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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
@@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.
@@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...
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.
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?
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!
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.
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.
$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%.
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!
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'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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
This man wouldnt even let them talk horribly about the person whos demise ruiened his career he was a wonderful man and this was a horrible injustice maude shouldve been jailed for wasting everyones time
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.
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.
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
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).
Excellent video, though a bit of an Apologia. Music by the great ladies of the Twenties: Bessie Smith, Ruth Etting, Annette Hanshaw. The song is over, but the melody lingers on... does it ever!
The two women did not have a very good reputation. The woman in question was said to have an abortion the day before. She had been ill since she arrive, other women had tried to help her, putting her in hot baths, etc. Arbucle was tried in the media and the court of public opinion. Randolph Hearst, a dispicable excuse for a human being, lead to the demise of his career. Tried three times found innocent he was apologised to by the jury and the judge. Unbelievable evil and cruel human beings were responsible for the ruin and death of Arbucle, especially Marge Dumont out to make a buck from someone else's death. So much for the American legal system!
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.
This poor man. Fame-seekers got their wish by making false accusations; today I'm ashamed to say he would likely not get better treatment in the eyes of the press. It's a lesson that shows we are always supposed to explore these claims, not just take them at face value.
Today the woman he raped would have gotten a fair trial.She died tho and he would be in jail for manslaughter.He had "wanted" her for five years , but really do you blame her not wanting a Barr of him?
As the video says...Arbuckles career seemed to be on the upturn at the time of his early death..is frustrating to think about the further contributions he may have made...as an actor...and director...am surprised he didn't take legal action against the sensationalist newspaper of the day...to compensate for his damaged career/lack of earnings....a sad story...motivated by unsubstantiated allegations...greed...and I'll will.......
Yep and It was deffintly a hit job on fattys character...the prosecutor wanted to become governor and the studios wanted to get out of his huge contract of the day of 14,000 a year equivalent to 1 million like the video says... Paramount wasn't a huge studio like it is today. He was guilty before he even hit the court room months later bcuz of the newspapers. Trying to claim just bcuz a guy "he was s so fat that he rubjerd her blatter by being on top of her" is comical and u wouldn't think people of that day could be that stupid to believe that nonsense. And the maude character that was tryin to testify against him had a horrible criminal record. I feel sorry for fatty cuz the urban legend is that a coke bottle was stuck up her and that's how she died. Just myths and lies can kill you back in these old time days.
It was deffintly a hit job on fattys character... He was guilty before he even hit the court room months later bcuz of the newspapers. Trying to claim just bcuz a guy "he was s so fat that he rubjerd her blatter by being on top of her" is comical and u wouldn't think people of that day could be that stupid to believe that nonsense. And the maude character that was tryin to testify against him had a horrible criminal record. I feel sorry for fatty cuz the urban legend is that a coke bottle was stuck up her and that's how she died. Just myths and lies can kill you back in these old time days.
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 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
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.
😇 RIP Fatty Arbuckle 😇 🙏. 😇
I liked your comment till I saw your username, had to take my like back lol
Love how you inserted that old song in the background. It was hauntingly perfect!
Incredible historical info. The newspaper pages are such a treat! Thanx for great storytelling, again. (I’m hooked)😺
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.
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.
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.
I'm sorry Mr Arbuckle. You didn't deserve such horrible treatment 💔
Me too Mr arbuckle
So awful bless his heart.
Great little doc on Arbuckle! Thank you!
It’s good you posted this. So tragic.
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.
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
Thanks for the upload and the good reporting. RIP Fatty. Your innocence has come to light.
"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.
Media, Hollywood and greed
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 didn’t do it, the prudes needed a scapegoat to satisfy their phony moral indignation!!
Rumors regarding a coke bottle were rife at the time . His character and his professional life never recovered .
Another bs scam against this poor man.
Great video. I skipped others and watched yours I could tell right away you put extra work in.
Delmont should’ve been prosecuted.
he was the first victim of media bashing
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.
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?
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.
he must be the first guy to get cancelled
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.
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.
Today is the centenary of this disaster--though today he'd be ruined from internet rumors and spurious posts, rather than the tabloids.
Cancel culture even existed back then.
Good job on this video, keep them coming
His death sounds like his heart was overloaded with joy and just gave out.
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.
And to think that even in the year of 2021, our country is still extremely effed up! So sad 😣😖
Been watching your vids just have to say , bloody awesome I'm now a subscriber to you , ✌💕🇬🇧
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.
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.
$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%.
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!
The jury statement was beautifully telling.
Back in the days when scandal would actually stick to someone.
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.
Man, this whole scandal is just awful!
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.
God Bless him
Great Video" I've always heard Fatty Arbuckle was Innocent"
Brilliant ending...ThankQ
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 love this time period bring it on! Thank you!
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.
Profit over truth and justice
"media circus" -- some things never change.
Hearst is rumored to have said, after the trial was over, "That man made me so much money, I should have paid him a commission."
Great channel. Thanks very much!
Such annoying background music--- GOOD BYE !
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.
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!
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.
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
This man wouldnt even let them talk horribly about the person whos demise ruiened his career he was a wonderful man and this was a horrible injustice maude shouldve been jailed for wasting everyones time
Not fair, I cried at the end. Wish he would have survived
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.
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.
Poor Roscoe
I had heard one of the reasons for her death was a botched abortion.
But it was a sadness on both side.
No Fatty perforated her bladder, she died in agony 4 days later
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
Very good video. Thank you.
I heard Chris Farley was due to play Arbuckle in a bio film
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!
Excellent video, though a bit of an Apologia. Music by the great ladies of the Twenties: Bessie Smith, Ruth Etting, Annette Hanshaw. The song is over, but the melody lingers on... does it ever!
don't forget Lillian Roth
The two women did not have a very good reputation. The woman in question was said to have an abortion the day before. She had been ill since she arrive, other women had tried to help her, putting her in hot baths, etc. Arbucle was tried in the media and the court of public opinion. Randolph Hearst, a dispicable excuse for a human being, lead to the demise of his career. Tried three times found innocent he was apologised to by the jury and the judge. Unbelievable evil and cruel human beings were responsible for the ruin and death of Arbucle, especially Marge Dumont out to make a buck from someone else's death. So much for the American legal system!
Hearst tabloid news, and then theres today's "media".
Poor man. Have never thought he did anything wrong. Have also read the woman died from a botched abortion. So who knows.
Same thing happened to surgeon Sam Shepard.
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.
Fat Arbuckle didnt have anything to do with her death. He was innocent.
and you know this because.....
This poor man. Fame-seekers got their wish by making false accusations; today I'm ashamed to say he would likely not get better treatment in the eyes of the press. It's a lesson that shows we are always supposed to explore these claims, not just take them at face value.
Today the woman he raped would have gotten a fair trial.She died tho and he would be in jail for manslaughter.He had "wanted" her for five years , but really do you blame her not wanting a Barr of him?
Thank you! I enjoyed
I love these graphic content warnings. If that's graphic content to you you're going to have a hell of a life of something real ever goes down in it
Poor man....
As the video says...Arbuckles career seemed to be on the upturn at the time of his early death..is frustrating to think about the further contributions he may have made...as an actor...and director...am surprised he didn't take legal action against the sensationalist newspaper of the day...to compensate for his damaged career/lack of earnings....a sad story...motivated by unsubstantiated allegations...greed...and I'll will.......
Did Rogan send you here?
Yep and It was deffintly a hit job on fattys character...the prosecutor wanted to become governor and the studios wanted to get out of his huge contract of the day of 14,000 a year equivalent to 1 million like the video says... Paramount wasn't a huge studio like it is today. He was guilty before he even hit the court room months later bcuz of the newspapers. Trying to claim just bcuz a guy "he was s so fat that he rubjerd her blatter by being on top of her" is comical and u wouldn't think people of that day could be that stupid to believe that nonsense. And the maude character that was tryin to testify against him had a horrible criminal record. I feel sorry for fatty cuz the urban legend is that a coke bottle was stuck up her and that's how she died. Just myths and lies can kill you back in these old time days.
Ryan from the book - "trust me I am lying"
bingo!
What's with the bottle that was mentioned everywhere after the death of Virgina Rappe?
Some tabloids claimed that Arbuckle assaulted Rappe with it.
The yellow journalism of the time flat out published lies about the incident . The coke bottle myth came out of this.
@@thefairhairedboywiththered2951 came out of the ice statement
Very sick decade
So many stories. Life is complicated.
Shit like this has never aged... Which is why they made LA Confidential (1997)
are the 90's how shot b.i.g smalls May 21, 1972 - March 9, 1997?
We live in the age of witch hunts so I know Fatty was n’t guilty
Great job putting this together, and giving us the other side of the story. Hearst did a lot of damage. I too hope Mr. Arbuckle died a happy man.
Thank you
Some say a jealous stage hand had a hand in it?
Yeah off the new Joe Rogna
It was deffintly a hit job on fattys character... He was guilty before he even hit the court room months later bcuz of the newspapers. Trying to claim just bcuz a guy "he was s so fat that he rubjerd her blatter by being on top of her" is comical and u wouldn't think people of that day could be that stupid to believe that nonsense. And the maude character that was tryin to testify against him had a horrible criminal record. I feel sorry for fatty cuz the urban legend is that a coke bottle was stuck up her and that's how she died. Just myths and lies can kill you back in these old time days.
What was the name of that song that was playing through this interesting video?
Poor guy, Rip.
Wonder who he pissed off... cause the fix was in...
You were guilty. See They Got Away With Murder.
I see the ole man in a dress humiliation ritual was popular back then.
Who is singing?
There is a special place in hell for politicians and journalists.
He was NOT the victim. She was. And yes he murdered her.
All this happens today