Mr. Hughes, did you receive $43 million to manufacture one hundred XF-11 spy planes for the United States Air Force?
How many functional planes did you deliver to the United States Air Force.
Would you lean a little closer to the microphone, sir?
[Leans in, annoyed]
None!
Did you receive $13 million to manufacture a prototype of a flying boat known as the Hercules?
And did you deliver that plane?
So, by your admission in this chamber, Mr. Hughes, you have received $56 million from the United States government...for planes you never delivered?
[Barely containing his delight]
Well, excuse me for asking, Mr. Hughes, but where did all that money go?
Well, it went into the planes, Mr. Senator, and a lot more.
More? [chuckles] Do tell, Mr. Hughes. What other larcenies did you commit?
I mean, I put my money into these planes, Senator. My money. See, the thing is–
Mr. Hughes, your personal finances are–are not–
S Senator
[quietly, to Brewster]
Let him speak.
Alright, proceed, Mr. Hughes.
See, the thing is, I care very much about aviation. It has been the great joy of my life. That's why I put my own money into these planes and I've lost millions, Senator Brewster, and I'll go on losing millions. It's just... what I do. Now, if I've lost a lot of the government's money during the war, well, I hope folks will put that into perspective. You see, more than 60 other airplanes ordered from such firms as Lockheed, Douglas, Northrup and Boeing never saw action either. In all, more than $800 million was spent during the war on planes that never flew. Over $6 billion on other weapons that were never delivered. Yet, Hughes Aircraft, with her $56 million, is the only firm under investigation here today. Now, I cannot help but think that has a little more to do with TWA than planes that did not fly!
Juan Trippe [Howard - naked, dishevelled and concealed in his projection room during a breakdown - is visited by Juan Trippe]
Okay, Howard I'm sitting. I've brought along our accountings. Now, Pan-Am is trading at 13 and five-eighths. TWA at four and a quarter. Now, if you take--
Ah, come on! Come on, come on, come on, come on! We both know I'm not gonna sell TWA! Besides that, you couldn't afford her anyway! Our domestic routes alone are worth more than twice Pan-Am!
Juan Trippe Well, considering our stock is trading at three times yours, I find that a... dubious claim, Howard.
[frustrated]
What I-- [sighs, clears throat] What I mean is, you have no domestic routes, all right? I mean, you get TWA, you... you span the globe. Now, I'm not gonna sell and you know I'm not gonna sell. [taps the door] Here's the point: Owen Brewster works for you!
Juan Trippe Howard, I didn't elect Senator Brewster. We can thank the voters of Maine for that.
[Juan smokes his pipe. Howard backs away in fear as the smoke creeps in]
Now... if I appear at his hearings, Juan. It could get nasty. [coughs] Real nasty for all of us!
Juan Trippe Well, I think considerably more for you, Howard. While the good people of America were losing sons at Anzio, you produced a dirty movie and built planes that don't fly.
Well, that's just not fair, is it? I mean, the XF-11 flew quite well for an hour and 45 minutes! I mean, I wish you were up there with me, Juan! It was... it was exhilarating!
Juan Trippe Be that as it may, you still have to answer for the Spruce Goose.
[Howard angrily throws a Kleenex box at the door with a loud thump]
IT'S CALLED THE HERCULES! AND IT WILL FLY, GODDAMMIT!
Juan Trippe I certainly hope so. The American people deserve something for their 13 million dollars.
I WON'T SELL TWA! I WON'T!
Juan Trippe [after a short silence]
I know you won't, Howard. I know you won't. But I'm going to get it anyway. You're going to default on your loan from Equitable after Senator Brewster destroys your reputation and you can't find any additional capital for the airline. The hearings will also show Hughes Aircraft as mismanaged and incompetent, and it will go bankrupt too. But you won't be insolvent. You'll still have Tool Co. Perhaps, you'll return to Houston to rebuild your empire. I rather hope you do. By that time, Pan-Am will have bought TWA and painted all those magnificent Connies blue and white. So, when you do return, it will be on a Pan-Am plane.
Well... [clears throat] you seem to have me in a corner here, buddy. Not a position in which I'm very comfortable.
Juan Trippe I think you're going to be less comfortable at Senator Brewster's hearings. Very public, Howard. Lots of camera, newsmen. I understand you're not particularly fond of crowds. Perhaps we should spare you that.
[sarcastic]
Well, thank you for your concern, Juan! I find that... very moving!
(In front of the Motion Picture Censorship Board)
Good to see you, Mr. Breen. Gentlemen, it's good to see you- I haven't seen you all since that issue with all the violence in Scarface. The problem here seems to revolve around Ms. Russell's mammaries, is that correct? Mr. Breen feels that they are too prominant, yes? More prominant than other mammaries have been up on the screen? Well... we hope to dispel that notion. Jean Harlow. Ann Sheridan. Irene Dunne. Claudette Colbert, Rita Hayworth, Bettie Grable... and the lovely Ms. Jane Russell. Now all of these photos- save for Ms. Russell's- have been enlarged from pictures that received Mr. Breen's seal of approval... and as you can see they all contain mammaries. At this point I'd like to introduce my assisstant, Dr. Ludlow Branson. Dr. Branson is a mathematician of some note...yes. And he will prove that, in fact, Ms. Russell's mammaries are no more prominant than any of these other fine ladies. Doctor? Doctor... you forgot your calipers.
I am supposed to be many things that are not complimentary. I am supposed to be capricious, I have been called a playboy, I have even been called an eccentric. But I do not believe I have the reputation of being a liar. Now, needless to say, the Hercules was a monumental undertaking; it is the largest plane ever built. It is over five stories tall with a wingspan longer than a football field, that is more than a city block! Now I put the sweat of my life into this thing, I got my reputation all rolled up in it, and I have stated several times that if the Hercules fails to fly, I will leave this country and never come back... and I mean it! Now, Senator Brewster, you can subpoena me, you can arrest me, you can even claim that I have folded and taken a run-out powder, but, well, I have had just about enough of this nonsense! Good day!
