From: Whirl To: Wednesday Beer Night Date: Friday, January 7, 2000 Dear Beer Swillers, Another argument surfaced on Wednesday night: Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle's existence. Karma, Sean and Finnegan argued that Fatty Arbuckle was a fake person, a Hollywood in-joke (if I don't have this right, feel free to write in and defend your position). Steph contended that Fatty Arbuckle was a comic actor in early cinema. Here is my argument. I can already hear Finnegan say, "But, this doesn't prove anything!" And, in some way, this is true. I am finding it fairly difficult to prove, unequivocally, that someone who died in 1933 actually existed. Philosophical discussions aside (like, is my blue really your blue? So, is the sky actually blue?), I will have to admit that Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle COULD be an early Hollywood executive cabal's dark and mysterious creation - an elaborate hoax kept alive all these years, handed down from senior executive to junior executive. I find this far-fetched, considering you can still see Arbuckle's movies from time to time. :) So, the entry in my snotty film-student book, "The Film Encyclopedia: The most comprehensive encyclopedia of world cinema in a single volume" by Ephraim Katz, is fairly long and my main evidence. It is on page 44, between Mexican director Alfonso Arau and Canadian director Denys Arcand. [snipped: most of long background of Fatty Arbuckle] In 1921, while Arbuckle was at the peak of success, his career was ruined by scandal. During a wild drinking party he threw at a San Francisco hotel, a starlet by the name of Virginia Rappe (the fiancee of Henry "Pathe" Lehrman, who directed some of Arbuckle's films) (and yes, Finnegan, I find her name ironic, but many things that exist in life are ironic) was seized by severe convulsions, allegedly after having been sexually assaulted by the 320-pound actor. A few days later she died of a ruptured bladder, and Arbuckle was charged with manslaughter. The case twice ended in a hung jury, and in a third trial he was acquitted. The press played up the sensational case, and much indignation was aroused in the public, who saw Hollywood as a modern Sodom. A frightened industry hurriedly set up the Hays Office to enforce self-regulation and censorship. Public opinion forced Arbuckle's retirement from the screen, and his films were banned and withdrawn from circulation. However, with the help of friends, he quietly returned to films as a director, using the pseudonym of William B. Goodrich (not Alan Smithee, which is the DGA approved pseudonym directors use to distance themselves from stinko projects, as we also discussed Wednesday. I figured you might jump on that bandwagon. :)). He directed, among others, a Marion Davies vehicle and Eddie Cantor's first two films. But wanting to perform, he went to Europe on an abortive acting tour in 1932, only to return to the US disillusioned and brokenhearted. The following year, he died in New York. A weak attempt at re-creating the Arbuckle scandal was made in the 1975 film The Wild Party. He was married to actress Minta Durfee. They divorced in 1925. He has an extensive filmography, which can be accessed at: http://us.imdb.com/Name?Arbuckle,+Roscoe+%27Fatty%27 So, can somebody else back me on this? Fatty Arbuckle did exist! Haus? Movie-trivia God? Back me? ...Steph ************************************************************************* From: Jim H. To: Wednesday Beer Night Date: Fri Jan 7, 2000 9:42 am Philosophical discussions/debates aside (do any of us exist?), there is a great deal of filmic record to substantiate the (former) existance of Fatty Arbuckle. By the way, legend has it that, after the scandal, when Arbuckle was attempting his behind-the-camera comeback, it was his good friend Buster Keaton who suggested the tongue-in-cheek punny psuedonym "Will B. Goode." Arbuckle modified it to the slightly less obvious nod to his "bad boy" reputation William B.Goodrich. That's about all I know! Haus ****************************************************************************** From: Tom F. To: Wednesday Beer Night Date: Fri Jan 7, 2000 9:53 am >Another argument surfaced on Wednesday night: Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle's >existence. He's not real. . . >So, the entry in my snotty film-student book, "The Film Encyclopedia: The >most comprehensive encyclopedia of world cinema in a single volume" by >Ephraim Katz, is fairly long and my main evidence. It is on page 44, >between Mexican director Alfonso Arau and Canadian director Denys Arcand. That's interesting. . . on page 786 of the Time Almanac 2000 of world statistics. . . "Fatty" Arbuckle is listed as a /famous native/ of San Jose California. . . Now I'm not arguing that this is by any stretch of the imagination 'correct'. . . but am sure you'll find him turning up in all sorts of reputable documentation. . . try running an IMDB search on the films directed by Alan Smithee. . . >Virginia Rappe (and yes, Finnegan, I find her name ironic, but many things that exist in life are ironic) . . . nuff said. . . that one was Karma's case & point. . . >He has an extensive filmography, which can be accessed at: >http://us.imdb.com/Name?Arbuckle,+Roscoe+%27Fatty%27 Try this one on for size: http://us.imdb.com/Name?Smithee,+Alan >So, can somebody else back me on this? I've got Brent Kuffler ~Movie God extrordinaire~ looking into this as well. . . he'll get back to me and I'll forward his results. . . **************************************************************************** From: Jim H. To: Wednesday Beer Night Date: Fri Jan 7, 2000 10:24 am I did a little further research. Arbuckle did indeed exist, but faked his death. He resurfaced in the film community in the early 1940s under the psuedonym "Orson Welles." Haus ****************************************************************************** From: Tom F. To: Wednesday Beer Night Date: Fri Jan 7, 2000 11:06 am Well it turns out that I was right after all. . . after searching for a while I found a website that states the true facts: http://www.wwa.com/~temper/arbuckle/ it's hosted on a wwa server too. . . how ironic. . . huh Steph? the truth is out there. . . ****************************************************************************** From: Sean W. To: Wednesday Beer Night Date: Fri Jan 7, 2000 11:21 am > it's hosted on a wwa server too. . . how ironic. . . huh Steph? WWA? I heard they were just a myth.