Howard Hughes
Did anyone else love the scene where Tucker met Hughes? Talk about eerie.
shareYeah I loved it! That's one of my favourite scenes in the movie. Dean Stockwell's portrayal of Hughes was great and very eerie too because it reminded me of Leonardio Dicaprio's portrayal of him in the Aviator. There were also few interesting details based on the character of Hughes like his refusing to shake hands with Tucker. It would've been cool if they had included this scene in the Aviator too.
shareMy Great-Grandfather worked for Howard Hughes until the late 1960's. When he saw the movie, he told us that the meeting between Preston Tucker and Howard Hughes never took place. He said, more than likey it would have been a phone call between the two, but never a face to face meeting. Hughes disliked confrontations. In the scene, Hughes tells Tucker about Aircooled Motors, however, Tucker had already purchased the firm and if infact he did contact Hughes it would have ben his contacts regarding the steel mills Tucker was bidding on, of which the bids and even the entire auctions were cancelled by the WAA even when Tucker was the highest bidder. The scene was created for the film for "dramatic license", most often used by filmmakers whan telling a story based on "true" facts. If the film would have been based entirely on facts, it would have been a documentary. This is not the case, since there are so many scenes that were created using "dramatic license".
shareThere was a lot of "dramatic license" going on in that scene. Were they supposed to be meeting with Howard Hughes in Culver City where the Spruce Goose was manufactured or in Long Beach where it was assembled? In the scene, the plane is assembled and was obviously shot in Long Beach back when the Spruce Goose was on display next to the Queen Mary. The plane was painted silver when it was first built and it was later painted white which is what we see in the movie. I liked how the camera angles attemped to give Dean Stockwell the illusion of being taller since the real Howard Hughes was well over 6 feet tall. He appears to be the same height as Jeff Bridges in the movie but I'm pretty sure he is somewhat shorter.
"Who knows, Mr. Gilbert, what a limit really is." Lincoln Bond, "Toward The Unknown", 1956
Yeah that was a really great scene & Dean was terrific in the role.
For those who don't already know....the reason Hughes didn't shake Tucker's hand wasn't becuz he was unfriendly. It was because he had Obsessive Compulsive Disorder & was deathly afraid of germs.
Checkout the movie "The Aviator" for more.