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Fatty Arbuckle

Going back to the original subject of this thread, what I find most disturbing is that Mr Arbuckle now has a chain of restaurants named after him. :eek:
 
Going back to the Barrymore case for a moment. I was discussing this with Hubcap a couple of days ago when he said, in all innocence:
"He was badly mutilated apparently but I don't think Barrymore had a hand in it". :cross eye :D
 
Hollywood Babylon is based in large part upon the work of an LA a stringer for Hush Hush who collected the stories the paper wouldnt print for fear of liable action.

said stories were sold to Howard Hughs who was at the time heavily involved in Hollywood, pre his moves on Vegas. Hughs passed the stuff on to his oppo James Edgar Hoover who made his own use of the info.

it is alleged (OK, OK, I cant remember sources, but its the UM thread) that even in the '70's when HB was published only some 15% of the material collected could be used.

I never found Arbuckle in the same league as Keaton etc, but a false accusation of rape is something nobody deserves
 
Someone further up-thread mentioned similarities between the deaths of Virginia Rappe and Stuart Lubbock. This has struck me too.

We're watching the Channel 4 documentary about it, 'Barrymore: The Body in the Pool'. Grim.
 
The fantastic podcast you must remember this covers most of the old Hollywood rumours. The episodes I have listened to have been well researched and informative. Many of the episodes fact check Hollywood Babylon (spoiler alert, most of the stories are unsurprisingly said to be hearsay).
They did an episode on Fatty, I am downloading it now to listen to

Fatty Arbuckle
 
Quote from the jury at Arbuckle's third trial:

Acquittal is not enough for Roscoe Arbuckle. We feel that a great injustice has been done him. We feel also that it was only our plain duty to give him this exoneration, under the evidence, for 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 on the witness stand, which we all believed. The happening at the hotel was an unfortunate affair for which Arbuckle, so the evidence shows, was in no way responsible. We wish him success and hope that the American people will take the judgment of fourteen men and woman who have sat listening for thirty-one days to evidence, that Roscoe Arbuckle is entirely innocent and free from all blame.
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Being famous and involved however periphirally in wrongdoing is a two edged sword.
 
Arbuckle's fall from grace was total and catastrophic. From being one of the most recognized and best-paid stars, his films were pulled from distribution and he was essentially unemployable.

The films I have seen are in such poor condition that his art is hard to assess fairly. Crude slapstick which revolves around bulk is not likely to come back into fashion any day soon. Yet Arbuckle was popular for years before his trial. Audiences must have seen something there, in order to keep coming back for his pictures. :dunno:
 
Arbuckle's great friend Buster Keaton was moved to make his classic short Cops by what happened. It features Buster being chased by a mob (of policemen) through no fault of his own. It's brilliant, but not so funny when you understand what Keaton was getting at.
 
JamesWhitehead said:
Crude slapstick which revolves around bulk is not likely to come back into fashion any day soon. Yet Arbuckle was popular for years before his trial. Audiences must have seen something there, in order to keep coming back for his pictures.
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My guess is that before talkies came in this was about as subtle as the acting could get. No dialogue, no spoken inflection, limited camera angles, probably quite close to music hall/circus comedy acts. People were already used to that.
 
escargot said:
The joke at 2.40 into that special is priceless.
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I've seen a clip where Benny Hill uses that joke, I wish I could find it again. There's some religious writing on a board outside a church and Benny opens the door dressed as a vicar. The door covers everything except the first letter of each line.
It spells 'KNICKERS'.
 
David Plankton said:
I've seen a clip where Benny Hill uses that joke, I wish I could find it again. There's some religious writing on a board outside a church and Benny opens the door dressed as a vicar. The door covers everything except the first letter of each line.
It spells 'KNICKERS'.
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I've just found it quite easily on Youtube but it's not as funny as I remembered.
 
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