F for Fake poster
Director Orson Welles
Writer Orson Welles

F for Fake

Original Title: Vérités et Mensonges

Tagline: A magician is just an actor playing the part of a magician.

Release Date: 1973-09-01

Duration: 89 minutes

Synopsis

Documents the lives of infamous fakers Elmyr de Hory and Clifford Irving. De Hory, who later committed suicide to avoid more prison time, made his name by selling forged works of art by painters like Picasso and Matisse. Irving was infamous for writing a fake autobiography of Howard Hughes. Welles moves between documentary and fiction as he examines the fundamental elements of fraud and the people who commit fraud at the expense of others.

Casting

  • Joseph Cotten
    Self
  • Orson Welles
    Self
  • Oja Kodar
    The Girl
  • Paul Stewart
    Self
  • Nina van Pallandt
    Self
  • Peter Bogdanovich
    Self
  • Gary Graver
    Self
  • Laurence Harvey
    Self
  • Howard Hughes
    Self (archive footage)
  • Elmyr de Hory
    Self