During his crime spree, Lustig had boasted that his father, Ludwig, was the burgomaster, or mayor, of the town. The village is arranged around a Baroque clock tower in the shadow of the KrkonoЕЎe mountains (it is now a part of the Czech Republic). In prison interviews, he told investigators that he was born in the Austria-Hungarian town of HostinnГ© on January 4, 1890. The con man had always claimed to hail from a long line of aristocrats who owned European castles, yet newly discovered documents reveal more humble beginnings. Miller,вЂќ which was just another of his pseudonyms. On his Alcatraz paperwork, prison officials called him вЂњRobert V. He created a web of lies so thick that even today his true identity remains shrouded in mystery.

He used 47 aliases and carried dozens of fake passports. The fake title was just the tip of LustigвЂ™s deceptions. Instead of theatrical, he was always the reserved, dignified noble man.вЂќ One Secret Service agent wrote that Lustig was вЂњas elusive as a puff of cigarette smoke and as charming as a young girlвЂ™s dream,вЂќ while the New York TimesВ editorialized: вЂњHe was not the hand-kissing type of bogus Count-too keen for that. In fact, the Milwaukee JournalВ described him as вЂa story book characterвЂ™.

He dressed like a matinee idol, possessed a hypnotic charm, spoke five languages fluently and evaded the law like a figure from fiction. Lustig was unlike any other inmate to arrive on the Rock. For fans of вЂњCatch Me if You CanвЂќ and вЂњThe Sting,вЂќ Handsome Devil is the dazzling true story of Count Victor Lustig, historyвЂ™s most daring вЂ“ and flamboyant вЂ“ con man.

Eiffel tower