The Hoax

In the early seventies, after his novel is rejected, the writer Clifford Irving tells his publisher he has been authorised to write the autobiography of the most secretive man in the world, Howard Hughes. It is a lie. He invents the book with a friend and collects a large advance, betting that Hughes will never surface to deny it. Lasse Hallstrom directed. Richard Gere plays Irving, Alfred Molina his friend Dick Suskind, Marcia Gay Harden his wife. The source is Irving's own memoir. Even so he was unhappy with the film, said the events were distorted and wanted his name taken off it. The film shows the fraud growing step by step: forged handwriting, invented interview tapes, and publishers who prefer believing to verifying. The tone changes in the second half; Irving starts believing his own lie and the film drifts into paranoia. The references to the Watergate period are deliberate. Who it is for: viewers who like true fraud stories and seventies America. Who it is not for: anyone expecting literal accuracy; even the man it is about objected to this account.