Howard Hughes Blows Up Hollywood | Calling the Shots | 1

0:15It's spring 1928 on an airfield in Inglewood, California. Under the midday sun, 22-year-old millionaire film producer Howard Hughes stands at the edge of a dusty runway and shakes his head as a pilot stalls a biplane. It's a few months into the shooting of Howard's most ambitious movie to date, a World War I epic with real dogfights in the sky. But there's a problem holding back today's filming. His pilot can't even take off. Howard calls out. What on earth are you doing? Sorry, Mr. Hughes. She's a little cranky today. They might need a minute to cool off. Howard marches toward the plane, irritation written all over his face.

0:56You're being too cautious on the throttle. You need to show these old kites who's boss. Give it some gas. She'll fire right up. But, sir, if I push too hard, the engine might overheat. Could cut out in midair. And if you baby it, we sit here all day burning time and money. I'm not paying for you to twiddle your thumbs. I'm paying for results. I understand, sir, but this isn't the throttle. It's about feel. You know what I feel? Frustrated. Just get out. Excuse me? Get out of the cockpit. If you can't fly a simple stunt, I'll do it myself. Sir, with all due respect, these old planes are temperamental.

1:29Howard steps closer. You ever heard of the Wright brothers? Of course I have, sir. Yeah, they're my fifth cousins. I've been flying since I was 14, so unless you're telling me I can't handle a trainer plane, get your ass out of the seat. All right, yes, sir. The pilot exits the cockpit and drops to the ground. Howard hoists himself onto the wing, swings into the cockpit, and buckles in. He glances down at the pale-faced pilot. All right, crank her up. The pilot takes hold of the propeller and heaves. The engine fires right up. Now go sit with the crew, and maybe you'll learn something. Sure thing, Mr.

2:05Hughes. Just remember, if she's stalled, I already told you I know what I'm doing. Howard guns the throttle, and the plane lurches forward. Watch and learn! In 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright made history with the first powered flight. 25 years on, airplanes were still a rudimentary technology, and flying was a dangerous business. So even though Howard had logged hundreds of hours in the air, his choice to take the controls of an aircraft he'd never flown before was risky. But Howard was as stubbornly confident in his ability in the cockpit as he was at making movies. He'd soon learn a harsh lesson, though.

2:43Piloting an airplane was the same as the movie business. Some movies took off and others would crash and burn.

3:00From Wondery, I'm Lindsey Graham, and this is Business Members.

3:22Movies are big business. In 2024, Hollywood-produced films made$30 billion at the global box office, most of it pocketed by five major studios, Disney, Paramount, Sony, Universal, and Warner Brothers. But the dominance of just a handful of filmmakers is not a recent phenomenon. For as long as Hollywood has been making movies, the industry has been ruled by a select few. but that has not stopped a handful of independent producers breaking into the big time, and one of the first did it before he was old enough to vote. In 1924, Texas toolmaker Howard Hughes Sr. died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 54.

4:01That left his successful business in the hands of his son, Howard Jr., who, after grieving his father, found himself to be an 18-year-old millionaire. But Howard wasn't interested in running the family business. He had other dreams. He wanted to qualify as an expert pilot, he wanted to be the world's best golfer, and he wanted to get into the movie business. Becoming a pilot was relatively easy. Howard had money and nerve. Improving his golf game would take a little more patience and practice, but Howard's third ambition was the trickiest of all. In Hollywood, he was an outsider, a Texan in Tinseltown with no production experience but determined to make his mark.

4:40And over the next three decades, Howard would become one of Hollywood's most infamous and influential figures. He'd revolutionize the way filmmakers financed, produced, and promoted their movies, battling the studio system only to eventually join it. But no matter how powerful he became, Howard would always remain an outsider. And from the very beginning, he learned a hard truth. In Hollywood, success is never guaranteed. This is our first episode in a four-part series on Howard Hughes and Hollywood. calling the shots.

5:15It's 1925 at the Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles, California, one year after the death of Howard Hughes Sr. The now 19-year-old Howard Jr. places a golf ball on the first tee and takes a few practice swings. His game has come on nicely since he moved to LA a few weeks ago. Howard moved west to get into the movie business, but he's waiting for the right project to come along. Until then, he's happy to work on his swing. Howard lines up his club with the ball and takes one last look at the distant flag. Then, he drives the ball down the middle of the fairway. Hey, nice shot. Howard turns and smiles when he spots a family friend, 25-year-old actor Ralph Graves.

5:56Oh, Ralph, good to see you. I figure I'd bump into you eventually. Should have realized it'd be on the golf course. Yeah, I heard you moved out here. Ah, you know, I can't live in that shadow forever. I want to find success on my own terms. In Hollywood? Yeah, something electric about the movie business, right? It's boom time in Hollywood and I want in. You sure it's got nothing to do with the actresses? Howard puts his club back in his bag. Nah, not well, I mean, maybe a little, but when I'm done, I'll be the top producer in town. Man, I love your confidence, Howard. What's your first movie? But I'm still figuring that out.

6:28But I know the right script will come along. Well, what do you know? Because I just finished up a script. Maybe bumping into you today was meant to be. It's about a guy who's down on his luck, but that doesn't stop him from looking out for others. Really plucks on the heartstrings, I think. And you wrote it? I sure did. I've had this idea rolling around in my head for years. Just had to let it out. And I guess you'd be the star, too. That's right. What about the director? You got one lined up? Well, you're looking at it. So you'd write star and direct? Rao flashes a smile, revealing his pristine white teeth.

7:01Well, what can I say? I really believe in the story. How many movies have you directed before? Ralph briefly breaks eye contact. This would be my first, but I've acted in more than 40. I've been watching and learning the whole time. I think I know what I'm doing. Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to start with someone I know. Give me a chance to learn the ropes. And I'd be happy to teach you everything I've picked up over the years. Definitely. So what do you say? How much can I put you down for? How much do you need? Not much. I have 40 grand tops. We can make it work for that. That's not exactly pocket change.

7:33You can't skimp if you want to make it in Hollywood, Howard. Let that be the first lesson of many. All right, what the hell? I mean, I'm in Hollywood to make movies, so let's make a movie. That afternoon, Howard Hughes agreed to fund Ralph Graves' passion project, Swell Hogan. But for all his ambition to take over Hollywood, Howard had never been on a movie set before, and he was about to learn that filmmaking was a lot harder than it looked.

8:03A few months after this chance encounter on the golf course, filming began on Swell Hogan. Howard Hughes was a regular visitor to the set, but he was little more than an observer. Control of the production rested firmly with Ralph Graves. As the lead actor, scriptwriter, and director, Ralph was in a position to influence every aspect of the movie's production. But unfortunately for Howard, Ralph was not the expert he claimed to be. Although he'd been credited in more than 40 movies, Ralph only had experience as an actor in front of the camera. His screenwriting was untested, and it showed. Swell Hogan focused on its titular character, a down-on-his-luck bomb who ignores his own problems to help New York orphans.

8:46Ten years earlier, that kind of sentimental story might have resonated with audiences, but in the mid-1920s, overly saccharine plots had fallen out of favor. Swell Hogan could have survived its weak script had it come under the wing of a capable director, but Ralph was a novice there too, and his inexperience only compounded the film's problems. He underestimated the difficulty of shooting a feature film and misjudged its costs. Shooting stretched well beyond Ralph's initial schedule and budget. Props, costumes, and makeup were all more expensive than he realized, and it all added up so that weeks before filming wrapped, Ralph ran out of money.

9:23He had to approach Howard, hat in hand, to ask for more. And since Howard had never made a movie before either, he deferred entirely to Ralph and wrote whatever checks he needed. Only after shooting finished did Howard discover that the film was over budget by 100 % and the end product didn't justify the cost. Distributors rejected it outright, Hollywood insiders panned it, and Howard had no option but to shelve his first feature film. Ralph Graves had offered to teach Howard the ways of Hollywood, but Swell Hogan was a lesson in the harshest realities of the movie business. Howard had assumed that his passion for cinema would be enough to make a hit.

10:01Instead, he'd been humbled. But still, he didn't give up. Determined to do better, Howard redoubled his efforts. He restructured part of his father's tool firm into the Caddo Company, a dedicated business to finance and produce films. Then he teamed up with another family acquaintance, Marshall Nealon, an actor, writer, and director who'd penned a feel-good script. So at first, it seemed like Howard was about to repeat the same mistakes as he did in Swell Hogan. But this time, Howard had chosen his partner more wisely. Marshall had more than a decade's experience in writing and directing. His script was far stronger, featuring a love story between a woman and a wealthy heir masquerading as a cab driver.

10:42And Marshall knew when to step back out of the spotlight and allow the talented cast to shine, rather than hogging screen time for himself. In all, Howard poured$125 ,000 into Neyland's film Everybody's Acting, the equivalent of$2.3 million today. But it was money well spent. Everybody's acting was well received by critics and turned a small profit. So now Howard had two movies under his belt, although only one had made it to theaters. In both, Howard had put his complete faith in his collaborators. But now he was ready to take the training wheels off. His next project was not with a family friend, but a notorious hothead who'd become a Hollywood pariah.

11:23Lewis Milestone had worked his way up through the ranks of the major studios, but he'd butted heads all along the way. He broke his contract with Warner Brothers over a string of subpar assignments. Then he walked off the set of a Paramount movie after arguing with its leading lady. To many, Lewis's impetuous reputation made him a liability. But to Howard, it signaled vision, a rare talent who simply needed careful management. So he proposed that the two work together on a World War I romance. The war wasn't a natural setting for a love story, but Howard and Lewis both saw the potential in a script that featured two American soldiers escaping a prisoner of war camp and embarking on a long journey home, during which they rescue an Arabian king's daughter.

12:07And after shooting began, Howard decided to keep his distance, allowing Lewis Milestone to settle into a groove. But after reviewing early footage, Howard decided to step in. He was convinced that the romantic elements of the movie were falling flat. He raised his concerns gently, worried that he'd upset his tempestuous director. But to his surprise, Lewis agreed. So they reimagined the script as a comedy, better suited to the material and the cast's strengths. But production was delayed while the script of Two Arabian Nights was rewritten. And even when filming resumed, Lewis had to reshoot many of the scenes that were already in the can.

12:44These delays caused the movie's budget to soar. By the time Two Arabian Nights wrapped, Howard had plunged close to$500 ,000 into it, around five times the cost of the average feature, making it the most expensive independent movie ever made at the time. But spending the equivalent of$9 million today was a wise investment. When Two Arabian Nights was released, it was met with universal acclaim. Critics described it as containing 1 ,001 laughs, a vindication of the switch from romance to comedy. Enough tickets were sold that the movie made a small profit, despite the high production costs. And when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scientists gathered for its first-ever awards ceremony, Lewis Milestone won the prize for Best Comedy Director for his work on the film.

13:30Buoyed by this success, Howard reunited with Lewis for his next movie. The Racket was a crime drama which told the story of an honest cop fighting both police corruption and the Chicago mob. The plot drew parallels with the real-life exploits of Al Capone and gangland Chicago, and it struck a nerve with that city's authorities, who banned the movie from local theaters. But elsewhere across the country, The Racket was a hit. Critics praised the film's suspenseful narrative, and it was one of three movies nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Emboldened, Howard turned to an even riskier topic, the Ku Klux Klan.

14:05This white supremacist organization had undergone a resurgence in the American South over the previous decade, and Howard's new film The Mating Call followed one white supremacist who tried to frame a war veteran for murder. But to avoid too much controversy, the movie substituted the real-life clan with a fictional group named The Order, but the parallels between the two were obvious. The results pleased no one. Southerners protested what they saw as a smear, Northerners criticized the film for pulling its punches, and critics were unimpressed by the muddled plot. In the end, The Mating Call was a flop and a timely reminder.

14:41In Hollywood, you're only as good as your last film, But Howard wouldn't let the mating call be his last word. Instead, he would set out to erase its memory by making a film so bold, so vast in scale, that even the sky was no limit.

14:58During World War II, New York communist Julius Rosenberg began spying for the Soviet Union. Soon he was persuading other Americans to betray their country as well. But when his wife's brother joined the Manhattan Project, Julius targeted him as a valuable new recruit and inadvertently set the stage for the ultimate betrayal. Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, host of Audible's original show, American Scandal. We bring to life some of the biggest controversies in U.S. history. Presidential lies, environmental disasters, corporate fraud. In our latest series, two young New Yorkers meet and fall in love. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg's commitment to each other is matched only by their commitment to communism.

15:37and the couple risks everything to help the Soviet Union develop an atomic bomb. But when they're uncovered, they have to make an impossible choice about where their loyalty truly lies. Follow American Scandal wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of American Scandal The Rosenbergs ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app. Imagine you're reading Pride and Prejudice, except you're not reading it. Harris Dickinson and Marissa Abella are reading it to you on Audible. Her barbs sting you. His coldness sends a shiver up your spine.

16:11Your heart aches. Your ears burn. You yearn for Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy to profess their undying love for one another. You can't bear it any longer. Well, maybe a chapter longer. Performance is so good, you'll give love a second chance. Audible. Stories that speak to you.

16:43It's early 1928 at Metropolitan Studio in Hollywood, California, less than three years after Howard Hughes began producing movies. The now 22-year-old Howard sits quietly at the edge of a soundstage, eyes fixed on the action. The cameras are rolling on his latest project, the ambitious World War I epic Hell's Angels. Howard's been on set for nearly every shot, but unlike the early days, he's no longer a passive observer. His presence looms large, and his constant interjections are so relentless that the original director has quit in frustration. Now it's new director Luther Reed's job to put up with Howard's medley.

17:21Luther waves his arms as the scene wraps. Cut! Oh, nice work, people. Really well done. That's it. Howard leaps up from his chair. As Luther sets up the next shot, Howard taps him on the shoulder. Hey, Luther, you got a minute? Sure, Howard, what can I do for you? I'm not sold on that last take. Let's run it again. Luther's smile flickers. It went down great. Everyone hit their cues. The rhythm was perfect. Yeah, but the camera barely spent any time on Greta. I mean, look at her. We really want to waste that beauty? Greta's fantastic, but this scene is about the tension between Ben and James. We need to make sure we capture that.

17:57Oh, come on. The audience isn't stupid. They'll pick it up. but give them a reason to care. Let them fall in love with Greta. Howard, it's not about what looks good. It's about telling a story, and we can't do that by letting the camera linger on Greta in every scene. Well, most folks would rather look at her than a couple of sweaty guys in fly jackets. Find a shot that really shows off our leading lady. Luther turns away, pinching the bridge of his nose. Then he raises his voice. Ah, okay, everyone, let's take five. The cast drifts toward the dressing rooms, and the crew slouch against walls and light up cigarettes.

18:31Luther turns back to Howard. Howard, we can't keep doing this. What, making the film better? No, the constant reshoots. At this rate, we'll never finish on time. Well, then so be it. I'm the producer. You just worry about making Greta shine. We're talking about what our jobs here are, Howard. I'm the director. I'd really appreciate it if you gave me the space to direct. Well, someone's got to make sure the movie grabs people's attention. How many pictures have you directed, Howard? That's not the point. I know what people want to see. Luther throws up his hands in exasperation. And there's the problem.

19:04Look, Howard, if you know so much, why don't you direct it yourself, right? Because I've had enough of this. I'm out of here. Just two months after he joined Hell's Angels, Luther Reed quit. Howard Hughes had lost his second director. But despite the setback, he wasn't discouraged. Instead, he decided to take on Luther's challenge. Now, Howard wasn't just the producer of Hell's Angels, he was also its director.

19:35When the filming of Hell's Angels had begun in October 1927, Howard Hughes was beginning to hit his stride as an independent movie producer. He'd already been part of four feature films, and he believed that he'd seen enough to know what worked and what didn't on a movie set. But Howard's determination to play a more active role behind the camera wasn't just about creative control. It also stemmed from personal passion, because Hell's Angels focused on a subject close to his heart, aviation. And Howard wanted audiences to fall in love with flying like he had, feeling like they were soaring thousands of feet above the ground.

20:09For that, he needed to film in the sky. So he assembled a fleet of 87 planes, many of them real World War I aircraft from Europe that had actually taken part in the fighting. It was the largest private collection of planes in the world, and it cost Howard more than half a million dollars to build, close to 10 million today. And then, with his squadron ready, Howard began filming dogfights and aerial battles. But few directors had ever attempted to film in midair before, and it proved a difficult task. The featureless blue skies of Southern California made it hard to convey speed and movement as the planes circled, dodged, and dived.

20:47So Howard relocated filming north, where clouds helped to give a sense of perspective and speed. This new backdrop helped, but Howard still wasn't satisfied. He wanted the aerial scenes to really grip the audience, so he pushed his pilots to repeat the same stunts over and over, each time demanding tighter turns, deeper dives, and closer flybys to make the footage more thrilling. But the biplanes they flew were built from wood and canvas and were fragile machines. Their engines were unreliable and often cut out. The controls were clunky and slow to respond, so flying was a dangerous pursuit, and two pilots died in crashes while transporting planes to the set.

21:26Even Howard had his own accident. After losing patience with a pilot who repeatedly stalled the engine of a Thomas Morse S-4 biplane, Howard decided to take the controls himself. But he'd never flown that type of plane before, and Howard struggled with its unfamiliar handling. Although he got off the ground, he lost control of 400 feet, and the plane plunged back to Earth. Shortly after crashing, he was dragged unconscious from the cockpit and rushed to the hospital, where doctors treated him for a head injury. But Howard didn't let his near-death experience set the movie back. Almost as soon as he got out of the hospital, Howard was back in the air, directing scenes from an observer plane via radio.

22:05And Howard continued to demand the most spectacular stunts, even when they came at great risk. For the movie's finale, he wanted to simulate a bomber crash. Howard asked for volunteers to put a two-seater plane into a free-fall spin before pulling up at the last moment. But it was a dangerous maneuver, and over 100 pilots refused to take on the job. Only after increasing the pay did one pilot agree to take the controls, along with a mechanic tasked with lighting smoke pots to simulate the plane burning as it plummeted. This pilot initiated the dive from 7 ,500 feet and set the plane into a spin, but it became instantly clear that the forces were too much for the rickety airframe.

22:45As the plane broke apart, the pilot spotted the danger and parachuted out, but the mechanic was not so lucky. He was still trapped in his seat when the plane hit the ground and burst into flames, killing him instantly. Between the ambitious aerial scenes, the accidents, and Howard's perfectionist tendencies, filming on Hell's Angels fell far behind schedule. Howard had initially told distributors that the film would be ready for release in the fall of 1928. Then he assured him it would be complete by fall 1929. But a turning point in the movie industry delayed it even further. Film stars started talking.

23:22Two years earlier, Warner Brothers had released The Jazz Singer amid a blaze of publicity. Audiences flocked to the cinema and were left stunned when Al Jolson uttered the very first spoken words in a Hollywood feature film.