The story opens with a very young Hughes being lovingly washed by his mother who is paralyzed by her fears of contagion and infectious disease. While this might seem initially obscure, the very nature of these ablutions will go a long way to explaining Hughes’ eventual obsession with cleanliness. In many ways, the young Howard Hughes is a mirror of the driven Ted Turner -- the Mouth of the South -- a simple Texas boy struggling to maintain the viability of his deceased father’s Hughes Tool Company and driven by his inner demons. But Howard has a passion for aircraft and is using his father’s company to finance his own ambition to film the World War I aerial thriller "Hell’s Angels." Blocked or ignored by such Hollywood icons as the irascible Louis B. Mayer, Hughes sticks to his vision of an aerial tour-de-force and makes his film despite his detractors. Not only does he make his film but it is a huge hit and he is immediately the toast of Hollywood. The effect of this success on Hughes is interesting – a wiry, handsome man to begin with, he soon finds himself surrounded by the anointed of La-La Land –- with Jean Harlow on his arm and a sloshed Errol Flynn picking peas off of his dinner plate. It is evident that Hughes is not all that comfortable in this environment. Where others wear a tuxedo with ease Hughes is more at home in an off-the-rack brown suit from J.C. Penney’s and a pair of white sneakers. He is an odd duck and obviously uneasy with interpersonal relations –- women, drawn to him by his seeming power and handsome good looks, are rather a mystery to Howard who is much more comfortable with a set of blueprints and a Pratt and Whitney rotary engine. Introduced early in the script is Glenn Odekirk, a brilliant aviation engineer and the man destined to become Howard’s lifelong friend and collaborator. In combination Hughes and Odekirk are a juggernaut of aviation innovation and seemingly well matched. Indeed, there are many times when it becomes all too apparent that Howard is infinitely more comfortable in Odie’s presence discussing drag coefficients than he will ever be in the presence of a woman. That is the way Hughes’ mind is wired.
Howard Hughes’ unease in social settings is highlighted by his notorious and wonderfully portrayed association with the actress Katherine Hepburn. Hepburn, wry, direct, almost mannish in her direct, take no prisoners style, is rather an odd match for Hughes but they seem genuinely to hit it off. It is almost as if Hughes has found the other half of himself when he is in her presence. They seem to delight in each others’ company. So much so that Kate takes him home to New England to meet her family. Now this is an interesting sequence and can only be alluded to in its wonderfully crafted absurdity – think Monty Python’s "British Upper Class Twits Competition" and you will have a general appreciation of what transpires at this ultimately ill-fated meeting. Now, equally as captivating as the "human interest" passages of this script are the aviation and engineering sequences. Did I really just write that? Good lord, it seems inconceivable that this material could be interesting and yet it is. Logan has done his job exceptionally well here. In the male dominated and highly technical world of aviation engineering Odie and Howard share a bond which they can never share with a woman and if you have never witnessed such a phenomenon you have never seen teen-aged boy computer geeks interacting. It’s a curiously intoxicating mix of engineering challenges to be overcome by brain power and determination.
As Howard and Odie work to produce the ever better performing aircraft, Howard continues to funnel money into their various projects seemingly oblivious of the world around him. Yes, he is making TWA into a cash cow; yes, he is designing and developing aircraft to support America’s war effort but, on a personal level, Howard Hughes is a naïf. A frustrated and disillusioned Kate finally leaves him to be with Spencer Tracy. Hughes picks out a young starlet to replace her, much as he would replace an old suit or pair of shoes, and focuses on his brutal competition with Juan Tripp of Pan Am Airlines. He dabbles in film production and all the while he strives to push the envelope on aircraft design and production. When Hughes’ maverick experimentation with the XF-11 aircraft project hits a catastrophic speed bump the wolves, led by his arch-rival Tripp, close in for the kill. In a riveting sequence in which Hughes’ is aided by the tender attentions of screen legend Ava Gardner, Hughes rises to meet the challenge in a tense face-off before a Congressional hearing.
Now, to go any further or deeper at this point would be to give away the game and that I most certainly do not want to do. For those with a short attention span, I said that on going into this reading I was not attracted by the subject matter –- not even remotely. That I was so drawn in and caught up by the characters and the story speak volumes for this script and for the writer. John Logan, wherever you are, good work. I wish Scorsese and DiCaprio the very best on their efforts to bring this story to the screen. It will likely take them a year or so but I will anxiously await the results. There’s an old expression popular among German fighter pilots during World War I -- von Richtofen, Boelcke and that crowd -- "Hals und Bein brech’! Horrido!" or essentially "May you break your neck and your legs" it being considered bad luck to wish a pilot good luck. Well, in this case, "Hals und Bein brech’," boys! Fellows, you’ll have to work hard to screw this one up -– it’s that good.
Frederick J. Chiaventone, an award-winning novelist and screenwriter, is a retired Army officer and Professor Emeritus of International Security Affairs at the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College. His most recent book, Moon of Bitter Cold, a novel of Red Cloud’s war, has just been nominated for the Pulitzer. His most recent piece for American Heritage magazine (October 2002) is on Native American leadership.
Novel "Moon of Bitter Cold" Named Winner of Prestigious 42nd Annual "Wrangler Award"
Frederick J. Chiaventone has been selected to receive the annual "Wrangler Award" for "Moon of Bitter Cold" as the Best Novel of the American West 2002. The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum announced the 2002 winners of the 42nd Western Heritage Awards. The black-tie awards gala will be held on April 12, 2003 in the Museum's majestic Sam Noble Special Events Center. The event will honor principal creators in six literary categories. Popular actor, William Devane, will serve as emcee for the event. Other recipients of the award this year include Jeffery Katzenberg of Dreamworks SKG and actor Patrick Stewart. Past recipients of the coveted award include actors Clint Eastwood, Kevin Costner, Tom Selleck, and Sam Elliott, and authors A.B. Guthrie, Dr. Brian Dippie, David McCullough, Alvin M. Josephy, Thomas Berger, and James A. Michener. Chiaventone's previous novel "A Road We Do Not Know" about the disastrous battle of the Little Bighorn won the Ambassador William Colby Award for Literature. A screenwriter as well as novelist, Chiaventone is managed by Michael Prevett of The Firm.
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