Χάουαρντ Χιουζ, η μυστική ζωή του

by Charles Higham, Αιόλου Γιάννος (Translator)

Ποιος ήταν πραγματικά ο Χάουαρντ Χιουζ;

Ήταν μόνο ο περίφημος παραγωγός που κέρδισε τον λαμπερό κόσμο του Χόλιγουντ, γυρίζοντας διάσημες ταινίες;

Ο ατρόμητος αεροπόρος που κατόρθωσε να κάνει τον γύρο του κόσμου με θεαματικό τρόπο και να καταρρίψει όλα τα ρεκόρ;

Ο περίφημος πλέι μπόι που είχε ερωτικές σχέσεις με μύθους του Χόλιγουντ, όπως η Κάθριν Χέπμπορν και η Μπέτι Ντέιβις;

Ή μήπως ένας αδίστακτος Κροίσος που χρησιμοποιούσε την περιουσία του για να επιβάλλει τη δύναμή του στις επιχειρήσεις του, στην καθημερινότητά του, στην ιδιωτική του ζωή, ακόμη και στην πολιτική ζωή της Αμερικής;

Υπήρξε πράγματι ένας από τους κινητήριους μοχλούς στην απόπειρα δολοφονίας του Φιντέλ Κάστρο και στο σκάνδαλο Γουότεργκεϊτ; Ή μήπως ήταν τελικά ένας ιδιόρρυθμος και υποχόνδριος τύπος που εξαρτιόταν από τις φοβίες του, αλλά είχε και την ικανότητα να ορίζει τη ζωή όσων βρίσκονταν γύρω του;

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History, Biography Memoir

480 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Charles Higham was an author and poet. Higham was a recipient of the Prix des Créateurs of the Académie Française and the Poetry Society of London Prize.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 2 out of 5]

A no holds barred biography of the highly ambitious, very eccentric, extremely callous and selfish, rich and powerful Howard Hughes. The story behind this legendary reclusive millionaire is one so dramatic and weird that it beggars belief! 5 out of 12, Three Star read.

2010 read

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't care if this book was the basis for The Aviator or not, it's full of misinformation and flat out lies. Scandal sells. But a little research goes a long way. There is plenty of information out there today readily available if you really want a better idea of who Howard Hughes was. It is clear that Howard Hughes had a mental illness that stemmed back to his childhood starting with his mother. He suffered from severe OCD and germophobia and most likely struggled with bouts of paranoia. Conditions that had yet to be discovered therefore impossible to understand. There is no doubt that the man suffered, however even in his state of suffering and while in reclusion, when it came to business, his mind was still very clear and sound and as a result he made many lucrative deals over the phone. As for dating, he was a single man and could date whomever he wanted. The women whose company he enjoyed, enjoyed his as well. And the women who dated him, spoke highly of him even years later and dated extensively themselves. He was not bisexual or homosexual but completely heterosexual, a stated fact that many of his former girlfriends attested to. There's also no doubt he suffered from concussions that went undiagnosed and untreated. His last plane crash should have killed him, with severe 2nd and 3rd degree burns, multiple broken bones, including every one of his ribs, both lungs punctured and a dislocated heart. Instead, 7 months later he flew the second prototype plane successfully, and secured a contract with the military. Hughes followed a rigid policy of test flying his aircraft himself. When questioned about this he said "if I have made a mistake in the design, then I'm the one who should pay for it. And I certainly would not ask somebody else to fly the plane if I were afraid to fly it myself". An admirable quality in my opinion. This is a man who accomplished more in 30 years than most of us will accomplish in our entire lifetime. From breaking the Transcontinental Airspeed Record to breaking the Around the World Airspeed Record set by Charles Lindbergh, then humbly saying that "any pilot today could have done the same thing". I highly doubt it. He was awarded with the Harmon Trophy in 1936 and again in 1938. The Collier Trophy in 1938. The Congressional Gold Medal in 1939. The Octave Chanute Award in 1940. Inducted into The National Aviation Hall of Fame 1973 and the International Air and Space Hall of Fame in 1987. Because of his interest in science and technology he launched The Howard Hughes Medical Institute for biomedical research. Research that contributed to discovering the impact that OCD has on those who suffer from its debilitating effects. Effects that include germophobia. Today The HHMI is the second wealthiest endowment philanthropic organization in the US and the second best endowed medical research foundation in the world. There are satellites in space today because of technology Howard Hughes developed. His contribution to the film industry, aviation, modern technology and the medical field set the standards that are still used to this very day. Here we are 40 plus years after his death, still talking about him AND reaping the benefits from his genius, I might add. Instead of focusing on the fact that he became reclusive and suffered in his final years, we should be utterly impressed with the fact that IN SPITE of suffering from severe OCD and most likely in constant pain from several plane crashes, that he was able to function at all! Why not just focus on his great accomplishments? I have read about and researched Howard Hughes over the years and I can honestly say that I do not believe that there has ever been anyone quite like him before or since. I for one prefer to remember the man for his incredible achievements. He once said that the only thing he wanted to be remembered for was his contribution to the field of aviation. Well Mr Hughes, you are very much remembered for that, and so much more. The fact that he suffered from a mental illness, like so many people do, only makes him more endearing. So I Salute you Howard Hughes. And I, like so many others remember you for your contribution to the world of aviation, a field I have spent 30 years in, and for so much more, thank you sir!

[Kinga · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poorly written, fictional and tabloid-style. I'm disgusted by the book and sometimes i feel i'm wasting my time reading it.

[Earl Grey Tea · Rating 2 out of 5]

The farther I got into this book the further my rating for it dropped. It gets two stars instead of one because I did learn somethings. Beyond that, it felt like this book was written by a tabloid magazine since the focus was on the rumor mills around Howard Hughes' sex life along with his business and political scandals.

My overall impression of Howard Hughes is that he was no great businessman. He inherited an extremely profitable company from his father and knew how to foolishly spend the money he received. He could be effective in negotiations with his unorthodox style. However, many of the actual business projects that he directly got involved with were doomed due to his mismanagement. I have a much better understanding of his overall life, but there is plenty of more down to earth information that I would like to learn about.

Quite a few things that the author brings up were surprising and led me to do some cursory internet research. Some topics, such as the movie The Conqueror being filmed in the fallout area of an atomic bomb site and leading to much of the staff dying of cancer later on, turned out to be documented elsewhere. The authors claim that Howard Hughes had many connections to the CIA. Outside of one of Hughes' companies building a deep-sea drill ship to be used in the CIA's Project Azorian to recover a sunken Soviet sub, I couldn't find other sources supporting other claims of a Hughes-CIA connection. Accodring to the author, the Mary Carter Paint Company was a business front for the CIA. After a little bit more research, it turns out these claims were retracting from a 1977 Rolling Stone article.

Howard Hughes was an extremely controversial figure and very protective of his personal life. Is there a good biography out there of him? I am not sure. This book isn't the one. It scratched my itch to learn more about this man after watching the Aviator with my wife. However, that itch has been scratched and I have enough of understanding of him to enjoy further pop-culture references of him. There are plenty of other men and women throughout history that I am excited to learn about and taking on another Howard Hughes biography would not be a constructive use of my time.

Would I pick up another biography by Charles Higham? This book is a red flag for me and I will avoid his other works in the future.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even though I haven't finished it yet, this book is really disappointing. Not that I had too many expectations going in, but I expected something resembling a coherent time line of events and reliable information. The time line is sketchy at best, the author never takes the time to clarify what year or decade certain events take place, so an event you thought happened in 1960 was a flashback to an earlier event that happened in 1950.

It's annoying, but not too difficult to understand. What killed the book for me was his lack of accuracy. When I was reading the chapter about how Hughes dated Katharine Hepburn, I noticed several small inconsistencies. This would have slipped right by me if I hadn't read Katharine Hepburn's memoir days earlier. It made me question how accurate the book is overall, because if a casual observer such as myself can pick up these small inconsistencies, how credible is the book? How many other inconsistencies are there? I'm not impressed Mr.Higham

Oh and the characters!Way too many characters! I get that it's a biography so there's bound to be a lot of people, but do you really have to introduce us to his kindergarten teacher? If she didn't play some substantial role in his life, please don't tell us about her. Save your energy for accurate research.

EDIT: Maybe I was a bit too harsh in my earlier review. There is quite a bit of information, and I think it's safe to say that most of it is fairly accurate.

Towards the end, there's a lot on the Watergate scandal which surprised me. I didn't think that Hughes was involved at all, but he actually did quite a bit. If anyone is interested in that sort of thing, that chapter is very informative.

This still isn't the best biography out there, but there's a lot of information.

[Surreysmum · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up on remainder, in an edition that had obviously been rushed out to take advantage of the release of the Hughes biopic "The Aviator" (which I have not seen). Higham cites a massive number of sources and original interviews in his closing pages; why, then, do I still feel when reading his work that I am swimming in the shallow, gossipy end of the biography pool? Possibly it is something to do with his narrative tone, which admits of no argument from or doubt of his own interpretation of the facts - there are no alternative possibilities presented to the reader in the manner one is used to in more academic biographies. Possibly, too, it derives from his harsh scorn for his subject, which suggests those interpretations may be less than objective, though admittedly this particular subject is not a particularly sympathetic one. Anyway, I found, as I expect most casual readers would, that I enjoyed the early chapters about the Hollywood producing career and the sexual philanderings with both sexes, was mildly interested in the middle section on aviation, and found the last chapters on Hughes' financial, political and military misdealings both horrifying and tedious in the extreme. One thing I regretted (and it may have to do with that phrase "rushed out") is that there were no photographic illustrations at all.

[James · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rating: 1.69 stars

This book, originally published in 1993, shows it's age in the way race, sex, and other sensitive topics are discussed. If you like your books tinged with a bit of homophobia, misogyny, and racism, this might be the book for you.

While never able to quite put a finger on why I didn't enjoy the book, the author's discussion of Hughes's life often feels dirty, voyeuristic, and not necessarily settled in reality. In fairness to Charles Higham, based on the mystery surrounding Howard Hughes, it may not be possible to write a book about his life story any other way. The book looks to be well sourced, and yet, who among these people wouldn't have an ax to grind - or is presenting their view of a story through some strange Hughes developed lens?

Regardless of realism present within, it's difficult to leave the reading feeling as if you have a sense of the man, and what he was all about. Sure he had sex with this one, and then that one...and yet? Then he cheated this way, and then that way...and yet?

If nothing else, Howard Hughes was living proof that a billion dollars let's you do whatever you want. No matter what story is told about you.

[Gary Brim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found out more than I would ever care to know about Hughes' very bizarre social life in his early years, and too much about every detail of his Hollywood exploits. Perhaps this is explained by the author's background and interests in Hollywood. What is missing in this biography is any sense of how Hughes was able to build his huge business empire in his early years, or exert effective, and profitable, control in his later years. The author chose to focus on the aspects of Hughes' life that were 'tabloid' in nature. Look elsewhere for an examination of Hughes as a businessman, particularly that aspect of his early career.

[Mark Sohn · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an extraordinary man, what an arsehole!. One one hand you find yourself reeling from his achievements, the next you see a racist, misogynistic paranoiac with crippling OCD. A terrifying story of how even unlimited wealth cannot bring joy with some real jaw-droppers of insights into the world he moved in. Fantastic!.

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Howard Hughes was an absolutely miserable human being. You can interpret that statement in any way that you want and you will not change the truth. Charles Higham brings us the life story of this troubled, mentally disturbed, boorish, selfish, egotistical, and just plain bratty tycoon/film maker/aviation expert. Higham does not shy away from the seedy side of Hughes but rather seems to delight in it. And at the end of it all, I would be hard pressed to identify what the good side of Hughes was. He collected sexual conquests of Hollywood stars, both male and female, like a little kid collects baseball cards. He regularly cheated the government, his business partners, and investors out of millions he felt he deserved. He treated his assistants and underlings like chattel. Cary Grant was one of the few people whom Hughes could call a friend (as well as a lover) and yet he was pushed away. And yet he acquired a certain following that bordered on worship. These men fought tirelessly to preserve the image and eventually the legacy of Hughes as a great businessman and tycoon, even while they fought amongst each other. Why they did this when they were treated so badly by Hughes himself is not explored, although since Higham makes numerous references to Hughes's charm and charisma, it may be inferred from that. Higham spends much of the book refuting the image of Hughes's last years as a drugged-out recluse manipulated by his handlers; instead he shows Hughes, despite his (to put it politely) idiosyncrasies, as a man in control of his own fate right up until the last few weeks of his life. Higham's bibliography is exhaustive and includes interviews with those closest to Hughes as well as a who's who of Hollywood stars of the 30's and 40's, almost all of whom it seems he slept with at one point or another. The book slows down in the second half as Hughes retreated into his various cocoons located variously in Miami, Las Vegas, the Bahamas, Managua, and Acapulco. Much of this part of the book deals with eye-crossing details of law suits and shady business deals, although learning that Hughes was at least culpable in plots to kill Castro and the Watergate break-in make for interesting diversions. In the end, the reader is left with a portrait of a man who got so much, so young he didn't know what or how to do with it and a public who could not say no to him. Miserable was he, indeed.

[Jeff Russo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prolific celebrity author Higham makes the most controversial claims of all - that Hughes was a prolific, practicing bisexual and died of AIDS or an AIDS-like disease. In addition to extensive, sordid coverage of Hughes's heterosexual action, Higham alleges homosexual action between Hughes and (among others) Jack Buetel, Tyrone Power, Randolph Scott, and Cary Grant. This book is nonjudgmental, almost to the point of apologetic, about the role of Bill Gay and the Mormons in Hughes's late life isolation and physical decline. The Hughes in this book is colder and more uncaring than in any other portrayal.

Best/unique things about this book: Best coverage of Stewart Granger's idea to murder Hughes, and the actual physical attacks Hughes suffered at the hands of Glen Davis and Oleg Cassini.

See all my Howard Hughes book reviews.

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book can be broken down into two categories of focus: Hughes's personal life and his business and political dealings. The parts of the book addressing his personal life are fascinating in a can't-look-away-train-wreck fashion. He was obviously a troubled man and had great difficulty in relationships. The book also offers insight into his mental deterioration and his physical breakdowns. Where the book fails is when it attempts to tackle Hughes's tangled web of political and business intrigues. The author has written other celebrity bios and I think that's where his forte lies. The descriptions of Hughes's business maneuverings were convoluted and confusing, not well written at all. The author really should have narrowed his focus to Hughes's love life, or his Hollywood legacy, and left TWA and Watergate out of it, because those parts were totally bungled.

[George Fairbrother · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been a fan of some of Charles Higham's other works, probably as much for his writing style as for the content. Despite his extensive research, I think a healthy skepticism should always be maintained over some of his conclusions.

For me the major flaw in this work was the persistent denigration of Hughes' talents as a businessman and particularly as an engineer. He had his share of failures, but leaving aside his erratic behaviour in Hollywood, his dedication to aviation innovation should be given far greater credit than afforded in this work.

The author's gleeful obsession with Hughes' sexuality and speculation over his death from AIDS (?!) seems to be overdone, and by today's standards, pointless and even a little offensive.

[Iris · Rating 1 out of 5]

There exists too many biographies of the man that perhaps I had chosen the wrong one. Admittedly, few biographies can captivate me from beginning to end- this one written by biographer Charles Higham is certainly not one of them. Many details are undocumented and highly speculative. Overall, it was way too gossipy.

[Kelly]

I can't rate this book because I just can't finish it. It's deadly boring; a catalog of Hughes's pursuits and quirks. The timeline isn't clear, so I often thought the story was happening in one year, then it would jump over a year or two, then jump back three. I suppose the value of this book is that it doesn't romanticize Hughes's life; I just wish the story had a better flow.

[Rita · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful. As one other reviewer put it, "It's like reading a tabloid." I find it hard to believe that the author knows all the sexual details he's written about. Was he in the room? Of course there were rumors, but I feel like this is pure smut. I wanted to learn about him, not the details of his sexual encounters. It wasn't like I gave up, I read 121 pages.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Howard Hughes is one of my favorite historical figures and I love The Aviator which brought me to this book. But this author wallows in the gossip much to the detriment of his life which is really exciting.

[Chris Jaffe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, that sucked.

I read it because: A) Hughes had a weird/memorable life, 2) I love the film The Aviator and it's supposed to be based on this book. Well, this is an all-time great case of a movie being better than it's source material.

In two different ways, Higham writes like a gossip columnist. First, he focuses on the most salacious details. The first half of the book, for example, is primarily concerned with what famous names he's sleeping with (or that Higham at least alleges he's sleeping with). Higham is also prone to wild speculation, like when he ponders if Hughes was dying of AIDS in the 1970s. (The phrase clickbait didn't exist when this book was written, but man is it ever clickbait). Second, Higham's tone is frequently as smug and smirking as you'd imagine a particularly smarmy TMZ Zoom meeting to be. There are times when Hughes clearly deserves to be looked down on, but cackling is often Higham's default approach. He'll make needless insults of others, too, like when he cavalierly calls Ava Gardner an untalented slut.

As a result, even when Higham makes some valid points, you're not sure how much credibility to give him. For example, he makes a good case that Hughes's "Spruce Goose" was a rich boy's pipe dream that would never make a functional wartime aircraft (too huge a fire hazard risk; and so slow it's a sitting duck for any enemy aircraft). I mean, his points sounds reasonable, but given that it's Higham saying it, I wonder if I'm missing a counterpoint on behalf of the plane.

Compared to the movie, Scorsese cleans up Hughes's private life. In the movie he goes from Katherine Hepburn to some teenager to Ava Gardner. Here, he's routinely cheating on whoever he's with to the point where it's often hard to say if he has a real relationship. The movie has Hughes fall into his infamous isolated germphobic life right after his second plane crash only to rally for the big dramatic confrontation at the end, but in the book that isolation doesn't take off until a decade or so later.

Oh, that big plane crash he nearly died in? He wasn't supposed to flying over inhabited areas. You're never supposed to do that in test flights. But Hughes did because that's Howard Hughes for you. One final thing: Hughes committed vehicular manslaughter once. Hughes didn't care, and Higham only slightly cares.

It's a crummy, sleazy book.

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 1 out of 5]

You could say that 8.4 out of every 10 new facts about Howard Hughes in this book, you may never have heard of before, because it's likely to be fiction.

I think it's strange that the author will rely on the tall tales of that old Rodeo queen Randolph Scott about Hughes suppossed bisexuality that even J. Edgar Hoover couldn't uncover for 40 years in Hughes FBI File! If Hoover couldn't uncover some of the dirt, our G-Man Higham has! Mind you Higham made his fame by saying such about Cary Grant because of his roommate, and it's now believed that they played up the 'sissy' rumors as a practical joke occasionally, and well the author went all the way with that one, with his earlier book.

I've wondered why this was the most poorly written and flaky of Higham's books and it really ruins the occasionally credible fact in this and his other writings.

I would definately get at least the other top five books on Hughes before tackling this one.

[Mark Lieberman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read a few books this year, where Howard Hughes is mentioned. Not really knowing much about him, I sought out to find a good biography of him, and this one didn’t disappoint me.

Charles Higham provided an excellent background of Howard and his family, how he made money, all the romantic relationships (with males and females), his love of motion pictures, his love of aeronautics, his dealing with the US government and the CIA, and his controlling demeanor in everything he did as he brought or bribed a lot of people to get them on his side.

I enjoyed reading about how Howard Hughes got rid of the mob as he purchased several Las Vegas properties.

The movie, The Aviator, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes is based on this book, and the movie is now in my wish list on Netflix.

[Joey Madia · Rating 3 out of 5]

They say this is the book that The Aviator is based on, which is why I read it. It is primarily a sordid tell-most about Hughes sexual proclivities. The last third of the book captures the seclusion, government involvement (CIA, Watergate, Caribbean dealings), and declining physical health of Hughes and is the best of the book.

[Paul Annecy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Trata de dejar mal a Howard Hughes pero fracasa miserablemente debido a la impresionante vida de este personaje del siglo XX. No deberían dejar de hacer biografías en las que se nota el desprecio del autor hacia la persona sobre quien trata la biografía y coloca demasiados nombres y detalles innecesarios. Al menos debería tomarse una vía más objetiva.

[Micky Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

a very interesting read and insight into a intelligencent and maybe crazy man he indeed lived a full and strange life it is a interesting book from start to finish

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apparently this book was the basis for the film "The Aviator", with Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes. It contains a lot of details about millionaire Howard Hughe's life.

[Duane Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A life that defies description---an interesting man with a story that shocks!

[Josie]

I can’t believe this is the basis for The Aviator, because it’s awful. It’s quite trashy but the worst thing about this is how the author describes women - he’s gross. Watch The Aviator but don’t read this book! I’m hoping to find a better biography of Howard Hughes as he was definitely an interesting person.

[Daniel Keyes · Rating 2 out of 5]

El hecho que el autor de esta biografía no sea neutral hacia su biografiado y lo demuestre continuamente durante toda la obra mostrando su desagrado para con el personaje (por otro lado lógico dada la mezquindad de Hugues) hace que le acabes cogiendo una manía importante al piloto cineasta. Lo cual te desmotiva bastante la lectura. Además las partes puramente empresariales detalladas al milímetro resultan un poco tediosas. Esperaba más de este libro.

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Higham’s book emphasizes Howard Hughes’ eccentric personality. Hughes was the richest man of his time, known for his many affairs with celebrities, both male and female. He inherited his riches from his father’s successful business, the Sharp-Hughes Tool Company, which supplied parts to oil drilling companies. Hughes’ younger years included being a producer, film producer, pilot and inventor.

Ironically, as he became older, he became quite removed from society. The last twenty years of his life, he lived mostly in solitude. He became obsessed with not letting anyone touch him or touch anything around him. He had many aids, onsite doctors, cooks, but he also set up many rules. He instructed his staff to handle items using Kleenex tissues, and instructed them to do things in a certain orderly fashion, per his precise instructions. For instance, if meat was not cut in a certain way, he would return it to the kitchen, and refuse to eat it. If he saw a spot on an employee’s clothes, he would demand that it be cleaned immediately. It seemed like all the fame, all the responsibility (monetary and business affairs), were too much for him. He became paranoid and mistrusting. He reached the point where he couldn’t and wouldn’t make important decisions. This made it hard on his on his employees and business relations to know what to do since Hughes would not give them proper instructions on how to proceed.

He wouldn’t shave, brush his teeth, take a bath, cut his hair or cut his nails. He sat in his own filth, and wouldn’t exercise. He would instead just sit around and watch movies on his own private screenings all day long.

At the time, no one really understood Hughes’ peculiar behavior. Perhaps the only cure for such behavior that would have been considered at the time was a lobotomy. However, today we know that Hughes had a phobia for germs and also suffered from a condition called “Obsessive Compulsiveness.” This is a trait wherein an individual must feel control of things around him or her. It is an urgency that may perhaps seem nonsensical to others, but it is very important to the person with the obsession. Howard Hughes was a genius and with that genius was madness. He died on April 5, 1976 due to kidney failure and dehydration, and died intestate.

Higham writes about Hughes’ life, his affairs, his interest in aviation, and his scandals.

[Barb Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hughes........one of those brainiaic odd balls. Insightful !

His wealth was legendary. His passions were bizarre. Now, the truth about the money, the madness, and the man behind the enigma. Howard Hughes is one of the best known and least understood men of our times--famed for his wealth, his daring, and his descent into madness. Bestselling biographer Charles Higham goes beyond the enigma to reveal the incredible private life of Howard Hughes:* his romances with the great stars of Hollywood--Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Cary Grant, Tyrone Power, and numerous others* his forays into sadomasochism* his involvement with Richard Nixon and Watergate* his bizarre final yearsThis is a compelling portrait of a unique American figure--in a story as revealing as it is unforgettable.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book. but not a great one. Had never really read any biographies of Hughes. Not really sure this was a good one to start with. It claimed to be one of the books used as the basis for the exceptional movie, "The Aviator" but I sure don't see it. I suppose I will need to read a couple more to get a complete picture of the man's life. It certainly does dish the dirt, though. If Higham is to be believed, Hughes slept with just about everyone, male or female, who did movies. I have no reason to doubt it, based on other Golden Age of Hollywood memoirs I've read. Anyway, pick it up if you're a fan of tinseltown or scandal or aviation. There's some good stuff.