In what would cause a fantastic media frenzy, Clifford Irving sells his bogus biography of Howard Hughes to a premiere publishing house in the early 1970s.In what would cause a fantastic media frenzy, Clifford Irving sells his bogus biography of Howard Hughes to a premiere publishing house in the early 1970s.In what would cause a fantastic media frenzy, Clifford Irving sells his bogus biography of Howard Hughes to a premiere publishing house in the early 1970s.
- Awards
- 1 win & 3 nominations
- Bike Messenger
- (as Raul Julia Jr.)
- Man with Red Tie
- (as Stephen Buck)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe real-life story that this film depicts unfolded as Orson Welles was making his film F for Fake (1973) in which the real Clifford Irving appears. Because of Irving's new-found notoriety, Welles was obliged to add some additional footage to his film.
- GoofsAbout 12 minutes into the movie before Irving is to meet with McGraw Hill, there is a southerly view of Manhattan with the Empire State Building in the foreground. In the distance looking toward lower Manhattan are the buildings of the World Financial Center. These buildings did not exist in 1971. Also, in 1971 the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center would be visibly under construction albeit not very tall at that time.
- Quotes
Clifford Irving: Bumped by this adolescent coffee boy. My lit professor at Cornell compared me to Hemingway! The middle of my life is at hand, and I don't have a couch.
Dick Suskind: Think about this: Henry Miller was 38-years-old, unpublished. His wife left him for a lesbian.
Clifford Irving: You're kind to tell me that, Dick. You're a very good man. You're a good friend. Need a loan?
Dick Suskind: Always.
- SoundtracksHere Comes the Sun
Written by George Harrison
Performed by Richie Havens
Courtesy of Stormy Forest Productions Inc. Masters
By arrangement with Bug
Clifford Irving (Richard Gere) is down on his literary luck, searching for the right kind of story that will set is publisher Andrea Tate (Hope Davis) on fire. Irving wife Edith (Marcia Gay Harden) is an active painter and doesn't give Irving the support he gets from his pal Dick Suskind (Alfred Molina), but on the messy floor of Edith's studio is a rag magazine with a cover picture of the mysterious Howard Hughes and bingo! up comes the idea for an 'autobiography' of the wizard as confided to Irving and researched by Suskind. That is really the plot then, how these two men squirm around lies and good luck to forge papers and gain the favor of the publishers. Of course it all caves in, but in the publicity about the book Nixon's secrets are revealed and the rest is history.
Gere, Molina, Harden, Davis, Stanley Tucci, Julie Delphy and Eli Wallach add immeasurably to the success of the film. No, it is not a heavy story, but the scandalous years of the 1970s are treated realistically and provide a lot of memories, both good and bad, about how we all changed in that post Vietnam time. Worth watching for that! Grady Harp
- gradyharp
- Oct 18, 2007
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $25,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $7,164,995
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $1,501,000
- Apr 8, 2007
- Gross worldwide
- $11,772,461
- Runtime1 hour 56 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1