Howard Hughes
Obviously the Ryan character. Why wouldn't he have squashed this movie?
shareI wouldn't have known the Robert Ryan character was based on Hughes if I hadn't read it here. What's so obvious about it? The only similarity I see is that they're both neurotic rich tycoons. I never thought of Hughes as evil, the way this character is portrayed.
Interesting side note: Ryan was under contract to RKO during this period. Hughes gained control of RKO in 1948.
I think only those in Hughes' inner circle knew him to be that controlling and manipulative. Ava Gardner writes about his resorting to physical violence in an attempt to control her in her memoir.
shareIn one of her capsule reviews, Pauline Kael reveals that some of the most disturbing episodes in the movie were based on stories Ophuls heard from a couple of Hughes's girlfriends. Guess he was crazy long before his urine-storing days...
Also, as I point out in another post, the character's name is a hint--Ohlrig/oil rig, the drills for which were the cornerstone of the Hughes manufacturing empire.
mckee-4 says > I think only those in Hughes' inner circle knew him to be that controlling and manipulative. Ava Gardner writes about his resorting to physical violence in an attempt to control her in her memoir.Probably anyone who came into contact with him for personal or business reasons would soon realize just what kind of person Hughes was.
It's also possible Hughes had no problem with the movie. Maybe he did not see himself in Ohlrig. A lot of people are oblivious to their own true nature. They don't realize how truly evil they are.
Then again, maybe, like the Ohlrig character, Hughes knew exactly who he was; he embraced it. We may see the character as flawed but, remember, he thought it was weak to be nice. He thought his ways were right. He believed everyone wanted to use him for his money so they were the ones who were in the wrong.
Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate] share
I tend to agree about Hughes embracing his nature. I don't think he ever second-guessed himself, which was both his strength and his weakness.
In the tv documentary "Hollywood the Golden Years: The RKO Story", Stewart Granger states that he and his then wife, Jean Simmons, nearly tried to kill Hughes over the latter's obsessive control and outright sexual harassment of Jean, whom he had under contract.
"No, I don't like to cook, but I have a chicken in the icebox, and you're eating it."
tonight (1/23/12) Robert Osborne pointed out that Ryan knew his character was based on Hughes, approached Hughes (who held Ryan's contract) and asked permission to portray the movie role with a Hughes slant. Hughes, in turn, said it was ok to do it that way!
shareAppreciate everyone's input on the Hughes connection. It's amazing that he allowed Ryan to do it, all things considered, but you just never knew with Howard.
shareMaybe Howard Hughes was busy or hanging around in a projection room in his PJs watching "Hell's Angels" over and over or something when this film was being made. Maybe he was afraid of calling attention to himself. If he made a big fuss about this film maybe the public might get the idea he was a manipulative psychotic son of a b---ch, like the character in the movie, which he was in real life.
Hughes did have a lot of power, in Hollywood, during the thirties and forties. I read some years ago Orson Wells originally wanted to base the title character in "Citizen Kane" on Howard Hughes but was persuaded it would be a bad idea. He decided to play it safe (?) and base his main character on William Randolf Hurst. It all makes one wonder how "The Carpetbagger's" got made?
TAG LINE: True genius is a beautiful thing, but ignorance is ugly to the bone.
William Randolph Hearst
Tony
William222 says > I never thought of Hughes as evil, the way this character is portrayed.I think a lot of us may have been surprised to learn what a horrible person Hughes was because we're so far removed. At the time people probably knew his reputation through the stories that circulated about him.
On TCM I heard he had treated Jean Simmons brutally. I don't remember all the details but I think her contract was sold to him and she had one final movie to do. He wanted to have an affair with her but she would not so he forced her to do a movie she did not want to do. The entire time she was made to do take after take; I think her hair was chopped up then she was given a terrible itchy wig among other things.
That was just one incident. He was apparently similarly mean to other women he had been involved with or with whom he wanted to get involve. It wasn't just women who felt his wrath but he was particular cruel towards any woman he felt dared to reject him. What we saw in the movie was just a taste. Leonora got off easy because there was only so much one could show in 1949.
I saw the Howard Hughes movie a few years back but I don't recall that side of him being shown in the movie. The craziness later in his life but other than that I think he came across as a visionary. I guess the view of him depends on the source; some biographers may have been focused on different aspects of his life.
Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate] share