The Mammoth Book of Hollywood Scandals Read Online Free Page A

Roscoe’s films were pulled from the cinema; his fans deserted him in droves; and suddenly nobody wanted anything to do with the man who, just a few weeks before, had been known as a gentle comedy clown.
    But Roscoe’s friends still believed in him and chose to support their fellow actor through the case. Mabel Normand sent word that she and everyone else she knew all believed her co-star to be innocent; Charlie Chaplin released a statement to say that he had no doubt his friend had nothing to do with the death; while Buster Keaton was so upset that he wanted to give evidence as a character witness. This request was turned down by Arbuckle’s lawyers, however, for fear that any kind of appearance by Keaton would somehow destroy his career too.
    Meanwhile Roscoe’s estranged wife Minta flew to California from New York so that she could support her ex-husband in any way she could. Reporters flocked to hear her opinion and she did not disappoint: “Roscoe Arbuckle is just a big lovable pleasure-loving, overgrown boy,” she said, before adding, “His success and prosperity have been a little too much for him, but he is not guilty of the hideous charge made against him in San Francisco. I am going to him because I think it is my duty to be near him – I want to help him in every way I can.”
    Asked whether the couple were going to reunite, the woman answered, “A reconciliation? That depends upon whether, when he is acquitted of this charge, I find that my place is with him and whether he finds that he is ready for a return to the life we led when we were married.”
    Distraught that he had been unfairly accused of a crime he did not commit, Roscoe wrote to his friend and producer, Joseph Schenck, and told him that he was absolutely innocent of all the accusations being held against him. “I simply tried to help someone in distress, the same as you or anyone else with human instincts would have done in the circumstance,” he said. He also assured his friend that he had done no wrong. “My heart is clean and my conscience is clear.”
    The trial of Roscoe Arbuckle began on 14 November 1921, by which time the charge had been changed to manslaughter, much to the relief of everyone involved. Every little detail was reported, from what actually went on during the proceedings, to what the women were wearing, to what the public were gossiping about in the gallery. Arbuckle’s estranged wife arrived at the courthouse to support the comic and people were so incensed by her presence that it has been said she was abused and even shot at while entering the building.
    The prosecutor during the trial was a man by the name of Matthew Brady who had great hopes and ambitions to become Governor of California and maybe even President later in his career. With that in mind, he went all out to try and prove that Arbuckle was not the sweet soul everyone thought him to be, but a monster, capable of rape and manslaughter in one foul swoop.
    Tellingly, professional finger-pointer Maude Delmont was seen as such an unreliable witness that she did not take to the stand, but those who did made a good argument for Arbuckle’s innocence. A doctor confirmed that Virginia Rappe had never mentioned that Roscoe had attacked her; a chambermaid at the hotel dispelled rumours of there being blood found on the bathroom door, while pathology experts were called to testify that Rappe’s ruptured bladder was not caused by external events at all. In fact, it seemed pretty evident from their reports that it was the result of chronic inflammation coming from inside the body, not outside, which had caused the organ to burst.
    Meanwhile, another doctor testified that Rappe had suffered from acute cystitis, while a friend was called to describe how the actress had often complained of severe abdominal pain over the course of their friendship. Then a Santa Ana saleslady threw light on Rappe’s torn clothes by declaring that on three occasions she had witnessed