History Film / TheAviator

* WhamShot: During Howard's hermetic isolation from his OCD, he has filled numerous jars of urine.

** There's a scene at the Hepburn dinner where Mrs. Hepburn says to Hughes, "We don't care about money here," to which Hughes retorts "That's because you have it. You don't care about money because you've always had it." Aside from the likehood of that exchange having actually taken place, the reverse happened in real life: Dr. Thomas N. Hepburn had raised himself from poverty working odd jobs through medical school in the early 1900s, while Howard Hughes had inherited Hughes Tool Company and few millions in cash at 18.

* CastingCouch: Howard is shown auditioning 15 year-old Faith Domergue, whose later shown crashing her car into Howard's in anger over him seeing Ava Gardner.

* CameraFiend: "I need two more cameras by Saturday! Rent them if you can, steal them if you have to."

** Howard promises to remove all the bugs from Ava's room. Ava had just found out she was being bugged, she didn't realise there was more than one.

* {{Mangst}}: Practically Howard Hughes's middle name, especially as he tries to combat the symptoms of his [[{{Super OCD}} obsessive-compulsive disorder]].

* SuperOCD: This is Howard's biggest obstacle, but the film also implies that the manic attention to detail made him a famous billionaire. Knowing his planes down to the last bolt, being able to figure out the math of a corporate takeover in minutes, keeping meticulous records to use during his Senate testimony; it may not have helped his social life, but it did make him a financial success.

* BuxomIsBetter: This is Howard's argument to the [[UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode MPAA]] when they object to the prevalence of Creator/JaneRussell's "mammaries" in his film ''The Outlaw''.

[[caption-width-right:305:''[[{{Tagline}} "Some men dream the future. He built it."]]'']]

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* PlayingGertrude: Leo, playing a late-thirties Howard Hughes.

* CourtroomAntic: Howard gets pretty belligerent in the Senate hearing, producing a lot of {{Disregard That Statement}}s.
** Also a case of TruthInTelevision- the Senate scene was actually heavily based off of, sometimes word for word, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7vu1dlow5A actual footage]] of Hughes during the hearing, who indeed did eventually start interrogating the senator.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Not entirely, since the movie does show Hughes' possessive nature, his paranoid wire tapping of Ava Gardner and his obsessive nature but it plays down a lot of Hughes' shadier and sleazier side and frames him as a ByronicHero. Likewise, the film stops in the late 40s, right before Hughes enters his darkest phase (the purchase of Creator/RKOPictures and his hermetic retreat). Some critics have noted that the film is a movie about Hughes as he might have made a movie about himself.

* WhamShot: During Howard's OCD, he has filled numerous jars of urine.

* MadnessMantra: One of the symptoms of Howard's OCD.

* GirlOfTheWeek: Katharine is not pleased about Howard's collection of these.

* BadassBystander: True to RealLife, Hughes is saved from his plane crash by a bystanding GI.

** The look on Hughes' face when he realizes he can't stop repeating the phrase "Show me all the blueprints".

* BuxomIsBetter: This is Howard's argument to the [[UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode MPAA]] when they object to the prevalence of Jane Russell's "mammaries" in his film ''The Outlaw''.

''The Aviator'' is a 2004 biopic about Creator/HowardHughes, a 20th century industrialist, film producer/director... and, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin aviator]]. Creator/MartinScorsese directed it, and Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio stars as Hughes; the film also features Creator/CateBlanchett as Creator/KatharineHepburn, Creator/KateBeckinsale as Creator/AvaGardner, and [[AllStarCast a bunch more really famous people]] [[StarringAStarAsAStar playing other famous people]].

* AffablyEvil: Juan Trippe. In spades.

* ByronicHero: Howard is a charismatic male. He charms many women. He is intelligent, sophisticated, and self-centered. He is sensitive and his past (the epidemy in Houston) haunts him. He does not respect the social norms (he spies on his lovers, he bribes the military officers...).

* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Pan Am chairman Juan Trippe.

* SmugSnake: Juan Trippe, so very much.
** Not to mention Senator Brewster. By the time he's deliberately arranging a hotel room to set off Hughes' OCD, you'll hate him just as much as Hughes.

* TroubledButCute: Howard Hughes has severe OCD, a very poor sense of financial responsibility, is an utter control freak, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and]] [[CelebrityParadox looks like Leonardo DiCaprio]].

* WorthyOpponent: Juan certainly thinks this of Howard, for all his eccentricities and their history as rivals. After his final talk with Howard, he tells Dietrich:
-> ''If you let him testify at that hearing, the whole world will see what he's become. They should remember him for what he was.''

* NeatFreak: Hughes, and how.

* NeatFreak: Oh boy.
* NoEnding: As men in black suits and protective gloves start walking towards him (or at least he ''thinks'' they're walking towards him) he starts saying "The way of the future" repeatedly. Brief flashback, then he says "the way of the future" a few more times. Roll credits.

* VerbalTic: His habit of repeating different phrases over and over again, like "Show me all the blueprints," "Come in with the milk," and "The way of the future."

* BadassMustache: Creator/ErrolFlynn (naturally), Johnny Meyer, and later Howard.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_1068_9.JPG]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''[[{{Tagline}} "Some men dream the future. He built it."]]'']]

''The Aviator'' is a 2004 biopic about Creator/HowardHughes, a 20th century industrialist, film producer/director... and, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin aviator]]. Creator/MartinScorsese directed it, and Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio stars as the titular character; the film also features Creator/CateBlanchett as Creator/KatharineHepburn, Creator/KateBeckinsale as Creator/AvaGardner, and [[AllStarCast a bunch of really famous people]] [[StarringAStarAsAStar playing other famous people]].

The story, which takes place smack in the middle of UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood, documents Hughes's production of the films ''Film/HellsAngels'' and ''The Outlaw'', his efforts to establish and grow Trans World Airlines and to develop reconnoissance and troop-transport aircraft for the Army Air Forces during World War II, his relationships with Hepburn and Gardner, and his ever-worsening obsessive-compulsive disorder. It won five out of eleven UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nominations, including Best Supporting Actress (Blanchett).

* {{Tomboy}}: Creator/KatharineHepburn plays golf and wears slacks. See also WholesomeCrossdresser.

* ThisIsGonnaBeHuge: Howard has an eye for emerging trends. When ''The Jazz Singer'' is released, he declares that silent films are history and he needs to reshoot ''Hell's Angels'' for sound. At the end of the film, just before his final breakdown, he's talking about buying jet aircraft for TWA.