The Hoax Page #3

- It's my ankle.

- It's all out of focus anyway.

- Jesus.

- Want another drink?

- Yeah.

- Yeah, me, too.

Oh, f***.

Harold, this book will sell more copies

than the Bible.

And our competitors will kill to get it,

and if they can't get it,

they will do anything they can

to destroy it.

I say we sign this contract immediately,

and institute absolute, total secrecy.

Total. Not even wives can know.

Within reason.

From now on,

we refer to Hughes as "Octavio."

The book is called "Project Octavio."

HAROLD:

Get Ralph Graves on the phone.

That's the code name.

I want our journalist friends

to weigh in on this

before I sign

Mr. Hughes' piece of paper.

Look at all this security personnel.

This is a secure facility.

We need the information

in portable form.

Just look comfortable, be buoyant.

Hell, they can let anybody in here.

- What if I'm a Russian?

- Be a buoyant Russian.

Records? What for?

You don't know what the hell's going on

with your own company?

Well, to be honest with you, Sergeant,

no, actually, we don't.

Mr. Hughes doesn't like

to share information.

It's very frustrating for us.

You want frustration?

You want frustration?

Call Hughes Aircraft and try to find out

when your plane's gonna be ready.

I've seen decorated individuals

sobbing like six-year-old girls

after dealing with you people.

Could my associate

use your facilities, Sergeant?

Could he?

- Thank you for that.

- To your left.

I'll level with you.

We've had some problems.

Everyone has told us stories

about delays.

Well, I can't get anybody on the phone,

for one thing.

- I had no idea it was this serious.

- It's very serious.

- Frustrating.

- Can you go into any more detail?

Well, the only details I can tell you

is that I've been on the phone

three times today to one girl,

who doesn't know

what she's talking about,

can't tell me when

I'm gonna get my airplanes.

Which office were you talking to?

Do you mind if I write something down?

- Sure.

- This was the complaint department?

- No, acquisitions.

- Acquisitions?

Acquisitions, as far as I know.

My people been dealing with her,

or somebody down there,

for the last three months,

trying to get two aircrafts.

This is an outrage.

An outrage,

the military should be treated that way.

No. No. I'm not doing it.

Hi.

Thank you.

- Hey, Dick. You all right?

- Yeah.

Okay. Keep moving, keep moving.

- Just fine, just fine.

- It's palpitations.

It's okay. A little bit more,

a little bit more. Keep moving.

Sit down here. That's good.

You all right?

You're fine. You're fine.

Fight or flight. It's an animal thing.

It's like you're being chased

by a cheetah or something.

Okay, okay. I'll be fine.

- You okay?

- Yeah, I'm good.

Look, Noah Dietrich, on the right.

Howard Hughes' right-hand man

for over 30 years.

Retired to Vegas.

The other guy, I don't know.

Vegas?

You know, my guess is this guy,

Dietrich, is going to be really cagey.

Information?

Las Vegas, Nevada, please.

Hello?

Mr. Dietrich?

- Yeah?

- Yeah, I'm sorry to bother you at home.

My name is Clifford Irving

and I'm writing a book

about the history of aviation.

I'd be really grateful if you'd share

some of your expertise with me.

Oh, great. Come on over.

You like geranium tea?

It helps your bowels. Follow me.

Watch your step.

- Hey, you're a writer.

- Yes, I am.

I should show you something.

This is an account

of my years at Tool Co.

You know Tool Co.?

Howard Hughes' company.

Has anyone seen this?

Nobody's seen it. It's sensitive.

Listen, I'll come right to the point.

I'll give you $500

to clean up the grammar,

'cause I'm bad with spelling.

Yeah, well, I'd have to read it first.

When can I get it back to you?

No, no, no,

I can't let it out of the house.

Why don't you read it right now,

sitting here?

- Now?

- Now.

Right here? Okay.

- NOAH:
Take your time. See you later.

- Thank you.

You know what this is?

Do you understand what this means?

- This is exactly... It's gold.

- It's perfect.

We have to find a way

to get it out of the house.

Copy, we need a copy.

Okay, get up. Stand in front of me.

Come over here.

- It's great in the water!

- Keep smiling. What's he doing?

- Oh, yeah.

- Tell me if he can see it.

Grab it.

Tell your friend to come in.

The water's beautiful.

Copy that and get back here,

right away.

Thank you!

Sit down, sit down. Thank you.

All right? Are you ready?

All right. I'm done.

Sir, honesty is my policy.

This is atrocious. It's not publishable.

It's run-on sentences,

it's mangled verbiage...

I'm very sorry.

You benefit and I benefit from honesty.

God bless.

This is badly spelled gossip

from someone absolutely in the know.

This is perfect. Perfect! Oh, my...

You know what we should

do? Let's give Andrea some good news.

This is amazing.

Everybody hates Howard Hughes.

They call him cheap, everything else.

But, you know, they're in his thrall.

They can't stop talking about him.

He's Howard Hughes.

Who the f*** are they?

Listen. "He rarely took vacations.

"But when he did,

he usually booked a remote hotel

"But when he did,

he usually booked a remote hotel

"in the Juchitn mountains

called the Salina Cruz."

- Remote. R-E-M-O-A-T. Vacation...

- I'm going for a walk.

- I'll be back in a little bit.

- Okay.

What is it?

Look, you told me

not to call you ever again, so I didn't.

- I say a lot of stupid things, you know?

- Yeah.

It was funny seeing you the other night.

I would have given anything

to get this call a year ago.

- It's too late. I...

- Clifford...

- You ran out of time. Sorry.

- Clifford, wait. I need to see you.

Bye.

Cliff, listen to this.

This is from the Dietrich manuscript.

There's a full transcription here of a

conversation between Howard Hughes

and Frank McCullough

from Time magazine.

They mention Intertel, the Mormon guy,

George Gordon Holmes.

- It's fantastic.

- Stop, listen to me.

- Nina called from New York last night.

- Oh, here we go.

Dick, it took me a year

to make things right with Edith.

- Keep an eye on me, will you?

- Keep an eye?

It's my second profession.

- Here you are.

- Thanks.

Cliff...

I've been talking to Barbara,

and she's found some kind of

publishing contract.

And I was wondering

if maybe we could talk about,

you know, some kind of credit deal,

or just some more money for me.

You're not happy

with what we talked about?

- No, no, no, it's not that.

- What? What is it?

Well, it's just like...

I sort of feel that, you know...

Don't answer that! Don't...

Hello, darling. It's Ms. Tate calling.

We have a bit of a problem.

- Andrea thinks it's just me...

- Hello! Hi, Andrea, this...

- Who is this?

- You can't say her name.

- This is Dick.

- No, no, don't give your name.

Dick Suskind.

Dick, how do you know my name?

- Don't tell her!

- Cliff mentioned you.

What are you doing out there

with Clifford?

- I am the...

- Co-coordinator of...

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