DVD News
The Hoax arrives on DVD
By M&C News
Oct 8, 2007, 21:33 GMT

Oscar-nominated director Lasse Hallström (“The Cider House Rules,” 1999) spins a thrilling, unbelievable true story of the man who nearly pulled off the biggest media scam of the 20th century in The Hoax, unraveling on DVD October 16th from Miramax Home Entertainment.

Starring Richard Gere, Alfred Molina, Marcia Gay Harden and a stellar supporting cast, The Hoax is based on Clifford Irving’s controversial autobiography by the same name.

Golden Globe winner Richard Gere (“Chicago”) assumes the identity of Clifford Irving, a novelist-turned-literary-scam-artist who in the 1970s penned a bogus autobiography of reclusive playboy billionaire Howard Hughes. Screenwriter William Wheeler (“The Prime Gig”) based his “Hoax” script on Irving's own tell-all tome by the same name.

Son of a successful cartoonist, Irving was a critically acclaimed novelist with modest book sales in the early 1970s when publisher Andrea Tate played by Hope Davis (“The Weatherman”) turns down his newest effort. So Irving and friend Dick Susskind, portrayed by Alfred Molina (“Spider-Man 2”), conceived of a faux Hughes bio as a way to reinvigorate Irving’s literary career and make a few bucks.

 
Egged on by the likes of greedy publishing executive Shelton Fisher - played by Emmy and Golden Globe “Winchell” winner Stanley Tucci - Irving began writing the Hughes biography and forging letters supposedly written by the aviator-turned movie producer himself. Irving was eventually brought down by his own overreaching conspiracies, hoping to rope the Nixon administration and the real Howard Hughes into his counterfeit literary web. Irving and Susskind were carted off to prison for a few years and forced to return the $1 million paid out by duped publishers McGraw-Hill and Life magazine.

Academy Award winner Marcia Gay Harden (“Pollock,” 2000) portrays Irving’s hippie painter wife Edith, with Julie Delpy (“Before Sunset”) as Irving’s mistress Nina Stanley.

DVD bonus features include “Stranger Than Fiction”, “Mike Wallace: Reflections On A Con,” deleted scenes with commentary by Director Lasse Hallström and Writer William Wheeler, feature audio commentary with Producers Leslie Holleran and Josh Maurer as well as feature audio commentary with Director Lesse Hallström and Writer William Wheeler.

The Hoax is now available for pre-order at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.