A High-Flying Look at Hughes, the Ladies’ Man

His daring aerial exploits are the stuff of legend, but it’s all those amorous escapades on land that propel an interesting documentary about the most famous eccentric in the history of Hollywood.

“Howard Hughes: His Women and His Movies,” which premieres tonight on cable’s TCM, offers an array of amusing nuggets about the renowned millionaire’s love affairs with airplanes and actresses. Nothing sordid, just chirpy enough to keep you around for 60 minutes.

Hughes, the tall, “matinee-idol handsome” son of a womanizing father and overprotective mother, arrived in Los Angeles in 1925 with a dream of making movies. The first flopped, earning him a nickname of “The Sucker With the Cash,” but success came soon, notably “Hell’s Angels,” the 1930 spectacle that introduced sultry Jean Harlow.

Forced into marriage by his family, Hughes soon abandoned his wife to pursue silent-screen star Billie Dove. Supposedly the love of his life, Dove subsequently caught Hughes cheating, according to Hughes biographer Pat Broeske, who supplies many of the hour’s anecdotes.

Countless affairs followed, and narrator Billy Zane notes that at one time, the charming, irresistible Hughes had 160 women stashed around town in hotels, houses and bungalows. For Hughes, it was all about the chase.

“He could tame any woman,” says actress Terry Moore, a former girlfriend who secretly recorded some of their phone conversations.

And what a gallery of women: The stunning string of actresses included Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Ava Gardner, Jane Greer, Yvonne DeCarlo, Rita Hayworth, Lana Turner, Linda Darnell and Ginger Rogers.

On one New Year’s Eve in Beverly Hills, Hughes attempted to have dinner with three women, one of them being Susan Hayward, and nearly got away with it. The avid aviator and American hero even tried dating Olivia De Havilland and sister Joan Fontaine simultaneously.

In the midst of these fleeting flings, the unfaithful Hughes fought with censors, set coast-to-coast records in the sky, coped with deafness and became increasingly irrational, cheating on lovers and spying on colleagues by hiring a battery of private detectives.

Written by Barbara Romen and Mary Jane Morrison, this satisfying account seems to stay on top of the facts, never becoming too breathless about its larger-than-life subject.

Hughes died alone as a recluse at age 70 in 1976 after spending the last 19 years of his life avoiding family and friends. One presumes he pleased a multitude of women, though the real pleasure of lasting love eluded him throughout an otherwise robust life.

* “Howard Hughes: His Women and His Movies” will be shown tonight at 5 and 8:30 on TCM. The network has rated it TV-PG (may be unsuitable for young children).