Here we'll dive into one of the biggest scandals of the 1920s, that of the famous film comedian Fatty Arbuckle, who was accused of the rape and murder of a young actress
Ok, I just want to make something clearer. I shouldn't have said that Fatty Arbuckle was "the biggest victim." Of course, in this situation, there were two victims, and Virginia Rappe's death shouldn't be downplayed. She was (likely) suffering from a very serious medical problem and she did nothing wrong. Fatty Arbuckle's career and life were ruined by the scandal. Both had a lot to drink and the situation was very confusing for everyone involved. There is no reason to debate whose fate was more tragic because they both were, just in very different ways.
@@davidjones-vx9ju It wasn't "just losing your job" It was the DESRUCTION of a person's reputation. that's why they call it "CHARACTER ASSASSINATION" - a person's character, reputation, good name is KILLED FOREVER. He didn't just lose his job, he lost his reputation, his good name, his career - everything you God Damned jackass.
@@TimMillernapavalleyfilmworks No it sn't. Try LIVING after your reputation, career and ability to get a job are ALL destroyed. It's worse than being dead. You ARE stupid.
Was going to say that the biggest victim was in fact Virginia Raffe. Then I saw your post. Well done! Excellent video, at any rate. Keep up the good work.
The hypocrisy of Hearst making judgements when he kept a well known mistress himself & destroyed people in his publications who he took a disliking to.
That was the least of it. Hearst was a card carrying Nazi who funneled Goebbles' propaganda stories during the 30s to the American public. Some of the information is still cited in modern books recycled in the meantime through multiple other books with the original source forgotten.
You’re exactly correct. We should realize that their job is to sell viewership/readership and their disregard for the truth should be enough for us to make better decisions about their content, but unfortunately, it doesn’t.
@@tugginalongpeople worship “stars” in both their disdain and their love of the celebrity. The truth is they are just people but marketed as bigger than life; many celebrities have good character and their ‘sins’ are not more or less significant than average janes and joes. Yet, the many ‘fliers’ whose corruption and self centeredness are outstanding often live above the law. The “me-too” debacle has so many supposed and so many factual victims it’s hard to tell the difference. The biblical saw of ‘abstain from all appearance of evil’ is a nugget of wisdom lost on modern and post-modern America in general. The risk of scandal is largely avoided if one lives a life free and intentionally removed from the ‘it’s complicated’ behavior that gets one into sticky situations. Not saying that was specifically Arbuckle’s complication but I’m commenting regarding the generally often despicable behavior of Hollywood and other celebrities. Thumbs up.
@@jackiebayliss You said it ! You can't BLAME the dead. You can't FINE The dead. You can't JAIL the dead. People want their measure of flesh and blood and THEY get it.
I was watching an old episode of “The Waltons” and a doctor told one of the gossiping wives she needed to get on a diet. She looked fine by today’s average.
I just watched a video of one of the last surviving Little Rascals-she was a sweet elderly lady but sharp as a tack-she witnessed Fatty save a toddler from a rabid dog by scooping her up and running with her to safety only to have the mom grab the baby from him in a huff with no thanks- she said Fatty was so hurt and upset that he cried -Stan Laurel came out of the Studio where this took place as Fatty had been at the gate talking to the guard,saw Fatty so distraught and took him across the street to get him some pie and console him. Fatty loved dogs, life and humor-he was treated horribly while guilty people get away with truly bad acts-I really liked seeing him and his last wife smiling and happy-RIP
I heard that story. 100 years later, it brought a tear to my eye and I am not an overly emotional person. Such a shame. I hope his accusers got exactly what they had coming. In this life or the next.
This sums it up: "On April 12, 1922, the jury acquitted Arbuckle of manslaughter after deliberating for just five minutes-four of which were used to prepare a statement: Acquittal is not enough for Roscoe Arbuckle. We feel that a great injustice has been done to him … there was not the slightest proof adduced to connect him in any way with the commission of a crime. He was manly throughout the case and told a straightforward story which we all believe. We wish him success and hope that the American people will take the judgment of fourteen men and women that Roscoe Arbuckle is entirely innocent and free from all blame."
I believe that Buster Keaton when making a new contract with a film company wrote in a payment to his friend Rosco. After all Rosco had helped to start Busters career in the Butcher Boy
In the summer of 1921, Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle was on top of the world. Paramount Pictures had paid him an unprecedented $3 million over three years to star in 18 silent films, and he’d just signed another million-dollar contract with the studio.
Hearst was a disgusting p.o.s., no wonder Patty did the Stockholm thing. They did Arbuckle so dirty, I can't stand it! Rappe was done just as dirty and she stood up for him, character assassination is the worst crime you could do to a decent person and my stomach always ends up in knots when I think about it.
First time I ever knew about this was a book I had picked up at a garage sale called, Hollywood Babylon ", and the details of this was explicit. Thank you for covering it.❤
I am so surprised at what little time elapsed between his arrest and the first trial. Two months? And then another two months between first and second trial? By today's standards, that is lightning quick.
yes, 2 months is perfect timing so that the hysteria stirred up among the public would still be at fever-pitch and would ensure that his trial wasn't fair.
@@MASTEROFEVIL ... which might make the figure a negligible trace LOWER, as in 179-180k today, it certainly wouldnt restore any credibility to the absurd and in fact plainly an arbitrary guess the uploader took. a million is preposterous, as is pointing out that it was made in 2019, as if that changes ANYTHING.
One more thing:. Stan Laurel tried to get Arbuckle to work at the Hal Roach studios so he wouldn't be destitute. Roach refused because of what it might do to the studio's reputation.
Very good resume of the whole case. I am glad that you mentioned Maude Delfount and the Prosecuting Attorney. "The Golden Age of Hollywood" in the episode "Double Beds and Double Standards". Gives a lengthy review of the whole case. There is one thing though that puzzles me. Right before the party, Arbuckle said to Viola Dana, "Kids, I ' be got to go up to San Francisco, I can't tell you why--but for God's sake, don't die on me.". Dana thought that was an odd remark, and I thought, "what did he mean by that statement?". Did Arbuckle have a premonition?
I've been a huge fan of "Roscoe Fatty Arbunkle" since I was a lil youngster. May legions of Angels have winged him to his rest. He made so many people smile/laugh/love! He is not forgotten.
@@TimMillernapavalleyfilmworks it's tragic that she died, but it wasn't him that killed her was it? Are you saying that any old suspect will do, innocent or otherwise, and that he should have been hanged? If I ever end up in court, I sincerely hope I don't have you on a jury!
@@TimMillernapavalleyfilmworks you have to have proof before you go hanging people . Just because you think he did it isn't proof. Like I say,wouldn't want anyone with such a lack of objectivity on a jury if I was on trial.
@@nathalie_desrosiers If he suffered the loss of income due to the loss of a successful career then his family has suffered the residual loss of generational wealth... This is how the majority of wealth is accrued.. the passing of finances from one generation to the next. What affects one generation will affect the next.
@@nathalie_desrosiers You have various ways of calculation the affects that inflation on money... It would be no mystery concerning the accumulation of wealth over any period of time...
It was a tragic and sad trial it not only ruined Roscoe Arbuckle know as Fatty's career but it was an injustice and I think his name Should be cleared of any wrongdoing
@Jennifer White, Rosco Arbuckle's name was cleared and exonerated by the jury at the Third Trial, but the damage had been done by the *gutter press* of W.R. Hearst and other news(?) paper proprietors inclusively. America clearly has *EXTREMELY LAX* libel and slander laws that are just as bad today as they ever were!
And yet thousands of people visit Hearst Castle every year. Truly a shame. You ruin someone’s life to benefit your own. Disgusting. Yet we’re all guilty of eating it up. “Cash rules everything around me cream get the money dolla dolla bills y’all!”
Very well done. I just found your channel and have subscribed. Usually I have to watch at least several videos of someone’s channel to make sure I like their content, the way they do it, and see if I feel they have done the research fully to give an informed, unbiased accurate account of whatever the subject is about. With this video, I subscribed on the first one. My hat off to you
@the1920schannel, if I have one suggestion, it would be to include what the official cause of death was. As soon as your video was over, I immediately googled Fatty Arbuckles cause of death.
Please don't forget all the people involved in the scandal: W.R. Hearst, a male All the journalists, males All the studio executives, males William S. Hart, male (the actor that made a number of damaging public statements, presuming that Arbuckle was guilty) Matthew Brady, male (the San Francisco District Attorney who planned to run for governor) etc.
I've never understood how people can disregard innocence to better their career or gain fortune/fame. Even if it were someone I didn't like, I'd rather live a modest existence then knowingly ruin someone's life for personal gain.
Clowns usually have tragic lives. He was a great asset to the Silent Film Era of Visual Comedy. It is so sad that someone's greed cost a man his cherrished livelihood and eventually.......his life. I believe he died of a broken heart.
I watched this video because I just finished Ace Atkins's book "Devil's Garden" about this case. Good read. The book is historical fiction, but the writer went to great lengths to get a LOT of it right.
You are so right! I got a friend going through it right now and I just don't believe he is guilty. But all you have to do is point a finger. SOMEONE will always believe it.
There had been considerable suspicion from the public about Hollywood. Especially from the older generation" Man. those "older generation" folks have been right in their predictions and suspicions about so many things in the past. Pity we don't acknowledge them until it's too late.
That Belmont woman should have received some sort of reprimand for ruining him the way she did. I don't know why they let her off so easy; she was no doubt supplying most of them with girls in exchange for non-prosecution!
$14,000 in 1920 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $183,107.40 today, an increase of $169,107.40 over 101 years. The dollar had an average inflation rate of 2.58% per year between 1920 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 1,207.91%.
Two newspaper front pages appear close together which I'd like to expand on: 2:30 The Herald Examiner was one of the Heart newspapers. William Randolph Hearst was still something of a liberal in this era. Note that the actual top headline attacks the Ku Klux Klan, which had come back to life after D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation in 1916. "Irish Demand Parley" refers to the four-sided fighting going on between the English, the Irish, the Irish, and the Irish. Hearst was a Catholic, so being against the Klan and for the Catholic Irish fits. "Bryan Attacks Head of B. of W." probably means William Jennings Bryan, a colorful speechifier who ran for President three times and lost three times. I don't know what the B. of W. was, but if they were against Prohibition or for teaching evolution, he would have attacked them. 2:35 The Oakland Tribune (my hometown paper) wasn't a Hearst paper in 1921 but that didn't make it Fatty's friend. Now it's a hundred years later, the Oakland Tribune is a sad little weekly, and few people have any idea who Arbuckle, Hearst or Bryan was.
very tragic story and yes although a lady died it is really sad how Arbuckle was thrown to the wolves . Was it looked into that she may have had sex with another man before or after Arbuckle , it was a drink and sex fueled party with im sure everyone sleeping with everyone or was her bladder so infected that with or without sex it still would have ruptured . It must have been like a death sentence for Arbuckle to live out his life under a dark cloud and being shunned im sure it must have affected him badly . I hope the lady rests in peace and maybe someday his name might be cleared of all association with her death and let him rest in peace as well .
Very well done. My own personal favorite silent star. He couldn't be on the screen without making me smile. It's funny how things like this are remembered, often incorrectly. My Grandmother, who was a saint and never said a bad word about anyone, died at 87 years old in 1987. Someone once brought up this subject and she said, " oh, you mean that guy that raped and killed that girl." It's a shame but in cases like this, many people will ALWAYS side with the accuser. He was innocent and what they did to him was immoral. I HOPE he did die happy.
I appreciate that you described the end of Arbuckle's life. It is the curse of many "fat" comedians to die young, including John Belushi, Chris Farley, John Candy and Sam Kinison. The sad part is that many of these type of comedians get into show business because their weight made them unattractive to women so they refined their skills at making others laugh as a way to get the love they were otherwise missing. I think it mattered to Arbuckle that he have the love of the movie public and this prosecution robbed him of it, something that probably contributed to his heart condition.
It's a fascinating story. At one time a director wanted to make a film of the events with Chris Farley to play Arbuckle. I think John Candy would have been far better in the role. But it could have been a great exposé of the corrupt and greedy media of the time to try to sell papers even if it meant condemning a possibly innocent man to prison. We know that his career was destroyed and I don't think he lived much longer. It seems like a story the Coen brothers could accurately bring to the big screen. They do period films very well.
There had been some talk of Louie Anderson making a film about Fatty Arbuckle, but even 100 years later the questions surrounding the scandal still remain
Sigh, good effort you've done your research well and I enjoyed the content. But, like many others you have background music playing throughout. It makes it difficult to catch what you are saying some times and serves as a distraction at other times.
He paved the way for a lot of comedians, He was hallarious. As for " murder"It was 100 years ago, everyone from that time is now gone, its long past but being everything I've heard i believe he was innocent.
Factual, but a word of caution: When writing a "documentary" about a scandal, be very careful to attribute your quotes and to avoid interjecting your personal opinion. When you do that, the result becomes an opinion editorial, rather than a documentary. Facts tell the truth, adjectives beget lawsuits. To be fair, though, as an accredited Hollywood historian, I've spent many hours researching this case in every period source known to exist, and I am still left with unanswered questions. Yes, Arbuckle was innocent, but the question of his innocence or guilt fades in importance when other questions are raised.
Would you care to elaborate? I would have thought that if you're trying someone for murder, their guilt or innocence was paramount. What could be more important than that? Especially to the accused.
There is no question as to his innocence. A Jury of his peers found him not guilty. That's the end of it. He doesn't owe anybody anything. To say otherwise is slander. To write otherwise is Libel.
Yes, this was interesting but there was a lot of the creator’s opinions in here and not much sympathy for the woman who died. Whether by accident or homicide, Rappe’s character was dragged through the mud, as if her past alleged behaviour some how contributed to her death. If it was murder, her past was irrelevant, if it was a medical problem it was also irrelevant: she died too young and it was a tragedy. I feel pity for Arbuckle but at least he lived a longer life.
@H.P. Oliver, how *WRONG* you are! Arbuckle's innocence or guilt - he was innocent - *DOES NOT FADE IN IMPORTANCE AT ALL!* Even with other questions raised, a person being unjustly tried and convicted of a crime he/she never committed is a crime in itself. America today, as it was in the 1920s, is *UTTERLY INCAPABLE* of delivering fair and just verdicts in *ANY* court of law at *ALL* levels!
Another innocent person ruined by a messed up criminal justice system. My research in this is a bit different. Arbuckle often had parties in hotel suites on weekends. It was prohibition time so a lot of people came to have fun. Rappe (for the 1st time) came to the party with a friend. Everyone testified that Rappe was very sick when she arrived. Later, after Rappe's death, her friend told others that Rappe had gone through a botched abortion earlier that day. She went into a bedroom to lie down. There was no evidence that Arbuckle even went into the room. It was considered a rape because she was bleeding profusely vaginally.
I read a medical report that she died of natural causes, suffering from an untreated urinary tract infection which spread and killed her. The wild partying certainly did not help her but she would have died regardless. There was no murder, manslaughter or anything of the kind.
I love this idea that you're channel entails a TH-cam channel for a decade its a interesting take and scope I don't think I have ever seen one devoted to one specific decade only
I've known of this story since I was a child but I didn't have the background information to form a knowing opinion. Most of what I'd known was what was reported in the press at the time and that was highly prejudicial to Roscoe. While the rupture of her bladder is still a point of concern and played a role in the Coke bottle theory, it does appear that Roscoe was innocent of any wrong doing other than the illegal consumption of alcohol during prohibition. The sociopathic glee that many in the media and, sadly, the city attorneys office had doomed him to oblivion no matter the outcome. The statement by the third jury was powerful and deeply emotional -- they knew he had been ruined and wanted, needed, to clear the record.
I learn a lot watching that Silent Sunday Nights TV show TCM? I learn a lot on that show. I had leave for work at 2:30 am though that a different story. Bunch them people was amazing stunt people too. Keaton, Arbuckle , Lloyd to name a few did all their own stunts themselves.
Poor Roscoe being blamed for something he never did. Rappe had an std which Roscoe didn't have which was brought up as one reason to the impossibility of them ever having had sex. Love you Roscoe thank you for the laughs.
That was a rumor. It wasn't substantiated. At thr time, the tabloids weny crazy publishing all manner of stories and rumors as though they were checked facts. One report I read claimed that the veneral disease story was spread by Arbuckle's then wife (they later divorced). Other reports talk about how Rappe's boyfriend, film director Henry Lehrman, had a feud or beef with Arbuckle, and that's why Rappe said bad things about Arbuckle. All of these are things I've read online in various accounts. It's very hard to find really authoritative accounts backed up by strong evidence. There was so much speculation, wild rumors and tabloid stories printed at the time, and it was so long ago, that it's hard to really nail down specific details and distinguish fact from fiction.
@@conniediaz6456 Hard to tell given how long ago it was and all the rumors, stories, lack of confirmed details etc. but I lean towards Arbuckle being not guilty. Rappe was unconscious and what she supposedly said that Arbuckle did that to her was something that I think, if I remember correctly, her dubious "friend" claimed that Rappe said (but only to her). That "friend" had a confirmed rap sheet with charges of extortion and blackmail, blackmailing stars with scandalous stories abour them etc.. And I believe was also rumored to be a madam, who "introduced" young ladies and wannabe starlets - such as Rappe was - to stars, celebs, and men with money. It seems very suspicious that that woman was the one who brought Rappe along to this party. It suggests that Rappe was possibly involved in that woman's schemes (either knowingly or unwittingly).
Sadly some social media sites are still perpetuating lies about Roscoe today! Mr Arbuckle was a cultured, intelligent gentle man and comic genius. He was in too much pain after an accident that night to do anything bad anyway and did not want to attend party. He was set up by folks jealous of his success. A film MUST be made to tell the truth.
Ok, I just want to make something clearer. I shouldn't have said that Fatty Arbuckle was "the biggest victim." Of course, in this situation, there were two victims, and Virginia Rappe's death shouldn't be downplayed. She was (likely) suffering from a very serious medical problem and she did nothing wrong. Fatty Arbuckle's career and life were ruined by the scandal. Both had a lot to drink and the situation was very confusing for everyone involved. There is no reason to debate whose fate was more tragic because they both were, just in very different ways.
dying is a lot worse than losing your job
@@davidjones-vx9ju It wasn't "just losing your job" It was the DESRUCTION of a person's reputation. that's why they call it "CHARACTER ASSASSINATION" - a person's character, reputation, good name is KILLED FOREVER. He didn't just lose his job, he lost his reputation, his good name, his career - everything you God Damned jackass.
@@MC-yy2bx again dying is a lot worst than losing your job and rep
@@TimMillernapavalleyfilmworks No it sn't. Try LIVING after your reputation, career and ability to get a job are ALL destroyed. It's worse than being dead. You ARE stupid.
Was going to say that the biggest victim was in fact Virginia Raffe. Then I saw your post. Well done! Excellent video, at any rate. Keep up the good work.
It's terrible that they banned Arbuckle's films after he was found innocent. Hollywood is a cesspool even today. So sick of them.
The media is still the same as well.
LOL today the industry would have covered for him while he partied on Epstein Island with Kevin Spacey and Tom Hanks.
@@haggismacphreedom8270 That’s what’s odd they choose to protect some and cast out others. Maybe someone high up felt slighted by him. Who knows?
JB I feel the same as yourself. Have not watched a movie in the theater for about 30 yrs now.
@@sparx180 I broke down and paid to go see Force Awakens. It was a clear reminder to me why the last movie I paid to go see before that was Gladiator.
The hypocrisy of Hearst making judgements when he kept a well known mistress himself
& destroyed people in his publications who he took a disliking to.
Hearst killed Thomas ince in 1924. Legend or not, is probably.
That was the least of it. Hearst was a card carrying Nazi who funneled Goebbles' propaganda stories during the 30s to the American public. Some of the information is still cited in modern books recycled in the meantime through multiple other books with the original source forgotten.
It’s nice to see the media has not changed one bit in a 100yrs.
They don t let the truth ruin a good story
They've gotten much worse.
You’re exactly correct.
We should realize that their job is to sell viewership/readership and their disregard for the truth should be enough for us to make better decisions about their content, but unfortunately, it doesn’t.
@@tugginalongpeople worship “stars” in both their disdain and their love of the celebrity. The truth is they are just people but marketed as bigger than life; many celebrities have good character and their ‘sins’ are not more or less significant than average janes and joes. Yet, the many ‘fliers’ whose corruption and self centeredness are outstanding often live above the law. The “me-too” debacle has so many supposed and so many factual victims it’s hard to tell the difference. The biblical saw of ‘abstain from all appearance of evil’ is a nugget of wisdom lost on modern and post-modern America in general. The risk of scandal is largely avoided if one lives a life free and intentionally removed from the ‘it’s complicated’ behavior that gets one into sticky situations. Not saying that was specifically Arbuckle’s complication but I’m commenting regarding the generally often despicable behavior of Hollywood and other celebrities. Thumbs up.
YELLOW JOURNALISM
People love to have someone to hate.
Agreed.
Sad but true.
@@jackiebayliss You said it ! You can't BLAME the dead. You can't FINE The dead. You can't JAIL the dead. People want their measure of flesh and blood and THEY get it.
Love how you inserted that old song in the background. It was hauntingly perfect!
He'd be considered normal size by today's standards.
I was watching an old episode of “The Waltons” and a doctor told one of the gossiping wives she needed to get on a diet. She looked fine by today’s average.
Earl Gray Thank you. My first laugh of the day.
Roscoe 'Normal' Arbuckle.
@@saxongreen78 exactly LOL I was gonna say he just be Arbuckle
Haha, yes he would
Chris Farley was going to make a movie and portray Fatty but sadly we know how that ended.
He'd've been great in that role.
@@RobMacKendrick surely.
Really? I''ve never seen him do anything serious.
Was Fatty really blonde though?
Chris Farley, John Candy, and John Belushi we're also considered for the movie. It is believe to be a cursed project
😇 RIP Fatty Arbuckle 😇 🙏. 😇
I liked your comment till I saw your username, had to take my like back lol
I just watched a video of one of the last surviving Little Rascals-she was a sweet elderly lady but sharp as a tack-she witnessed Fatty save a toddler from a rabid dog by scooping her up and running with her to safety only to have the mom grab the baby from him in a huff with no thanks- she said Fatty was so hurt and upset that he cried -Stan Laurel came out of the Studio where this took place as Fatty had been at the gate talking to the guard,saw Fatty so distraught and took him across the street to get him some pie and console him. Fatty loved dogs, life and humor-he was treated horribly while guilty people get away with truly bad acts-I really liked seeing him and his last wife smiling and happy-RIP
Thank you for sharing. I'm so happy to hear he loved dogs ❤ my pups named Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle.
And then Fatty and Stan and the old lady and the baby all somersaulted down a long shaky flight of stairs together.
He seemed like he was sensitive..
He seemed to be a nice fella.
I heard that story. 100 years later, it brought a tear to my eye and I am not an overly emotional person. Such a shame. I hope his accusers got exactly what they had coming. In this life or the next.
Incredible historical info. The newspaper pages are such a treat! Thanx for great storytelling, again. (I’m hooked)😺
I'm sorry Mr Arbuckle. You didn't deserve such horrible treatment 💔
Me too Mr arbuckle
So awful bless his heart.
Another bs scam against this poor man.
This sums it up:
"On April 12, 1922, the jury acquitted Arbuckle of manslaughter after deliberating for just five minutes-four of which were used to prepare a statement:
Acquittal is not enough for Roscoe Arbuckle. We feel that a great injustice has been done to him … there was not the slightest proof adduced to connect him in any way with the commission of a crime. He was manly throughout the case and told a straightforward story which we all believe. We wish him success and hope that the American people will take the judgment of fourteen men and women that Roscoe Arbuckle is entirely innocent and free from all blame."
I believe that Buster Keaton when making a new contract with a film company wrote in a payment to his friend Rosco. After all Rosco had helped to start Busters career in the Butcher Boy
They were friends till the end.
Many film historians also credit Arbuckle with giving Charlie Chaplin his shtick too, and I believe that.
In the summer of 1921, Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle was on top of the world. Paramount Pictures had paid him an unprecedented $3 million over three years to star in 18 silent films, and he’d just signed another million-dollar contract with the studio.
Hearst was a disgusting p.o.s., no wonder Patty did the Stockholm thing. They did Arbuckle so dirty, I can't stand it!
Rappe was done just as dirty and she stood up for him, character assassination is the worst crime you could do to a decent person and my stomach always ends up in knots when I think about it.
Wm. R. Hearst died before Patty was even born.
Media hasn’t changed much in the last century. Or the California judicial system.
First time I ever knew about this was a book I had picked up at a garage sale called, Hollywood Babylon ", and the details of this was explicit. Thank you for covering it.❤
Hwood...blon.....was a great book I read it on my way to Catalina Island
Well done documentary! Thank you.
I am so surprised at what little time elapsed between his arrest and the first trial. Two months? And then another two months between first and second trial? By today's standards, that is lightning quick.
yes, 2 months is perfect timing so that the hysteria stirred up among the public would still be at fever-pitch and would ensure that his trial wasn't fair.
@@sarahpiaggio2693 - good observation! 👍
It’s good you posted this. So tragic.
Great little doc on Arbuckle! Thank you!
He resembled Chris Farley. Or should I say Chris Farley resembled Roscoe.
Interestingly, Chris Farley had been offered a script on the life of Fatty Arbuckle, which he was studying just prior to his death.
@@Gwaithmir I didn’t know this! He would’ve made a great fatty arbuckle
"14,000 dollar contract in 1920 equivalent to about 1 million dollars today." um its a little over 182k today. where did you get a million from ?
This video was uploaded in 2019
@@MASTEROFEVIL ... which might make the figure a negligible trace LOWER, as in 179-180k today, it certainly wouldnt restore any credibility to the absurd and in fact plainly an arbitrary guess the uploader took. a million is preposterous, as is pointing out that it was made in 2019, as if that changes ANYTHING.
He didn’t do it, the prudes needed a scapegoat to satisfy their phony moral indignation!!
Fascinating, and I look forward to your other videos. Thank you.
One more thing:. Stan Laurel tried to get Arbuckle to work at the Hal Roach studios so he wouldn't be destitute. Roach refused because of what it might do to the studio's reputation.
Thanks for the upload and the good reporting. RIP Fatty. Your innocence has come to light.
Great video. I skipped others and watched yours I could tell right away you put extra work in.
Arbuckle helped launched the careers of Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, and a young Bob Hope.
What a talent wasted by lies.
Yes and it’s still happening today sadly
I think Charlie Chaplin got in some trouble too as well as Buster Keaton.
@@bigwu100 I believe Charlie C was in trouble but not Keaton.
Very good resume of the whole case. I am glad that you mentioned Maude Delfount and the Prosecuting Attorney. "The Golden Age of Hollywood" in the episode "Double Beds and Double Standards". Gives a lengthy review of the whole case. There is one thing though that puzzles me. Right before the party, Arbuckle said to Viola Dana, "Kids, I ' be got to go up to San Francisco, I can't tell you why--but for God's sake, don't die on me.". Dana thought that was an odd remark, and I thought, "what did he mean by that statement?". Did Arbuckle have a premonition?
I've been a huge fan of "Roscoe Fatty Arbunkle" since I was a lil youngster. May legions of Angels have winged him to his rest. He made so many people smile/laugh/love! He is not forgotten.
A lady died, what about her.
@@TimMillernapavalleyfilmworks of course but he was falsely accused of raping her so she died. This was the end of his career and his reputation.
@@TimMillernapavalleyfilmworks it's tragic that she died, but it wasn't him that killed her was it? Are you saying that any old suspect will do, innocent or otherwise, and that he should have been hanged? If I ever end up in court, I sincerely hope I don't have you on a jury!
@@HilaryB. He shoved a coke bottle up her, the guy killed her. I guess OJ Simpson is innocent in your book too 😇
@@TimMillernapavalleyfilmworks you have to have proof before you go hanging people . Just because you think he did it isn't proof. Like I say,wouldn't want anyone with such a lack of objectivity on a jury if I was on trial.
His family needs to be compensated by the movie industry for this
Why? They *personnally* did not suffer. But HE should have received it it, for sure.
@@nathalie_desrosiers
If he suffered the loss of income due to the loss of a successful career then his family has suffered the residual loss of generational wealth... This is how the majority of wealth is accrued.. the passing of finances from one generation to the next. What affects one generation will affect the next.
@@mrright2288 And how can you calculate those loss? Hey, Hollywood, give us millions of dollars! Why? Because we say so.
@@nathalie_desrosiers
You have various ways of calculation the affects that inflation on money... It would be no mystery concerning the accumulation of wealth over any period of time...
@@mrright2288 You like to be right, right? Various ways mean various amount of money? This case would not hold in court, plain and simple.
he was the first victim of media bashing
100 years later 2021 the media slime circus is still the same folks..cheers guys from uk..
Yeah, the right-wing Tory supporting Murdoch operation is the pits.🤢
It was a tragic and sad trial it not only ruined Roscoe Arbuckle know as Fatty's career but it was an injustice and I think his name Should be cleared of any wrongdoing
even though she died from a ruptured appendix at the time.
I think this is as good a place as any to say " what?"
@Jennifer White, Rosco Arbuckle's name was cleared and exonerated by the jury at the Third Trial, but the damage had been done by the *gutter press* of W.R. Hearst and other news(?) paper proprietors inclusively. America clearly has *EXTREMELY LAX* libel and slander laws that are just as bad today as they ever were!
@@willhuey4891 Not her appendix, her bladder!(amended after reading a comment further down).
@Sunny Quackers Ruptured bladder AND appendix? Okay, but that still clears Roscoe Arbuckle of any and all criminal culpability in the matter.
Good job on this video, keep them coming
And yet thousands of people visit Hearst Castle every year. Truly a shame. You ruin someone’s life to benefit your own. Disgusting. Yet we’re all guilty of eating it up. “Cash rules everything around me cream get the money dolla dolla bills y’all!”
Goodbye rosco your wonderful films and the laughter you brought us will live on forever
Very well done. I just found your channel and have subscribed. Usually I have to watch at least several videos of someone’s channel to make sure I like their content, the way they do it, and see if I feel they have done the research fully to give an informed, unbiased accurate account of whatever the subject is about. With this video, I subscribed on the first one. My hat off to you
@the1920schannel, if I have one suggestion, it would be to include what the official cause of death was. As soon as your video was over, I immediately googled Fatty Arbuckles cause of death.
Rumors regarding a coke bottle were rife at the time . His character and his professional life never recovered .
Such a sad story.
Media, Hollywood and greed
Whenever you hear the nonsensical statement that "women don't lie about these things," remind the speaker of the Roscoe Arbuckle situation.
Please don't forget all the people involved in the scandal:
W.R. Hearst, a male
All the journalists, males
All the studio executives, males
William S. Hart, male (the actor that made a number of damaging public statements, presuming that Arbuckle was guilty)
Matthew Brady, male (the San Francisco District Attorney who planned to run for governor)
etc.
Found your channel through your video about art déco. Love it. Subscribed!
Thanks so much!
Today is the centenary of this disaster--though today he'd be ruined from internet rumors and spurious posts, rather than the tabloids.
I've never understood how people can disregard innocence to better their career or gain fortune/fame. Even if it were someone I didn't like, I'd rather live a modest existence then knowingly ruin someone's life for personal gain.
Been watching your vids just have to say , bloody awesome I'm now a subscriber to you , ✌💕🇬🇧
Even though he never got to do that feature film for WB, at least he was happy and had things to be positive about before he passed.
Delmont should’ve been prosecuted.
Johnny Depp... same thing. Bogus accusations... and everyone in the industry knows he's innocent. Interesting Video. Well made.
Clowns usually have tragic lives. He was a great asset to the Silent Film Era of Visual Comedy. It is so sad that someone's greed cost a man his cherrished livelihood and eventually.......his life. I believe he died of a broken heart.
I watched this video because I just finished Ace Atkins's book "Devil's Garden" about this case. Good read. The book is historical fiction, but the writer went to great lengths to get a LOT of it right.
Another case of trial by media.
Cancel culture even existed back then.
The more things change, the more they remain the same.
Looks like Cancel Culture was alive and well in the 1920s too. Nowadays - we don't need trials to ruin someone's life.., Just social media. Sad stuff.
You are so right! I got a friend going through it right now and I just don't believe he is guilty. But all you have to do is point a finger. SOMEONE will always believe it.
Thank you. At least we can know the truth today.
I love your channel!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Has justice always been so unjust?
And to think that even in the year of 2021, our country is still extremely effed up! So sad 😣😖
There had been considerable suspicion from the public about Hollywood. Especially from the older generation"
Man. those "older generation" folks have been right in their predictions and suspicions about so many things in the past. Pity we don't acknowledge them until it's too late.
That Belmont woman should have received some sort of reprimand for ruining him the way she did. I don't know why they let her off so easy; she was no doubt supplying most of them with girls in exchange for non-prosecution!
$14,000 in 1920 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $183,107.40 today, an increase of $169,107.40 over 101 years. The dollar had an average inflation rate of 2.58% per year between 1920 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 1,207.91%.
Two newspaper front pages appear close together which I'd like to expand on:
2:30 The Herald Examiner was one of the Heart newspapers. William Randolph Hearst was still something of a liberal in this era. Note that the actual top headline attacks the Ku Klux Klan, which had come back to life after D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation in 1916. "Irish Demand Parley" refers to the four-sided fighting going on between the English, the Irish, the Irish, and the Irish. Hearst was a Catholic, so being against the Klan and for the Catholic Irish fits. "Bryan Attacks Head of B. of W." probably means William Jennings Bryan, a colorful speechifier who ran for President three times and lost three times. I don't know what the B. of W. was, but if they were against Prohibition or for teaching evolution, he would have attacked them.
2:35 The Oakland Tribune (my hometown paper) wasn't a Hearst paper in 1921 but that didn't make it Fatty's friend. Now it's a hundred years later, the Oakland Tribune is a sad little weekly, and few people have any idea who Arbuckle, Hearst or Bryan was.
very tragic story and yes although a lady died it is really sad how Arbuckle was thrown to the wolves . Was it looked into that she may have had sex with another man before or after Arbuckle , it was a drink and sex fueled party with im sure everyone sleeping with everyone or was her bladder so infected that with or without sex it still would have ruptured . It must have been like a death sentence for Arbuckle to live out his life under a dark cloud and being shunned im sure it must have affected him badly . I hope the lady rests in peace and maybe someday his name might be cleared of all association with her death and let him rest in peace as well .
he must be the first guy to get cancelled
His death sounds like his heart was overloaded with joy and just gave out.
Very well done. My own personal favorite silent star. He couldn't be on the screen without making me smile.
It's funny how things like this are remembered, often incorrectly. My Grandmother, who was a saint and never said a bad word about anyone, died at 87 years old in 1987. Someone once brought up this subject and she said, " oh, you mean that guy that raped and killed that girl." It's a shame but in cases like this, many people will ALWAYS side with the accuser. He was innocent and what they did to him was immoral. I HOPE he did die happy.
Thanks for this. Buster Keaton spoke of Roscoe in his own story, but this is the.most I have seen about it. I'm glad he was happy when he died.
Holy smokes! Two acquittals were made mis-trials?! And, no punishment for Brady. The California way...
I appreciate that you described the end of Arbuckle's life. It is the curse of many "fat" comedians to die young, including John Belushi, Chris Farley, John Candy and Sam Kinison. The sad part is that many of these type of comedians get into show business because their weight made them unattractive to women so they refined their skills at making others laugh as a way to get the love they were otherwise missing. I think it mattered to Arbuckle that he have the love of the movie public and this prosecution robbed him of it, something that probably contributed to his heart condition.
It's a fascinating story. At one time a director wanted to make a film of the events with Chris Farley to play Arbuckle. I think John Candy would have been far better in the role. But it could have been a great exposé of the corrupt and greedy media of the time to try to sell papers even if it meant condemning a possibly innocent man to prison. We know that his career was destroyed and I don't think he lived much longer. It seems like a story the Coen brothers could accurately bring to the big screen. They do period films very well.
There had been some talk of Louie Anderson making a film about Fatty Arbuckle, but even 100 years later the questions surrounding the scandal still remain
God Bless him
I love this time period bring it on! Thank you!
Sigh, good effort you've done your research well and I enjoyed the content. But, like many others you have background music playing throughout. It makes it difficult to catch what you are saying some times and serves as a distraction at other times.
Great channel. Thanks very much!
He paved the way for a lot of comedians, He was hallarious. As for " murder"It was 100 years ago, everyone from that time is now gone, its long past but being everything I've heard i believe he was innocent.
Great Video" I've always heard Fatty Arbuckle was Innocent"
Factual, but a word of caution: When writing a "documentary" about a scandal, be very careful to attribute your quotes and to avoid interjecting your personal opinion. When you do that, the result becomes an opinion editorial, rather than a documentary. Facts tell the truth, adjectives beget lawsuits. To be fair, though, as an accredited Hollywood historian, I've spent many hours researching this case in every period source known to exist, and I am still left with unanswered questions. Yes, Arbuckle was innocent, but the question of his innocence or guilt fades in importance when other questions are raised.
Would you care to elaborate? I would have thought that if you're trying someone for murder, their guilt or innocence was paramount. What could be more important than that? Especially to the accused.
Yes , please elaborate .
There is no question as to his innocence. A Jury of his peers found him not guilty. That's the end of it. He doesn't owe anybody anything. To say otherwise is slander. To write otherwise is Libel.
Yes, this was interesting but there was a lot of the creator’s opinions in here and not much sympathy for the woman who died. Whether by accident or homicide, Rappe’s character was dragged through the mud, as if her past alleged behaviour some how contributed to her death. If it was murder, her past was irrelevant, if it was a medical problem it was also irrelevant: she died too young and it was a tragedy. I feel pity for Arbuckle but at least he lived a longer life.
@H.P. Oliver, how *WRONG* you are! Arbuckle's innocence or guilt - he was innocent - *DOES NOT FADE IN IMPORTANCE AT ALL!* Even with other questions raised, a person being unjustly tried and convicted of a crime he/she never committed is a crime in itself. America today, as it was in the 1920s, is *UTTERLY INCAPABLE* of delivering fair and just verdicts in *ANY* court of law at *ALL* levels!
Another innocent person ruined by a messed up criminal justice system. My research in this is a bit different. Arbuckle often had parties in hotel suites on weekends. It was prohibition time so a lot of people came to have fun. Rappe (for the 1st time) came to the party with a friend. Everyone testified that Rappe was very sick when she arrived. Later, after Rappe's death, her friend told others that Rappe had gone through a botched abortion earlier that day. She went into a bedroom to lie down. There was no evidence that Arbuckle even went into the room. It was considered a rape because she was bleeding profusely vaginally.
William Randolph Hearst played up the sleeze because it brings in the money. So what if people are destroyed.
Maniac!
Brilliant ending...ThankQ
I read a medical report that she died of natural causes, suffering from an untreated urinary tract infection which spread and killed her. The wild partying certainly did not help her but she would have died regardless.
There was no murder, manslaughter or anything of the kind.
A little off topic, but have you ever looked into Clark and McCullough? Super sad outcome to a great comedic duo with a lot of potential
Sad story. 🙁
I love this idea that you're channel entails a TH-cam channel for a decade its a interesting take and scope I don't think I have ever seen one devoted to one specific decade only
The jury statement was beautifully telling.
Great video!!! I’d you want to read a book that captures 1920’s Hollywood as well as this case and others, read Tinseltown by William J. Mann.
Such annoying background music--- GOOD BYE !
Fat Arbuckle didnt have anything to do with her death. He was innocent.
and you know this because.....
I've known of this story since I was a child but I didn't have the background information to form a knowing opinion. Most of what I'd known was what was reported in the press at the time and that was highly prejudicial to Roscoe. While the rupture of her bladder is still a point of concern and played a role in the Coke bottle theory, it does appear that Roscoe was innocent of any wrong doing other than the illegal consumption of alcohol during prohibition. The sociopathic glee that many in the media and, sadly, the city attorneys office had doomed him to oblivion no matter the outcome. The statement by the third jury was powerful and deeply emotional -- they knew he had been ruined and wanted, needed, to clear the record.
I learn a lot watching that Silent Sunday Nights TV show TCM? I learn a lot on that show. I had leave for work at 2:30 am though that a different story. Bunch them people was amazing stunt people too. Keaton, Arbuckle , Lloyd to name a few did all their own stunts themselves.
Man, this whole scandal is just awful!
Poor Roscoe being blamed for something he never did. Rappe had an std which Roscoe didn't have which was brought up as one reason to the impossibility of them ever having had sex. Love you Roscoe thank you for the laughs.
That was a rumor. It wasn't substantiated. At thr time, the tabloids weny crazy publishing all manner of stories and rumors as though they were checked facts. One report I read claimed that the veneral disease story was spread by Arbuckle's then wife (they later divorced). Other reports talk about how Rappe's boyfriend, film director Henry Lehrman, had a feud or beef with Arbuckle, and that's why Rappe said bad things about Arbuckle. All of these are things I've read online in various accounts. It's very hard to find really authoritative accounts backed up by strong evidence. There was so much speculation, wild rumors and tabloid stories printed at the time, and it was so long ago, that it's hard to really nail down specific details and distinguish fact from fiction.
@@SY-ok2dq Exactly, how can we possibly know the truth at this point?
@@conniediaz6456 Hard to tell given how long ago it was and all the rumors, stories, lack of confirmed details etc. but I lean towards Arbuckle being not guilty. Rappe was unconscious and what she supposedly said that Arbuckle did that to her was something that I think, if I remember correctly, her dubious "friend" claimed that Rappe said (but only to her). That "friend" had a confirmed rap sheet with charges of extortion and blackmail, blackmailing stars with scandalous stories abour them etc.. And I believe was also rumored to be a madam, who "introduced" young ladies and wannabe starlets - such as Rappe was - to stars, celebs, and men with money. It seems very suspicious that that woman was the one who brought Rappe along to this party. It suggests that Rappe was possibly involved in that woman's schemes (either knowingly or unwittingly).
@@SY-ok2dq Very interesting, thank you!
Sadly some social media sites are still perpetuating lies about Roscoe today! Mr Arbuckle was a cultured, intelligent gentle man and comic genius. He was in too much pain after an accident that night to do anything bad anyway and did not want to attend party. He was set up by folks jealous of his success. A film MUST be made to tell the truth.
Very good video. Thank you.
I heard Chris Farley was due to play Arbuckle in a bio film
Profit over truth and justice