Room 1219: Fatty Arbuckle, the Mysterious Death of Virginia Rappe, and the Scandal That Changed Hollywood (69 page)

“Then, there was nobody breaking in …”
“‘Fatty’ Arbuckle Went into the Movies, He Confesses, Because He Likes to Eat,”
Baltimore American,
February 13, 1921.

at Los Angeles’ Auditorium Theater…
Arbuckle’s roles via theater review,
Los Angeles Herald,
January 19, 1909; ibid., February 3, 1909; ibid., March 16, 1909.

”[He] sings much better than he acts”…
The Drama,
Los Angeles Times,
March 2, 1909.

“You wanted him, you married him …”
Durfee, unpublished manuscript, 13.

staging such plays as . .
.Theater listings,
Bisbee Daily Review,
June 17, 1909; ibid., September 5, 1909; ibid., December 7, 1909; ibid., December 14, 1909.

Elks Club funeral…
“Elks Honor Dead’s Memory,”
Bisbee Daily Review,
December 5, 1909.

Eagles Club affair…
“Eagles Do Selves Proud with Smoker,”
Bisbee Daily Review,
October 20, 1909.

country club “dinner and smoker”…
“Country Club Has Big Time at Feast,”
Bisbee Daily Review,
December 11, 1909.

Orpheum wrestling match …
“Stone Proves Too Fast for Indian,”
Bisbee Daily Review,
November 30, 1909.

Arbuckle guest umpired one game …
“C.Q. Ball Teams Will Battle Today,”
Bisbee Daily Review,
October 3, 1909.

“Roscoe Arbuckle and the rest of the Orpheum bunch … “
“Muckers Defeated by the Demons,”
Bisbee Daily Review,
September 9, 1909.

The other entertainment…
“Country Club Has Big Time at Feast.”

“At the close of the performance …”
“Man from Boston Scores Big Hit in Two Performances,”
Bisbee Daily Review,
December 28, 1909.

cranking out three shows daily …
Theater advertisement,
Los Angeles Herald,
April 26, 1910.

“I remember [Arbuckle] when he was … “
Harry Carr, Grouchy Remarks,
Los Angeles Times,
December 9, 1921.

“It may have been slammed together …”
Review of
The Sanitarium, Variety,
October 15, 1910.

At home, Arbuckle and his wife were sharing…
US Census Bureau,
Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910,
population of Los Angeles, CA, sup. dist. 7, enum. dist. 11, April 29, 1910 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1912-14).

“Roscoe’s swinging off the street car… “
Durfee, unpublished manuscript, 48.

the second film company …
“David Horsley: How the First Independent Started,”
Moving Picture World,
March 10, 1917, 1518-19.

its first major tragedy …
“Maddened Japanese Slays,”
Oakland Tribune,
October 27, 1911.

“Special Appearance… “
Advertisement,
Evening News
(San Jose), August 18, 1911.

She soon discovered she was pregnant …
Durfee, unpublished manuscript, 50, 58.

a critically and commercially successful run …
Positive reviews from four Chicago newspapers are excerpted in “How Chicago Received ‘The Campus,’”
The Shield
28, no. 1 (February 10, 1912): 48-49.

“a nice little chap … “
Theater review,
Oakland Tribune,
June 29, 1912.

“Roscoe and I made it a habit …”
Durfee, unpublished manuscript, 65.

“serenaded by bands and royally entertained”…
“Ferris Hartman Company Made the Orientals Laugh,”
Oakland Tribune,
March 16, 1913, 23.

“a quaint old negro servant”…
Review of
The Mikado, North-China Herald,
October 19, 1912.

“barked at a dog who barked at me”…
“Roscoe Arbuckle, Mountain of Flesh, Achieves Fame,”
Morning Oregonian,
April 4, 1920.

6. Postmortem

Document notes are from California State Board of Health, standard certificate of death for Virginia Rappe, September 15, 1921, local registered number 5182. Typical autopsy procedures are from various sources.

He noted two bruises …
“Testify to Bruises on Virginia Rappe,”
New York Times,
September 23, 1921.

Blood had congested…
“Describe Injuries of Film Actress,”
Evening Public Ledger
(Philadelphia, PA), September 23, 1921.

The lower lobes of one …
“Arbuckle Hit Hard,”
Los Angeles Times,
September 23, 1921.

The peritoneum was inflamed…
Coroner’s inquest testimony, in K. Sellers Kennard, MD, “Rupture of the Female Urinary Bladder,”
Medico-Legal Journal,
May/June 1923, 74.

It was unusually small…
“Film Actor Is Nervous,”
Los Angeles Times,
November 19, 1921.

Dr. Ophüls made an incision …
Kennard, “Rupture of the Female Urinary Bladder,” 74.

a small clot of blood…
Ibid., 73.

described by Ophüls as “a clean break” …
Ibid.

He noted eleven bruises …
“Testify to Bruises on Virginia Rappe.”

Viewing through a microscope …
Kennard, “Rupture of the Female Urinary Bladder,” 74.

He sent the stomach …
“Arbuckle Held Without Bail as Murderer,”
Chicago Tribune,
September 12, 1921.

caused by “some external force”…
“Testify to Bruises on Virginia Rappe.”

7. Rise: 1913-14

“But let’s be practical… “
Mack Sennett with Cameron Shipp,
King of Comedy
(Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1954), 26.

“The round, fat girls … “
Ibid., 28—29.

“He was my day school…”
Ibid., 51.

Baumann and Kessel supplied $2,500 …
Doings at Los Angeles,
Motion Picture World,
September 14, 1912.

“Overnight our place …”
Sennett,
King of Comedy,
88.

Keystone’s dubious press releases …
“Chaos at Keystone,”
Motion Picture World,
November 30, 1912; Doings at Los Angeles,
Motion Picture World,
October 26, 1912; ibid., September 7, 1912; ibid., July 26, 1913.

one true eccentric…
Adela Rogers St. Johns,
Love, Laughter and Tears: My Hollywood Story
(Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1978), 30.

“a university of nonsense …”
Sennett,
King of Comedy,
140.

“Woman is rarely ridiculed…”
“It Is to Laugh,”
Moving Picture World,
December 21, 1912. 1166.

the readers of Photoplay would vote her…
“Victory on the Last Lap,”
Photoplay,
June 1914.

a notice in August 1914… Motion Picture News,
August 15, 1914.

“Big Otto” …
Minta Durfee, interview by Don Schneider, July 21, 1974, excerpted at Mabel Normand Home Page,
www.mn-hp.com/minta1.html
.

”All my mechanical knowledge… “
Roscoe Arbuckle, interview by Ray Frohman,
Los Angeles Herald,
October 28, 1919.

an upbringing worthy of the adjective “Dickensian”…
Details of the early life of Charlie Chaplin and the lives of his parents via Stephen Weissman,
Chaplin: A Life
(New York: Arcade, 2008), 9-97.

named something like “Chapman” …
Sennett,
King of Comedy,
151.

“I was not terribly enthusiastic … “
Charlie Chaplin,
My Autobiography
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1964), 138.

“I’m too shy, and I feel uncomfortable … “
Minta Durfee, interview by Walter Wagner, July 4, 1973, in
You Must Remember This
(New York: Putnam, 1975), 33.

The Essanay Film Manufacturing Company was a minor studio …
Ted Okuda and David Maska,
Charlie Chaplin at Keystone and Essanay: Dawn of the Tramp
(Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, 2005), 108.

“Mr. Sennett asked Roscoe …”
Durfee, interview by Schneider.

“But outside of falling… “
“Nobody Loves a Fat Man?,”
Movie Pictorial,
June 13, 1914, 20.

their pit bull, Luke …
Raymond Lee,
Not So Dumb: The Life and Times of the Animal Actors
(South Brunswick, NJ: Barnes, 1970), 52-54.

His love of cars bound him …
William F. Nolan,
Barney Oldfield: The Life and Times of America’s Legendary Speed King
(New York: Putnam, 1961), 115—16.

“Mabel and I were engaged…”
Sennett,
King of Comedy,
103.

“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 D
ETAIN
A
RBUCKLE
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.