attributed to Irving's book. On the death of Hughes in 1976, numerous producers announced Hughes projects, including

Warren Beatty Henry Warren Beatty (né Beaty; born March 30, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker, whose career spans over six decades. He was nominated for 15 Academy Awards, including four for Best Actor, four for Best Picture, two for Best Director, ...

and

David Wolper David Lloyd Wolper (January 11, 1928 – August 10, 2010) was an American television and film producer, responsible for shows such as ''Roots'', '' The Thorn Birds'', and ''North and South'', and the theatrically-released films ''L.A. Confiden ...

, the latter based on Irving's book. Thomas' agents succeeded in selling the film rights to Thomas' book to Roger Gimbel who had a deal with EMI Television.Thomas, Bob. "Traveling a tortured route to a Howard Hughes biography." ''Los Angeles Times'', April 10, 1977, p. m3. The project was originally developed by Roger Gimbel's production company.Smith, Cecil. "The Taming of Hatter Fox." ''Los Angeles Times'', October 12, 1977, p. g18.

Casting

At one stage, Gimbel had negotiations with Warren Beatty to play Hughes. But when these broke down the producer decided to go "180 degrees the other way" and cast an unknown. He picked

who had appeared in films such as '' Jackson County Jail'' and who Gimbel said "matches the image the public has of Hughes". ''The Amazing Howard Hughes'' was a major break-through for Jones.

Shooting

Filming of ''The Amazing Howard Hughes'' took eight weeks. During filming, Gimbel's company was bought out by EMI Television. A large group of aircraft were assembled for the production by Tallmantz Aviation. The aircraft included two

Curtiss JN-4 The Curtiss JN "Jenny" was a series of biplanes built by the Curtiss Aeroplane Company of Hammondsport, New York, later the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. Although the Curtiss JN series was originally produced as a training aircraft for th ...

biplanes, Learjet 23, Lockheed P-38 Lightning,

Lockheed Model 12 Electra Junior The Lockheed Model 12 Electra Junior, more commonly known as the Lockheed 12 or L-12, is an eight-seat, six-passenger all-metal twin-engine transport aircraft of the late 1930s designed for use by small airlines, companies, and wealthy private ind ...

North American AT-6 Texan The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and other air forces ...

, and Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5.

Reception

Film historian Simon D. Beck in ''The Aircraft-Spotter's Film and Television Companion'' (2016) described ''The Amazing Howard Hughes'' as a "... fascinating account of the life and times of eccentric millionaire, aviation pioneer and filmmaker ..." Other reviews of ''The Amazing Howard Hughes'' were, likewise, mainly positive. Part one was the fifth highest-rated show of the week; part two was the highest-rated. It was seen by over 60 million people.

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

agreed to distribute ''The Amazing Howard Hughes'' theatrically outside the United States. ''The Amazing Howard Hughes'' was the original release of EMI Television, an off-shoot of EMI Films.Getze, John. "Recordings: EMI: Hard to pronounce but it's music all over world." ''Los Angeles Times'', March 14, 1977, p. d11.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Beck, Simon D. ''The Aircraft-Spotter's Film and Television Companion''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, 2016. .

External links

*
allmovie synopsis; ''The Amazing Howard Hughes''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amazing Howard Hughes, The 1977 television films 1977 films 1970s biographical films American television films American biographical films Cultural depictions of Howard Hughes Cultural depictions of Katharine Hepburn American aviation films Biographical television films Films set in the 1920s Films set in the 1930s Films set in the 1940s Films set in the 1950s Films set in the 1960s Films set in the 1970s Films directed by William Graham (director) Films with screenplays by John Gay (screenwriter) Films scored by Laurence Rosenthal 1970s English-language films Biographical films about aviators 1970s American films