I've read lots about Hawks including Todd McCarthy's excellent biography. And, because of this, I can tell you Hawks tells a lot of 'porkies' in this interview. McCarthy tells about how Hawks fabricated stories about himself and his life and work. This is no less the case here, and a prime example is the conversation about the film 'Twentieth Century'. Hawks claims he told John Barrymore on the set of the film that "I don't want to hear a squark out of you before 2pm". He also said Carole Lombard was his second cousin and I doubt that, having never heard or read that anywhere else. He also lied about his academic background; his parents were wealthy and got him into Cornell for Engineering but he failed miserably in less than a year! And 'fifty guys behind me" - yeah, right Howard!!!
Anyway, some interesting insights into Hawks - but take care about the 'porkies'! The narration is in Deutsch and there is no subtitle facility available, but most of the talking is Hawks anyway. Incidentally, faults notwithstanding, I absolutely adored Howard Hawks - 'porkie pies' ('lies' in Australian). And he discusses Vic Fleming, another director and man's man I hugely admired:
And if you can get over the tripe from Shirley here, the award for Howard Hawks is very moving. He had never received an Oscar before!! And John Wayne loved him, which is very obvious here!
