Room 1219: Fatty Arbuckle, the Mysterious Death of Virginia Rappe, and the Scandal That Changed Hollywood (76 page)

the school demanded Arbuckle be dropped…
“Film Actors to Stand Back of Roscoe Arbuckle,”
Sioux City Journal,
October 16, 1925.

elicited a long ovation …
“Fatty Given Ovation at Masquers,”
Los Angeles Times,
October 23, 1925.

“Here is the sad spectacle … “
Russell J. Birdwell, Hollywood!,
Ogden Standard-Examiner,
December 13, 1925.

20. Endurance: 1926-32

A front-page article in February 1926…
“‘Fatty’ Arbuckle Does Comeback!,”
Olean Evening Times,
February 3, 1926.

In March, he, Buster Keaton, and their wives …
“Movie Stars Escape from Prison,”
Nevada State Journal,
March 25, 1926.

“The intrigues on the set… “
Colleen Moore, interview by Stuart Oderman, August 1967, in
Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle: A Biography of the Silent Film Comedian, 1887-1933
(Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1994), 206.

advertising sometimes touted…
Advertisement for
Special Delivery, Syracuse Herald,
June 25, 1927.

“In the gathering sitting obscurely …”
O. O. McIntyre, New York Day by Day,
Record Argus
(Greenville, PA), January 4, 1927.

a deal worth $2.5 million …
“‘Outlaw’ of Film Signs Deal for $2,500,000,”
San Francisco Chronicle,
March 15, 1927.

A Los Angeles review noted…
“Pantages Sets High Standard,”
Los Angeles Times,
April 19, 1927.

Arbuckle’s opening night ovations …
“Baby Mine Revived After 17 Years,”
New York Times,
June 10, 1927.

“Mr. Arbuckle is not much of an actor” …
Features of New York Stage,
Salt Lake Tribune,
June 19, 1927.

National Educational Association …
“Protest Appearance of Fatty Arbuckle,”
Free Press
(Carbondale, IL), August 19, 1927.

A lien was placed against him …
“Tax Liens Filed Against Carey and Arbuckle,”
Los Angeles Times,
December 1, 1927.

Minta Durfee sued him …
“Arbuckle Pay to Be Attached,”
Los Angeles Times,
December 28, 1927.

“his last vaudeville tour prior to re-entering …”
Advertisement for vaudeville performance,
Altoona Mirror,
February 25, 1928.

ministers in Clarksburg, West Virginia …
“Ministers Protest Arbuckle Visit,”
New Castle News,
January 26, 1928.

“might corrupt public morals” …
“Minneapolis Bans Fatty Arbuckle,”
Decatur Daily Review,
April 28, 1928.

a performance in Waterloo, Iowa …
“Protests Cancel Fatty Arbuckle’s Appearance Here,”
Waterloo Evening Courier,
May 10, 1928.

“defiance of the Hays organization”…
“Fatty Arbuckle Plans Comeback While Political Scandals Have Darkened the Fame of Will Hays,”
Vidette Messenger
(Valparaiso, IN), April 20, 1928.

”I have never paraded as a reformer…”
“Senator Reed Flays Graft in Politics,”
Tipton Daily Tribune,
April 12, 1928.

“Some of my old films …”
“‘Fatty’ Arbuckle Goes to Paris to Regain Esteem,”
Sioux City Journal,
March 19, 1928.

“hoping the audience would cool off’…
“Arbuckle a Riot in Paris; but O, the Kind of Riot!,”
Manitowoc Herald News,
March 26, 1928.

“We haven’t got along happily …”
“‘Fatty’ Arbuckle and Wife Are Separated,”
Warsaw Union,
May 28, 1928.

at the home of a “prominent resident”…
“Doris Dean [sic] Would Divorce Fatty,”
Helena Daily Independent,
August 7, 1928.

a smattering of headlines such as …
“‘Nother Wild Party for Fatty Arbuckle,”
Lubbock Morning Avalanche,
August 7, 1928.

“vicious, cruel, morose and nagging”…
“Doris Dean Would Divorce Fatty.”

“You know, Roscoe was an easy man …”
Viola Dana, interview by Stuart Oderman, July 1974, in
Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle: A Biography,
208.

initial reports claimed he was launching…
“Arbuckle Plans Coffee Inn Chain,”
Ogden Standard-Examiner,
August 2, 1928.

a long string of nightclubs …
Culver City clubs’ history via “Colorful Nightlife Thrived in Westside,”
Los Angeles Times,
May 7, 1981.

a typical Los Angeles Times headline …
“Dry Storm Rages over Plantation,”
Los Angeles Times,
January 26, 1926.

“Every screen star of note … “
On the Pacific Coast,
Miami News,
September 6, 1928.

“a strange crowd of big-time movie stars …”
“Arbuckle’s Cafe Employs Only Persons of Large Proportions,”
Sheboygan Press,
July 30, 1928.

“I guess I’ll go back to the stage”…
Ibid.

England’s Prince George …
“Prince’s Brother Danced with One Girl All Night Long,”
Lowell Sun,
September 29, 1928.

the Plantation was raided …
“Roscoe Arbuckle’s Night Club Raided,”
San Antonio Express,
December 24, 1928.

the Culver City mayor visited…
“Cafes Put on Probation,”
Los Angeles Times,
January 24, 1929.

a riot broke out at the Plantation …
“More Participants in Arbuckle Care Brawl Are Sought,”
Record-Chronicle
(Denton, TX), May 21, 1929.

the motion picture industry was finding its voice …
Information on the transition from silent films to sound primarily via Donald Crafton,
The Talkies: American Cinema’s Transition to Sound, 1926—1931
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999); William K. Everson,
American Silent Film
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1978), 334-47; Scott Eyman,
The Speed of Sound: Hollywood and the Talkie Revolution, 1926—1930
(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999).

“In [motion pictures’] silence it more nearly … “
James Quirk, editorial,
Photoplay,
May 1921, 19.

“startles the civilized world …”
Advertisement for Kinetophone,
Motion Picture World,
January 25, 1913.

“It’s up to us to sit tight… “
James Quirk, editorial,
Photoplay,
October 1928, 28.

”Now Hollywood wonders …”
“Plan to Make Talkies of Crime Confessions,”
Capital Times
(Madison, WI), November 22, 1929.

“[Arbuckle] made no attempt to direct… “
Kevin Brownlow,
The Parade’s Gone By…
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1968), 363.

“He left me and went to a Hollywood hotel …”
“‘Fatty’ Should Wed Pugilist, Says Wife,”
Ogden Standard-Examiner,
October 5, 1929.

Born in 1905, Addie Dukes …
Obituary for Addie McPhail,
Independent
(London), May 1, 2003.

“I was a stranger in Hollywood… “
“Addie McPhail, 97; Actress, Last Wife of ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle,”
Los Angeles Times,
May 5, 2003.

“I had feelings for Roscoe”…
Ibid.

he listed his monthly income at $500 …
Conditional Contract of Sale, June 12, 1929, Mack Sennett Collection, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Beverly Hills, CA.

a new Lincoln town car, which cost …
Ibid.

A dubious item …
Captain Roscoe Fawcett, Screen Oddities,
Logansport Pharos-Tribune,
December 16, 1931.

A highlight “was the dancing of the serpentine … “
“Film Folk Frolic at Gay Party,”
Los Angeles Times,
November 9, 1931.

The three hundred members included…
Gregory Paul Williams,
The Story of Hollywood: An Illustrated History
(Los Angeles: BL Press, 2006), 180.

“There goes the evidence”…
“Fatty Arbuckle Jokes About Morning Arrest,”
Los Angeles Times,
September 21, 1931.

“There ought to be a law … “
Editorial,
Pella Chronicle,
August 6, 1931.

an article about Arbuckle appeared…
“Just Let Me Work,”
Photoplay,
March 1931, 65, 127-28.

“I thought someone was playing…”
“Fatty Arbuckle Pays Fine for Precaution,”
Los Angeles Times,
September 22, 1931.

Two months later, Motion Picture Classic published…
“Isn’t Fatty Punished Enough?,”
Motion Picture Classic,
May 1931.

“Arbuckle should be allowed…”
“Again Arbuckle?,”
Time,
July 29, 1931.

A third fan magazine …
“Doesn’t Fatty Arbuckle Deserve a Break?,”
Motion Picture,
September 1931, 40-41; “The Fans Want Fatty Arbuckle Back on the Screen,”
Motion Picture,
November 1931, 16.

“I have no desire to return …”
“Return of Arbuckle to Screen Voiced Pro, Con,”
Circleville Herald,
June 22, 1931.

“Roscoe was warmly received…”
Obituary for McPhail,
Independent.

“master or mistress of ceremonies” …
News and Comment of Stage and Screen,
Fitchburg Sentinel,
May 7, 1932.

after rousing the court reporter …
“‘Fatty’ Finally Married,”
Rochester Evening Journal,
June 21, 1932.

“Roscoe felt like he had been given …”
Obituary for McPhail,
Independent.

A photo of that moment…
“Star Emerging from Eclipse,”
Mansfield News,
August 8, 1932.

“Frankly gambling on Fatty’s chances …”
“‘Fatty’ Arbuckle to Attempt Comeback,”
Salt Lake Tribune,
July 28, 1932.

”It’s kind of like home to me … “
“Fatty Arbuckle Is Coming Back,”
Joplin Globe,
July 29, 1932.

21. Legends

“passed a strong resolution … “
Looking Backward,
Kentucky New Era
(Hokinsville, KY), January 13, 1948.

she penned a remembrance…
Adela Rogers St. Johns, “The Arbuckle Tragedy,”
American Weekly,
October 22, 1950.

“He was no more guilty …”
“Donald Crisp Fine Figure After Making 400 Movies,”
Calgary Herald,
April 3, 1958.

a 1949 public opinion poll…
“Adults Rate Hope Funniest Comedian,”
Los Angeles Times,
September 19, 1949.

an extensive cover story …
James Agee, “Comedy’s Greatest Era,”
Life,
September 5, 1949, 70-88.

“They get American movies here”…
Bob Hope, “A Bodyguard? Ridiculous! No One’s Seen My Films,”
Deseret News
(Salt Lake City, UT), March 21, 1958.

The first, from Doris Deane …
Behind the Scenes in Hollywood,
Steubenville Herald Star,
July 1, 1935.

Minta Durfee had written a play …
May Mann, Going Hollywood,
Ogden Standard-Examiner,
August 24, 1939.

penning a book of the same name …
“Sennett Alumni Recall Kops and Pies in Eyes,”
Los Angeles Times,
July 30, 1951.

the title had changed to …
Hollywood,
Kingsport Times,
April 22, 1955.

“Bob Hope is said to be interested… “
Jackie the Author,
Post-Standard
(Syracuse, NY), August 14, 1971.

“Then, in 1921, Funny Fatty …”
“Scandal and the Stars: Fatty Arbuckle,”
Daily Reporter
(Dover, OH), September 27, 1960.

“one Hollywood observer”…
Ezra Goodman,
The Fifty-Year Decline and Fall of Hollywood
(New York: MacFadden, 1961), 337.

Confidential magazine …
Henry E. Scott,
Shocking True Story: The Rise and Fall of Confidential, “America’s Most Scandalous Scandal Magazine”
(New York: Pantheon, 2010).

Arbuckle was never featured in Confidential…
E-mail exchange between author and Henry E. Scott, June 11, 2011.

“H
ERE
Is T
HE
S
HOCKING
…”
Leo Guild,
The Fatty Arbuckle Case
(New York: Paperback Library, 1962).

pulp fictionist Leo Guild…
Paul Collins, “The Worst Pulp Novelist Ever: Remembering Leo Guild,”
Stranger,
March 14, 2007.

“Liberace is the perfect specimen … “
Leo Guild,
The Loves of Liberace
(Avon, 1956), quoted in
Odd Books
blog, September 26, 2010,
http://oddbooks.co.uk/oddbooks/loves-liberace
.

“These are the rumors … “
Guild,
Fatty Arbuckle Case,
27.

who called Arbuckle “despicable” …
Ibid., 35.

The most “sane explanation”…
Ibid., 40.

“One rumor was …”
Ibid., 41.

”Three versions of the incident…”
Charles Beaumont,
Remember? Remember?: A Nostalgic Backward Glance at Some of Yesteryear’s Most Beloved Features of Our National Profile
(New York: Macmillan, 1963), 208.

A less explicit intimation …
“Again Arbuckle?,”
Time,
July 29, 1931.

“If a book such as this…”
“Hollywood Babylon,”
New York Times,
August 31, 1975.

“Vacationers returning from Europe …”
Voice of Broadway,
News Tribune
(Fort Pierce, FL), September 19, 1961.

“And when Fatty died… “
Jerome Charyn,
Movieland: Hollywood and the Great American Dream Culture
(New York: New York University Press, 1989), 65.

Miller rendered the other third…
Bill Landis,
Anger: The Unauthorized Biography of Kenneth Anger
(New York: HarperCollins, 1995), 122.

as many as two million copies …
Ibid., 123.

“plumber’s helper” Arbuckle …
Kenneth Anger,
Hollywood Babylon
(New York: Dell, 1975), 27.