F for Fake (1973)

A documentary about fraud and fakery.

Directors:

Orson Welles, Gary Graver (uncredited)

Writer:

Orson Welles

Stars:

Orson Welles, Oja Kodar, François Reichenbach

3 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Orson Welles	...	Self - Narrator (voice)
Oja Kodar	...	Self - The Girl
François Reichenbach	...	Self - Special Participant
Elmyr de Hory	...	Self
Clifford Irving	...	Self
Laurence Harvey	...	Self
Edith Irving	...	Self
David Walsh	...	Self
Paul Stewart	...	Self - Special Participant
Richard Wilson	...	Self - Special Participant
Joseph Cotten	...	Self - Special Participant
Howard Hughes	...	Self (archive footage)
Richard Drewett	...	Self - Associate Producer
Alexander Welles	...	Special Participant (as Sasa Devcic)
Gary Graver	...	Special Participant

Storyline

Orson Welles' free-form documentary about fakery focusses on the notorious art forger Elmyr de Hory and Elmyr's biographer, Clifford Irving, who also wrote the celebrated fraudulent Howard Hughes autobiography, then touches on the reclusive Hughes and Welles' own career (which started with a faked resume and a phony Martian invasion). On the way, Welles plays a few tricks of his own on the audience.

---

Plot Keywords:

fraud | painter | cigar smoking | biographer | ibiza | 

---

Genres:

Documentary

---

Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Hidden within a montage of footage of Howard Hughes is one brief shot of a man disembarking from a ship who looks similar to Hughes, but is actually the actor Don Ameche.

---

Goofs

The word "practitioners" is misspelled "practioners" in the opening credits.

---

Quotes

Orson Welles: I started at the top and have been working my way down ever since.

---

Connections

Featured in They'll Love Me When I'm Dead (2018)

User Reviews

nothing is real

Orson Welles's final completed movie deals with fakery, and in particular with two of the most notorious forgers of the twentieth century. "F is for Fakes" (also called "F for Fake") is not really a movie or documentary as much as a look at how we interpret art, and what we WANT to interpret about anything that is essentially fake. Welles proudly calls himself a charlatan while performing magic tricks and coming up with all sorts of ways to play with the audience. I personally had never heard of Elmyr de Hory until watching this, but Welles turns him into a very interesting person.

All in all, the director known as a boy genius had a fine end to his career. Welles created a truly mind-bending look at the concept of art. The fact that the movie came out around the time that Clifford Irving's scandal broke (he wrote a forged biography of Howard Hughes) certainly adds to the documentary's quality. Can there truly be any more definite reality left in the world?

Details

Country:

France Iran West Germany

Language:

English French Spanish

Release Date:

12 March 1975 (France)

Also Known As:

F for Fake

Filming Locations:

Ibiza, Balearic Islands, Spain

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$10,206

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films de l'Astrophore, SACI, Janus Film und Fernsehen

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1