‘Hey, Pop!’: the real story of a murder scandal, ruined reputation, and a failed movie comeback
Hollywood is a breeding ground for corruption and scandal; it’s an industry where manipulation thrives and the desire for power moulds people into unrecognisable versions of themselves, but what happens when someone is acquitted of a crime… can they still find success?
For Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle, fame and success initially came easily, with the silent star appearing in various Keystone productions alongside Charlie Chaplin as far back as the early 1910s. He was part of this pioneering group of slapstick actors – Buster Keaton was another star he considered a good friend – and he appeared in countless hits during these transformative and fertile years for cinema.
Arbuckle had a large hand in the development of comedy on screen, but soon, his life became no laughing matter. Suddenly, he was thrust into a scandal when, in 1921, he was accused of rape and manslaughter – the actor was staying in San Francisco’s St Francis Hotel with a few friends, and several women, including the budding actor Virginia Rappe, visited the men to enjoy some drinks.
The night ended with Rappe falling ill, and within four days, the 30-year-old had tragically died from a ruptured bladder. One of her friends, Bambina Maude Delmont, who was also in attendance at the party, accused Arbuckle of raping Rappe, and he was subsequently arrested.
The scandal was huge. Here was a beloved star, a man who had a reputation for being lovely and gentle, suddenly accused of raping a woman and rupturing her bladder from the sheer weight of his body pressed on top of hers. The story evolved in the media fast, and soon, there were rumours that he’d used a glass bottle to rape her, while others claimed he had inserted a piece of ice.
Initially, there was no real evidence found to prove Arbuckle’s apparent guilt, but after a testimony given by another guest, the judge changed his mind, setting his sights on a first-degree murder charge and even the death penalty. Three separate trials were held, which were heavily documented in the media, although Arbuckle’s charge was changed to manslaughter in the process.
Everyone had contradicting stories, but it was brought to the judge’s attention that Rappe suffered from chronic cystitis, and this might have contributed to her sudden illness – Arbuckle claimed that he found her in pain when he went to use the bathroom, and while trying to help her by placing her on the bed, she screamed, leading people to assume that he was assaulting her.
Doctors found no evidence of sexual assault, while Delmont later admitted to fabricating the rape claim to extort money from the actor, yet many witnesses still came forward and claimed that Arbuckle was guilty.
With every trial, Arbuckle argued his innocence each time, but the first two resulted in hung juries, and the third acquitted him of the crime, and he walked away, finally able to prove his innocence – it turns out there was a lot of manipulation, intimidation, and blackmail behind the scenes, which had led various witnesses to make false claims against Arbuckle.
But the damage had already been done. Arbuckle was blacklisted, his friends – like Chaplin and Keaton –were encouraged not to associate with him, and many members of the public were still convinced of his guilt.
In 1932, however, he tried to make his comeback to the silver screen, which he had been absent from for many years since the scandal, and he starred in the movie Hey, Pop!, directed by Alfred J Goulding, in which he played a chef in a New York restaurant – it was just 18 minutes long, but audiences actually lapped it up, despite his controversial reputation.
This comeback was brief, though, and it’s hard to say if it was really all that successful, because over in the United Kingdom, the BBFC refused to give the film a classification. There was nothing shocking about the movie other than the fact that it starred Arbuckle, but that was enough for it to be banned.
Just a year later, Arbuckle would die in his sleep from a heart attack at the age of 46, putting an end to any hopes of a proper comeback. A return to form was brief, but ultimately, Arbuckle died with his scandal still looming large over him.
