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wmorrow59 — 20 years ago(February 17, 2006 03:40 PM)
Not even close. Roscoe Arbuckle was accused of rape and manslaughter in 1921, but he was acquitted and the foreman of the jury actually delivered an apology saying they felt he'd been unjustly accused. Most credible research into the matter suggests that he was not guilty of these charges. There's an excellent book on the case called
The Day the Laughter Stopped
by a man named David Yallop, who supports Arbuckle's innocence with extensive evidence.
There was a notorious murder case in Los Angeles in the late 1940s known as the 'Black Dahlia' case a young woman was indeed cut in half in that case. By then, Arbuckle had been dead for about 14 years.
Perhaps your teacher somehow mixed up these two separate events and misinformed his class. Perhaps you could show him this reply and ask him to support or correct what he said in class. -
wmorrow59 — 20 years ago(February 17, 2006 05:26 PM)
I would say Yes, the book I mentioned would have a lot to say about the impact of celebrities in the '20s. The author makes it clear in the course of the book that Roscoe Arbuckle was a scapegoat for the misbehavior of a lot of other Hollywood stars. There was rising sentiment in the country against Hollywood especially among the rural fundamentalist types, the same ones who hate Hollywood today. Arbuckle, it appears, was in the wrong place at the wrong time, he became a symbol of Hollywood excess, and the scandal spun out of control, fanned by the tabloid press.
It amazes me that anyone could confuse the Arbuckle scandal of 1921-22 with the Black Dahlia case, 25 years later.
Incidentally, another good book that would be directly helpful to the subject of your paper is a one about Douglas Fairbanks Sr. called
His Picture in the Papers
, by Richard Schickel. This book is basically about the "invention" of modern celebrity in the 1910s and 1920s. Schickel believes that Douglas Fairbanks, the star of such great films of the '20s such as
Robin Hood
and
The Thief of Baghdad
, was the first real Celebrity as we recognize the concept today.
Good luck with your paper! -
mphojnacki — 20 years ago(February 25, 2006 08:58 PM)
Here is a link to arbuckle's situation. http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/classics/fatty_arbuckle/4.html
After arbuckle's acquittal it is said he actually confronted William Randolph Hearst and asked Hearst why did he portray him the way he did in Hearsts newspapers? it is believed Hearst's reply wasit was nothing personaljust business. I just wonder how old your teacher is? I mean I am almost 26 and when I was five I knew of this story. I must say I was fortunate to have grandparent's from the late 19th and early 20th centuries still alive at the time to tell these stories