Greg Merritt - Room 1219. The Life of Fatty Arbuckle, the Mysterious Death of Virginia Rappe, and the...

Copyright 2013 by Greg Merritt

All rights reserved

Published by Chicago Review Press Incorporated

814 North Franklin Street

Chicago, Illinois 60610

ISBN 978-1-61374-792-6

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Merritt, Greg, 1965

Room 1219 : the life of Fatty Arbuckle, the mysterious death of Virginia Rappe, and the scandal that changed Hollywood / Greg Merritt.

pages cm

Summary: Part biography, part true crime narrative, this painstakingly researched book chronicles the improbable rise and stunning fall of Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle from his early big screen success to his involvement in actress Virginia Rappes death, and the resulting irreparable damage to his career. It describes how during the course of a rowdy three-day party hosted by the comedian in a San Francisco hotel, Rappe became fatally ill, and Arbuckle was subsequently charged with manslaughter. Ultimately acquitted after three trials, neither his career nor his reputation ever recovered from this devastating incident. Relying on a careful examination of documents, the book finally reveals what most likely occurred that Labor Day weekend in 1921 in that fateful hotel room. In addition, it covers the evolution of the film industryfrom the first silent experiments to the connection between Arbuckles scandal and the implementation of industry-wide censorship that altered the course of Hollywood filmmaking for five decadesProvided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-61374-792-6 (hardback)

1. Arbuckle, Roscoe, 1887-1933. 2. Motion picture actors and actressesUnited StatesBiography. 3. Rappe, Virginia, 1895-1921. 4. Murder victimsCaliforniaBiography. 5. MurderCaliforniaLos Angeles. I. Title.

PN2287.A68M48 2013

791.43028092dc23

[B]

2013015168

Interior design: Jonathan Hahn

Printed in the United States of America

5 4 3 2 1

I N L OVING M EMORY OF L AURIE C ARRICO

Index

T his is a mystery story. It began on Labor Day of 1921 in room 1219 on the top floor of a San Francisco hotel. Only two people were present. One was Roscoe Fatty Arbucklea movie superstar. The other was actress Virginia Rappe. Afterward, Rappe suffered wrenching pains for four days and then died. More than nine decades later, the mystery remains: What happened in that room? Did Arbuckle assault Rappe or otherwise contribute to the injury that led to her death, or did he only happen to be near when her injury became evident? Was she his victim, or were they both victims of circumstance?

When Arbuckle was arrested for the murder of Rappe, a mania raged as newspapers competed to print the most startling front page. One simply shouted (in the largest possible letters): A RBUCKLE, THE B EAST. Others predicted the previously beloved performers death on the gallows. He was not just tried and convicted in the press but also sentenced and punished, again and again.

So was Hollywood. Once the publics appetite for scandal was whetted, it could not be sated. For weeks in the autumn of 1921, newspapers dredged up or concocted stories of movie industry depravity. A typical headline read, A RBUCKLE A FFAIR No S URPRISE AFTER O RGIES OF F ILM C OLONY. A new narrative took hold. Previously, the film colony lifestyle was presented in fan magazines and newspaper gossip columns as a carefree extended adolescence. Suddenly, this characterization had a dark counterpoint: Hollywood was filled with spoiled idlers, living beyond societys norms, going from party to party, fueled by jazz music, alcohol, narcotics, and deviant sex. The editorialists had a field day.

The public, which had begun over the previous few years to learn about their favorite actors houses and families and vacations, now started to learn about their adultery and wild parties and drug use. Its a straight line from the tabloid-style coverage of the Arbuckle case to Confidential magazine in the 1950s to todays National Enquirer and TMZ. In the years following Arbuckles arrest, studio publicity machines continued to paint performers in the most favorable light. However, now that a superstar actor had appeared in story after story as a beastthe host of an orgy to which he lured starstruck young women, one of whom he raped and killedthere was no turning back; the following year, tales of a directors mysterious murder and an actors doomed fight with drug addiction would fill front pages.

The relentless coverage of the Arbuckle case sparked loud condemnations of Hollywoods allegedly decadent ways from editorialists, religious leaders, and a new and powerful voting blocwomen. That trifecta was part of the coalition that had successfully lobbied for Prohibition, and they intensified their fight against motion pictures, another intoxicant. In fact, many restated an argument they made against alcohol: movies cast those who imbibed them under a dreamlike spell that could loosen morals and foster criminality. The defenders of tradition were pitted against the purveyors of modernity. On one side, the Victorian era. On the other, the Jazz Age. It was the first great battle in a culture war that has persisted in various forms to the present day.

Arbuckle was a casualty of this war. On the day of the fateful party, he had seven feature films playing in theaters and two more in the can; he was the top star at the top studio. Less than a week after his arrest, his films had been pulled from every screen in America. Later, his image was effectively banned from American cinemas by Will Haysthe head of the motion picture industrys new self-policing organization. No artist in American history has been censored more than Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle.

Before Rappes death, Arbuckle had been among the most beloved of all celebrities. His Fatty movie character was typically a scamp bumbling in and out of trouble, mischievous and sometimes corrupt but easy to laugh at and root for. The actor made news for charitable giving and for appearances and purchases that highlighted the wealth and leisure of the elite few in the new motion picture industry. With the passage of time and the proliferation of myths, the true story of Roscoe Arbuckle was lost. He was remembered as a killer or a victim and nothing more. To the present day, his name reappears when a celebrity is publicly entangled in a matter of sex or violence, yet invariably nothing is said about his film career other than that it was ruined. We learn nothing about his forty-six years of life other than his association with a tragic death.

The best introduction to him is via his movies, and its easier than ever to watch them today. Much of his finest worksilent shorts made between 1914 and 1919can be viewed free via the Internet. Techniques feel fresh, because they were forgotten long ago. Ludicrous situations and slapstick antics build in the manner of cartoons. Arbuckle was a veteran of the vaudeville stage, and you see that mediums aesthetic brought to cinema: deliver as much varied entertainment as possible. There are visual puns, pratfalls and chases, exaggerated violence, broad emotional eruptions, tender love scenes, risqu and macabre humor, wild stunts, subtle parodies, and camera and editing tricks. Shots of printed text, now known as intertitles, replicate spoken lines and sometimes provide a wry commentary.

Not every Arbuckle movie has aged well. Comedic bits can fall flat in even his best movies. Some of the humor is shockingly adult, but most of it is childishly silly, and an adult has to accept that silliness to fully enjoy it. Unfortunately, few potential viewers ever realize what theyve been missing. The contributions of Roscoe Arbucklethe ingenious comedic actor and adroit filmmakerhave been virtually forgotten, as if erased by whatever occurred in that hotel room in 1921.