On Dec. 17, 2004, Miramax unveiled Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator in theatres, where it would go on to gross $213 million worldwide. The film earned 11 Oscar nominations at the 77th Academy Awards, winning five honours including cinematography, art direction and best-supporting actress for Cate Blanchett. The Hollywood Reporter’s original review is below. After years of being relegated to small-screen renderings (The Amazing Howard Hughes) or quirky supporting roles (Melvin and Howard), the inimitable billionaire industrialist finally has been provided with a canvas expansive enough to contain his numerous larger-than-life persona courtesy of Martin Scorsese and The Aviator.
On several occasions throughout his Howard Hughes biopic, The Aviator, Martin Scorcese throws in a contemporaneous snippet of newsreel footage or an archival radio broadcast. “Young Texas industrialist Howard Hughes just won’t stop pouring money into his war epic. And do we mean epic!” one announcer gushes during the production of Hughes’s film Hell’s Angels. Later, another enthuses about the tycoon’s record-setting trans-global flight in 1938: “Smashing all records, Howard Hughes outdoes Jules Verne’s wildest dreams–around the world from New York to New York in four days!” Later still, a third enviously describes Hughes’s Hollywood playboy hood: “Movie tycoon Howard Hughes must have the greatest job in the land. Every night the lucky guy has to escort a different beautiful woman to a different dazzling event!”
As soon as we meet 22-year-old Howard Hughes on the set of Hell’s Angels, we see a man that wants to be respected. Shortly after he hires Noah Dietrich, one of his first requests is for Dietrich to tell the people down at Hughes Tool Co. to address him as “Mr Hughes”. Similar to most ambitious innovators, Howard Hughes has a clear vision and goal and is willing to do anything to accomplish that goal. The most prominent example of this comes when he asks Louis B. Mayer of MGM for two additional cameras to shoot a dogfighting sequence thus bringing his total to twenty-six cameras. Mayer refuses and laughs at Howard, stating that the movie will never be successful. Mayer’s condescension just fuels Howard’s drive and he does get those cameras.
Due to this singular vision and goal, Howard can be a nightmare to work with. He halts the production of his movie for months because he wants to shoot the planes against the backdrop of clouds that look like “breasts full of milk”. Like any successful businessman, Howard tries to be cognizant of what the people want. Every great product becomes successful because it has what the consumer desires. Once the production of Hell’s Angels wraps, Howard makes the rash and expensive decision of adding sound to the film because of an audience’s positive reaction to The Jazz Singer. To make the decision feasible, he bets on himself and mortgages every asset of Hughes Tool Co. Hell’s Angels has an enthusiastic reception at its premiere, but Howard refuses to smell the roses, making changes to the final cut of the film later that night.
Hughes’ confidence is evident in his business endeavours as well as his interactions with women. He knows how to make an impression. Hell, he flies his plane to the beach of a movie set just to play golf with Katharine Hepburn. Howard seems to have an obsession with people knowing his name and associating his name with great things. He was already incredibly wealthy from drill bit money, but he wanted to make movies. He risks his life by test flying his planes to set records. He has such a passion for aviation that he buys Transcontinental & Western Air while shattering the record for flying around the world. His plans for flying at higher altitudes and longer distances changed the game and made him more money. During this time, Hughes becomes a consultant for the American government and aids the war effort. With the combined stress of filmmaking, managing an airline, and consulting for the government, Hughes’ OCD begins to create obstacles in his daily life.
Hughes hits a low point when once he learns that the Air Force has pulled their contract for the Hercules and TWA has been grounded by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB). Rather than choose between funding one of the two, Hughes again bets on himself. Hughes’ dinner with Senator Owen Brewster is indicative of his unwillingness to show weakness. Just months after being released from the hospital, Howard refuses to use his cane. Sen. Brewster intentionally leaves a thumbprint on Howard’s drinking glass and serves him rather suspicious-looking fish to make him uncomfortable. Still, Howard calmly eats and drinks as if nothing were wrong.
Hughes confronts his fear when he decides to come out of seclusion and face Brewster at a public hearing in front of tons of cameras and people rather than sell TWA to Pan-Am. At the hearing, Hughes ignores the audience and immediately goes after Brewster. He proves that he was only investigated because of his TWA’s rivalry with Pan-Am, not because of alleged war profiteering. Additionally, Hughes reveals Brewster’s conflict of interest with Pan-Am when asking him if he wrote any of the words in his bill.
Howard and Katharine Hepburn have a unique rapport because they initially see each other as stereotypical celebrities before learning of their respective inner conflicts. Hepburn forms a close bond with Howard because of her awareness and sympathy toward his condition. Howard shows his comfort with Kate when he teaches her how to fly and shares a bottle of milk with her, despite his germ phobia. Unfortunately, the relationship fails because Hughes devotes more time to his job than her. Hepburn even remarks that “there’s too much Howard Hughes in Howard Hughes” meaning that too much of the celebrity exists in the man.
Howard Hughes’ need to do something bigger, better, or faster than ever before permeates throughout the entire movie. His aspirations span across multiple industries. He wants to make the biggest movies and fly the fastest aeroplanes. To achieve these goals, he sacrifices his sanity. He doesn’t go completely insane, but he does become mentally unstable. The combination of burying himself in work and dealing with his worsening OCD and chronic pain due to plane crash injuries led to him living alone. That uncontrollable ambition ultimately drove away those close to him. Nevertheless, that ambition is what allowed Howard Hughes to still impact the world today, nearly forty years after his death.
