Room 1219: Fatty Arbuckle, the Mysterious Death of Virginia Rappe, and the Scandal That Changed Hollywood
Page 42
“So one Sunday morning …” Durfee, interview by Schneider.
“If either of us … “ Minta Durfee, “The True Story About My Husband,” Movie Weekly, December 24, 1921.
8. The Next Weekend
The giant DETAIN ARBUCKLE banner … Evening News quotes, Blake’s affidavit, and Arbuckle’s statement via “Detain Arbuckle,” Evening News (San Jose), September 10, 1921.
the Daily News had over a hundred thousand readers … John D. Stevens, Sensationalism and the New York Press (New York: Columbia University Press, 1991), 125.
To meet the growing demand… Michael Simon Bessie, Jazz Journalism: The Story of the Tabloid Newspapers (New York: Dutton, 1938), 99.
“In making ‘arrests,’ the reporters … “A. J. Liebling, “The Case of the Scattered Dutchman,” New Yorker, September 24, 1955.
“Hollywood dope ring”… Los Angeles Record, September 16, 1921, quoted in Rob Leicester Wagner, Red Ink, White Lies: The Rise and Fall of Los Angeles Newspapers 1920-1962 (Upland, CA: Dragonflyer Press, 2000), 30.
“After Miss Rappe …” “Mystery Death Takes Actress,” Los Angeles Times, September 10, 1921.
“This is assuming serious proportions”… Leo Friedman, closing statement of third Arbuckle trial, in Classics of the Bar: Stories of the World’s Great Legal Trials and a Compilation of Forensic Masterpieces, vol. 8, ed. Alvin V. Sellers (Washington, DC: Washington Law Book, 1942), 124.
“there were no closed or locked doors”… “Girl Dead After Wild Party in Hotel,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 10, 1921.
”His face was grave …” “Lauds Character of Miss Rappe,” Evening Public Ledger (Philadelphia, PA), September 13, 1921.
“We all thought it was very unfortunate …” “More Guests of Arbuckle Will Testify,” Oakland Tribune, September 25, 1921.
“ill feelings” toward him … “Detain Arbuckle.”
“For God’s sake … “Viola Dana, interview in “Single Beds and Double Standards,” episode 3 of Hollywood, BBC documentary miniseries, 1980.
“She had a few drinks … “ “Fatty Arbuckle to Be Arrested in Girl’s Death,” Palm Beach Post, September 11, 1921.
“I am coming here …” “‘Fatty’ Arbuckle in Wild Dash to Explain Death of Movie Girl,” Sunday Morning Star, September 11, 1921.
“They’re saying some rotten things …” “‘Fatty Arbuckle Charged with Actress’ Murder,” Oakland Tribune, September 11, 1921.
“I don’t know why … “ Ibid.
Arbuckle released a statement… “Roscoe Arbuckle Faces an Inquiry on Woman’s Death,” New York Times, September 11, 1921.
“Roscoe Arbuckle will not even admit …” “Arbuckle Being Held in a Six-Foot Cell,” Salt Lake Tribune, September 12, 1921.
“Not on an occasion of this sort”… “Arbuckle Shows Signs of Worry,” Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA), September 12, 1921.
His weight was 266 pounds … “Arbuckle Dragged Rappe Girl to Room, Woman Testifies,” New York Times, September 13, 1921.
“This woman without a doubt…” “Arbuckle Is Jailed on Murder Charge in Woman’s Death,” New York Times, September 12, 1921.
It was six by six … “Formal Murder Charge Is Filed Against Film Comedian,” Berkeley Daily Gazette, September 12, 1921.
“Are you going to give me a partner in here?”… “Arbuckle Held Without Bail as Murderer,” Chicago Tribune, September 12, 1921.
“The shame of it all”… “Clean-Up of Film Industry Needed, Say Clergymen,” Oakland Tribune, September 12, 1921.
The first cancellation … “Arbuckle Silent When Questioned by Police,” Oakland Tribune, September 11, 1921.
“There’s nothing like that… “ “Not Like Fatty, Says Charlie,” Milwaukee Journal, September 12, 1921.
“I’m through with booze … “ “Arbuckle Being Held in a Six-Foot Cell.”
“He’s a regular guy”… Ibid.
Semnacher said he found them … “Movie Society in Los Angeles Split by Arbuckle Case,” Pittsburgh Press, September 12, 1921.
Rappe’s outer garments… “Arbuckle Is Jailed on Murder Charge in Woman’s Death.”
“It’s too lonesome alone”… “Formal Murder Charge Is Filed Against Film Comedian.”
“I’ve heard often of… “ “Falstaff of Movies Engages Big Array of Legal Talent,” Pittsburgh Press, September 12, 1921.
9. Muddle: 1915-16
Frequently banned and legally challenged… Edward de Grazia and Roger K. Newman, Banned Films: Movies, Censors and the First Amendment (New York: R.R. Bowker, 1982), 5-6.
unprecedented box office gross … $18 million figure via Russell Merritt, “Dixon, Griffith, and the Southern Legend,” Cinema Journal 12, no. 1 (Autumn 1972), 27; $60 million figure via Richard Schickel, D. W. Griffith: An American Life (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1984), 281.
At its peak in 1920, colorization … Richard Koszarski, An Evening’s Entertainment: The Age of the Silent Feature Picture, 1915—1928 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990), 127.
thirteen additional magazines … Steven Lomazow, “Movie Magazine Bibliography,” Magazine History: A Collector’s Blog, November 2, 2008, http://magazinehistory.blogspot.com/2008/11/movie-magazine-bibliography.html.
An article in the August 1915 edition … “Heavyweight Athletics,” Photoplay, August 1915, 35-38.
sat in the St. Francis lobby for an interview … Kitty Kelly, “Keystone Stars Chat with Kitty,” Flickerings from Film Land, Chicago Tribune, April 9, 1915.
Roscoe bought me a Rolls Royce … Minta Durfee, interview by Walter Wagner, July 4, 1973, in You Must Remember This (New York: Putnam, 1975), 35.
Valentine’s Day ball… “Photoplayer’s [sic] Club Ball,” Motography, March 6, 1915, 350.
“We were both busy … “ Minta Durfee, “The True Story About My Husband,” Movie Weekly, December 24, 1921.
“He wasn’t a man who could say … “ Durfee, interview by Wagner, 42—43.
“While medical science waged… “ “Mabel Normand Fighting Death,” Los Angeles Herald, September 20, 1915.
they finally, but privately, became engaged… Mack Sennett with Cameron Shipp, King of Comedy (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1954), 191.
According to Minta Durfee’s account… Minta Durfee, interview by Stuart Oderman, July 1969, in Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle: A Biography of the Silent Film Comedian, 1887—1933 (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1994), 75.
“It was learned yesterday … “Santa Monica Outlook, September 21, 1915.
killed a rattlesnake, stopped a studio burglar… Keystone Studio News, Photoplayers’ Weekly, July 29, 1915, 12.
a five-mile ocean swim race… Variety, September 10, 1915.
fended off an octopus … “Octopus Seizes Mabel Normand,” Photoplayers’ Weekly, September 4, 1915, 12.
“Roscoe sat on my head…” Randolph Bartlett, “Why Aren’t We Killed?,” Photoplay, April 1916, 83.
Hartman subsequently directed… “Spotlight Dims on Oakland Idol of Comedy,” Oakland Tribune, August 23, 1931.
they attended the Broadway musical… “Fatty and Mabel’s New Year,” Moving Picture World, January 18, 1916, 251.
“Then I’ll find a hotel… “Minta Durfee, interview by Stuart Oderman, July 1969, in Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle: A Biography, 81.
“Roscoe knew he was good for publicity …” Ibid.
“The studio was bristling with activity … “Wil Rex, “Behind the Scenes with Fatty and Mabel,” Picture-Play, April 1916, 46—53.
a “burial party” aboard her yacht… Motion Picture Magazine, October 1916.
“What’s the worst thing…” “Fatty Off Guard,” Film Fun, March 1916, 15.
”The world has Chaplinitis …” “Chaplinitis,” Motion Picture Magazine, July 1915, 121.
they wouldn’t take hold in the film industry … Tom Kemper, Hidden Talent: The Emergence of Hollywood Agents (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2010), 5.
a contract with Metro Pictures … An unpublished 1958—59 manuscript by Minta Durfee, cited in Robert Young Jr., Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle: A Bio-Bibliography (Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1994), 52.
As late as February 1916… “The First Night Calendar,” New York Times, February 20, 1916.
Born in Russia in 1878 … Joseph Schenck bio via Alan Hynd, “The Rise and Fall of Joseph Schenck,” pts. 1—3, Liberty, June 28, 1941, July 5, 1941, and July 12, 1941.
the “notorious” Arbuckle’s arrival… Sennett, King of Comedy, 195.
“It is hard to believe …” Ibid., 215.
“To this day, I guess … “ Roscoe Arbuckle, interview by Ray Frohman, Los Angeles Herald, October 28, 1919.
Schenck paid Hart … “Arbuckle’s Film Value,” Oakland Tribune, April 2, 1922.
“I was greatly upset… “ Durfee, interview by Oderman, July 1969, in Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle: A Biography, 90.
News of Arbuckle’s leaving… “Roscoe Arbuckle to Quit Keystone,” Chicago Tribune, September 27, 1916.
the name of his production company … “Arbuckle to Leave Keystone,” Motography, October 7, 1916, 832.
Arbuckle pronounced it “Cumeeky”… Rudi Blesh, Keaton (New York: MacMillan, 1966), 87.
Arbuckle’s “moving picture concern”… “May Build Movie Comedy Concern,” Los Angeles Times, December 13, 1916.
a skin infection near Arbuckle’s left knee … Minta Durfee, unpublished manuscript, 103, Minta Durfee Arbuckle Collection, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Beverly Hills, CA.
The intern injected Arbuckle with morphine … Ibid.
“In the last decades of the nineteenth century …” Details of morphine’s history and effects via David T. Courtwright, Dark Paradise: A History of Opiate Addiction in America (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001); C. B. Pearson, M.D, “What Should Be the Attitude of the Medical Profession and of Society Towards the Morphine Addict?,” Medical Review of Reviews, July 1918, 406—13.
one in every four hundred Americans … “Uncle Sam Is the Worst Drug Fiend in the World,” New York Times Magazine, March 12, 1911.
When the intern determined that amputation … Durfee, unpublished manuscript, 104.
If he was to kick his jones for opiates … Ibid., unnumbered; details of the effects of morphine addiction treatment via William L. White, Slaying the Dragon: The History of Addiction Treatment and Recovery in America (Bloomington, IL: Chestnut Health Systems, 1998).
Fatty lost over eighty pounds … Durfee, unpublished manuscript, unnumbered.
10. Indictment
“rough clothes …”“Formal Murder Charge Is Filed Against Film Comedian,” Berkeley Daily Gazette, September 12, 1921.
“Nothing I could say now … “ “Sensations Develop in Comedian’s Case,” Evening News (San Jose), September 12, 1921.
“Roscoe Arbuckle, murder”… Ibid.
Delmont alleged that Arbuckle had lured… “Says ‘Fatty’ Used Stardom as Lure,” Evening Public Ledger (Philadelphia, PA), September 14, 1921.
her less incendiary affidavit… “‘Fatty’s’ Fatal Folly,” NZ Truth (New Zealand), October 22, 1921.
“Oh, please don’t make me …” “Arbuckle Dragged Rappe Girl to Room, Woman Testifies,” New York Times, September 13, 1921.
hands clasped, face twitching … “Formal Murder Charge Is Filed Against Film Comedian.”
“I desire to state… “ “Throng Crowds Court to Hear Prisoner Plead,” San Francisco Call and Post, September 12, 1921.
“From information I received… “ “Miss Rappe’s Fiancé Threatens Vengeance,” New York Times, September 13, 1921.
“I know of no legal method…” “700 New York Theaters Bar Arbuckle Films,” New York Tribune, September 14, 1921.
a demand grew for films … “Films Featuring Miss Rappe Shown,” Los Angeles Times, September 14, 1921.
“We want the full facts …” “Court Holds Arbuckle as Girl’s Slayer,” New York Tribune, September 13, 1921.
Rumwell claimed he called the coroner’s office … “Arbuckle Dragged Rappe Girl to Room, Woman Testifies.”
“an almost unnoticed figure…” “Jury Adjourns Without Indicting Film Comedian,” Los Angeles Times, September 13, 1921.
Those at Paramount said nothing… “Employers Silent on Death Case,” Los Angeles Times, September 13, 1921.
Alice Lake emphasized… “Film People Tell Views,” Los Angeles Times, September 13, 1921.
Buster Keaton was unequivocal… Ibid.
“Arbuckle is a great big, good-natured, lovable sort of chap …” “Officials Seeking Notoriety Try to Hang Arbuckle, Says Schenck” Los Angeles Times, September 12, 1921.
“I have little to say …” “Athletic Club Ousts Arbuckle,” Los Angeles Times, September 13, 1921.
“due to the shock …” “Five Witnesses Heard,” Quebec Telegraph, September 13, 1921.
“He looked nervous …” “Famous Comedian Silent on Wild Party and Violent Death of Virginia Rappe,” Pittsburgh Press, September 13, 1921.
”My attorneys have advised me …” Ibid.
“District Attorney Brady more time …” “Five Witnesses Heard.”
“We have sent Miss Zey Prevon …” “Witnesses Are Disappearing in Arbuckle Case, Charge,” Pittsburgh Press, September 13, 1921.
Arbuckle’s housekeeper … “‘Just a Big Boy,’ Housekeeper Says,” Oakland Tribune, September 13, 1921.
the inmate in the cell next to his … “Arbuckle Will Lose Neighbor in Jail,” Los Angeles Times, September 13, 1921.
Another headline stated… “Grave of Arbuckle’s Mother Is Neglected,” Los Angeles Times, September 13, 1921.
Arbuckle’s sister Nora … “Sister Talks for Arbuckle,” Miami News, September 13, 1921.
his brother Harry’s “no comment”… “Brother Is Neutral,” Los Angeles Times, September 14, 1921.
“Fatty Arbuckle has one sincere mourner …” “Bulldog Mourns for Arbuckle,” Los Angeles Times, September 14, 1921.
A headline promised… “Other Illegal Acts Charged to Film Star,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 13, 1921.
Another header asserted… “Second Girl Escapes Fate of Miss Rappe,” Los Angeles Examiner, September 13, 1921.
An article in a Flagstaff newspaper … “Fatty Arbuckle Treats Wife Rough in Arizona,” Coconino Sun, September 16, 1921.
first appeared in bold print… “Dying Girl Laid Blame on Comedian,” Los Angeles Examiner, September 11, 1921.
A headline in Tuesday’s Baltimore Sun … “Arbuckle Affair No Surprise After Orgies of Film Colony,” Baltimore Sun, September 13, 1921.
Tales of his sickening orgies … “Old Rules for Girls Supplanted by New Now,” San Francisco Examiner, September 14, 1921.
Positioned on the page … “Hollywood Orgies Exposed by Police,” Evening Public Ledger (Philadelphia, PA), September 16, 1921.
in the Denver Post that Thursday … “Narcotics Needles Turned Tame Party at Hollywood into Astounding Success,” Denver Post September 15, 1921.
A short United Press story … “Miss Rappe’s Death Brings Movie World Scandals to Climax,” Pittsburgh Press, September 12, 1921.
“For three or four years … “ “The Arbuckle Incident,” Los Angeles Times, September 13, 1921.
The next day, the same paper … “Arbuckle’s Fat Is to Blame for His Trouble, Declares Famous Psycho-analyst,” Denver Post, September 14, 1921.
“Arbuckle is a gross, common, bestial, drunken individual …” Editorial, Dayton Daily News, reprinted in Herald of Gospel Liberty, October 6, 1921.
An editorial in the Atlanta Constitution … “Ruined by Wealth,” Atlanta Constitution, September 13, 1921.
Photo montages … “Once in Happy Repose,” New York American, September 15, 1921; “Beautiful, Laughing V
irginia Rappe in Film Scenes,” Chicago Herald and Examiner, September 13, 1921.
This striking image … “They Walked into His Parlor,” San Francisco Examiner, September 15, 1921.
Open up the New York American … “Hope for Fame Lured Actress to Her Death,” New York American, September 14, 1921.
“But in his innermost soul…” “Yesterday’s Jester a Fallen Idol; Phantom Bacchus Leaves His Halo; Apathy Settles on Actor’s Face,” San Francisco Examiner, September 14, 1921.
“Roscoe Arbuckle is just a great big…” “Wife to Help Arbuckle,” New York Times, September 13, 1921.
“I am going to him …” “Arbuckle Innocent, Declares His Wife,” New York Times, September 14, 1921.
the coroner’s inquest… Details of the September 13 coroner’s inquest via “Fatty Arbuckle Indicted,” Chicago Tribune, September 14, 1921; “Arbuckle Is Indicted for Girl’s Death,” New York Tribune, September 13, 1921; “Arbuckle Indicted for Manslaughter in Actress Death,” New York Times, September 14, 1921; “Grand Jury Called, Refuses to Indict Arbuckle on Charge,” Eugene Register-Guard, September 13, 1921.
“beauty specialist” … “‘Avenger’ Denied Cash for Bills, Swings on Man,” Oakland Tribune, September 14, 1921.
reporters captured the confrontation … Ibid.
Semnacher claimed… “Denies Woman ‘Smashed’ Him,” Los Angeles Times, September 15, 1921.
Henry Lehrman wired Delmont… “Lehrman Sends $150 to Help Mrs. Delmont,” New York Times, September 15, 1921.
“Never had any” … “Arbuckle Denies Having Liquor,” Sacramento Bee, September 14, 1921.
claimed she had gone into hiding … “Manslaughter Indictment Placed Against Arbuckle,” Evening Public Ledger (Philadelphia, PA), September 14, 1921.
Prevost’s new recollection … “Show Girl Tells Intimate Details of Arbuckle Party,” Bakersfield Californian, September 16, 1921.
The chorus girls backed up … “Proceedings of the Day,” Los Angeles Times, September 14, 1921.
He made no remark … “Fate Sealed by Dress She Made,” Los Angeles Times, September 15, 1921.
“I protest in the name …” “Clash Marks Inquest on Girl’s Death,” Oakland Tribune, September 14, 1921.
Arbuckle tried to light a cigarette … “Arbuckle Spirit Shows Sign of Slump,” Oakland Tribune, September 15, 1921.