So, did Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle cause the death of actress Virginia Rappe on a wild Labor Day party at the Hotel St. Francis, or not? Was he capable of the rape and manslaughter charge that the D.A. of San Francisco accused him of? The author weaves a tale with many flashbacks that tends to say he was falsely charged. The book alternates between telling the story of Fatty Arbuckle’s rise to fame, the history of the silent film era, and the three trials of the slapstick star. I have to admit that I didn’t know how big of a star he was during the early 1900s prior to the first popular ‘talkie’, The Jazz Singer (1927). How did Virginia Rappe die of a bursted bladder in room 1219? The evidence tends to reveal that Rappe had a long time bladder problem (cystitis) which kicked in when drinking alcohol. She died of an infection four days after her bladder burst in Fatty’s room 1219 during that Labor Day orgy (so said the D.A. of San Francisco). She was observed drinking heavily during the party. Her past history shows evidence of heavy drinking, complaining of stomach pain culminating with her ripping off her clothes. Many of the people at the party said she did these exact things. Yet the D.A. said that Fatty threw her on a bed in his room and pounced on her with his almost 300 pounds and caused her bladder to burst. Really? Fatty says he found her in his bathroom puking and complaining of stomach pain. He picked her up and laid her down on the bed thinking that she needed to sleep off the effects of the booze. She apparently fell off the bed while tearing off her clothes. Some of the female actresses that were there tell a different story. Did Fatty insert a piece of ice in her vagina? Others accuse him of using a Coke bottle.
While reading this supposed non-fiction book that reads like fiction (which I love), I kept thinking to myself, "What were these people thinking?” The first autopsy revealed the cause of death as Rupture of the bladder with contributory: Acute Peritonitis. Okay that makes sense. The second autopsy noticed a chronic inflammation in the tissue of the ruptured bladder. Both doctors agreed, except the second doctor (Dr. Ophuls) later reversed his opinion and said, “He believed that the tear in Virginia Rappe’s bladder was caused by some external force.” The newspapers were merciless. Headlines stated: “Actress dies after hotel film party” (Los Angeles Examiner), “Girl dead after wild party in hotel” (The San Francisco Chronicle), “S.F. booze party kills young actress” (San Francisco Examiner). Basically, they said: “Detain Arbuckle, fat comedian in trouble as girl dies from orgy.” How about the Dayton Daily News editorial that said, “Arbuckle is a gross, common, bestial, drunken individual, and it is perfectly apparent that he has never deserved the patronage he has received. This is not his first escapade. Filled with liquor, his low bestiality asserts itself in treating a woman like a grizzly bear would a calf.” Wow, talk about a career ending blow. The author kept my interest during the entire 364 pages and 64 pages of notes.This book’s (I’m still unsure whether it’s non-fiction or historical fiction) last 21 pages reviews and analyzes Fatty’s three trials, arguing the pluses and minuses of the prosecution and the defense. This was a well researched historical novel (I decided against non-fiction) and I highly recommend this entertaining potboiler.
RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
Comment: Sadly, Fatty Arbuckle was harassed by many women’s groups after he was acquitted of manslaughter. His films were banned in many different states. His mansion, fancy cars, and ‘the good life’ were gone. His debts to his lawyers left him practically broke. He started directing movies under the alias of William Goodrich. As the years past and the public started to forget the trials...little by little he made a modest comeback. Then on June 29th 1933, he signed a contract with Warner Brothers to make his first feature film! The comeback was complete, let the good times roll again. Not really. He died in his sleep of a heart attack that very same night. He was only 46 years old.
Fatty made countless slapstick comedies that only ran from ten to twenty minutes apiece. During the early 1900s, the working man went to storefront type theaters that were called nickelodeons (it cost five cents to get in) with the earliest theaters only having “peep show” machines. The upper class didn’t go to these shows. Movie palaces for the upper class would come much later. The working man enjoyed the Keystone Kops and Fatty’s ‘pie in the face’ comedies.
Fatty is credited with promoting Charlie Chaplin’s career and discovering Buster Keaton and Bob Hope. As an interesting sidebar, Oliver Hardy (Stan Laurel’s partner) was one of Virginia Rappe’s pallbearers at her funeral.
Finally, here is a excerpt of the ridiculous editorial the San Francisco Bulletin ran on Fatty’s first day of the preliminary hearing on the death of Virginia Rappe: “...from the details at hand, the attack appears to have been savage without qualification. A veritable giant, one that has been described as a mountain of lecherous flesh, hurled himself upon a frail woman and fought with her after the manner of a mad elephant. But for that final avalanche of lard, the woman might have saved at least her life, for she seems to have struggled until the last vestige of her clothing had been torn to tatters…” Wow! Are you kidding me? The ‘veritable giant’ was 5’ 8”. So sad.
Picture of Fatty in his typical dress:
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