Catch me if you can summary
Frank W. Abagnale Jr. is only sixteen
years old when his parents separate. His mom had moved out, but Frank decided
to stay with his father. His father was still determined to get his wife back,
even though he worked constantly. Frank's father had given him a car to take
care of himself. Frank decided to ask his father for his credit card to work on
his car. His father allows it, but does not know that Frank has racked up
$3,400 on his card from the car and girls he has taken out. His father finds
out and forgives him, but his mother does not as easily. She blames her son's
problems on his father and sends him to a Catholic private school for boys.
Frank's mother allowed his to live with his father again and year after, but
Frank, seeing how poor his father now was, decided to leave home at sixteen to
make something of himself.
Young Frank was not making enough money as a teenager. He decided to change his age, and aged ten years over night. He decided to become a pilot. He traveled to New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and Miami throughout his “career” as a pilot. He traveled to New Orleans, but was taken in to question if he really worked for Pan Am. He argued with the cops at the Dade County Sherriff’s Department to state his loyalty and got off free. Abagnale took the close call as a warning and left to Atlanta, Georgia. When he arrived, he moved into an apartment complex stating he was a pediatrician. Another pediatrician moved into the building and offered him a job at a local hospital. He took it, but soon quit at the risk of causing someone to die due to his inability to be a doctor.
He moved to a different southern city and became a lawyer. He took the bar exam three times, and practiced law illegally. After being a lawyer, he left and went to Eureka, California. He stated he was a “vacationing pilot” and cashed a bad check. He called the same bank back later on and found out that the cops had discovered the fake check and left. His travels took him to San Francisco where he met a lovely woman by the name of Rosalie. They spent every moment together and Abagnale had found himself falling in love. They talked about marriage, but his criminal life kept him from marrying. He decided to tell Rosalie the truth. When he did, she went home. When he arrived later that evening, the cops had shown up so Frank left. He went to Las Vegas after that.
While there he met another woman named Pixie. He never entered into a relationship with her. Instead she helped him without knowing it by giving him the names of supplies he would need to make checks. She worked for a company that produced them and talked heavily about her job. Frank went to buy these supplies and started making his own checks. After Vegas, her left and went to Paris. In Paris, he fell in love with a woman named Monique. She was like Rosalie, but way more understanding. He instantly became part of her family. Her father was the owner of a printing press and Frank took advantage of this opportunity. He asked Monique’s father to print checks “for Pan Am” when really they were for him. Once the job was done, Frank told Monique he had to go back to work and left for Arizona.
While in Arizona, Frank knew he needed a crew to drive suspicion off of him for cashing these bad checks. He gathered a group of girls from the University of Arizona. He allowed them to be “stewardesses” so he could go in and cash checks without being questioned. They traveled to London, Paris, Rome, Athens, Geneva, Munich, Berlin, Madrid, Oslo, Copenhagen, and Vienna taking pictures “for the image of Pan Am” and cashing fake checks. After all the girls left, he stayed in France and went to Montpellier to visit his mother’s family. While there touring the country, he was caught by the French police. He was arrested and put into Perpignan Prison.
While there, he stayed in what seemed to be a dark cave without any clothes, a bed, and proper plumbing. He had to use a bucket that would overflow so he would lay in his own filth. They fed him bread, soup, water, and coffee. The guards messed with him all the time by screwing up his mental calendar and by giving him mattresses only to take them away. He lost significant weight and started to lose his mind. After six months, he was transferred to Malmo. There he was treated for his sicknesses and cleaned up. He was expecting to have to be extradited in other European countries, but his passport was now void and could go back to the states.
He boarded a flight to New York and was watched by the pilots. Timing it perfectly, just after the plane landed, he went into the bathroom, broke a latch, and escaped. He was caught in Montreal not much later and brought to Fulton, Georgia to wait trial. He called on a friend to set up an elaborate plan. The officers on duty thought he was undercover to observe their treatment of prisoners. He used that to his advantage by saying he was meeting his boss and left the jail. The police had tracked him down once again, but he walked out of the building pretending to be an FBI agent, and left without any of the cops seeing him.
Young Frank was not making enough money as a teenager. He decided to change his age, and aged ten years over night. He decided to become a pilot. He traveled to New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and Miami throughout his “career” as a pilot. He traveled to New Orleans, but was taken in to question if he really worked for Pan Am. He argued with the cops at the Dade County Sherriff’s Department to state his loyalty and got off free. Abagnale took the close call as a warning and left to Atlanta, Georgia. When he arrived, he moved into an apartment complex stating he was a pediatrician. Another pediatrician moved into the building and offered him a job at a local hospital. He took it, but soon quit at the risk of causing someone to die due to his inability to be a doctor.
He moved to a different southern city and became a lawyer. He took the bar exam three times, and practiced law illegally. After being a lawyer, he left and went to Eureka, California. He stated he was a “vacationing pilot” and cashed a bad check. He called the same bank back later on and found out that the cops had discovered the fake check and left. His travels took him to San Francisco where he met a lovely woman by the name of Rosalie. They spent every moment together and Abagnale had found himself falling in love. They talked about marriage, but his criminal life kept him from marrying. He decided to tell Rosalie the truth. When he did, she went home. When he arrived later that evening, the cops had shown up so Frank left. He went to Las Vegas after that.
While there he met another woman named Pixie. He never entered into a relationship with her. Instead she helped him without knowing it by giving him the names of supplies he would need to make checks. She worked for a company that produced them and talked heavily about her job. Frank went to buy these supplies and started making his own checks. After Vegas, her left and went to Paris. In Paris, he fell in love with a woman named Monique. She was like Rosalie, but way more understanding. He instantly became part of her family. Her father was the owner of a printing press and Frank took advantage of this opportunity. He asked Monique’s father to print checks “for Pan Am” when really they were for him. Once the job was done, Frank told Monique he had to go back to work and left for Arizona.
While in Arizona, Frank knew he needed a crew to drive suspicion off of him for cashing these bad checks. He gathered a group of girls from the University of Arizona. He allowed them to be “stewardesses” so he could go in and cash checks without being questioned. They traveled to London, Paris, Rome, Athens, Geneva, Munich, Berlin, Madrid, Oslo, Copenhagen, and Vienna taking pictures “for the image of Pan Am” and cashing fake checks. After all the girls left, he stayed in France and went to Montpellier to visit his mother’s family. While there touring the country, he was caught by the French police. He was arrested and put into Perpignan Prison.
While there, he stayed in what seemed to be a dark cave without any clothes, a bed, and proper plumbing. He had to use a bucket that would overflow so he would lay in his own filth. They fed him bread, soup, water, and coffee. The guards messed with him all the time by screwing up his mental calendar and by giving him mattresses only to take them away. He lost significant weight and started to lose his mind. After six months, he was transferred to Malmo. There he was treated for his sicknesses and cleaned up. He was expecting to have to be extradited in other European countries, but his passport was now void and could go back to the states.
He boarded a flight to New York and was watched by the pilots. Timing it perfectly, just after the plane landed, he went into the bathroom, broke a latch, and escaped. He was caught in Montreal not much later and brought to Fulton, Georgia to wait trial. He called on a friend to set up an elaborate plan. The officers on duty thought he was undercover to observe their treatment of prisoners. He used that to his advantage by saying he was meeting his boss and left the jail. The police had tracked him down once again, but he walked out of the building pretending to be an FBI agent, and left without any of the cops seeing him.