The Aviator (2004) |
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The Aviator Cast |
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On-Screen Couples |
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Leonardo DiCaprio
(as Howard Hughes)
with Cate Blanchett
(as Katharine Hepburn)
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Movie Highlights |
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Full Cast and Crew |
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Actor CreditsNon Actor Credits |
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Awards |
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The Aviator (2004) was nominated for the following awards:
Teen Choice AwardsAcademy AwardsBAFTA Awards
15.
BAFTA Film Award
2005 Golden Globes
16.
Golden Globe
2005
18.
Golden Globe
2005 Satellite AwardsDirectors Guild of America, USAItalian National Syndicate of Film Journalists
22.
Silver Ribbon
2006 MTV Movie AwardsPhoenix Film Critics Society AwardsPGA AwardsEmpire Awards, UKLas Vegas Film Critics Society AwardsVisual Effects Society Awards
30.
VES Award
2005 Kansas City Film Critics Circle AwardsScreen Actors Guild Awards
35.
Actor
2005 Online Film Critics Society AwardsBroadcast Film Critics Association AwardsLondon Critics Circle Film AwardsDVD Exclusive AwardsWashington DC Area Film Critics Association AwardsDallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association AwardsDirectors Guild of Great Britain
56.
DGGB Award
2005 |
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Photo Gallery |
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Fans |
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Trivia |
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Quotes cf Howard Hughes: I feel like a little adventure.
Katharine Hepburn: Do your worst, Mr. Hughes.
Juan Trippe: If you let him testify at that hearing, the whole world will see what he`s become. They should remember him for what he was. Howard Hughes: Do you know those men? Do they work for me?
Noah Dietrich: Everybody works for you, Howard. Howard Hughes: Come in with the milk. Come in with the milk. Come in with the milk. Ava Gardner: Get that crazy bitch away from me! Howard Hughes: Will you marry me?
Ava Gardner: You`re too crazy for me. Ava Gardner: You listened to my phone calls?
Howard Hughes: No! No! No! Honey I would never do that! I`d never do that! I... I just read the transcripts, that`s all. Katharine Hepburn: [flying Howard`s plane] Howard, there`s a rather alarming mountain heading our way. Howard Hughes: Show me all the blueprints. Show me all the blueprints. Show me all the blueprints... show me all the blueprints... show me all the blueprints... show me all the blueprints... [last lines]
Howard Hughes: The way of the future. Howard Hughes: [pensively weighing options] I could do that.
TWA Executive: Do what?
Howard Hughes: Buy it.
TWA Executive: You wanna *buy* the airline?
Howard Hughes: Well why not? We don`t want a bunch of pencil-pushers gettin` in the way of us makin` our plane now do we?
TWA Executive: No...
Howard Hughes: [walking away] You call Noel Dietrich. You tell him to start buying!
TWA Executive: [yelling after him in shock] Hang on Howard! You sure you don`t want to stop and think about this for a second?
Howard Hughes: Nope! I`ve got a tiger by the tail here and I`m not about to let go! Noah Dietrich: You`ve just placed the largest order for aircraft in the history of the United States, Howard! I`ve got a bill here from Locheed-Martin for forty million dollars! Do you think I`ve got that just sitting around in petty cash? Noah Dietrich: I`ve gotta tell you, the board over in Houston has been getting a little concerned about the cost of this operation out here.
Howard Hughes: [grimicing] Ah! would you stop showing them the books, Noah?
Noah Dietrich: That`s illegal Howard.
Howard Hughes: [smiling] Well, maybe it`s a little naughty.
Noah Dietrich: We`re incorporated in Houston. The board has to see the books.
Howard Hughes: Well, incorporate a new division out here. We`ll call it Hughes Aircraft. Get into that will ya? Katharine Hepburn: What`s that on the steering wheel?
Howard Hughes: Cellophane. If you had any idea of the crap that people carry around on their hands.
Katharine Hepburn: What kind of crap?
Howard Hughes: You don`t wanna know. Howard Hughes: You have called me a liar and a thief and a war profiteer.
Howard Hughes: You want to go to war with me?
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: It`s not me, Howard. It`s the United States Government. We just beat Germany and Japan. Who the hell are you? Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: All right, let`s get down to business. Let`s talk turkey. My investigation...
[He nearly bursts into laughter]
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: My investigation has turned up a lot of dirt. It could be really embarassing if this stuff got out. I`d like to save you from that embarassment.
Howard Hughes: That`s very kind of you, Owen.
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: My committee has the power to hold public hearings. I`d like to spare you from that.
Howard Hughes: [smirks] Would you, now?
[Brewster abruptly drops his silverware]
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: Look, do you wanna go down in history as a war profiteer, Howard? Is that what you want?
Howard Hughes: [gravely] What do you want, Owen?
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: You agree to support my C.A.B. bill, and I won`t hold public hearings.
Howard Hughes: I can`t do that, Owen. Can`t do that. The C.A.B. bill would kill TWA.
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: Sell T.W.A. to Pan Am. You`ll get a good price. You`ll get a fair price, I`m telling you.
Howard Hughes: And then...? Then you won`t go public?
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: Right. That`s right. The investigation`s closed. Nobody knows a thing. It`s better for everybody.
[pause]
Howard Hughes: You know, Owen, I`m still wondering one thing. The picture of the llama you got last year. Where`d you sail from?
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: [disinterested] We didn`t sail. We flew.
Howard Hughes: You flew?
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: Yeah.
Howard Hughes: [leans in] Are you sure you want to do this, Owen? You want to go to war with me?
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: It isn`t me, Howard. It`s the United States government. We just beat Germany and Japan. Who the hell are you? Howard Hughes: That’s just what we do in my business. Howard Hughes: [as Hepburn leaves him] Actresses are cheap in this town - and I got a lot of money. Doctor: [after detailing Hughes`s terrible injuries in the plane crash] He`s getting blood transfusions now, but, uh...
Noah Dietrich: Whose blood?
Doctor: I`m sorry?
Noah Dietrich: Whose blood?
Doctor: From our stock.
Noah Dietrich: Oh, he`s not gonna like that.
Doctor: Mr. Dietrich... I doubt he`s ever gonna like or dislike anything again. I`m terribly sorry. Katharine Hepburn: I expect you to face this situation like an adul...
Howard Hughes: DON`T TALK DOWN TO ME! Don`t you ever talk talk down to me! You`re a movie star, nothing more! Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: [talking of Howard Hughes] I`ll have him dragged here to Washington. I want to see the whites of his lies. Howard Hughes: [talking of Juan Trippe] He owns Pan-Am. He owns Congress. He owns the Civil Aeronautics Board. But he does not own the sky. Jack Frye: So you want me to bribe senators?
Howard Hughes: I don`t want them bribed, Jack. I want it done legally. I want them bought. Glenn Odekirk: 352 on your last run!
Howard Hughes: She`ll go faster. Katharine Hepburn: Let me take the wheel. [from trailer]
Howard Hughes: I`m in a street fight, and I`m not going to lose. Howard Hughes: I want ten chocolate chip cookies. Medium chips. None too close to the outside. Spencer Tracy: Something the matter?
Katharine Hepburn: There`s just too much "Howard Hughes" in "Howard Hughes". That`s what`s the matter. Katharine Hepburn: Can`t you just eat ice cream out of a bowl, like everyone else? Howard Hughes: Look at me, Kate. Stop acting.
Katharine Hepburn: Ha. I`m not acting.
Howard Hughes: I wonder if you even know any more.
Katharine Hepburn: Don`t be unkind. Jack Frye: You want me to bribe senators?
Howard Hughes: I don`t want them bribed, Jack. I want this done legal. I want them BOUGHT. Noah Dietrich: Get a doctor! No one sees him like this! [Howard takes Kate to the Cocoanut Grove]
Katharine Hepburn: Your kind of a joint, is it? Wouldn`t have thought.
Howard Hughes: Yeah, well, they`re open late. I go to a hot dog stand on LaCienega, too; they`re open `til around 4.
Katharine Hepburn: Are they? How marvelous! Howard Hughes: [doesn`t hear what Kate says] Excuse me?
Katharine Hepburn: Well, if you`re deaf, you must own up to it. Get a hearing aid, or see my father. He`s an urologist, but it`s all tied up inside the body, don`t you find?
Howard Hughes: Mmm.
Katharine Hepburn: Me, I keep healthy. I take 7 showers a day to keep clean, also because I`m so vulgarly referred to as "outdoors-y." Well, I`m not "outdoors-y," I`m athletic. I sweat! There it is, now we both know the sordid truth: I sweat, and you`re deaf. Aren`t we a fine pair of misfits? [Howard is getting attention after flying around the world in 3 days]
Katharine Hepburn: You know, fame is supposed to be MY turf. Howard Hughes: No, wait! Honey, you can`t move! You can`t move, you`re safe here! You`re in the germ-free zone now, y`understand?
Ava Gardner: I`ll take my chances.
Howard Hughes: No, no! Honey, wait... wait, uh...
[Ava removes the string barriers from the doorway and walks into the study. She turns on the light, revealing that entire room is covered with used tissues and string barriers everywhere. Silence for a moment]
Ava Gardner: Love what you`ve done with the place... Howard Hughes: Does that look clean to you?
Ava Gardner: Nothing`s clean, Howard. But we do our best, right? Howard Hughes: You`re the tallest woman I have ever met.
Katharine Hepburn: And all sharp elbows and knees. Beware. [first lines]
Allene Hughes: Q-u-a-r-a-n-t-i-n-e.
Young Howard Hughes: Quarantine. Q-u-a-r-a-n-t-i-n-e. Quarantine. Katharine Hepburn: I`ve got a better idea, take me flying! Or better yet, I`ll take you flying!
Howard Hughes: Do your worst, Miss Hepburn. [on "The Outlaw"]
Glenn Odekirk: Howard, you really think they`re gonna let you put out a whole movie just about tits?
Howard Hughes: Sure. Who doesn`t like tits? Ava Gardner: You don`t own me, Howard. I`m not one of your teenage whores and I`m not some damn airplane! Katharine Hepburn: I`ve been famous - for better or worse - for a long time now... I wonder if you know what that really means.
Howard Hughes: I got my fair share of press on Hell`s Angels. I`m used to it.
Katharine Hepburn: Are you?
Katharine Hepburn: Howard, we`re not like everyone else. Too many acute angles. Too many eccentricities. We have to be very careful not to let people in or they`ll make us into freaks.
Howard Hughes: Kate, they can`t get in here. We`re safe.
Katharine Hepburn: They can always get in. When my brother killed himself there were photographers at the funeral. There`s no decency to it. Glenn Odekirk: We installed the 450 radial, but the struts won`t take the vibration. Minute we go contact, the struts start craking at the attach points.
Howard Hughes: Dammit, Odie, if the 450`s too big, figure something else out!
Glenn Odekirk: We`ve done everything - we`ve rebuilt her from top to bottom. If we drain the fuel tank for a couple of runs she might make 180 mph.
Howard Hughes: I want minimum 200.
Glenn Odekirk: Yeah, well, I want a date with Theda Bara, but that ain`t gonna happen either.
Howard Hughes: Don`t be so sure... OK, OK, OK, this is a simple engineering problem. We just gotta think it out.
[pause]
Howard Hughes: So if the struts won`t sustain the engine we need - then we gotta get rid of them.
Glenn Odekirk: Then the top wing falls off.
Howard Hughes: Then let it.
Glenn Odekirk: What?
Howard Hughes: Who says we need a top wing?
[pauses]
Howard Hughes: Who says we need *anything*?
[Glenn is warming up to Hughes` idea]
Glenn Odekirk: A monoplane...
Howard Hughes: A cantilevered monoplane. They`re doing it in France. To the hell with the top wing and the struts...
Glenn Odekirk: 550 Whitney Wasp engine...
Howard Hughes: 100 octane fuel will give us a top horsepower of - what?
Glenn Odekirk: Seven hundred.
Howard Hughes: Squeeze it to a thousand and we got the fastest plane ever built.
Glenn Odekirk: You know, I just gotta say... we`ve already spent over $200,000 rebuilding this plane.
Howard Hughes: To the hell with it.
[smiles]
Howard Hughes: Tear it up, Odie.
[Glenn takes a sledgehammer and annihilates the struts on the top wing; the top wing falls off] Juan Trippe: [walks away from TV showing the Hughes investigation trial] Switch it off.
Pan-Am Employee: The hearings aren`t over yet.
Juan Trippe: The hearings *are* over.
[Is looking at a map of the globe]
Juan Trippe: The airline bill will be defeated in the senate. TWA will beging flights over New York to Paris, leaving over Moscow to Japan - to Hawaii - to Los Angelses - To New York.
[Realizes that Pan Am`s monopoly is finished]
Juan Trippe: Fuck. Howard Hughes: I care very much about aviation. Ava Gardner: Oh, a box of trash! You shouldn`t have. Howard Hughes: Thats just what we do in my buisness. Howard Hughes: I read in the magazines that you play golf.
Katharine Hepburn: On occasion...
Howard Hughes: How `bout nine holes?
Katharine Hepburn: NOW, Mr. Hughes? Howard Hughes: Sometimes I truly fear that I... am losing my mind. And if I did it... it would be like flying blind. Howard Hughes: Little Howard likes citrus. Professor Fitz: Well, the cumulonimbus formations about which you speak that look like...
Howard Hughes: Giant breasts full of milk. I want clouds, damn it.
Professor Fitz: Yes, clouds that look like giant breasts full of milk, cannot exactly be guaranteed for any particular occasion. So you might have to... to wait.
Howard Hughes: Then we`ll wait. Look, whatever they pay you at UCLA I`m doubling it, all right? You work for me now. Find some clouds. Find some clouds! Find me some clouds!
Hell`s Angels Pilot: Welcome to Hell`s Angels. Howard Hughes: I`ve been to Chatsworth, Santa Cruz, Encino, San Diego, Riverside, Van Nuys, and Bakersfield. It has been eight months! Where are my goddamn clouds, huh?
Professor Fitz: They move, Mr. Hughes! Clouds move. That`s what they do. They move! Noah Dietrich: Nice day.
Howard Hughes: Yeah, very funny.
Noah Dietrich: Listen, I got a call from Houston. They`re getting real nervous about all this.
Howard Hughes: Stop showing them the damn bills, Noah.
Noah Dietrich: That would be illegal, Howard.
Howard Hughes: Shit, no. Maybe it`s a little bit naughty. Howard Hughes: What the *hell* does a senator from Maine need to fly to Peru for? Howard Hughes: I`m Howard Hughes, the aviator. Howard Hughes: Pull back on the wheel a bit.
Katharine Hepburn: GOLLY!
Howard Hughes: I don`t think I`ve ever met anyone who uses the word Golly. Katharine Hepburn: Men can`t be friends with women Howard. They must posses them or leave them be. It’s a primitive urge from caveman days. It’s all in Darwin. Hunt the flesh. Kill the flesh. Eat the flesh. That`s the, ah, male sex all over.Trivia dsg5 zdfvgthr dvs cfaew2 vgsrey fdht Leonardo DiCaprio spent a day with Jane Russell to hear her memories and impressions of Howard Hughes. She was very impressed with DiCaprio`s visit and told him that Hughes was a quiet yet extremely stubborn man who always got his way in the end.
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# During the crash of the XF-11 aircraft over Los Angeles, Hughes (DeCaprio) radios that he will put down on the Wilshire Country Club. Hughes actually lived in a Spanish Villa at Wilshire Country Club (near the 8th hole), the crash of the XF-11 was into Beverly Hills at the Los Angeles Country Club. Michael Mann was originally going to direct the film, but having directed back-to-back biopics The Insider (1999) and Ali (2001), he decided to produce instead, and offered the script to Martin Scorsese. This is the first feature film that Leonardo DiCaprio`s production company "Appian Way" is involved with.
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# Martin Scorsese designed each year in the film to look just the way a color film from that time period would look. Achieved mainly through digitally enhanced post-production, Scorsese recreated the look of Cinecolor and two-strip Technicolor. Watch in particular for the scene where Howard Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio) meets Errol Flynn (Jude Law) in the club. Hughes is served precisely placed peas on a plate, and they appear blue or turquoise - just as they`d have looked in the primitive two-strip Technicolor process. As Hughes ages throughout the film, the color gets more sophisticated and full-bodied. Barry Pepper was due to play Howard Hughes`s chief engineer, Glenn Odekirk, but due to prior commitment and scheduling conflicts with the film Ripley Under Ground (2005), he had to drop out. Jim Carrey was originally considered for the lead role as Howard Hughes. Also in preparation for his role as Howard Hughes, Leonardo DiCaprio spent some time with an actual OCD patient named Edward. He advised him on a number of different aspects of the condition, in particular the tendency to repeat sentences over and over as in the scene where Hughes repeatedly asks to see the blueprints for the Hercules.
Production was delayed in October 2003, when wildfires in southern California burned several sets. Gwyneth Paltrow was originally signed on to play Ava Gardner but dropped out. Freckles were painstakingly painted onto Cate Blanchett`s face, arms, and chest to make her resemble Katharine Hepburn. Cate Blanchett`s portrayal of Katharine Hepburn makes her the first performer to win an Oscar for playing a real-life Oscar winner (Hepburn won a record 4). At one point in the film, Howard Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Katharine Hepburn (Cate Blanchett) address each other as "City Mouse" and "Country Mouse" - a detail lifted from telegrams exchanged between the two that were auctioned off after Katharine Hepburn`s death in 2003, in which they address each other by those names. In the movie, Howard calls Kate "country mouse", and she calls him "city mouse." This is incorrect: Howard was the country mouse (living in suburban Los Angeles) while Kate was the city mouse (a regular in New York).
Cate Blanchett felt that accurately reproducing Katharine Hepburn`s distinctive upper class New Englander accent was crucial to her portrayal of this Hollywood icon. She did daily voice exercises with the film`s voice coach Tim Monich (with whom Blanchett had worked previously on The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)), and also studied Hepburn`s early films and documentaries about her to learn her mannerisms. #
# Director Cameo: [Martin Scorsese] in a tuxedo and slicked hair, pulling a woman from behind Howard Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio) as he walks the red carpet with Katharine Hepburn (Cate Blanchett). Director Cameo: [Martin Scorsese] Voice of the projectionist Howard Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio) talks to in the screening room.
Cate Blanchett had three different red-hair wigs for this film. The film marks the debut of singer Gwen Stefani. Martin Scorsese was looking for someone to fill the role of Jean Harlow when he noticed Stefani appearing on a Vogue cover poster in New York. Martin Scorsese requested that Cate Blanchett watch all of the first 15 films of Katharine Hepburn to learn her mannerism and her poise. Nicole Kidman was also considered for the role of Katharine Hepburn. When the scheduled start date was delayed by several months, Cate Blanchett became available after finishing filming The Missing (2003/I). Martin Scorsese claims that Blanchett had always been his first choice. In preparation for her role as Katharine Hepburn, Cate Blanchett learned to play tennis and golf and took cold showers, something Hepburn is known for. The budget for the costumes was $2 million.
Kate Beckinsale gained 20 pounds for her role. Jane Lynch`s scenes as Amelia Earhart were cut from the movie. Several scenes feature actual footage from the movies Howard Hughes produced, such as Hell`s Angels (1930) and The Outlaw (1943). Many had tried to produce a Howard Hughes biopic before this. Among the failed attempts are: - 1. A companion piece to Reds (1981) planned by actor-director Warren Beatty. - 2. John Malkovich and partner Russell Smith attempt in 1993. - 3. The adaptation planned by Allen Hughes and Albert Hughes who wanted Johnny Depp in the lead. - 4. A Brian De Palma-directed biopic with Touchstone which fell through because of the $80 million price tag. - 5. In January 2000, it was announced that Milos Forman was to direct a biopic with Edward Norton as Hughes and a script by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski. - 6. In January 2002, Jim Carrey tried to start the project with Castle Rock Productions but it didn`t get off ground soon enough to beat this movie into production. When Katharine Hepburn (Cate Blanchett) greets her family, she mentions an Uncle Willie. This is a reference to Uncle Willie in Katharine Hepburn`s The Philadelphia Story (1940). Received the most Academy Award nominations for the year 2005, with 11 total. CAMEO: Thelma Schoonmaker (editor of "The Aviator") appears as one of Howard Hughes` editors putting together the initial cut of "Hell`s Angels." The film`s prints are coming from a digital intermediate. This digital master has been digitally grain reduced from start to finish. As a result many moving textures (especially human skin) look smeared and very unnatural, like bad quality video watched on a slow LCD monitor.
The hangar in which the real-life Howard Hughes partially built his famous "Spruce Goose" airplane was also used for the construction of many of the full-scale models used in Titanic (1997), in which Leonardo DiCaprio also starred.
The film`s wide release date in the United States, 24 December 2004, would have been Howard Hughes` 99th birthday.
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# Four of the miniature airplanes used in creating the effects for the film are now on display at the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, home of the real Howard Hughes HK-1 "Spruce Goose". Models on display include two of the biplanes from the "Hell`s Angels" sequence, most of the XF-11 model, and the motion-control "Spruce Goose". The "Spruce Goose" model is remarkably detailed, and even includes scale puppets of Howard Hughes and Dr. Fritz. Director Martin Scorsese originally wanted to shoot the film in Academy ratio, 1.33:1, the same ratio as films of the period and indeed all films up until about 1954. Unfortunately, he found that modern theaters are generally not properly equipped to show anything but Flat 1.85:1 or Scope 2.35:1 films. He therefore focused instead on making each portion of the film look like it was made using the color film stock available at the time. If you freeze-frame the film at 2:22:45, you can see an impressive computer generated skeleton of Howard Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio) as a camera flashes while he is taking the oath. Bob Hoskins was originally considered for the role of Senator Owen Brewster.
First film by director Martin Scorsese to gross over $100 million in the U.S. The original screenplay was inspired by the book "Howard Hughes: The Untold Story" by Peter Harry Brown and Pat H. Broeske. Several changes were made in the movie to the relationship between Katharine Hepburn and Howard Hughes. Hepburn did not in fact leave Howard for `Spencer Tracy`. The two broke up long before she had met Spencer Tracy. And lastly, Katharine Hepburn`s brother committed suicide when she was little, not during her years as a star. The film`s winning of the Best Cinematography Oscar has been attributed to the unique use of period color palette. The two and three-strip palette that is seen in the film was accomplished by the use of the LUT - 3D Look Up Table - graphics processor. It was designed by Josh Pines, R&D VP of Technicolor Digital Intermediates. The processor was slipped into the digital projector and thus allowed filtering and applying the two / three color look into the negative. Singer Rufus Wainwright, his father Loudon Wainwright III, and his sister Martha Wainwright each appear as vocalists at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub at different periods of time.
In his speech at the Golden Globes, Leonardo DiCaprio revealed that `Michael Mann (I)` had a hand in writing the film`s screenplay. During a love scene between Katharine and Howard, the song "I Can`t Give You Anything But Love" plays in the background. This is likely an in-joke/homage to Bringing Up Baby (1938), in which Katharine Hepburn sings the same song to a leopard. The scene in which Hughes locks himself in the projection room and cuts off most contact from the outside world for an extended period of time is somewhat misleading. Though Hughes battled germ phobia all of his life (the fear of germs was instilled in him early on by his mother) Hughes did not become a recluse until much later in his life. The scene that is portrayed in the movie is very similar to a documented incident where Hughes did spend almost a year in a private movie theater however it wasn`t until he was near 50 years old. | ||
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