Room 1219: Fatty Arbuckle, the Mysterious Death of Virginia Rappe, and the Scandal That Changed Hollywood (22 page)

In New York City, Henry Lehrman had received the news about his old friend and former coworker Arbuckle and his former domestic partner Rappe. From his apartment in midtown Manhattan, he fired off a vituperative statement:

From information I received from San Francisco, I believe Arbuckle is guilty. For his sake, I wish that he will receive full measure of justice so there will be no other crime necessary. You know what the death of Virginia means to me. I will not attempt to express it. She died game, like a real woman, her last words being to punish Arbuckle, that he outraged her and she begged the nurse not to tell this, as she did not want me to know…. Would I kill Arbuckle? Yes. I feel just as would any other man with red blood in his veins. I will not deny that I have said I would kill him if we were to meet. I hope the law will punish him and that he will receive full justice for the crime.

Arbuckle is the result of ignorance and too much money. He was originally a bar boy, although he has been in the chorus and done other things. I directed him for a year and a half, and I had to warn him to keep out of the women’s dressing rooms. There are some people who are a disgrace to the film business. They get enormous salaries and have not sufficient balance to keep right. They are the kind who resort to cocaine and opium and who participate in orgies that are of the lowest character. They should be driven out of the picture business. I am no saint, but I have never attended one of their parties. Virginia’s friends were decent people, and I know she would not have associated with anyone she knew to be vile.

Surprisingly, Lehrman claimed that at the time of her death, he and Rappe were engaged to be married. His malicious attack on Arbuckle was a sensation, and with it the prolific and accomplished director, producer, writer, and actor achieved his greatest fame.

M
ANY
C
ANCEL
M
OVIES
M
ADE BY
A
RBUCKLE

—T
ULSA
D
AILY
W
ORLD,
S
EPTEMBER
13, 1921,
PAGE
7

With great rapidity, the films of Roscoe Arbuckle were banned throughout the country—by theater organizations, by theater chains, by censorship boards, by police commissions. In other instances, individual theater owners followed Sid Grauman’s lead and instituted banishments themselves. In Jersey City the commissioner of public safety contacted every theater owner, inquiring about Arbuckle’s movies. Every theater had withdrawn them. “I know of no legal method to prevent the showing of Arbuckle features,” the commissioner said, “but I think it would be common decency on the part of motion picture theater owners not to show the pictures until Arbuckle is cleared of the charges.” At some theaters that persisted, temporarily, to disregard “common decency,” protests were launched, marquee billboards were defaced, and lobby posters were torn down.

Conversely, a demand grew for films in which Virginia Rappe appeared. In death, she was given the star billing on marquees she never received in life.

A
RBUCKLE, THE
B
EAST

—O
XNARD
D
AILY
C
OURIER
(O
XNARD
, C
ALIFORNIA),
S
EPTEMBER
12, 1921,
FRONT
PAGE

The coroner’s inquest into the death of Virginia Rappe was moved forward three times and ten days to stay ahead of the grand jury, which was scheduled to convene the evening of Monday, September 12. So at 2
PM
that Monday, in an office of the county morgue (also located in the all-purpose Hall of Justice), the inquest began. A coroner’s inquest has one goal: to determine the manner of a death. In San Francisco in 1921, a jury of citizens sat in judgment and could ask questions of witnesses, though most questioning was done by the attorneys and the coroner. The proceeding commenced with a heated argument between Assistant DA Milton U’Ren and defense attorney Frank Dominguez.

The prosecution argued that they were still gathering information and wanted to delay Maude Delmont’s testimony so she could first be heard by the grand jury, away from the ears of defense attorneys and reporters. Fearful of her being coached, the defense demanded to question their chief accuser. “We want the full facts placed before the people, and we want it done today at this inquest,” Dominguez said. The prosecutor retorted that Arbuckle’s silence was not contributing to such transparency.

Overseeing the proceedings, San Francisco coroner Dr. Thomas B. W. Leland took offense at the implication that a coroner’s inquest was unworthy of key evidence, but after deliberation he delayed Delmont’s testimony and ordered the defense to bring her to the stand the next morning.

The first witness was Hotel St. Francis assistant manager Harry Boyle, who testified to being called to 1219, carrying Rappe to 1227 with Arbuckle, and calling Dr. Olav Kaarboe—the second witness. Dr. Melville Rumwell and Dr. William Ophüls spoke of performing the first postmortem examination, and they bolstered the defense by proclaiming that they saw no evidence of violence other than the lacerated bladder. To the assertion that theirs was an illegal autopsy performed by private citizens, Rumwell claimed he called the coroner’s office and learned Leland was out of town and could not be reached. Quizzed about the cause of Rappe’s torn bladder, Rumwell ruled out a puncture created by a catheter and a spontaneous rupture caused by overdistention. After Drs. Emmet Rixford and George Reid spoke about their consultations with Rumwell in the sanitarium prior to Rappe’s death, the proceedings adjourned for the day. The press reported that Arbuckle was “an almost unnoticed figure at the inquest.”

A
RBUCKLE
M
AY
H
ANG FOR
M
URDER

—E
VENING
R
EPUBLICAN
(M
ITCHELL,
S
OUTH
D
AKOTA),
S
EPTEMBER
12, 1921,
FRONT
PAGE

Pressed for comments, most in the film industry steered clear of opinions on Arbuckle’s guilt or innocence and served up “this is unfortunate” banalities. Those at Paramount said nothing publicly.

Alice Lake emphasized her friend’s compassion: “He was always doing kind things, and he certainly was always one of the first to help at benefits for poor people and other unfortunate ones.” Buster Keaton was unequivocal in his support: “I don’t believe he is guilty. I never saw him pull any such parties…. I think it is wrong to ruin a man before he is even heard.”

From his office in New York, Joseph Schenck was equally stalwart, and he went on the offensive against prosecutor Brady: “Arbuckle is a great big, good-natured, lovable sort of chap, and I think that he is not guilty of the charges that certain California public officials seeking notoriety are trying to hang on him.”

But the Los Angeles Athletic Club, home away from home to the city’s elite (and, previously, the literal home of Mack Sennett and Charlie Chaplin), held an emergency meeting and voted Arbuckle out. The club president said, “I have little to say regarding the action except it was the unanimous belief of the directors that such a step should be taken. We do not want that kind of men in the club for we do not care to associate with that class.”