…have been very hard to hoax that. Oh I don't know you ought to read Clifford Irving's book fake sometime about elmere, if Clifford Irving is telling the truth elmere managed to hoax the art experts of the western world to the extent that a thousand of…

…thousand of his paintings are hanging in museums with names like Picasso, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Modigliani and so on. And Clifford Irving came up with a contract signed by Howard Hughes, which three handwriting experts said was Howard Hughes Signature. I think…

…My only answer is it's a Picasso maybe. And then his co the guy who wrote Elmir's Biography, cliff. His full name was Clifford Irving and some of you may remember his full name. After fake became a bestseller in 1968, Clifford Irving got a contract from…

…His full name was Clifford Irving and some of you may remember his full name. After fake became a bestseller in 1968, Clifford Irving got a contract from harpercollins to do the biography of Howard Hughes or the authorized not just any biography but an…

…went into it and it was signed with Howard Hughes Signature. As soon as it was announced that Elmir was getting that Clifford Irving was getting a million and a half for a biography of Howard Hughes, Howard Hughes announced he was calling a press…

…conference. He didn't appear at the press conference. There was a loudspeaker and a voice saying: I am Howard Hughes and Clifford Irving is a damn liar. We never had a meeting and the contract is a fake. And Clifford Irving responded immediately: the…

…I am Howard Hughes and Clifford Irving is a damn liar. We never had a meeting and the contract is a fake. And Clifford Irving responded immediately: the voice on the loudspeaker is a fake, let's have the contract checked by experts. So they went and the…

…Meir did not do over a thousand of the classics in our museums, and one thing and another they canceled the biography and Irving was even prosecuted for fraud although Hughes never did come out of hiding. According to Irving's story he met Hughes on a…

…I'm never quite sure. My universe is getting more and more full of maybes all the time. Wilson Wells made a movie about Clifford Irving and elmire and Howard Hughes and all the mysteries circulating in the movie. It's called f for fake and it's one of…

…everything in that movie was a fake. Well he was speaking in hyperbole to BBC because everything wasn't a fake Elmira did exist, Clifford Irving did exist the island of ibiza did exist and I think even Orson Welles did exist. There are a lot of other…

…other scenes in Paris so you know just where he is. Well, this is followed by close up shots of elmere and Clifford Irving after the question who put the signatures on the paintings? And you get about ten shots alterating: elmere Irving, Elmere Irving,…

…and Clifford Irving after the question who put the signatures on the paintings? And you get about ten shots alterating: elmere Irving, Elmere Irving, Elmere Irving, Elmere Irving, Elmere Irving and each one they have a different expression and this is what…

…Irving after the question who put the signatures on the paintings? And you get about ten shots alterating: elmere Irving, Elmere Irving, Elmere Irving, Elmere Irving, Elmere Irving and each one they have a different expression and this is what they all aim…

…after the question who put the signatures on the paintings? And you get about ten shots alterating: elmere Irving, Elmere Irving, Elmere Irving, Elmere Irving, Elmere Irving and each one they have a different expression and this is what they all aim for in…

…who put the signatures on the paintings? And you get about ten shots alterating: elmere Irving, Elmere Irving, Elmere Irving, Elmere Irving, Elmere Irving and each one they have a different expression and this is what they all aim for in what's called…

…the signatures on the paintings? And you get about ten shots alterating: elmere Irving, Elmere Irving, Elmere Irving, Elmere Irving, Elmere Irving and each one they have a different expression and this is what they all aim for in what's called cinema…

…not cinema verite it's another one of Orson's Artistic tricks. I think he selected out of all the footage of elmere. And Clifford Irving all the shots in which their expressions were most ambiguous. Then he put a clicking tock. He had the sound mixer put…

…you think it's one continuous sequence. So you got the question: who put the signatures on? And you get these reactions from Irving and elmere and you think they're reacting to the question but they're acting to dozens of other questions asked by BBC…

…of United States museums have my work yes quite a few in France. Yes, there was a biography written of elmire by Clifford Irving. It was called fake. And history moves so fast these days some of you may have forgotten who Clifford Irving was. Clifford…

…by Clifford Irving. It was called fake. And history moves so fast these days some of you may have forgotten who Clifford Irving was. Clifford Irving, after writing this biography of elmire, got commissioned by a major New York Publisher to write a…

…It was called fake. And history moves so fast these days some of you may have forgotten who Clifford Irving was. Clifford Irving, after writing this biography of elmire, got commissioned by a major New York Publisher to write a biography of Howard Hughes…

…in a long time and there were always wise acres around trying to screw up somebody's act and they kept saying: Clifford Irving Doesn't have any evidence that he's really got Howard Hughes Except that signature. So Clifford Irving submitted the signature to…

…they kept saying: Clifford Irving Doesn't have any evidence that he's really got Howard Hughes Except that signature. So Clifford Irving submitted the signature to experts on handwriting and they all testified: yes that's Howard Hughes Signature. And by then…

…Howard Hughes made a telephone call in which he told one of the major newspapers that he did not sign a contract with Clifford Irving, that the signature was a forgery and that he had no contact with Clifford Irving at all. Clifford Irving had told a…

…he did not sign a contract with Clifford Irving, that the signature was a forgery and that he had no contact with Clifford Irving at all. Clifford Irving had told a wonderfully romantic story about meeting Howard Hughes on top of a pyramid in Mexico,…

…a contract with Clifford Irving, that the signature was a forgery and that he had no contact with Clifford Irving at all. Clifford Irving had told a wonderfully romantic story about meeting Howard Hughes on top of a pyramid in Mexico, which is good enough…

…had been murdered years before and somebody else was impersonating him. Anyway the weight of the evidence seemed to indicate that Clifford Irving had committed a fraud and he was prosecuted for it. And this movie is about Irving's Howard Hughes Hoax and…

…and he was prosecuted for it. And this movie is about Irving's Howard Hughes Hoax and elmere's art hoaxes and the biography Irving wrote of elmere. And the question: was: Clifford Irving Telling the truth in his biography of elmere? Since we know he can't…

…is about Irving's Howard Hughes Hoax and elmere's art hoaxes and the biography Irving wrote of elmere. And the question: was: Clifford Irving Telling the truth in his biography of elmere? Since we know he can't be trusted about Howard Hughes can he be…

…biography of elmere? Since we know he can't be trusted about Howard Hughes can he be trusted about elmere? And if Clifford Irving is telling the truth about elmere according to his standards, is that the real truth? How much was elmere deceiving Clifford…

…is telling the truth about elmere according to his standards, is that the real truth? How much was elmere deceiving Clifford Irving? Well Clifford Irving was writing the biography of elmere and Orson Welles announces at the beginning of the film, although…

…the truth about elmere according to his standards, is that the real truth? How much was elmere deceiving Clifford Irving? Well Clifford Irving was writing the biography of elmere and Orson Welles announces at the beginning of the film, although this is a…

…else signed the paintings. He's a bit evasive about who signed the paintings. And then Welles cuts to a close up of Clifford Irving and Irving says oh he's lying about that he signed the paintings. And then Welles asks: who did the Howard Hughes…

…the paintings. He's a bit evasive about who signed the paintings. And then Welles cuts to a close up of Clifford Irving and Irving says oh he's lying about that he signed the paintings. And then Welles asks: who did the Howard Hughes Signature? And then…

…lying about that he signed the paintings. And then Welles asks: who did the Howard Hughes Signature? And then there's a close up of Irving and a close up of elmere and a close up of Irving and a close up of elmere and they're not saying anything and…

…did the Howard Hughes Signature? And then there's a close up of Irving and a close up of elmere and a close up of Irving and a close up of elmere and they're not saying anything and it's a heavy pregnant, guilty silence. Except that's a fake. Welles…

…and they're not saying anything and it's a heavy pregnant, guilty silence. Except that's a fake. Welles never interviewed elmere or Clifford Irving. Welles bought newsreel footage of them from BBC and edited it put himself into it and made it look like an…

…and served only one month in prison. For mysterious reasons he got out and sold his life story to an American writer named Clifford Irving, and the book was published under the title fake with a big exclamation point after it, and it told how Elmir had…

…he fool them most of the time? How much of the time did he fool them? This controversy led to further problems when Clifford Irving himself came under suspicion after selling the biography of Elmir which made a lot of money and was a bestseller. He sold…

…Hughes on the basis of a contract which Howard Hughes had signed, guaranteeing that he would reveal all of his secrets. To Clifford Irving and allow Clifford Irving to edit and write it in his own way. And it was signed by Howard Hughes according to…

…of a contract which Howard Hughes had signed, guaranteeing that he would reveal all of his secrets. To Clifford Irving and allow Clifford Irving to edit and write it in his own way. And it was signed by Howard Hughes according to Clifford Irving. I wish…

…Irving and allow Clifford Irving to edit and write it in his own way. And it was signed by Howard Hughes according to Clifford Irving. I wish I could keep a straight Face at this part. That's why I have never run for congress. Laughter it has occurred.…

…trying to tell this story with a straight Face. Putnam believed it one of the biggest publishers in New York. They gave Clifford Irving an advance of 1 million, which does not sound really great by 1990s standards but by 1960s standards it was probably…

…with the rockefellers gets you into the state of mind where you start worrying about germs and conspiracies. Anyway he met with Clifford Irving on a pyramid in Mexico, One of those famous Mexican Pyramids. He had long hair hanging down to his waist, both…

…waist in the back and his fingernails were so long they were like the claws of some ferocious beast. At least that's the way Clifford Irving told the story. It appears that at that time Howard Hughes was in his one room in his hotel in las vegas and…

…told the story. It appears that at that time Howard Hughes was in his one room in his hotel in las vegas and Clifford Irving had invented the whole tale. Meanwhile he had a million dollar advance and a chance to write a book about Howard Hughes Out…

…was going to make a statement over the phone, a voice claiming to be Howard Hughes announced that he hadn't met with Clifford Irving on a pyramid, he didn't have long hair and long fingernails he didn't agree to having Clifford Irving write his biography.…

…hadn't met with Clifford Irving on a pyramid, he didn't have long hair and long fingernails he didn't agree to having Clifford Irving write his biography. The whole thing was a fraud which should have settled matters. Except Clifford Irving came back with…

…didn't agree to having Clifford Irving write his biography. The whole thing was a fraud which should have settled matters. Except Clifford Irving came back with the claim that Hughes was dead and that this was an impersonator that somebody had hired to…

…all the secrets that have been hidden from the public all these years. Be that as it may, in f for fake, Clifford Irving plays Clifford Irving, Elmire plays elmire, Orson Welles plays Orson Welles, and the whole movie is presented as a documentary about…

…have been hidden from the public all these years. Be that as it may, in f for fake, Clifford Irving plays Clifford Irving, Elmire plays elmire, Orson Welles plays Orson Welles, and the whole movie is presented as a documentary about two notorious fakers.…

…whole movie is presented as a documentary about two notorious fakers. Except at various points in the movie, elmire and Clifford Irving disagree with various things that are generally accepted. For instance elmire still insists that there are a thousand of…

…the Howard Hughes Signature on the contract? And then you get ten rapid shots of elmire looking into the distance and Buford Irving looking every way except at the camera and the clock ticking and eventually this is all happening in real time and finally…

…looking every way except at the camera and the clock ticking and eventually this is all happening in real time and finally Clifford Irving says somebody signed the paintings. Now this seems to be the classic example of cinema verite, which was a school of…

…was faked. What Orson Welles did was I take out a year of interviews he took all the shots where elmire and Clifford Irving were not talking but were looking in some other direction or thinking about something else. He put them together and the audience…

…or thinking about something else. He put them together and the audience projects into the film what they imagine that elmire and Clifford Irving are thinking. And just to prepare you for that, there's an earlier sequence in the film in which it seems to…

…instance, take Orson Welles Movie f for fake, which I tend to consider the greatest movie ever made. F for fake is about Clifford Irving, who wrote a biography of elmire, who had served a short term in France for art forgery. He told his whole in the…

…had served a short term in France for art forgery. He told his whole in the inside story of all of his exploits to Irving who then wrote it up, revealing elmire as the greatest art forger of all times. It turns out half of my impressionist paintings…

…then when you go back and see the movie again you realize Welles was lying about things all through the movie, and so were Irving and so were elmere. And then you start to wonder: was elmere lying about the degree of his success as an art forger?…

…to try to figure out when elmere is lying and you realize you're dealing with a professional liar. And then you get to Clifford Irving who was supposed to have checked every fact in the elmere story and found out it was true, Clifford Irving, while they…

…you get to Clifford Irving who was supposed to have checked every fact in the elmere story and found out it was true, Clifford Irving, while they were making the film they added to the drama or rather before they started the film but inserted into the…

…the film by Welles was one of his little fakes, as if they just discovered it while they were making the film. Clifford Irving was denounced as a hoaxter because he had a contractor write the autobiography of Howard Hughes with Howard Hughes Signature on…

…Irving was denounced as a hoaxter because he had a contractor write the autobiography of Howard Hughes with Howard Hughes Signature on it. Irving denied that he was a liar, a hoaxter or a swindler. There was a lot of debate about it experts were called…

…in las vegas claiming to be Howard Hughes, repudiated the whole thing, said it was a forgery and he never met with Clifford Irving. And Irving was sued for several million dollars and threatened with all sorts of illegal action most of which never came…

…claiming to be Howard Hughes, repudiated the whole thing, said it was a forgery and he never met with Clifford Irving. And Irving was sued for several million dollars and threatened with all sorts of illegal action most of which never came to pass for…

…So you think he was there. Wells asks who did the Howard Hughes Signature? And then you get shots of elmire and Clifford Irving looking in various directions and you can read as much guilt into that as you want. You can read wells trickery. After…