Frame-Up!: The Untold Story of Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle

by Andy Edmonds

Book Overview

For the first time in twenty-five years, one of America's top investigative reporters reopens the case of Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle, a man accused of murdering a girl named Virginia Rappe. People remember him as the fat comedian who raped that young girl. They may not know he was one of the highest-paid talents of his time and that he was completely innocent. 27 photographs.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688091296
• ISBN13: 9780688091293
• Release Date: January 1991
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 335 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Early Hollywood Scandal

Andy Edmonds' book about Roscoe Arbuckle's murder trial during the 1920s is an exceptional read for fans of the silent movie era. Not only does it include information about Arbuckle's life before and after the trial, but it includes details provided from those who knew him best including his wives and the wife of Buster Keaton. Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle was one of the most beloved silent movie comedians of his time. His popularity soared before Chaplin or Keaton had really made it on their own. Children loved him for his wonderful prat-falls and large physical presence, and adults loved him for his sweetness and his ability to make anyone laugh. That all changed when a small time actress and well known prostitute Virginia Rappe died at a party thrown by Arbuckle. Her death was called murder, and Arbuckle was accused of having raped the girl so brutally that he ruptured her bladder in the process. The media turned the trial into a frenzy, making Arbuckle the scapegoat of Hollywood, in turn leading to the implementation of the Hays Office. What this book fails to do is entirely convince the reader that there was a pre-conceived conspiracy against Arbuckle. Edmonds makes a fool-proof plea for the comedian's innocence of the crime he was charged with, further supporting the acquittal with hindsight, but she does not provide enough evidence to prove her assertion that the party in San Francisco was all a set-up. Still, it is a fascinating read on one of the most damaging events in the actor's life.

Revealing

Roscoe Arbuckle was one of the most popular comics of the silent film era, but it was inevitable that he would fall from grace and in a round-about way, he brought a lot of it on himself. The author clearly points out that Roscoe was well on the way to self destruction. He was a frequent buyer of bootleg booze during the era of prohibition. He was in trouble with the IRS and despite his million dollar a year salary, his reckless spending was already out of control. Its even been suggested that cocaine was involved at some of the big parties that Arbuckle had. Then comes Virginia Rappe and Maude Delmont, two Hollywood whores with $ signs in their eyes and larsony in their hearts. They saw the opportunity to make some cash and didn't care who they destroyed to get it. Delmont was hardly a stranger to the criminal world and Rappe was a well known slut with several abortions under her belt (No pun intended) Accusations of rape (with a Coke bottle no less)during a wild party was the begining of one of the biggest trials in California legal history. Equally appalling is how self righteous, sanctimonious and moralistic Hollywood became after the scandal broke. Most of the big name directors had round-the-clock mistresses and readily consorted with gangsters like Capone. Arbuckle would be aquitted of the charges, but the damage had been done. Forced to direct under an assumed name (William B. Goode and Reel Comedies) Roscoe faced a hard climb uphill and died on the verge of a comeback.

Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle Was Destroyed By Hollywood Greed

Andy Edmonds does an admirable job in detailing the tragic life of one of Hollywood's first and foremost comic actors, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. Long before Lloyd, Langdon, Keaton, even Chaplin, there was Arbuckle. Aside from precursors Max Linder and John Bunny and a very few others who were brilliant innovators in their own right, Arbuckle was the first great American comic star of silent film. From 1912 to 1921 Arbuckle was the reigning king of slapstick. Incredibly agile for a 280 pounder, Arbuckle did wonderful comic pantomime and made dozens of memorable shorts with silent comedy legends like Mabel Normand, Minta Durfee, Al Saint John, and his best friend, Buster Keaton as his sidekicks. As we all know, Arbuckle, who wanted more autonomy on his own productions, was framed by greedy, spiteful studio heads (including Paramount chief Adolph Zukor) on a frumped up rape charge. The incident allegedly occurred at an infamous 1921 party in a San Francisco hotel. Of course, it was all a lie. Roscoe, targeted for his insubordination to the totalitarian studio system--- was unjustly persecuted as the poster boy for Hollywood hedonism and excess. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Most studio executives at the time lived self-indulgent lives that would make the inhabitants of Soddom and Gemmorah blush. Worst of all, Arbuckle was completely innocent of the phoney charges of rape. Spiteful over Roscoe's switching studios, certain detestable movie executives paid a bigamist and professional correspondent ("Bambina Maude Delmont") to testify against him on the fabricated rape charge. The alleged rape victim ----Virgnia Rappe (ironic first name, isn't it)---died as a result of internal hemmoraging. While Delmont claimed Rappe's death was due to Arbuckle's shoving a bottle inside her (an incident conveniently witnessed solely by the correspondent), medical results proved her death was actually due to a botched abortion she had recently received. Rappe was an infamous Hollywood [lady] who had had more abortions than even she could remember. She was also being treated for an advanced case of venereal disease. Most telling of all, she was known for attending parties, getting stoned, ripping off her clothes, and running into the streets crying "rape." After enduring three separate trials, and despite his eventually being found not guilty in a court of law, in the court of public opinion Fatty's career was utterly destroyed. He was labled a "fat pervert" by ignorant mobs who were susceptible to the vicious vitriol leveled at him by pseudo-moralist studio executives whose only real concern was saving their own asses and preserving their financial bottom lines. The once beloved comedian was literally spat on by men, women, and children who should have known better than to fall prey to the slander perpetrated by corrupt Hollywood mogols. Roscoe's films were pulled from circulation. His contracts were all cancelled and his name became associated with all th