1 00:00:15,370 --> 00:00:26,370 Speaker 1: Pushkin. In nineteen seventy one, the prestigious New York publishers 2 00:00:26,410 --> 00:00:32,850 Speaker 1: McGraw hill made a sensational announcement Howard Hughes had written 3 00:00:33,050 --> 00:00:38,570 Speaker 1: his autobiography. The announcement was sensational because Howard Hughes had 4 00:00:38,610 --> 00:00:42,490 Speaker 1: lived one of the most extraordinary lives of the twentieth century. 5 00:00:43,050 --> 00:00:46,290 Speaker 1: Born in Texas in nineteen oh five, he became a 6 00:00:46,370 --> 00:00:50,410 Speaker 1: movie mogul in the Golden Age of Hollywood and a handsome, 7 00:00:50,530 --> 00:00:54,250 Speaker 1: dashing lover of movie stars. From Betty Davis, I just 8 00:00:54,290 --> 00:00:58,450 Speaker 1: washed my hair to Katherine Hepburn fath Here to Ginter Rogers. 9 00:00:58,490 --> 00:01:00,450 Speaker 1: No one could teach you to dance in a million year. 10 00:01:00,690 --> 00:01:03,410 Speaker 1: Take my advice and save your money. Hughes was an 11 00:01:03,410 --> 00:01:07,290 Speaker 1: aviator back in the days when planes were novel and dangerous. 12 00:01:07,650 --> 00:01:11,010 Speaker 1: He set air speed record in nineteen thirty eight. He 13 00:01:11,130 --> 00:01:14,290 Speaker 1: flew around the world in half the time anyone had 14 00:01:14,290 --> 00:01:18,130 Speaker 1: managed before New York City through him a ticker tape parade. 15 00:01:18,690 --> 00:01:23,090 Speaker 1: Hughes designed new and audacious aircraft and insisted on test 16 00:01:23,170 --> 00:01:28,490 Speaker 1: piloting them himself. Twice. He was nearly killed in spectacular crashes. 17 00:01:29,130 --> 00:01:32,730 Speaker 1: Between the movies and the planes. Investments in real estate 18 00:01:32,850 --> 00:01:35,810 Speaker 1: and the oil drill company he'd inherited from his father. 19 00:01:36,450 --> 00:01:40,730 Speaker 1: Howard Hughes became one of America's richest and most famous men, 20 00:01:42,690 --> 00:01:47,290 Speaker 1: but his fortune couldn't buy him mental health. Hughes suffered 21 00:01:47,290 --> 00:01:52,370 Speaker 1: from obsessive compulsive disorder. At first, the symptoms were manageable. 22 00:01:52,770 --> 00:01:56,090 Speaker 1: He insisted on the same dinner every night, medium rare 23 00:01:56,170 --> 00:02:00,650 Speaker 1: steak with salad and peas. He'd eat only the small peas. 24 00:02:01,370 --> 00:02:04,210 Speaker 1: He was a germophobe, picking things up in a tissue. 25 00:02:04,890 --> 00:02:09,930 Speaker 1: As he got older, his behavior became stranger. In nineteen 26 00:02:09,930 --> 00:02:13,930 Speaker 1: fifty eight, Hughes went into a studio's darkened screening room 27 00:02:14,010 --> 00:02:18,170 Speaker 1: to watch a movie and didn't come out for four months. 28 00:02:18,210 --> 00:02:22,690 Speaker 1: He sat there, often naked, watching movie after movie. He 29 00:02:22,770 --> 00:02:26,850 Speaker 1: didn't shower. He had his assistants bringing chicken, glasses of 30 00:02:26,890 --> 00:02:30,730 Speaker 1: milk and chocolate bars. He wrote the memos reminding them 31 00:02:30,850 --> 00:02:34,610 Speaker 1: not to look at him. When he eventually left the studio, 32 00:02:34,770 --> 00:02:38,250 Speaker 1: he took to living in the penthouse suites of luxury hotels. 33 00:02:38,770 --> 00:02:42,650 Speaker 1: He'd traveled between them, from Las Vegas to Beverly Hills 34 00:02:42,690 --> 00:02:49,250 Speaker 1: to the Bahamas. He disappeared completely from public view. Years 35 00:02:49,250 --> 00:02:53,210 Speaker 1: went by the longer Hughes spent as a recluse, the 36 00:02:53,290 --> 00:02:57,210 Speaker 1: more the rumors swirled. Was he mad? Was he dead? 37 00:02:58,410 --> 00:03:02,290 Speaker 1: Then in nineteen seventy one, that press release by McGraw 38 00:03:02,450 --> 00:03:07,130 Speaker 1: hill Howard Hughes had written a rollicking thousand page account 39 00:03:07,170 --> 00:03:11,330 Speaker 1: of his incredible life story. The media went wild. It 40 00:03:11,490 --> 00:03:13,770 Speaker 1: was going to be the publishing event of the decade. 41 00:03:15,090 --> 00:03:19,730 Speaker 1: There was only one problem. Howard Hughes didn't know a 42 00:03:19,890 --> 00:03:25,250 Speaker 1: thing about it. I'm Tim Harford and you're listening to 43 00:03:25,530 --> 00:03:53,170 Speaker 1: cautionary tales. In December nineteen seventy, Clifford Irving was leafing 44 00:03:53,250 --> 00:03:56,530 Speaker 1: through a copy of Newsweek on an overnight ferry from 45 00:03:56,570 --> 00:04:00,370 Speaker 1: Barcelona to the Ballyarics, a small chain of islands off 46 00:04:00,370 --> 00:04:05,050 Speaker 1: the coast of Spain. Six ft two, suave and smooth talking, 47 00:04:05,490 --> 00:04:08,570 Speaker 1: Irving had grown up in New York, but he made 48 00:04:08,570 --> 00:04:11,810 Speaker 1: his home on the Baliaric island of Ibitha, where he 49 00:04:11,850 --> 00:04:15,170 Speaker 1: shared a fifteen room house with his fourth wife, a 50 00:04:15,210 --> 00:04:19,530 Speaker 1: Swiss German artist called Edith. Their two small children, local servants, 51 00:04:20,010 --> 00:04:26,770 Speaker 1: and a pet monkey. Irving had just turned forty. His father, 52 00:04:26,930 --> 00:04:31,570 Speaker 1: a famous cartoonist, had just died. Irving himself was an author, 53 00:04:31,690 --> 00:04:35,530 Speaker 1: though not a famous one. He'd written a few novels, 54 00:04:35,530 --> 00:04:38,770 Speaker 1: and most recently a biography of a fellow ibitha resident, 55 00:04:39,010 --> 00:04:43,850 Speaker 1: a master art forger, published by McGraw hill. As the 56 00:04:43,970 --> 00:04:47,730 Speaker 1: sun rose over the Mediterranean, the Faery stopped first at 57 00:04:47,730 --> 00:04:51,410 Speaker 1: neighboring ma Yorker. That gave Irving a few hours to kill, 58 00:04:51,570 --> 00:04:55,450 Speaker 1: so he called up his friend, Dick Suskind, another American 59 00:04:55,450 --> 00:05:00,330 Speaker 1: writer who'd relocated to a sunny island. Suskind met Irving 60 00:05:00,370 --> 00:05:04,650 Speaker 1: off the ferry and they drove back to his house. Listen, 61 00:05:04,930 --> 00:05:08,930 Speaker 1: said Irving, I've got a wild idea. He pulled out 62 00:05:09,290 --> 00:05:13,370 Speaker 1: copy of Newsweek and showed Suskined an article about Howard Hughes. 63 00:05:13,970 --> 00:05:18,890 Speaker 1: It was titled the Case of the Invisible Billionaire. I 64 00:05:18,970 --> 00:05:24,010 Speaker 1: read this on the boat last night. Irving explained his idea. 65 00:05:24,290 --> 00:05:28,810 Speaker 1: Imagine if they wrote a biography of Hughes but published 66 00:05:28,810 --> 00:05:32,730 Speaker 1: it as an autobiography, pretending that it was actually in 67 00:05:32,930 --> 00:05:38,530 Speaker 1: Hughes's own words, as told to Clifford Irving, an autobiography 68 00:05:38,530 --> 00:05:41,210 Speaker 1: would be a much bigger deal than a biography. It 69 00:05:41,250 --> 00:05:43,690 Speaker 1: would sell better and bring in lots more money. They 70 00:05:43,690 --> 00:05:49,210 Speaker 1: could make millions. The idea was wild because Hughes might 71 00:05:49,210 --> 00:05:53,010 Speaker 1: deny it, but Irving was willing to bet that he wouldn't. 72 00:05:53,650 --> 00:05:57,170 Speaker 1: As the newsweek piece made clear, Hughes hadn't spoken to 73 00:05:57,170 --> 00:06:00,730 Speaker 1: the media for well over a decade. Even more promising, 74 00:06:00,970 --> 00:06:05,490 Speaker 1: he seemed phobic about appearing in court. There's a story 75 00:06:05,530 --> 00:06:09,570 Speaker 1: about a lawsuit involving Hughes's airline. His lawyer him to 76 00:06:09,570 --> 00:06:14,370 Speaker 1: do one simple thing in person. Go to a courthouse, 77 00:06:14,890 --> 00:06:17,930 Speaker 1: let a judge watch him sign a certain document, and 78 00:06:18,130 --> 00:06:24,130 Speaker 1: leave again. Hughes winced. Supposing he didn't do it, He 79 00:06:24,210 --> 00:06:28,690 Speaker 1: asked how much might it cost him? Maybe a hundred 80 00:06:28,690 --> 00:06:33,610 Speaker 1: million dollars, said the lawyer. Okay, said Hughes. I won't bother. 81 00:06:35,090 --> 00:06:40,010 Speaker 1: So if McGraw hill published an autobiography of Hughes, would 82 00:06:40,010 --> 00:06:43,650 Speaker 1: he really take them to court? Surely the chances were 83 00:06:43,690 --> 00:06:47,810 Speaker 1: that he wouldn't contest its authenticity. You've flipped your lid. 84 00:06:48,330 --> 00:06:51,970 Speaker 1: McGraw hill's the most conservative publisher in New York. Let 85 00:06:52,170 --> 00:06:57,450 Speaker 1: never go for an idea like that. You're probably right, 86 00:06:57,690 --> 00:07:02,370 Speaker 1: said Irving. They drank coffee at breakfast and talked about 87 00:07:02,370 --> 00:07:05,650 Speaker 1: other things. Then it was time to drive back for 88 00:07:05,770 --> 00:07:10,850 Speaker 1: Irving's ferry. What if they didn't know it was a hoax. 89 00:07:11,730 --> 00:07:15,250 Speaker 1: Suppose I told McGraw hill I was in touch with Hughes. 90 00:07:15,530 --> 00:07:18,850 Speaker 1: Assume I could work out a phony private contract between 91 00:07:18,850 --> 00:07:22,570 Speaker 1: me and Hughes forbidding communication between him and the publishers 92 00:07:22,690 --> 00:07:26,890 Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. That could work, replied Suskind, What a fantastic idea. 93 00:07:27,130 --> 00:07:29,890 Speaker 1: You know it could work. We could do it. They 94 00:07:30,090 --> 00:07:33,770 Speaker 1: have to learn everything they could about Hughes's life. Suskind 95 00:07:33,810 --> 00:07:36,490 Speaker 1: was good at research. Then that have to make it 96 00:07:36,570 --> 00:07:39,890 Speaker 1: sound like Hughes had told the story. Irving had the 97 00:07:40,010 --> 00:07:43,970 Speaker 1: literary flair for that. They went back and forth planning 98 00:07:43,970 --> 00:07:47,970 Speaker 1: out the details. First, Irving would write to Beverly Loo, 99 00:07:48,210 --> 00:07:51,370 Speaker 1: his editor at McGraw hill. He could say that Howard 100 00:07:51,450 --> 00:07:54,210 Speaker 1: Hughes had known his father, and that had sent Hughes 101 00:07:54,250 --> 00:07:57,010 Speaker 1: a copy of his latest book, The Biography of the 102 00:07:57,130 --> 00:08:00,530 Speaker 1: Art Forger, along with a note about his father's recent passing. 103 00:08:01,170 --> 00:08:04,130 Speaker 1: He'd say that Hughes had written back to express his 104 00:08:04,210 --> 00:08:07,650 Speaker 1: condolences and also to say that he had enjoyed the 105 00:08:07,690 --> 00:08:12,770 Speaker 1: biography had started to correspond, Hughes had expressed an interest 106 00:08:12,810 --> 00:08:15,650 Speaker 1: in meeting with Irving so he could write Hughes's life 107 00:08:15,650 --> 00:08:20,010 Speaker 1: story too, McGraw hill would want evidence. Of course, Irving 108 00:08:20,050 --> 00:08:23,170 Speaker 1: would have to try his own hand at forgery. The 109 00:08:23,250 --> 00:08:27,370 Speaker 1: Newsweek article contained a photo of a note in Hughes's handwriting, 110 00:08:27,690 --> 00:08:33,450 Speaker 1: including his signature. It also mentioned that Hughes always wrote 111 00:08:33,490 --> 00:08:37,530 Speaker 1: on yellow lined notepads of the kind used by lawyers. 112 00:08:37,570 --> 00:08:42,370 Speaker 1: Suskind had just such a notepad at home. What about money. 113 00:08:42,850 --> 00:08:45,770 Speaker 1: McGraw hill would pay Irving for his part in the book, 114 00:08:46,090 --> 00:08:49,490 Speaker 1: but they'd have to pay more to Howard Hughes. After all, 115 00:08:49,690 --> 00:08:55,530 Speaker 1: it was his autobiography that presented a problem. If McGraw 116 00:08:55,650 --> 00:08:59,530 Speaker 1: hill wrote checks to Howard Hughes that didn't clear, they'd 117 00:08:59,530 --> 00:09:03,250 Speaker 1: get suspicious. Irving and Suskin would need some way to 118 00:09:03,290 --> 00:09:09,010 Speaker 1: pay those checks into a bank account. Irving had an idea. 119 00:09:09,250 --> 00:09:12,850 Speaker 1: His wife, he told Suskind, just happened to have a 120 00:09:12,930 --> 00:09:16,610 Speaker 1: spare Swiss passport. The last one she had applied for 121 00:09:16,770 --> 00:09:19,810 Speaker 1: had seemed lost in the post. She got a replacement, 122 00:09:20,170 --> 00:09:24,410 Speaker 1: then the first passport belatedly turned up. What if he 123 00:09:24,530 --> 00:09:28,970 Speaker 1: could doctor that passport to change the name, say to 124 00:09:29,570 --> 00:09:34,330 Speaker 1: Helga Hughes. Edith could open an account with a Swiss bank. 125 00:09:34,650 --> 00:09:38,290 Speaker 1: They were famous for protecting their client's privacy. He'd just 126 00:09:38,410 --> 00:09:41,650 Speaker 1: have to make sure that McGraw hill made the checks 127 00:09:41,650 --> 00:09:47,850 Speaker 1: out to H. R. Hughes rather than Howard. But would 128 00:09:48,050 --> 00:09:51,410 Speaker 1: Edith be up for the subterfuge? How would you like 129 00:09:51,530 --> 00:09:56,130 Speaker 1: to change your name to Helga Ranata Hughes, said Irving, 130 00:09:56,410 --> 00:10:00,850 Speaker 1: expatriate Swiss businesswoman who conducts her financial affairs only with 131 00:10:00,850 --> 00:10:05,850 Speaker 1: her initial A. Well wig sure and dark glasses and lipstick. 132 00:10:06,330 --> 00:10:09,530 Speaker 1: Maybe maybe not. I think about that. I thought you 133 00:10:09,610 --> 00:10:11,730 Speaker 1: might not do it. I wasn't sure it was fair 134 00:10:11,770 --> 00:10:15,330 Speaker 1: to ask. I help you. I don't let you down. 135 00:10:16,770 --> 00:10:21,370 Speaker 1: They seem to have covered every angle except one. It 136 00:10:21,450 --> 00:10:25,810 Speaker 1: seemed unlikely. But what if Hughes did appear in public 137 00:10:26,050 --> 00:10:28,410 Speaker 1: to deny he'd been involved in the book. What then 138 00:10:29,090 --> 00:10:32,610 Speaker 1: you say, but you're not Howard? Use said, suskind, help, 139 00:10:32,650 --> 00:10:40,570 Speaker 1: I've been duped. The plan seems full proof. Irving has 140 00:10:40,570 --> 00:10:44,490 Speaker 1: a go at mimicking Hughes's handwriting. He drafts a series 141 00:10:44,530 --> 00:10:49,810 Speaker 1: of letters on the yellow legal pad. They look convincing enough. Next, 142 00:10:49,930 --> 00:10:54,370 Speaker 1: he tackles Edith's spare passport. Passports in those days were 143 00:10:54,450 --> 00:10:58,730 Speaker 1: less sophisticated than they are today. No microchips or holograms 144 00:10:58,810 --> 00:11:03,890 Speaker 1: or biometrics. Irving explores the art supplies he's inherited from 145 00:11:03,890 --> 00:11:08,690 Speaker 1: his cartoonist father and gets to work. He uses inca 146 00:11:08,810 --> 00:11:13,090 Speaker 1: radic cater to raise Edith's name, takes a black felt 147 00:11:13,130 --> 00:11:19,050 Speaker 1: tip and carefully writes in helga ranata hughes. He changes 148 00:11:19,090 --> 00:11:23,290 Speaker 1: the number on the passport, turning threes into eights. He 149 00:11:23,410 --> 00:11:26,170 Speaker 1: takes a photo of Edith in a wig and lipstick 150 00:11:26,410 --> 00:11:30,810 Speaker 1: and replaces the existing passport photo. Now he tries to 151 00:11:30,970 --> 00:11:35,250 Speaker 1: raise Edith's signature, but the ink eradicator starts to bleach 152 00:11:35,330 --> 00:11:40,690 Speaker 1: the watermarked paper. He's getting tired and frustrated. He signs 153 00:11:40,970 --> 00:11:43,930 Speaker 1: Helga nata hughes over the top and hopes it'll be 154 00:11:43,970 --> 00:11:50,570 Speaker 1: good enough. Suskind isn't impressed. You must be kidding Christ. 155 00:11:50,610 --> 00:11:52,210 Speaker 1: It looks like it was made by a six year 156 00:11:52,210 --> 00:11:55,690 Speaker 1: old kid with a felt tip laundry marker. You're out 157 00:11:55,770 --> 00:11:58,850 Speaker 1: of your mind. Look here at the helga. You can 158 00:11:58,890 --> 00:12:02,970 Speaker 1: see Edith coming through like a palincest. It doesn't matter, 159 00:12:03,210 --> 00:12:05,730 Speaker 1: Irving replied, I've talked to a few people who have 160 00:12:05,770 --> 00:12:08,010 Speaker 1: bank accounts in Switzerland. They don't give a damn about 161 00:12:08,050 --> 00:12:11,450 Speaker 1: those id papers. If the money's real, that's all I'll 162 00:12:11,450 --> 00:12:14,410 Speaker 1: care about. I sure hope you know what you're doing, 163 00:12:14,530 --> 00:12:21,930 Speaker 1: said suskind. So do, I replied Irving. Cautionary tales will 164 00:12:21,930 --> 00:12:39,810 Speaker 1: be back after the break. On the twentieth floor of 165 00:12:39,890 --> 00:12:43,610 Speaker 1: the offices of McGraw hill and New York, Clifford Irving 166 00:12:43,770 --> 00:12:48,330 Speaker 1: and his editor, Beverly loo A meeting Beverly's boss. What 167 00:12:48,490 --> 00:12:51,330 Speaker 1: I don't understand is why a man like Howard Hughes, 168 00:12:51,530 --> 00:12:55,210 Speaker 1: who's avoided publicity all his life, should suddenly want to 169 00:12:55,210 --> 00:12:58,290 Speaker 1: have his biography written, and, with all due respect to 170 00:12:58,290 --> 00:13:00,890 Speaker 1: you as a writer, why he should choose you to 171 00:13:00,970 --> 00:13:04,530 Speaker 1: work with him. He had to choose somebody, replied Irving. 172 00:13:05,170 --> 00:13:07,690 Speaker 1: He wouldn't pick someone very well now on someone like 173 00:13:07,890 --> 00:13:10,850 Speaker 1: Norman Mailer, would he? Then the book would be Mailer, 174 00:13:11,090 --> 00:13:15,650 Speaker 1: not Hughes. Beverly Lou has been completely taken in. Cliff's 175 00:13:15,650 --> 00:13:18,890 Speaker 1: a perfect choice. He's a professional, he delivers. She's not 176 00:13:18,970 --> 00:13:23,890 Speaker 1: just Clifford Irving's editor. She's his friend, or so she thinks. 177 00:13:24,810 --> 00:13:28,250 Speaker 1: They've known each other for years. She's vacationed at his house. 178 00:13:28,730 --> 00:13:31,410 Speaker 1: It would hardly cross her mind that Irving was flat 179 00:13:31,490 --> 00:13:35,210 Speaker 1: out lying about his access to Hughes. Well let's see 180 00:13:35,210 --> 00:13:39,890 Speaker 1: these famous letters. Irving takes out the correspondence he's forged 181 00:13:40,010 --> 00:13:43,730 Speaker 1: from Howard Hughes. One of the letters contains an answer 182 00:13:43,770 --> 00:13:48,930 Speaker 1: to the boss's first question, why Hughes was suddenly embracing publicity. 183 00:13:49,570 --> 00:13:53,050 Speaker 1: It would not suit me to die without having certain 184 00:13:53,330 --> 00:13:57,850 Speaker 1: misconceptions cleared up, and without having stated the truth about 185 00:13:57,890 --> 00:14:03,450 Speaker 1: my life. That sounds plausible. Beverly lou seems less skeptical 186 00:14:03,570 --> 00:14:07,570 Speaker 1: than perhaps she should be. This match is certain. These 187 00:14:07,690 --> 00:14:11,450 Speaker 1: are from Hughes, he always writes on that yellow legal paper. 188 00:14:12,330 --> 00:14:15,690 Speaker 1: It's a pattern we've seen time and again in cautionary tales. 189 00:14:16,330 --> 00:14:19,810 Speaker 1: If you want to believe, you'll find reasons to believe. 190 00:14:20,930 --> 00:14:25,570 Speaker 1: Irving draws Beverly Loo further into his world of make believe. 191 00:14:26,290 --> 00:14:28,970 Speaker 1: He tells her that Hughes told him to stay at 192 00:14:28,970 --> 00:14:33,890 Speaker 1: a particular hotel in New York and await instructions. Those 193 00:14:33,890 --> 00:14:37,490 Speaker 1: instructions have now come through. Irving must go to a 194 00:14:37,570 --> 00:14:42,090 Speaker 1: certain American Express office, where he'll find that Howard Hughes 195 00:14:42,170 --> 00:14:45,330 Speaker 1: has bought him a plane ticket to their first rendezvous. 196 00:14:45,970 --> 00:14:48,370 Speaker 1: Would Beverly like to come along and see where he'll 197 00:14:48,370 --> 00:14:52,530 Speaker 1: be going? She certainly would They go to the American 198 00:14:52,610 --> 00:14:55,610 Speaker 1: Express Office. Do they happen to have a ticket for 199 00:14:55,770 --> 00:15:01,050 Speaker 1: mister Clifford Irving. Yes, it's to Wahaka in southern Mexico. 200 00:15:02,170 --> 00:15:06,810 Speaker 1: Irving pretends to share Beverly's surprise. Of course, he bought 201 00:15:06,850 --> 00:15:10,890 Speaker 1: that ticket himself, and not just one ticket. He's going 202 00:15:10,930 --> 00:15:14,810 Speaker 1: to Wahaka with his long time mistress. Of course, Irving 203 00:15:14,850 --> 00:15:18,970 Speaker 1: has a mistress. She's a Danish aristocrat and folk singer, 204 00:15:19,290 --> 00:15:21,890 Speaker 1: once famous as part of her husband and wife duo, 205 00:15:22,250 --> 00:15:26,410 Speaker 1: now struggling to make a new solo career. The Baroness 206 00:15:26,530 --> 00:15:31,650 Speaker 1: Nina von Palant. Irving has solemnly promised his wife Edith 207 00:15:31,770 --> 00:15:35,650 Speaker 1: that he will never see his Danish lover again. Irving 208 00:15:35,690 --> 00:15:39,050 Speaker 1: and Nina check into their Mexican hotel and go straight 209 00:15:39,050 --> 00:15:42,810 Speaker 1: to bed. Listen, Nina, I want to tell you something. 210 00:15:43,210 --> 00:15:46,410 Speaker 1: I need your word that this stays with you, that 211 00:15:46,530 --> 00:15:51,570 Speaker 1: your lips are sealed. You have it. I'm not meeting 212 00:15:51,770 --> 00:15:55,330 Speaker 1: Howard Hughes. It's all a lie, a hoax. The letters 213 00:15:55,330 --> 00:15:57,410 Speaker 1: are forged, and I never spoke to the man in 214 00:15:57,490 --> 00:16:03,450 Speaker 1: my life. What's so funny? I think that you're quite 215 00:16:03,530 --> 00:16:07,610 Speaker 1: quite mad, but the word is mad. So what's the 216 00:16:07,650 --> 00:16:12,450 Speaker 1: bloody difference. When Irving gets back to New York from 217 00:16:12,490 --> 00:16:16,290 Speaker 1: his Mexican vacation, he tells Beverly Loo all about his 218 00:16:16,490 --> 00:16:20,730 Speaker 1: meeting with Howard Hughes. The more details he gives, he decides, 219 00:16:21,170 --> 00:16:25,770 Speaker 1: the more believable his tale will be. He was woken 220 00:16:25,850 --> 00:16:28,810 Speaker 1: at five am in his hotel by a phone call 221 00:16:28,930 --> 00:16:31,890 Speaker 1: from a man called Pedro, who picks him up in 222 00:16:31,890 --> 00:16:34,930 Speaker 1: a Volkswagen, then flies him in Assessna to a town 223 00:16:35,050 --> 00:16:39,530 Speaker 1: called to a Hantapeck. Howard is waiting for him in 224 00:16:39,570 --> 00:16:43,450 Speaker 1: a little hotel and they drink orange juice together. The 225 00:16:43,570 --> 00:16:48,770 Speaker 1: publishers are completely duped. They agree to Howard's fee five 226 00:16:49,050 --> 00:16:53,850 Speaker 1: hundred thousand dollars and to his demands for secrecy. He 227 00:16:53,970 --> 00:16:58,330 Speaker 1: wants to deal only with Irving McGraw hill draw up 228 00:16:58,330 --> 00:17:00,730 Speaker 1: a contract and give it to Irving for him to 229 00:17:00,770 --> 00:17:04,730 Speaker 1: get Hughes to sign. This time, he flies to Puerto 230 00:17:04,850 --> 00:17:08,130 Speaker 1: Rico and comes back with a story about driving with 231 00:17:08,250 --> 00:17:12,410 Speaker 1: Hughes into the tropical rainforest, where the billionaire instructs him 232 00:17:12,410 --> 00:17:17,970 Speaker 1: to buy a bunch of bananas, very fat, short, sweet bananas. 233 00:17:18,170 --> 00:17:22,010 Speaker 1: Irving explained, I said, I thought that Puerto Rican bananas 234 00:17:22,010 --> 00:17:24,690 Speaker 1: were the best art ever eaten, and then he got 235 00:17:24,850 --> 00:17:29,690 Speaker 1: very friendly. He likes a man who appreciates a good banana. 236 00:17:29,890 --> 00:17:33,490 Speaker 1: Irving presents them with the signed contract and leaves with 237 00:17:33,570 --> 00:17:38,610 Speaker 1: a check made out to H. R. Hughes. The eccentric 238 00:17:38,610 --> 00:17:43,050 Speaker 1: old man insists on using his initials. Irving says. He 239 00:17:43,130 --> 00:17:45,490 Speaker 1: takes the check home to a Beitha and gives it 240 00:17:45,530 --> 00:17:49,370 Speaker 1: to Edith. She packs her bag for Zurich with her helga, 241 00:17:49,450 --> 00:17:54,250 Speaker 1: hues wig and lipstick. She's nervous. She picks a bank 242 00:17:54,250 --> 00:17:57,650 Speaker 1: at random and gives them the passport that Irving doctored. 243 00:17:58,250 --> 00:18:04,450 Speaker 1: She steeled herself for awkward questions. They barely even look. 244 00:18:05,210 --> 00:18:10,570 Speaker 1: The money is deposited without a problem. Relieved and triumphant, 245 00:18:10,810 --> 00:18:14,130 Speaker 1: Edith heads home to a Betha, where Irving has been 246 00:18:14,170 --> 00:18:18,890 Speaker 1: with Nina von Palant, His mistress believes the island just 247 00:18:19,050 --> 00:18:27,250 Speaker 1: in time. By summer, Irving and Suskind realize they have 248 00:18:27,490 --> 00:18:32,170 Speaker 1: a problem. They've read every public document about Howard Hughes 249 00:18:32,290 --> 00:18:34,610 Speaker 1: that they can lay their hands on. They have a 250 00:18:34,610 --> 00:18:37,250 Speaker 1: lot of detail about some parts of his life, but 251 00:18:37,450 --> 00:18:40,530 Speaker 1: none at all about others. It's going to be difficult 252 00:18:40,530 --> 00:18:43,330 Speaker 1: to keep up the pretense that Irving has interviewed Hughes. 253 00:18:43,570 --> 00:18:47,690 Speaker 1: If they're gaping omissions from his life story, they start 254 00:18:47,730 --> 00:18:49,570 Speaker 1: to think that they might have to pull the plug 255 00:18:49,570 --> 00:18:54,290 Speaker 1: on the project. Hughes is known for his eccentricity. Irving 256 00:18:54,370 --> 00:18:57,250 Speaker 1: can simply tell McGraw hill that Hughes has changed his 257 00:18:57,290 --> 00:19:00,610 Speaker 1: mind and returned the money he's received so far. They 258 00:19:00,650 --> 00:19:04,050 Speaker 1: needn't know it was all a hoax in anyway, What 259 00:19:04,130 --> 00:19:08,090 Speaker 1: if they did find out we haven't stolen anything, reasoned Irving, 260 00:19:08,330 --> 00:19:10,450 Speaker 1: I've lied, that's all. What can they do to me? 261 00:19:10,770 --> 00:19:12,690 Speaker 1: As long as they get their money back? The worst 262 00:19:12,690 --> 00:19:14,890 Speaker 1: thing they can do is yell, and I have a 263 00:19:14,890 --> 00:19:17,610 Speaker 1: feeling they won't yell too loud because they might look 264 00:19:17,610 --> 00:19:22,370 Speaker 1: pretty foolish. Before they give up, Irving and Suskin decide 265 00:19:22,410 --> 00:19:24,850 Speaker 1: to make one last trip to the States to see 266 00:19:24,850 --> 00:19:29,410 Speaker 1: what other information they can on earth. Driving past Palm Springs, 267 00:19:29,610 --> 00:19:33,370 Speaker 1: Irving decides to call in on his aunt, and there 268 00:19:33,970 --> 00:19:36,890 Speaker 1: they have a stroke of luck so ludicrous that you're 269 00:19:36,930 --> 00:19:40,130 Speaker 1: going to believe Irving must have made it up, But 270 00:19:40,370 --> 00:19:43,890 Speaker 1: he didn't. With the aunt, they see an old friend, 271 00:19:44,370 --> 00:19:48,610 Speaker 1: a television producer who'd once encouraged the young Irving's ambitions 272 00:19:48,650 --> 00:19:52,050 Speaker 1: as a writer. I might have a project for you, 273 00:19:52,330 --> 00:19:55,530 Speaker 1: says the friend. Have you heard of someone called Noah Ditrick? 274 00:19:56,410 --> 00:20:01,330 Speaker 1: Irving certainly has. Noah Ditrick was Howard Hughes's right hand 275 00:20:01,410 --> 00:20:05,690 Speaker 1: man for thirty two years. Well, he's written and tell 276 00:20:05,890 --> 00:20:08,810 Speaker 1: all memoir that he's trying to get published. But he's 277 00:20:08,850 --> 00:20:12,210 Speaker 1: not any luck. The writer he employed did a lousy job. 278 00:20:12,410 --> 00:20:15,170 Speaker 1: He's asked for my advice. Maybe you could take a 279 00:20:15,170 --> 00:20:17,570 Speaker 1: look at the manuscript and see how to improve it. 280 00:20:17,690 --> 00:20:20,850 Speaker 1: I'll lend it to you, but keep it confidential, won't 281 00:20:20,850 --> 00:20:25,490 Speaker 1: you sure? Says Irving. Somehow, keeping a straight face, he 282 00:20:25,610 --> 00:20:29,450 Speaker 1: and Suskin take the manuscript straight to the nearest Zerox shop. 283 00:20:30,450 --> 00:20:35,090 Speaker 1: Jesus marveled Suskin. Could you imagine using a coincidence like 284 00:20:35,170 --> 00:20:37,970 Speaker 1: this in a novel? The editor would laugh you out 285 00:20:37,970 --> 00:20:42,450 Speaker 1: of his office. The manuscript has everything they needed, not 286 00:20:42,570 --> 00:20:45,690 Speaker 1: just for the anecdotes, but for the insight into Howard 287 00:20:45,770 --> 00:20:50,010 Speaker 1: Hughes's voice, the rhythms of his speech, his favorite expletives. 288 00:20:50,970 --> 00:20:54,930 Speaker 1: Irving types up a list of recurring phrases and exclamations. 289 00:20:55,530 --> 00:21:00,330 Speaker 1: He and Suskin learn it by heart. Then they write 290 00:21:00,370 --> 00:21:04,050 Speaker 1: the book by interviewing each other taking turns to play 291 00:21:04,090 --> 00:21:06,890 Speaker 1: the role of Hughes. Where they don't know a detail, 292 00:21:07,290 --> 00:21:12,210 Speaker 1: they simply make it up. Their fictional hues. For example, 293 00:21:12,410 --> 00:21:16,290 Speaker 1: traces his germophobia to a time his mother told him 294 00:21:16,330 --> 00:21:23,170 Speaker 1: he could catch leprosy from cornbread. What about his first 295 00:21:23,250 --> 00:21:27,370 Speaker 1: sexual experience, They make that up too, at the age 296 00:21:27,410 --> 00:21:31,330 Speaker 1: of fifteen with his father's mistress, not knowing that his 297 00:21:31,490 --> 00:21:36,570 Speaker 1: father drunk was watching. You know, said Irving, I have 298 00:21:36,610 --> 00:21:39,530 Speaker 1: the feeling I know more about this man than anyone 299 00:21:39,570 --> 00:21:43,010 Speaker 1: else in the world. Don't get carried away by all this, 300 00:21:43,330 --> 00:21:49,010 Speaker 1: Launce Suskind. It's fiction. He made it up. Don't forget that. 301 00:21:53,090 --> 00:21:57,570 Speaker 1: In December, a year after his wild idea, Irving is 302 00:21:57,610 --> 00:22:01,370 Speaker 1: putting the finishing touches to his manuscript. He's on yet 303 00:22:01,450 --> 00:22:05,690 Speaker 1: another Caribbean island with yet another woman, not his wife, 304 00:22:06,050 --> 00:22:11,610 Speaker 1: supposedly conducting his final meeting with Howard Hughes. Back in 305 00:22:11,690 --> 00:22:17,170 Speaker 1: New York. Meanwhile, McGraw hill make the official announcement they 306 00:22:17,250 --> 00:22:24,010 Speaker 1: will be publishing the autobiography of Howard Hughes. This is 307 00:22:24,050 --> 00:22:27,890 Speaker 1: the story of my life in my own words, says 308 00:22:27,930 --> 00:22:32,210 Speaker 1: the press release, quoting someone claiming to be Hughes. This 309 00:22:32,610 --> 00:22:36,850 Speaker 1: Hughes then pays fulsome tribute to his co author, Clifford 310 00:22:36,890 --> 00:22:43,650 Speaker 1: Irving for his discernment, discretion, and integrity as a human being. 311 00:22:44,810 --> 00:22:48,130 Speaker 1: It doesn't take long for Irving to get a nasty shock. 312 00:22:49,010 --> 00:22:53,450 Speaker 1: Howard Hughes. His company puts out a statement there is 313 00:22:53,970 --> 00:22:58,610 Speaker 1: no such book, and Hughes himself will speak to the 314 00:22:58,690 --> 00:23:16,250 Speaker 1: press to confirm that cautionary tales will return soon. In 315 00:23:16,330 --> 00:23:21,490 Speaker 1: her book The Confidence Game, the psychologist Maria Konokova analyzes 316 00:23:21,530 --> 00:23:25,290 Speaker 1: what's happening at each stage of a contrick. It's a 317 00:23:25,410 --> 00:23:29,490 Speaker 1: step by step process. The con artist must carefully choose 318 00:23:29,490 --> 00:23:33,570 Speaker 1: their victim, sucker them in, make them believe, and keep 319 00:23:33,770 --> 00:23:38,130 Speaker 1: ratcheting up their commitment. Up to now, Irving has done 320 00:23:38,170 --> 00:23:42,530 Speaker 1: a textbook job. The final stage of the con she 321 00:23:42,690 --> 00:23:47,170 Speaker 1: calls the blowoff. That's when the victim realizes they've been 322 00:23:47,210 --> 00:23:52,530 Speaker 1: had and the con artist needs to avoid any unpleasant consequences. 323 00:23:54,250 --> 00:23:56,970 Speaker 1: In this way, cons are no different to many other 324 00:23:57,130 --> 00:24:01,730 Speaker 1: risky ventures starting a business, say, or a war. They 325 00:24:01,770 --> 00:24:05,050 Speaker 1: make sense to think about an exit strategy. If this 326 00:24:05,170 --> 00:24:08,210 Speaker 1: doesn't go to plan, how do I get out with 327 00:24:08,330 --> 00:24:13,250 Speaker 1: minimal damage? The blowoff is often easier than we might think, 328 00:24:13,530 --> 00:24:17,930 Speaker 1: says Connakova, Many victims of cons don't make a fuss 329 00:24:18,490 --> 00:24:21,610 Speaker 1: because they don't want a reputation as a schmuck. If 330 00:24:21,650 --> 00:24:24,250 Speaker 1: everyone knows you were taken in by a con artist, 331 00:24:24,730 --> 00:24:27,690 Speaker 1: you'll be seen as an easy touch. Other people will 332 00:24:27,690 --> 00:24:30,170 Speaker 1: try to fool you. You might decide it's better to 333 00:24:30,250 --> 00:24:36,050 Speaker 1: keep silent, swallow your loss, and preserve your reputation. As 334 00:24:36,090 --> 00:24:40,490 Speaker 1: Connakova puts it, we ourselves are the grifter's best chance 335 00:24:40,530 --> 00:24:43,930 Speaker 1: of a successful blowoff. We don't want anyone to know 336 00:24:44,010 --> 00:24:50,050 Speaker 1: we've been duped. Like all good con artists, Clifford Irving 337 00:24:50,210 --> 00:24:55,450 Speaker 1: instinctively understood the importance of reputation to his victim. Remember 338 00:24:55,450 --> 00:24:58,490 Speaker 1: what it'd said to Dick Suskind when they'd fretted that 339 00:24:58,610 --> 00:25:02,170 Speaker 1: McGraw hill might find out about the hoax. The worst 340 00:25:02,170 --> 00:25:04,730 Speaker 1: thing they can do is yell, and I have a 341 00:25:04,770 --> 00:25:07,770 Speaker 1: feeling they won't yell too loud because they might look 342 00:25:07,770 --> 00:25:12,330 Speaker 1: pretty foolish. That might have been true if they'd discovered 343 00:25:12,370 --> 00:25:16,730 Speaker 1: Irving's con before the book was public knowledge, But once 344 00:25:16,810 --> 00:25:20,570 Speaker 1: mc graw hill had made their announcement, keeping quiet was 345 00:25:20,610 --> 00:25:24,610 Speaker 1: no longer an option. That left the other exit route 346 00:25:24,930 --> 00:25:28,850 Speaker 1: Irving could say help, I've been hoaxed by someone pretending 347 00:25:28,850 --> 00:25:32,130 Speaker 1: to be Howard Hughes. In other words, he could get 348 00:25:32,130 --> 00:25:36,650 Speaker 1: off the hook by sacrificing his own reputation. But whenever 349 00:25:36,690 --> 00:25:40,250 Speaker 1: you start a risky venture with an exit strategy in mind, 350 00:25:40,810 --> 00:25:44,010 Speaker 1: there's a danger you can get so caught up in 351 00:25:44,170 --> 00:25:47,610 Speaker 1: chasing success that you forget what your plan to do 352 00:25:47,770 --> 00:25:52,210 Speaker 1: in case of failure. With every detail he'd improvised to 353 00:25:52,250 --> 00:25:55,210 Speaker 1: make his meetings with Hughes seem more believable to mc 354 00:25:55,210 --> 00:25:59,730 Speaker 1: graw hill, Irving had closed off his escape route. The 355 00:25:59,810 --> 00:26:04,050 Speaker 1: impostor Hughes would have needed an accomplice called Pedro who 356 00:26:04,050 --> 00:26:07,210 Speaker 1: could fly, assessner, that's a lot of trouble to go to. 357 00:26:08,050 --> 00:26:12,410 Speaker 1: Irving had even that in one clandestine meeting, Hughes had 358 00:26:12,450 --> 00:26:15,610 Speaker 1: introduced him to the Vice President of the United States, 359 00:26:15,970 --> 00:26:21,010 Speaker 1: Spiro Agnew, another impostor. Just how stupid would Irving have 360 00:26:21,130 --> 00:26:25,690 Speaker 1: to say he'd been. It would never work. Clifford Irving 361 00:26:26,010 --> 00:26:30,010 Speaker 1: had blown his blowoff. His only hope now was that 362 00:26:30,050 --> 00:26:36,530 Speaker 1: Howard Hughes wouldn't go public after all. On the seventh 363 00:26:36,570 --> 00:26:41,250 Speaker 1: of January nineteen seventy two, seven journalists sat around a 364 00:26:41,290 --> 00:26:45,290 Speaker 1: semicircular table in a conference room in a Los Angeles hotel, 365 00:26:45,890 --> 00:26:51,210 Speaker 1: surrounded by cameras and facing a telephone on loudspeaker. They 366 00:26:51,250 --> 00:26:56,010 Speaker 1: had been carefully selected by Howard Hughes's representatives. Most had 367 00:26:56,050 --> 00:26:59,370 Speaker 1: known Hughes back in the day. If anyone could vouch 368 00:26:59,450 --> 00:27:01,370 Speaker 1: for the voice that was about to come through the 369 00:27:01,410 --> 00:27:05,810 Speaker 1: phone line, they could. I only wish I was still 370 00:27:05,850 --> 00:27:09,530 Speaker 1: in the movie business, because I don't remember any as 371 00:27:09,570 --> 00:27:12,850 Speaker 1: wild or as stretching the imagination as this yarn has 372 00:27:12,850 --> 00:27:15,570 Speaker 1: turned out to be. I take it, sir, you do 373 00:27:15,610 --> 00:27:19,530 Speaker 1: not know a man named Clifford Irving, then I don't 374 00:27:19,570 --> 00:27:22,450 Speaker 1: know him. I never saw him. I've never heard of 375 00:27:22,530 --> 00:27:25,210 Speaker 1: him until a matter of days ago when this thing 376 00:27:25,450 --> 00:27:28,810 Speaker 1: first came to my attention. The air conditioning in the 377 00:27:28,890 --> 00:27:32,370 Speaker 1: room was too loud, so the hotel had turned it off. 378 00:27:32,850 --> 00:27:37,170 Speaker 1: The television lights were sweltering. The journalists began to wilt, 379 00:27:37,930 --> 00:27:40,650 Speaker 1: but on the other end of the line, Hughes seemed 380 00:27:40,690 --> 00:27:44,290 Speaker 1: to be having fun. He reminisced about the technical details 381 00:27:44,290 --> 00:27:48,490 Speaker 1: of aircraft he had designed for two and a half hours. 382 00:27:48,730 --> 00:27:51,330 Speaker 1: Har'd be happy to talk to you all just as 383 00:27:51,330 --> 00:27:55,410 Speaker 1: long as you want, Irving and Suskind watched the press 384 00:27:55,450 --> 00:27:59,410 Speaker 1: conference on TV, and hearing the voice of Howard Hughes 385 00:28:00,050 --> 00:28:03,410 Speaker 1: was a shock. It wasn't just that they'd bet on 386 00:28:03,530 --> 00:28:08,330 Speaker 1: him staying silent. They were shocked to remember he actually existed. 387 00:28:09,170 --> 00:28:12,010 Speaker 1: They've got so used to thinking of Howard Hughes as 388 00:28:12,010 --> 00:28:16,290 Speaker 1: their own fictional creation. But with no way out of 389 00:28:16,330 --> 00:28:20,330 Speaker 1: the hoax, Irving had to double down. If he couldn't 390 00:28:20,330 --> 00:28:23,690 Speaker 1: claim that his Howard Hughes had been an impostor, he'd 391 00:28:23,690 --> 00:28:27,930 Speaker 1: have to insist that this one was instead. That's not him, 392 00:28:28,290 --> 00:28:30,970 Speaker 1: said Irving. It's a damn good imitation of what he 393 00:28:31,050 --> 00:28:33,010 Speaker 1: might have sounded like a few years ago when he 394 00:28:33,090 --> 00:28:37,050 Speaker 1: was healthy. But it's not him. A disembodied voice on 395 00:28:37,090 --> 00:28:40,610 Speaker 1: a speaker phone is one thing, Irving reasoned, A flesh 396 00:28:40,610 --> 00:28:44,650 Speaker 1: and blood Howard Hughes in a courtroom was another thing altogether. 397 00:28:45,610 --> 00:28:48,930 Speaker 1: If only he could keep some doubt alive, he might 398 00:28:49,090 --> 00:28:53,130 Speaker 1: force Hughes to sue him, and maybe Hughes wouldn't go 399 00:28:53,170 --> 00:28:56,850 Speaker 1: through with that. It was a desperate throw of the dice, 400 00:28:57,450 --> 00:29:00,890 Speaker 1: and it convinced hardly anyone. Most people thought it really 401 00:29:00,930 --> 00:29:04,490 Speaker 1: had been Howard Hughes on the phone, but they also 402 00:29:04,570 --> 00:29:09,090 Speaker 1: doubted what Howard Hughes had said. One journalist summed up 403 00:29:09,170 --> 00:29:13,890 Speaker 1: the consensus view, it's entirely consistent with the personality of 404 00:29:13,930 --> 00:29:18,210 Speaker 1: Howard Hughes to dictate his autobiography and then deny it. 405 00:29:19,850 --> 00:29:23,530 Speaker 1: McGraw hill continued to insist that their book was genuine 406 00:29:23,650 --> 00:29:27,210 Speaker 1: and they'd publish it as planned. The boss held a 407 00:29:27,210 --> 00:29:31,810 Speaker 1: press conference despite his denial. Today McGraw hill has in 408 00:29:31,890 --> 00:29:35,610 Speaker 1: its possession a tremendous amount of documentation which, in our 409 00:29:35,690 --> 00:29:39,210 Speaker 1: opinion indicates beyond the shadow of a doubt, that this 410 00:29:39,370 --> 00:29:42,930 Speaker 1: is the authentic autobiography and that we have the authorization 411 00:29:43,130 --> 00:29:46,810 Speaker 1: to publish it. They weren't just taking Clifford Irving's word 412 00:29:46,850 --> 00:29:49,770 Speaker 1: for it. They'd sent the letters from Howard Hughes to 413 00:29:49,850 --> 00:29:54,890 Speaker 1: a firm of handwriting analysts. Irving surprise, the well respected 414 00:29:54,930 --> 00:29:58,690 Speaker 1: firm confidently declared the odds of a forgery to be 415 00:29:58,770 --> 00:30:02,850 Speaker 1: a million to one. At his press conference, the boss 416 00:30:02,850 --> 00:30:07,450 Speaker 1: of McGraw hill brandished some of that tremendous amount of documentation, 417 00:30:08,250 --> 00:30:13,290 Speaker 1: including fact similars of checks that h. R. Hughes had countersigned. 418 00:30:14,050 --> 00:30:17,010 Speaker 1: The checks revealed at which bank they had been paid in. 419 00:30:17,890 --> 00:30:23,250 Speaker 1: That was a crucial piece of information. Hughes on the 420 00:30:23,290 --> 00:30:27,810 Speaker 1: phone had zeroed in on the key question, this money 421 00:30:27,890 --> 00:30:32,690 Speaker 1: didn't enter any of my bank accounts. Where is it again? 422 00:30:33,130 --> 00:30:37,530 Speaker 1: Irving hadn't thought things through the Howard Hughes he imagined 423 00:30:37,570 --> 00:30:42,290 Speaker 1: so vividly. The fictional Howard Hughes might ponder legal action, 424 00:30:42,530 --> 00:30:45,890 Speaker 1: but would then shy away, made helpless by his fear 425 00:30:45,970 --> 00:30:50,850 Speaker 1: of appearing in public. But the actual, real life Howard Hughes, 426 00:30:50,970 --> 00:30:55,610 Speaker 1: the billionaire Howard Hughes, had plenty of other options. For example, 427 00:30:55,930 --> 00:30:59,890 Speaker 1: he could instruct a private detective to assemble evidence for 428 00:30:59,970 --> 00:31:04,970 Speaker 1: the police, and he did. Thanks to those images of checks, 429 00:31:05,290 --> 00:31:08,810 Speaker 1: the private detective had a lead. The detective did some 430 00:31:08,850 --> 00:31:11,970 Speaker 1: digging at the Swiss bank and soon discovered that the 431 00:31:12,330 --> 00:31:15,610 Speaker 1: Hr Hughes who paid in the checks was a woman 432 00:31:16,010 --> 00:31:20,490 Speaker 1: in her mid thirties, five ft three and German that 433 00:31:20,690 --> 00:31:26,170 Speaker 1: sounded remarkably like Clifford Irving's wife. The detective sourced some 434 00:31:26,210 --> 00:31:29,210 Speaker 1: photos of Edith and showed them to the cashier who 435 00:31:29,330 --> 00:31:33,570 Speaker 1: dealt with Helga Hughes. She looked at them. The hair 436 00:31:33,650 --> 00:31:37,970 Speaker 1: wasn't right, but yes, the face looked very close to 437 00:31:37,970 --> 00:31:45,130 Speaker 1: what she remembered when the law got involved. The end 438 00:31:45,290 --> 00:31:49,610 Speaker 1: came quickly. Irving's trial was a media circus, and there 439 00:31:49,690 --> 00:31:54,210 Speaker 1: was no doubt about its star performer, The Baroness Nina 440 00:31:54,410 --> 00:32:00,770 Speaker 1: von paaland the beautiful charismatic mistress captivated the public. She 441 00:32:00,930 --> 00:32:05,490 Speaker 1: was on magazine front pages and TV chat shows. Edith 442 00:32:05,810 --> 00:32:10,490 Speaker 1: meanwhile got two years in prison in Switzerland forgery and fraud. 443 00:32:11,250 --> 00:32:16,010 Speaker 1: Later she got a divorce. Clifford Irving was given a 444 00:32:16,050 --> 00:32:19,730 Speaker 1: similar sentence in New York. He promptly wrote a memoir 445 00:32:19,810 --> 00:32:22,370 Speaker 1: about the hoax, in which he seems to struggle with 446 00:32:22,450 --> 00:32:26,210 Speaker 1: the thought that he really did anything wrong. He talks 447 00:32:26,250 --> 00:32:31,330 Speaker 1: about his magnificent shape and how it had a certain grandeur, 448 00:32:31,730 --> 00:32:35,890 Speaker 1: a reckless and artistic splendor in the oppressed, middle class 449 00:32:35,930 --> 00:32:38,530 Speaker 1: world of America, where so few men try to do 450 00:32:38,610 --> 00:32:41,770 Speaker 1: anything other than cut along the dotted line. Could the 451 00:32:41,890 --> 00:32:45,570 Speaker 1: failure itself of a bold and lunatic scheme be the 452 00:32:45,650 --> 00:32:49,850 Speaker 1: image of ultimate success. It's one way of looking at it. 453 00:32:50,410 --> 00:32:53,490 Speaker 1: Although perhaps the person who got most success from this 454 00:32:53,610 --> 00:32:57,610 Speaker 1: bold and lunatic scheme was a once famous Danish folk 455 00:32:57,690 --> 00:33:03,730 Speaker 1: singer with a career to rebuild bookings flooded in and 456 00:33:03,970 --> 00:33:08,850 Speaker 1: parts in Hollywood movies. The publicity said Nina's manager was 457 00:33:09,130 --> 00:33:15,090 Speaker 1: earth as much as an Academy award. The story of 458 00:33:15,130 --> 00:33:20,170 Speaker 1: the fake autobiography has a coda. In two thousand and six, 459 00:33:20,610 --> 00:33:25,210 Speaker 1: thirty five years after The Hoax, Clifford Irving's memoir was 460 00:33:25,250 --> 00:33:30,770 Speaker 1: turned into a film. It was called The Hoax. Clifford 461 00:33:30,770 --> 00:33:36,530 Speaker 1: Irving was played by Richard gear. Irving hated the film. 462 00:33:36,570 --> 00:33:40,370 Speaker 1: He complained that it portrayed him as a sleazy, money 463 00:33:40,370 --> 00:33:43,530 Speaker 1: grubbing low life. That wasn't true at all. He said 464 00:33:44,090 --> 00:33:48,250 Speaker 1: his motives weren't base, they were noble. Having thought of 465 00:33:48,290 --> 00:33:51,330 Speaker 1: the hoax, he simply had to do it like a 466 00:33:51,410 --> 00:33:57,570 Speaker 1: mountaineer has to climb a mountain because it's there. Irving 467 00:33:57,650 --> 00:34:01,130 Speaker 1: made clear that the film was nothing to do with him. 468 00:34:01,970 --> 00:34:05,170 Speaker 1: He didn't want people to think that this fictional version 469 00:34:05,210 --> 00:34:11,170 Speaker 1: of himself was who he really was. Perhaps at last 470 00:34:11,930 --> 00:34:16,770 Speaker 1: he'd come to understand how Howard Hughes must have felt. 471 00:34:24,410 --> 00:34:26,690 Speaker 1: For a full list of our sources, please see the 472 00:34:26,690 --> 00:34:39,850 Speaker 1: show notes at Tim Harford dot com. Portionary Tales is 473 00:34:39,890 --> 00:34:43,890 Speaker 1: written by me Tim Harford with Andrew Wright. It's produced 474 00:34:43,930 --> 00:34:47,770 Speaker 1: by Ryan Dilley with support from Courtney Guarino and Emily Vaughan. 475 00:34:48,250 --> 00:34:51,090 Speaker 1: The sound design and original music is the work of 476 00:34:51,330 --> 00:34:54,810 Speaker 1: Pascal Wise. It features the voice talents of Ben Crow, 477 00:34:55,210 --> 00:34:59,850 Speaker 1: Melanie Gutridge, Stella Harford, and rufus Wright. The show also 478 00:34:59,930 --> 00:35:02,690 Speaker 1: wouldn't have been possible without the work of Mia La Belle, 479 00:35:03,090 --> 00:35:08,210 Speaker 1: Jacob Weisberg, Heather Fane, John Schnas, Julia Barton, Karlie mcgliori, 480 00:35:08,610 --> 00:35:14,370 Speaker 1: Eric's Royston, Basserve, Maggie Taylor, Nicole Mrano, Danielle Lakhan, and 481 00:35:14,570 --> 00:35:19,450 Speaker 1: Maya Kanig. Cautionary Tales is a production of Pushkin Industries. 482 00:35:19,730 --> 00:35:22,410 Speaker 1: If you like the show, please remember to share, rate 483 00:35:22,530 --> 00:35:25,610 Speaker 1: and review, tell a friend, tell two friends, and if 484 00:35:25,610 --> 00:35:27,850 Speaker 1: you want to hear the show, adds free and listen 485 00:35:27,850 --> 00:35:32,090 Speaker 1: to four exclusive Cautionary Tales shorts. Then sign up for 486 00:35:32,210 --> 00:35:35,730 Speaker 1: Pushkin Plus on the show page in Apple Podcasts or 487 00:35:35,850 --> 00:35:38,650 Speaker 1: at pushkin dot fm, slash plus