WEBVTT - "You’re Not Howard Hughes!" 0:00:15.370 --> 0:00:26.370 Pushkin. In nineteen seventy one, the prestigious New York publishers 0:00:26.410 --> 0:00:32.850 McGraw hill made a sensational announcement Howard Hughes had written 0:00:33.050 --> 0:00:38.570 his autobiography. The announcement was sensational because Howard Hughes had 0:00:38.610 --> 0:00:42.490 lived one of the most extraordinary lives of the twentieth century. 0:00:43.050 --> 0:00:46.290 Born in Texas in nineteen oh five, he became a 0:00:46.370 --> 0:00:50.410 movie mogul in the Golden Age of Hollywood and a handsome, 0:00:50.530 --> 0:00:54.250 dashing lover of movie stars. From Betty Davis, I just 0:00:54.290 --> 0:00:58.450 washed my hair to Katherine Hepburn fath Here to Ginter Rogers. 0:00:58.490 --> 0:01:00.450 No one could teach you to dance in a million year. 0:01:00.690 --> 0:01:03.410 Take my advice and save your money. Hughes was an 0:01:03.410 --> 0:01:07.290 aviator back in the days when planes were novel and dangerous. 0:01:07.650 --> 0:01:11.010 He set air speed record in nineteen thirty eight. He 0:01:11.130 --> 0:01:14.290 flew around the world in half the time anyone had 0:01:14.290 --> 0:01:18.130 managed before New York City through him a ticker tape parade. 0:01:18.690 --> 0:01:23.090 Hughes designed new and audacious aircraft and insisted on test 0:01:23.170 --> 0:01:28.490 piloting them himself. Twice. He was nearly killed in spectacular crashes. 0:01:29.130 --> 0:01:32.730 Between the movies and the planes. Investments in real estate 0:01:32.850 --> 0:01:35.810 and the oil drill company he'd inherited from his father. 0:01:36.450 --> 0:01:40.730 Howard Hughes became one of America's richest and most famous men, 0:01:42.690 --> 0:01:47.290 but his fortune couldn't buy him mental health. Hughes suffered 0:01:47.290 --> 0:01:52.370 from obsessive compulsive disorder. At first, the symptoms were manageable. 0:01:52.770 --> 0:01:56.090 He insisted on the same dinner every night, medium rare 0:01:56.170 --> 0:02:00.650 steak with salad and peas. He'd eat only the small peas. 0:02:01.370 --> 0:02:04.210 He was a germophobe, picking things up in a tissue. 0:02:04.890 --> 0:02:09.930 As he got older, his behavior became stranger. In nineteen 0:02:09.930 --> 0:02:13.930 fifty eight, Hughes went into a studio's darkened screening room 0:02:14.010 --> 0:02:18.170 to watch a movie and didn't come out for four months. 0:02:18.210 --> 0:02:22.690 He sat there, often naked, watching movie after movie. He 0:02:22.770 --> 0:02:26.850 didn't shower. He had his assistants bringing chicken, glasses of 0:02:26.890 --> 0:02:30.730 milk and chocolate bars. He wrote the memos reminding them 0:02:30.850 --> 0:02:34.610 not to look at him. When he eventually left the studio, 0:02:34.770 --> 0:02:38.250 he took to living in the penthouse suites of luxury hotels. 0:02:38.770 --> 0:02:42.650 He'd traveled between them, from Las Vegas to Beverly Hills 0:02:42.690 --> 0:02:49.250 to the Bahamas. He disappeared completely from public view. Years 0:02:49.250 --> 0:02:53.210 went by the longer Hughes spent as a recluse, the 0:02:53.290 --> 0:02:57.210 more the rumors swirled. Was he mad? Was he dead? 0:02:58.410 --> 0:03:02.290 Then in nineteen seventy one, that press release by McGraw 0:03:02.450 --> 0:03:07.130 hill Howard Hughes had written a rollicking thousand page account 0:03:07.170 --> 0:03:11.330 of his incredible life story. The media went wild. It 0:03:11.490 --> 0:03:13.770 was going to be the publishing event of the decade. 0:03:15.090 --> 0:03:19.730 There was only one problem. Howard Hughes didn't know a 0:03:19.890 --> 0:03:25.250 thing about it. I'm Tim Harford and you're listening to 0:03:25.530 --> 0:03:53.170 cautionary tales. In December nineteen seventy, Clifford Irving was leafing 0:03:53.250 --> 0:03:56.530 through a copy of Newsweek on an overnight ferry from 0:03:56.570 --> 0:04:00.370 Barcelona to the Ballyarics, a small chain of islands off 0:04:00.370 --> 0:04:05.050 the coast of Spain. Six ft two, suave and smooth talking, 0:04:05.490 --> 0:04:08.570 Irving had grown up in New York, but he made 0:04:08.570 --> 0:04:11.810 his home on the Baliaric island of Ibitha, where he 0:04:11.850 --> 0:04:15.170 shared a fifteen room house with his fourth wife, a 0:04:15.210 --> 0:04:19.530 Swiss German artist called Edith. Their two small children, local servants, 0:04:20.010 --> 0:04:26.770 and a pet monkey. Irving had just turned forty. His father, 0:04:26.930 --> 0:04:31.570 a famous cartoonist, had just died. Irving himself was an author, 0:04:31.690 --> 0:04:35.530 though not a famous one. He'd written a few novels, 0:04:35.530 --> 0:04:38.770 and most recently a biography of a fellow ibitha resident, 0:04:39.010 --> 0:04:43.850 a master art forger, published by McGraw hill. As the 0:04:43.970 --> 0:04:47.730 sun rose over the Mediterranean, the Faery stopped first at 0:04:47.730 --> 0:04:51.410 neighboring ma Yorker. That gave Irving a few hours to kill, 0:04:51.570 --> 0:04:55.450 so he called up his friend, Dick Suskind, another American 0:04:55.450 --> 0:05:00.330 writer who'd relocated to a sunny island. Suskind met Irving 0:05:00.370 --> 0:05:04.650 off the ferry and they drove back to his house. Listen, 0:05:04.930 --> 0:05:08.930 said Irving, I've got a wild idea. He pulled out 0:05:09.290 --> 0:05:13.370 copy of Newsweek and showed Suskined an article about Howard Hughes. 0:05:13.970 --> 0:05:18.890 It was titled the Case of the Invisible Billionaire. I 0:05:18.970 --> 0:05:24.010 read this on the boat last night. Irving explained his idea. 0:05:24.290 --> 0:05:28.810 Imagine if they wrote a biography of Hughes but published 0:05:28.810 --> 0:05:32.730 it as an autobiography, pretending that it was actually in 0:05:32.930 --> 0:05:38.530 Hughes's own words, as told to Clifford Irving, an autobiography 0:05:38.530 --> 0:05:41.210 would be a much bigger deal than a biography. It 0:05:41.250 --> 0:05:43.690 would sell better and bring in lots more money. They 0:05:43.690 --> 0:05:49.210 could make millions. The idea was wild because Hughes might 0:05:49.210 --> 0:05:53.010 deny it, but Irving was willing to bet that he wouldn't. 0:05:53.650 --> 0:05:57.170 As the newsweek piece made clear, Hughes hadn't spoken to 0:05:57.170 --> 0:06:00.730 the media for well over a decade. Even more promising, 0:06:00.970 --> 0:06:05.490 he seemed phobic about appearing in court. There's a story 0:06:05.530 --> 0:06:09.570 about a lawsuit involving Hughes's airline. His lawyer him to 0:06:09.570 --> 0:06:14.370 do one simple thing in person. Go to a courthouse, 0:06:14.890 --> 0:06:17.930 let a judge watch him sign a certain document, and 0:06:18.130 --> 0:06:24.130 leave again. Hughes winced. Supposing he didn't do it, He 0:06:24.210 --> 0:06:28.690 asked how much might it cost him? Maybe a hundred 0:06:28.690 --> 0:06:33.610 million dollars, said the lawyer. Okay, said Hughes. I won't bother. 0:06:35.090 --> 0:06:40.010 So if McGraw hill published an autobiography of Hughes, would 0:06:40.010 --> 0:06:43.650 he really take them to court? Surely the chances were 0:06:43.690 --> 0:06:47.810 that he wouldn't contest its authenticity. You've flipped your lid. 0:06:48.330 --> 0:06:51.970 McGraw hill's the most conservative publisher in New York. Let 0:06:52.170 --> 0:06:57.450 never go for an idea like that. You're probably right, 0:06:57.690 --> 0:07:02.370 said Irving. They drank coffee at breakfast and talked about 0:07:02.370 --> 0:07:05.650 other things. Then it was time to drive back for 0:07:05.770 --> 0:07:10.850 Irving's ferry. What if they didn't know it was a hoax. 0:07:11.730 --> 0:07:15.250 Suppose I told McGraw hill I was in touch with Hughes. 0:07:15.530 --> 0:07:18.850 Assume I could work out a phony private contract between 0:07:18.850 --> 0:07:22.570 me and Hughes forbidding communication between him and the publishers 0:07:22.690 --> 0:07:26.890 Jesus Christ. That could work, replied Suskind, What a fantastic idea. 0:07:27.130 --> 0:07:29.890 You know it could work. We could do it. They 0:07:30.090 --> 0:07:33.770 have to learn everything they could about Hughes's life. Suskind 0:07:33.810 --> 0:07:36.490 was good at research. Then that have to make it 0:07:36.570 --> 0:07:39.890 sound like Hughes had told the story. Irving had the 0:07:40.010 --> 0:07:43.970 literary flair for that. They went back and forth planning 0:07:43.970 --> 0:07:47.970 out the details. First, Irving would write to Beverly Loo, 0:07:48.210 --> 0:07:51.370 his editor at McGraw hill. He could say that Howard 0:07:51.450 --> 0:07:54.210 Hughes had known his father, and that had sent Hughes 0:07:54.250 --> 0:07:57.010 a copy of his latest book, The Biography of the 0:07:57.130 --> 0:08:00.530 Art Forger, along with a note about his father's recent passing. 0:08:01.170 --> 0:08:04.130 He'd say that Hughes had written back to express his 0:08:04.210 --> 0:08:07.650 condolences and also to say that he had enjoyed the 0:08:07.690 --> 0:08:12.770 biography had started to correspond, Hughes had expressed an interest 0:08:12.810 --> 0:08:15.650 in meeting with Irving so he could write Hughes's life 0:08:15.650 --> 0:08:20.010 story too, McGraw hill would want evidence. Of course, Irving 0:08:20.050 --> 0:08:23.170 would have to try his own hand at forgery. The 0:08:23.250 --> 0:08:27.370 Newsweek article contained a photo of a note in Hughes's handwriting, 0:08:27.690 --> 0:08:33.450 including his signature. It also mentioned that Hughes always wrote 0:08:33.490 --> 0:08:37.530 on yellow lined notepads of the kind used by lawyers. 0:08:37.570 --> 0:08:42.370 Suskind had just such a notepad at home. What about money. 0:08:42.850 --> 0:08:45.770 McGraw hill would pay Irving for his part in the book, 0:08:46.090 --> 0:08:49.490 but they'd have to pay more to Howard Hughes. After all, 0:08:49.690 --> 0:08:55.530 it was his autobiography that presented a problem. If McGraw 0:08:55.650 --> 0:08:59.530 hill wrote checks to Howard Hughes that didn't clear, they'd 0:08:59.530 --> 0:09:03.250 get suspicious. Irving and Suskin would need some way to 0:09:03.290 --> 0:09:09.010 pay those checks into a bank account. Irving had an idea. 0:09:09.250 --> 0:09:12.850 His wife, he told Suskind, just happened to have a 0:09:12.930 --> 0:09:16.610 spare Swiss passport. The last one she had applied for 0:09:16.770 --> 0:09:19.810 had seemed lost in the post. She got a replacement, 0:09:20.170 --> 0:09:24.410 then the first passport belatedly turned up. What if he 0:09:24.530 --> 0:09:28.970 could doctor that passport to change the name, say to 0:09:29.570 --> 0:09:34.330 Helga Hughes. Edith could open an account with a Swiss bank. 0:09:34.650 --> 0:09:38.290 They were famous for protecting their client's privacy. He'd just 0:09:38.410 --> 0:09:41.650 have to make sure that McGraw hill made the checks 0:09:41.650 --> 0:09:47.850 out to H. R. Hughes rather than Howard. But would 0:09:48.050 --> 0:09:51.410 Edith be up for the subterfuge? How would you like 0:09:51.530 --> 0:09:56.130 to change your name to Helga Ranata Hughes, said Irving, 0:09:56.410 --> 0:10:00.850 expatriate Swiss businesswoman who conducts her financial affairs only with 0:10:00.850 --> 0:10:05.850 her initial A. Well wig sure and dark glasses and lipstick. 0:10:06.330 --> 0:10:09.530 Maybe maybe not. I think about that. I thought you 0:10:09.610 --> 0:10:11.730 might not do it. I wasn't sure it was fair 0:10:11.770 --> 0:10:15.330 to ask. I help you. I don't let you down. 0:10:16.770 --> 0:10:21.370 They seem to have covered every angle except one. It 0:10:21.450 --> 0:10:25.810 seemed unlikely. But what if Hughes did appear in public 0:10:26.050 --> 0:10:28.410 to deny he'd been involved in the book. What then 0:10:29.090 --> 0:10:32.610 you say, but you're not Howard? Use said, suskind, help, 0:10:32.650 --> 0:10:40.570 I've been duped. The plan seems full proof. Irving has 0:10:40.570 --> 0:10:44.490 a go at mimicking Hughes's handwriting. He drafts a series 0:10:44.530 --> 0:10:49.810 of letters on the yellow legal pad. They look convincing enough. Next, 0:10:49.930 --> 0:10:54.370 he tackles Edith's spare passport. Passports in those days were 0:10:54.450 --> 0:10:58.730 less sophisticated than they are today. No microchips or holograms 0:10:58.810 --> 0:11:03.890 or biometrics. Irving explores the art supplies he's inherited from 0:11:03.890 --> 0:11:08.690 his cartoonist father and gets to work. He uses inca 0:11:08.810 --> 0:11:13.090 radic cater to raise Edith's name, takes a black felt 0:11:13.130 --> 0:11:19.050 tip and carefully writes in helga ranata hughes. He changes 0:11:19.090 --> 0:11:23.290 the number on the passport, turning threes into eights. He 0:11:23.410 --> 0:11:26.170 takes a photo of Edith in a wig and lipstick 0:11:26.410 --> 0:11:30.810 and replaces the existing passport photo. Now he tries to 0:11:30.970 --> 0:11:35.250 raise Edith's signature, but the ink eradicator starts to bleach 0:11:35.330 --> 0:11:40.690 the watermarked paper. He's getting tired and frustrated. He signs 0:11:40.970 --> 0:11:43.930 Helga nata hughes over the top and hopes it'll be 0:11:43.970 --> 0:11:50.570 good enough. Suskind isn't impressed. You must be kidding Christ. 0:11:50.610 --> 0:11:52.210 It looks like it was made by a six year 0:11:52.210 --> 0:11:55.690 old kid with a felt tip laundry marker. You're out 0:11:55.770 --> 0:11:58.850 of your mind. Look here at the helga. You can 0:11:58.890 --> 0:12:02.970 see Edith coming through like a palincest. It doesn't matter, 0:12:03.210 --> 0:12:05.730 Irving replied, I've talked to a few people who have 0:12:05.770 --> 0:12:08.010 bank accounts in Switzerland. They don't give a damn about 0:12:08.050 --> 0:12:11.450 those id papers. If the money's real, that's all I'll 0:12:11.450 --> 0:12:14.410 care about. I sure hope you know what you're doing, 0:12:14.530 --> 0:12:21.930 said suskind. So do, I replied Irving. Cautionary tales will 0:12:21.930 --> 0:12:39.810 be back after the break. On the twentieth floor of 0:12:39.890 --> 0:12:43.610 the offices of McGraw hill and New York, Clifford Irving 0:12:43.770 --> 0:12:48.330 and his editor, Beverly loo A meeting Beverly's boss. What 0:12:48.490 --> 0:12:51.330 I don't understand is why a man like Howard Hughes, 0:12:51.530 --> 0:12:55.210 who's avoided publicity all his life, should suddenly want to 0:12:55.210 --> 0:12:58.290 have his biography written, and, with all due respect to 0:12:58.290 --> 0:13:00.890 you as a writer, why he should choose you to 0:13:00.970 --> 0:13:04.530 work with him. He had to choose somebody, replied Irving. 0:13:05.170 --> 0:13:07.690 He wouldn't pick someone very well now on someone like 0:13:07.890 --> 0:13:10.850 Norman Mailer, would he? Then the book would be Mailer, 0:13:11.090 --> 0:13:15.650 not Hughes. Beverly Lou has been completely taken in. Cliff's 0:13:15.650 --> 0:13:18.890 a perfect choice. He's a professional, he delivers. She's not 0:13:18.970 --> 0:13:23.890 just Clifford Irving's editor. She's his friend, or so she thinks. 0:13:24.810 --> 0:13:28.250 They've known each other for years. She's vacationed at his house. 0:13:28.730 --> 0:13:31.410 It would hardly cross her mind that Irving was flat 0:13:31.490 --> 0:13:35.210 out lying about his access to Hughes. Well let's see 0:13:35.210 --> 0:13:39.890 these famous letters. Irving takes out the correspondence he's forged 0:13:40.010 --> 0:13:43.730 from Howard Hughes. One of the letters contains an answer 0:13:43.770 --> 0:13:48.930 to the boss's first question, why Hughes was suddenly embracing publicity. 0:13:49.570 --> 0:13:53.050 It would not suit me to die without having certain 0:13:53.330 --> 0:13:57.850 misconceptions cleared up, and without having stated the truth about 0:13:57.890 --> 0:14:03.450 my life. That sounds plausible. Beverly lou seems less skeptical 0:14:03.570 --> 0:14:07.570 than perhaps she should be. This match is certain. These 0:14:07.690 --> 0:14:11.450 are from Hughes, he always writes on that yellow legal paper. 0:14:12.330 --> 0:14:15.690 It's a pattern we've seen time and again in cautionary tales. 0:14:16.330 --> 0:14:19.810 If you want to believe, you'll find reasons to believe. 0:14:20.930 --> 0:14:25.570 Irving draws Beverly Loo further into his world of make believe. 0:14:26.290 --> 0:14:28.970 He tells her that Hughes told him to stay at 0:14:28.970 --> 0:14:33.890 a particular hotel in New York and await instructions. Those 0:14:33.890 --> 0:14:37.490 instructions have now come through. Irving must go to a 0:14:37.570 --> 0:14:42.090 certain American Express office, where he'll find that Howard Hughes 0:14:42.170 --> 0:14:45.330 has bought him a plane ticket to their first rendezvous. 0:14:45.970 --> 0:14:48.370 Would Beverly like to come along and see where he'll 0:14:48.370 --> 0:14:52.530 be going? She certainly would They go to the American 0:14:52.610 --> 0:14:55.610 Express Office. Do they happen to have a ticket for 0:14:55.770 --> 0:15:01.050 mister Clifford Irving. Yes, it's to Wahaka in southern Mexico. 0:15:02.170 --> 0:15:06.810 Irving pretends to share Beverly's surprise. Of course, he bought 0:15:06.850 --> 0:15:10.890 that ticket himself, and not just one ticket. He's going 0:15:10.930 --> 0:15:14.810 to Wahaka with his long time mistress. Of course, Irving 0:15:14.850 --> 0:15:18.970 has a mistress. She's a Danish aristocrat and folk singer, 0:15:19.290 --> 0:15:21.890 once famous as part of her husband and wife duo, 0:15:22.250 --> 0:15:26.410 now struggling to make a new solo career. The Baroness 0:15:26.530 --> 0:15:31.650 Nina von Palant. Irving has solemnly promised his wife Edith 0:15:31.770 --> 0:15:35.650 that he will never see his Danish lover again. Irving 0:15:35.690 --> 0:15:39.050 and Nina check into their Mexican hotel and go straight 0:15:39.050 --> 0:15:42.810 to bed. Listen, Nina, I want to tell you something. 0:15:43.210 --> 0:15:46.410 I need your word that this stays with you, that 0:15:46.530 --> 0:15:51.570 your lips are sealed. You have it. I'm not meeting 0:15:51.770 --> 0:15:55.330 Howard Hughes. It's all a lie, a hoax. The letters 0:15:55.330 --> 0:15:57.410 are forged, and I never spoke to the man in 0:15:57.490 --> 0:16:03.450 my life. What's so funny? I think that you're quite 0:16:03.530 --> 0:16:07.610 quite mad, but the word is mad. So what's the 0:16:07.650 --> 0:16:12.450 bloody difference. When Irving gets back to New York from 0:16:12.490 --> 0:16:16.290 his Mexican vacation, he tells Beverly Loo all about his 0:16:16.490 --> 0:16:20.730 meeting with Howard Hughes. The more details he gives, he decides, 0:16:21.170 --> 0:16:25.770 the more believable his tale will be. He was woken 0:16:25.850 --> 0:16:28.810 at five am in his hotel by a phone call 0:16:28.930 --> 0:16:31.890 from a man called Pedro, who picks him up in 0:16:31.890 --> 0:16:34.930 a Volkswagen, then flies him in Assessna to a town 0:16:35.050 --> 0:16:39.530 called to a Hantapeck. Howard is waiting for him in 0:16:39.570 --> 0:16:43.450 a little hotel and they drink orange juice together. The 0:16:43.570 --> 0:16:48.770 publishers are completely duped. They agree to Howard's fee five 0:16:49.050 --> 0:16:53.850 hundred thousand dollars and to his demands for secrecy. He 0:16:53.970 --> 0:16:58.330 wants to deal only with Irving McGraw hill draw up 0:16:58.330 --> 0:17:00.730 a contract and give it to Irving for him to 0:17:00.770 --> 0:17:04.730 get Hughes to sign. This time, he flies to Puerto 0:17:04.850 --> 0:17:08.130 Rico and comes back with a story about driving with 0:17:08.250 --> 0:17:12.410 Hughes into the tropical rainforest, where the billionaire instructs him 0:17:12.410 --> 0:17:17.970 to buy a bunch of bananas, very fat, short, sweet bananas. 0:17:18.170 --> 0:17:22.010 Irving explained, I said, I thought that Puerto Rican bananas 0:17:22.010 --> 0:17:24.690 were the best art ever eaten, and then he got 0:17:24.850 --> 0:17:29.690 very friendly. He likes a man who appreciates a good banana. 0:17:29.890 --> 0:17:33.490 Irving presents them with the signed contract and leaves with 0:17:33.570 --> 0:17:38.610 a check made out to H. R. Hughes. The eccentric 0:17:38.610 --> 0:17:43.050 old man insists on using his initials. Irving says. He 0:17:43.130 --> 0:17:45.490 takes the check home to a Beitha and gives it 0:17:45.530 --> 0:17:49.370 to Edith. She packs her bag for Zurich with her helga, 0:17:49.450 --> 0:17:54.250 hues wig and lipstick. She's nervous. She picks a bank 0:17:54.250 --> 0:17:57.650 at random and gives them the passport that Irving doctored. 0:17:58.250 --> 0:18:04.450 She steeled herself for awkward questions. They barely even look. 0:18:05.210 --> 0:18:10.570 The money is deposited without a problem. Relieved and triumphant, 0:18:10.810 --> 0:18:14.130 Edith heads home to a Betha, where Irving has been 0:18:14.170 --> 0:18:18.890 with Nina von Palant, His mistress believes the island just 0:18:19.050 --> 0:18:27.250 in time. By summer, Irving and Suskind realize they have 0:18:27.490 --> 0:18:32.170 a problem. They've read every public document about Howard Hughes 0:18:32.290 --> 0:18:34.610 that they can lay their hands on. They have a 0:18:34.610 --> 0:18:37.250 lot of detail about some parts of his life, but 0:18:37.450 --> 0:18:40.530 none at all about others. It's going to be difficult 0:18:40.530 --> 0:18:43.330 to keep up the pretense that Irving has interviewed Hughes. 0:18:43.570 --> 0:18:47.690 If they're gaping omissions from his life story, they start 0:18:47.730 --> 0:18:49.570 to think that they might have to pull the plug 0:18:49.570 --> 0:18:54.290 on the project. Hughes is known for his eccentricity. Irving 0:18:54.370 --> 0:18:57.250 can simply tell McGraw hill that Hughes has changed his 0:18:57.290 --> 0:19:00.610 mind and returned the money he's received so far. They 0:19:00.650 --> 0:19:04.050 needn't know it was all a hoax in anyway, What 0:19:04.130 --> 0:19:08.090 if they did find out we haven't stolen anything, reasoned Irving, 0:19:08.330 --> 0:19:10.450 I've lied, that's all. What can they do to me? 0:19:10.770 --> 0:19:12.690 As long as they get their money back? The worst 0:19:12.690 --> 0:19:14.890 thing they can do is yell, and I have a 0:19:14.890 --> 0:19:17.610 feeling they won't yell too loud because they might look 0:19:17.610 --> 0:19:22.370 pretty foolish. Before they give up, Irving and Suskin decide 0:19:22.410 --> 0:19:24.850 to make one last trip to the States to see 0:19:24.850 --> 0:19:29.410 what other information they can on earth. Driving past Palm Springs, 0:19:29.610 --> 0:19:33.370 Irving decides to call in on his aunt, and there 0:19:33.970 --> 0:19:36.890 they have a stroke of luck so ludicrous that you're 0:19:36.930 --> 0:19:40.130 going to believe Irving must have made it up, But 0:19:40.370 --> 0:19:43.890 he didn't. With the aunt, they see an old friend, 0:19:44.370 --> 0:19:48.610 a television producer who'd once encouraged the young Irving's ambitions 0:19:48.650 --> 0:19:52.050 as a writer. I might have a project for you, 0:19:52.330 --> 0:19:55.530 says the friend. Have you heard of someone called Noah Ditrick? 0:19:56.410 --> 0:20:01.330 Irving certainly has. Noah Ditrick was Howard Hughes's right hand 0:20:01.410 --> 0:20:05.690 man for thirty two years. Well, he's written and tell 0:20:05.890 --> 0:20:08.810 all memoir that he's trying to get published. But he's 0:20:08.850 --> 0:20:12.210 not any luck. The writer he employed did a lousy job. 0:20:12.410 --> 0:20:15.170 He's asked for my advice. Maybe you could take a 0:20:15.170 --> 0:20:17.570 look at the manuscript and see how to improve it. 0:20:17.690 --> 0:20:20.850 I'll lend it to you, but keep it confidential, won't 0:20:20.850 --> 0:20:25.490 you sure? Says Irving. Somehow, keeping a straight face, he 0:20:25.610 --> 0:20:29.450 and Suskin take the manuscript straight to the nearest Zerox shop. 0:20:30.450 --> 0:20:35.090 Jesus marveled Suskin. Could you imagine using a coincidence like 0:20:35.170 --> 0:20:37.970 this in a novel? The editor would laugh you out 0:20:37.970 --> 0:20:42.450 of his office. The manuscript has everything they needed, not 0:20:42.570 --> 0:20:45.690 just for the anecdotes, but for the insight into Howard 0:20:45.770 --> 0:20:50.010 Hughes's voice, the rhythms of his speech, his favorite expletives. 0:20:50.970 --> 0:20:54.930 Irving types up a list of recurring phrases and exclamations. 0:20:55.530 --> 0:21:00.330 He and Suskin learn it by heart. Then they write 0:21:00.370 --> 0:21:04.050 the book by interviewing each other taking turns to play 0:21:04.090 --> 0:21:06.890 the role of Hughes. Where they don't know a detail, 0:21:07.290 --> 0:21:12.210 they simply make it up. Their fictional hues. For example, 0:21:12.410 --> 0:21:16.290 traces his germophobia to a time his mother told him 0:21:16.330 --> 0:21:23.170 he could catch leprosy from cornbread. What about his first 0:21:23.250 --> 0:21:27.370 sexual experience, They make that up too, at the age 0:21:27.410 --> 0:21:31.330 of fifteen with his father's mistress, not knowing that his 0:21:31.490 --> 0:21:36.570 father drunk was watching. You know, said Irving, I have 0:21:36.610 --> 0:21:39.530 the feeling I know more about this man than anyone 0:21:39.570 --> 0:21:43.010 else in the world. Don't get carried away by all this, 0:21:43.330 --> 0:21:49.010 Launce Suskind. It's fiction. He made it up. Don't forget that. 0:21:53.090 --> 0:21:57.570 In December, a year after his wild idea, Irving is 0:21:57.610 --> 0:22:01.370 putting the finishing touches to his manuscript. He's on yet 0:22:01.450 --> 0:22:05.690 another Caribbean island with yet another woman, not his wife, 0:22:06.050 --> 0:22:11.610 supposedly conducting his final meeting with Howard Hughes. Back in 0:22:11.690 --> 0:22:17.170 New York. Meanwhile, McGraw hill make the official announcement they 0:22:17.250 --> 0:22:24.010 will be publishing the autobiography of Howard Hughes. This is 0:22:24.050 --> 0:22:27.890 the story of my life in my own words, says 0:22:27.930 --> 0:22:32.210 the press release, quoting someone claiming to be Hughes. This 0:22:32.610 --> 0:22:36.850 Hughes then pays fulsome tribute to his co author, Clifford 0:22:36.890 --> 0:22:43.650 Irving for his discernment, discretion, and integrity as a human being. 0:22:44.810 --> 0:22:48.130 It doesn't take long for Irving to get a nasty shock. 0:22:49.010 --> 0:22:53.450 Howard Hughes. His company puts out a statement there is 0:22:53.970 --> 0:22:58.610 no such book, and Hughes himself will speak to the 0:22:58.690 --> 0:23:16.250 press to confirm that cautionary tales will return soon. In 0:23:16.330 --> 0:23:21.490 her book The Confidence Game, the psychologist Maria Konokova analyzes 0:23:21.530 --> 0:23:25.290 what's happening at each stage of a contrick. It's a 0:23:25.410 --> 0:23:29.490 step by step process. The con artist must carefully choose 0:23:29.490 --> 0:23:33.570 their victim, sucker them in, make them believe, and keep 0:23:33.770 --> 0:23:38.130 ratcheting up their commitment. Up to now, Irving has done 0:23:38.170 --> 0:23:42.530 a textbook job. The final stage of the con she 0:23:42.690 --> 0:23:47.170 calls the blowoff. That's when the victim realizes they've been 0:23:47.210 --> 0:23:52.530 had and the con artist needs to avoid any unpleasant consequences. 0:23:54.250 --> 0:23:56.970 In this way, cons are no different to many other 0:23:57.130 --> 0:24:01.730 risky ventures starting a business, say, or a war. They 0:24:01.770 --> 0:24:05.050 make sense to think about an exit strategy. If this 0:24:05.170 --> 0:24:08.210 doesn't go to plan, how do I get out with 0:24:08.330 --> 0:24:13.250 minimal damage? The blowoff is often easier than we might think, 0:24:13.530 --> 0:24:17.930 says Connakova, Many victims of cons don't make a fuss 0:24:18.490 --> 0:24:21.610 because they don't want a reputation as a schmuck. If 0:24:21.650 --> 0:24:24.250 everyone knows you were taken in by a con artist, 0:24:24.730 --> 0:24:27.690 you'll be seen as an easy touch. Other people will 0:24:27.690 --> 0:24:30.170 try to fool you. You might decide it's better to 0:24:30.250 --> 0:24:36.050 keep silent, swallow your loss, and preserve your reputation. As 0:24:36.090 --> 0:24:40.490 Connakova puts it, we ourselves are the grifter's best chance 0:24:40.530 --> 0:24:43.930 of a successful blowoff. We don't want anyone to know 0:24:44.010 --> 0:24:50.050 we've been duped. Like all good con artists, Clifford Irving 0:24:50.210 --> 0:24:55.450 instinctively understood the importance of reputation to his victim. Remember 0:24:55.450 --> 0:24:58.490 what it'd said to Dick Suskind when they'd fretted that 0:24:58.610 --> 0:25:02.170 McGraw hill might find out about the hoax. The worst 0:25:02.170 --> 0:25:04.730 thing they can do is yell, and I have a 0:25:04.770 --> 0:25:07.770 feeling they won't yell too loud because they might look 0:25:07.770 --> 0:25:12.330 pretty foolish. That might have been true if they'd discovered 0:25:12.370 --> 0:25:16.730 Irving's con before the book was public knowledge, But once 0:25:16.810 --> 0:25:20.570 mc graw hill had made their announcement, keeping quiet was 0:25:20.610 --> 0:25:24.610 no longer an option. That left the other exit route 0:25:24.930 --> 0:25:28.850 Irving could say help, I've been hoaxed by someone pretending 0:25:28.850 --> 0:25:32.130 to be Howard Hughes. In other words, he could get 0:25:32.130 --> 0:25:36.650 off the hook by sacrificing his own reputation. But whenever 0:25:36.690 --> 0:25:40.250 you start a risky venture with an exit strategy in mind, 0:25:40.810 --> 0:25:44.010 there's a danger you can get so caught up in 0:25:44.170 --> 0:25:47.610 chasing success that you forget what your plan to do 0:25:47.770 --> 0:25:52.210 in case of failure. With every detail he'd improvised to 0:25:52.250 --> 0:25:55.210 make his meetings with Hughes seem more believable to mc 0:25:55.210 --> 0:25:59.730 graw hill, Irving had closed off his escape route. The 0:25:59.810 --> 0:26:04.050 impostor Hughes would have needed an accomplice called Pedro who 0:26:04.050 --> 0:26:07.210 could fly, assessner, that's a lot of trouble to go to. 0:26:08.050 --> 0:26:12.410 Irving had even that in one clandestine meeting, Hughes had 0:26:12.450 --> 0:26:15.610 introduced him to the Vice President of the United States, 0:26:15.970 --> 0:26:21.010 Spiro Agnew, another impostor. Just how stupid would Irving have 0:26:21.130 --> 0:26:25.690 to say he'd been. It would never work. Clifford Irving 0:26:26.010 --> 0:26:30.010 had blown his blowoff. His only hope now was that 0:26:30.050 --> 0:26:36.530 Howard Hughes wouldn't go public after all. On the seventh 0:26:36.570 --> 0:26:41.250 of January nineteen seventy two, seven journalists sat around a 0:26:41.290 --> 0:26:45.290 semicircular table in a conference room in a Los Angeles hotel, 0:26:45.890 --> 0:26:51.210 surrounded by cameras and facing a telephone on loudspeaker. They 0:26:51.250 --> 0:26:56.010 had been carefully selected by Howard Hughes's representatives. Most had 0:26:56.050 --> 0:26:59.370 known Hughes back in the day. If anyone could vouch 0:26:59.450 --> 0:27:01.370 for the voice that was about to come through the 0:27:01.410 --> 0:27:05.810 phone line, they could. I only wish I was still 0:27:05.850 --> 0:27:09.530 in the movie business, because I don't remember any as 0:27:09.570 --> 0:27:12.850 wild or as stretching the imagination as this yarn has 0:27:12.850 --> 0:27:15.570 turned out to be. I take it, sir, you do 0:27:15.610 --> 0:27:19.530 not know a man named Clifford Irving, then I don't 0:27:19.570 --> 0:27:22.450 know him. I never saw him. I've never heard of 0:27:22.530 --> 0:27:25.210 him until a matter of days ago when this thing 0:27:25.450 --> 0:27:28.810 first came to my attention. The air conditioning in the 0:27:28.890 --> 0:27:32.370 room was too loud, so the hotel had turned it off. 0:27:32.850 --> 0:27:37.170 The television lights were sweltering. The journalists began to wilt, 0:27:37.930 --> 0:27:40.650 but on the other end of the line, Hughes seemed 0:27:40.690 --> 0:27:44.290 to be having fun. He reminisced about the technical details 0:27:44.290 --> 0:27:48.490 of aircraft he had designed for two and a half hours. 0:27:48.730 --> 0:27:51.330 Har'd be happy to talk to you all just as 0:27:51.330 --> 0:27:55.410 long as you want, Irving and Suskind watched the press 0:27:55.450 --> 0:27:59.410 conference on TV, and hearing the voice of Howard Hughes 0:28:00.050 --> 0:28:03.410 was a shock. It wasn't just that they'd bet on 0:28:03.530 --> 0:28:08.330 him staying silent. They were shocked to remember he actually existed. 0:28:09.170 --> 0:28:12.010 They've got so used to thinking of Howard Hughes as 0:28:12.010 --> 0:28:16.290 their own fictional creation. But with no way out of 0:28:16.330 --> 0:28:20.330 the hoax, Irving had to double down. If he couldn't 0:28:20.330 --> 0:28:23.690 claim that his Howard Hughes had been an impostor, he'd 0:28:23.690 --> 0:28:27.930 have to insist that this one was instead. That's not him, 0:28:28.290 --> 0:28:30.970 said Irving. It's a damn good imitation of what he 0:28:31.050 --> 0:28:33.010 might have sounded like a few years ago when he 0:28:33.090 --> 0:28:37.050 was healthy. But it's not him. A disembodied voice on 0:28:37.090 --> 0:28:40.610 a speaker phone is one thing, Irving reasoned, A flesh 0:28:40.610 --> 0:28:44.650 and blood Howard Hughes in a courtroom was another thing altogether. 0:28:45.610 --> 0:28:48.930 If only he could keep some doubt alive, he might 0:28:49.090 --> 0:28:53.130 force Hughes to sue him, and maybe Hughes wouldn't go 0:28:53.170 --> 0:28:56.850 through with that. It was a desperate throw of the dice, 0:28:57.450 --> 0:29:00.890 and it convinced hardly anyone. Most people thought it really 0:29:00.930 --> 0:29:04.490