Steven Spielberg’s ‘Catch Me If You Can’ tells the story of Frank Abagnale, a former conman who forges checks worth millions of dollars while hopping through different personas and professions. He poses as a pilot for Pan American Airlines, a doctor, a parish prosecutor, and a professor – all before the age of 21. His notoriety makes him the center of the FBI’s investigation, spearheaded by Agent Carl Hanratty. Frank’s schemes grow increasingly bolder as the two engage in a true cat-and-mouse chase, with Carl seemingly always just one step behind. This 2002 crime drama marked Spielberg’s first collaboration with Leonardo DiCaprio, who starred alongside cinematic legends such as Tom Hanks and Christopher Walken. It has since become a cult-classic, with Frank Abagnale cementing himself as one of cinema’s most notorious characters.
Catch Me If You Can is a Dramatization of a True Story
‘Catch Me If You Can’ is loosely based on the life of the real Frank Abagnale Jr, as recorded in his semi-autobiography of the same name, which he co-wrote with Stan Redding. The film catapulted Frank to international fame, with media personalities from all over the world contributing to the mythologization of his narrative. Frank played on a variety of confidence tricks and schemes that led to him becoming a millionaire multiple times before the age of 21. He would forge checks, often under the name of reputed organizations, and then spend his money in lavish pursuits, before fleeing to a different location and restarting the process. In an official statement following the release of the movie, Frank said that parts of his life had been “overdramatized and exaggerated” by his co-writer Stan Redding, whose focus was on telling a story, and not just a biography.
Around the time Spielberg began his production, Frank’s story was widely believed to be real. Spielberg had bought the rights shortly after the book’s release in 1980, and, after decades of looking for the right team, ended up helming the project himself. In a 2003 interview, he recounted the first time he heard of Frank’s escape from a hundred-twenty FBI agents in broad daylight, exclaiming, “Aw. Man if that’s true, I gotta make this picture.” Frank’s claim of being, at one point, the only teenager on the FBI’s top-ten most wanted list was used as a promotional tagline for the movie. Public opinion has recently shifted, as more and more people now enquire into the truth of these claims. Ironically enough, it is possible that this conman’s greatest success was in lying about the cons themselves.
The Real Life of Frank Abagnale Jr.
Frank Abagnale was born on April 27th, 1948, in Bronxville, New York. His parents divorced when he was 14, after which he chose to live with his father. Around this time, his father also suffered a financial loss that forced him to become a low-paid postal worker. Frank, deciding that this would never happen to him, began studying the rich and developing the knowledge and skills that would later make him a nearly unstoppable criminal. In June 1964, he dropped out of high school and left home without saying goodbye or leaving a note. When he realized he could barely afford to live in a city working jobs, he altered his license, passed himself off as 26, and began cashing fraudulent checks in small amounts. He was caught and arrested in California for car theft and returned to his father. But this was simply the beginning of Frank’s descent into the rabbit hole of schemes and swindles.
Frank began one of his most infamous scams in his midteens, deciding to pose as a Pan Am pilot to score free flights. In the movie, he successfully travels millions of miles without raising any suspicion. However, that idea has been contested. According to Alan C. Logan, a journalist who wrote ‘The Greatest Hoax on Earth: Catching Truth, While We Can’ – a 2020 book debunking many of the narratives surrounding Frank – his stint as a pilot only lasted a few weeks. During this time, Logan told WHYY that Frank “befriended a flight attendant called Paula Parks, followed her all over the Eastern Seaboard, identified her work schedule through deceptive means, and essentially stalked the woman.” Unlike the movie, where he pulls off a series of successful escapes, the real Frank was caught in the act shortly and sentenced to twelve years of probation, which he promptly fled from.
Frank’s time as a criminal was short-lived. After getting caught and released multiple times, often for a mix of cheque forgery and pretending to be a pilot, Frank took up various jobs and was fired from many of them when his criminal history was discovered. Eventually, he became a public speaker, describing his experience as a pediatrician in a Georgia hospital for one year, an assistant state attorney general for the next, a professor, and, of course, a Pan American Pilot. In addition, Frank made a bold claim of recruiting students as Pan American flight attendants and traveling with them across Europe. Among his many other legends were his escape from the FBI through a toilet bowl and his deals with banks, revealing common tricks and exploits in exchange for money.
The Veracity of Frank Abagnale Jr.’s Story is Deeply Contended
Accusations of Frank fabricating his life story were not new. In 1978, after Frank became a prominent anti-crime speaker, the San Francisco Chronicle revealed that there was no evidence of his activity in the banks, colleges, and hospitals he claimed to con. Several such reports — including Alan Logan’s book — continued to surface, and yet were never big enough to beat Frank’s popular myth. A significant turn happened in 2023, when the New York Post published its landmark report compiling the many arguments against Frank’s narrative. Most of the research came from Jim Keith, a retired security manager who had compiled an 87-page file of old newspaper clippings, letters, and documents from various institutions, along with interviews with people who knew the man first-hand. While many of Frank’s claims were verified, most showed glaring inconsistencies.
For instance, Frank’s story of recruiting university students as flight attendants, a scene beautifully rendered in Spielberg’s movie with Frank Sinatra’s “Come Fly With Me” as the background song, dramatizes the real event. While Frank did gather students for a physical examination, he never recruited any of them. He was also never definitively proven to be a doctor, professor, or prosecutor, as there were no records of his employment in any of these institutions. Public records show that the majority of Frank’s active years as a con man were spent in imprisonment. To top it off, his other major claim — that the FBI whisked him out of prison for his assistance — has similarly never been confirmed. Frank’s entire story is built up on facts and details that are inconformable at best, and outright disproven at worst.
While the story of ‘Catch Me If You Can’ may not be an entirely honest one, it only adds more charm to the character of Frank Abagnale. According to Logan, it teaches a lesson: “People should try to practice reflective thinking; they shouldn’t just believe everything they hear, but should instead interrogate unlikely claims that may come their way.” It also, however, illustrates the power of charisma and appeal, and how the audience just loves to be swept off its feet. The exact truth of Frank’s claims might never be known, but these narratives and counternarratives have sealed his presence in history.
Read more: Catch Me If You Can Ending, Explained
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