Plot: Focusing on his early years (from the 1930 production of Hell's Angels (1930), to the 1947 test flight of the Spruce Goose, when he was forty-two), this is the story of how young Howard Hughes transformed a small fortune into a massive one. The son of the Texan inventor of an amazing drill bit who died when he was eighteen, leaving him with seventy-five percent of the "Hughes Tool Co.", Howard Hughes quickly moved to Los Angeles to become a Hollywood movie producer, where he helped launch the career of Jean Harlow and other starlets, and producing such classics as Hell's Angels (1930), The Front Page (1931), Flying Leathernecks (1951), and Scarface: The Shame of the Nation (1932), eventually owning R.K.O. Pictures. Hughes' legend came not from focusing on just Hollywood, however, as he simultaneously branched into industry after industry, including aviation in 1932 (including TWA Airlines), and during World War II, defense, leading to the creation of the Spruce Goose, a flying boat of immense size. After World War II, Hughes' expansions continued, with an electronics company that was integral to the evolution of the satellite, and Hughes' several Las Vegas casinos (though this movie may be ending before he moves there). This movie also focuses on Hughes' romances with Hollywood stars like Katharine Hepburn and Ava Gardner.
Alternative Plot: Billionaire and aviation tycoon Howard Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a successful public figure: a director of big-budget Hollywood films such as "Hell's Angels," a passionate lover of Hollywood leading ladies Katharine Hepburn (Cate Blanchett) and Ava Gardner (Kate Beckinsale), and an aviation pioneer who helps build TWA into a major airline. But in private, Hughes remains tormented, suffering from paralyzing phobias and depression. The higher he rises, the farther has to fall.
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