0:00:02 > 0:00:05This is the Orpheum Theatre, Los Angeles.
0:00:05 > 0:00:09Built in 1926, this picture palace gave
0:00:09 > 0:00:11its audiences a real taste of opulence.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14And their idols, the actors on the screen,
0:00:14 > 0:00:16were literally larger than life.
0:00:16 > 0:00:20These bright icons, 20 foot tall, black and white, mute,
0:00:20 > 0:00:25simultaneously appearing in darkened rooms throughout the world
0:00:25 > 0:00:27must have seemed like visiting gods.
0:00:36 > 0:00:41Cinema had created a new class of human being - the film star.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46Audiences were enraptured by this new phenomenon.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50They had their favourites who they wanted see again and again.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58Once producers realised the impact their stars were having
0:00:58 > 0:01:01on the general public, they were very keen to work with the press
0:01:01 > 0:01:03in order to keep those reputations spotless.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10Soon, Hollywood would become known throughout the world
0:01:10 > 0:01:12as a byword for glamour.
0:01:12 > 0:01:13But outside of Hollywood,
0:01:13 > 0:01:16the rest of America regarded it
0:01:16 > 0:01:19as a rather sinful, degenerate hellhole.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24A place of dubious morals.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27Mary Pickford, the biggest female star in the world, was
0:01:27 > 0:01:30desperately in love with leading film actor Douglas Fairbanks.
0:01:30 > 0:01:32They were married, but not to each other.
0:01:32 > 0:01:37Mary feared rejection from her fans if she became a divorced woman.
0:01:37 > 0:01:42Another prominent actor, Wallace Reid, was addicted to morphine.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44Others battled cocaine and alcohol.
0:01:44 > 0:01:49Hollywood certainly had a very relaxed attitude towards drugs.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51In this bad-taste comedy,
0:01:51 > 0:01:56Douglas Fairbanks plays a character called Detective Coke Ennyday.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05But some campaigning religious groups found the movies
0:02:05 > 0:02:06no laughing matter.
0:02:06 > 0:02:11They sought tighter controls, even censorship.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13And soon those forces would taste success,
0:02:13 > 0:02:17as scandal after scandal threatened the very existence of Hollywood.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24And their biggest scapegoat would be Roscoe Arbuckle.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28He worked under the name of Fatty Arbuckle, a name he disliked.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31His friends called him Roscoe.
0:02:31 > 0:02:35Roscoe was one of American cinema's earliest and greatest comedians,
0:02:35 > 0:02:37and one of its biggest stars.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40He was also a friend and champion to two of the best loved
0:02:40 > 0:02:44film comedians of all time - Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton.
0:02:48 > 0:02:53And in 1920, Roscoe was the highest-paid star in Hollywood.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56He was a lot more famous than many of the people whose names are cast
0:02:56 > 0:03:01in the cement outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03But Roscoe's prints aren't here.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05He's missing.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13Why? What happened to him?
0:03:14 > 0:03:17Today if people are aware of his name,
0:03:17 > 0:03:20they wrongly believe him guilty of some terrible crime.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23But he was a totally innocent man.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26Roscoe was destroyed by the dark, ugly side of Hollywood,
0:03:26 > 0:03:29and what happened to him would change the movies
0:03:29 > 0:03:30for decades to come.
0:03:40 > 0:03:44By the mid-1910s, Hollywood's stars had become the driving force behind
0:03:44 > 0:03:46the motion-picture industry, and
0:03:46 > 0:03:49the most famous people in the world.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52Roscoe Arbuckle's visit to London
0:03:52 > 0:03:54was sufficiently newsworthy
0:03:54 > 0:03:56to be covered by a newsreel company.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59This was Roscoe's last carefree winter.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06Roscoe Arbuckle was at the height of his career,
0:04:06 > 0:04:10reportedly earning 1 million a year from Paramount Pictures.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13Roscoe could claim to be among the very first American film comedians
0:04:13 > 0:04:16to direct his own work. He could also claim that
0:04:16 > 0:04:19Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin all played
0:04:19 > 0:04:21supporting roles in Arbuckle films.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24This is Charlie Chaplin on the right,
0:04:24 > 0:04:26without his usual tramp make-up.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32And here's Buster Keaton, helping with the luggage.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37Roscoe was drawn to vaudeville from an early age,
0:04:37 > 0:04:39but couldn't always afford to go to the theatre.
0:04:51 > 0:04:56In the summer of 1895, Roscoe was playing around the stage door
0:04:56 > 0:04:58when a visiting producer saw him
0:04:58 > 0:05:01and grabbed him for a production that he was staging that week.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04They were short of an eight-year-old boy, and Roscoe fitted the bill.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07From then on in, he appeared in all the various shows
0:05:07 > 0:05:09that appeared in that theatre.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12One week he might be a hypnotist's assistant,
0:05:12 > 0:05:16another, playing a small but vital role in a Victorian melodrama.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20Roscoe would later parody small-town theatrical values
0:05:20 > 0:05:22in the film Back Stage.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30In 1899 Roscoe's mother died,
0:05:30 > 0:05:34and shortly after, he was abandoned by his father.
0:05:34 > 0:05:39The teenage Roscoe survived by doing odd jobs in a hotel.
0:05:39 > 0:05:41He was heard singing in the kitchens one day
0:05:41 > 0:05:45and it was suggested he should enter the local talent contest.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47He did, and he won.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50It was the beginning of his vaudeville career.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57In 1908, Roscoe married a fellow vaudeville performer,
0:05:57 > 0:05:59a singer called Minta Durfee.
0:05:59 > 0:06:01Within five years, he had joined
0:06:01 > 0:06:04Mack Sennett's Keystone Film Company.
0:06:04 > 0:06:09Roscoe quickly became the biggest comedian at the studios.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13He impressed a new young English comedian called Charlie Chaplin,
0:06:13 > 0:06:15who joined the studios a year later.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22Here, Charlie's improvisation gives
0:06:22 > 0:06:24his Keystone colleague a good giggle.
0:06:30 > 0:06:32The Keystone studios were just behind me here.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45Mack Sennett, the boss, had a great eye for talent.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48Most major comedians of the silent era worked for him
0:06:48 > 0:06:51at one time or another. But Roscoe stood out.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55Roscoe Arbuckle was a big man, but physically very adroit.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01Within a few months of joining Keystone,
0:07:01 > 0:07:03he was directing his own movies.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06Amidst the slapstick, Roscoe also introduced elements
0:07:06 > 0:07:10of quiet, gentle sentiment that played very effectively.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13That nearly went on!
0:07:17 > 0:07:21Here, Roscoe's shadow lightly kisses Mabel Normand.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32Mabel and Roscoe made a series
0:07:32 > 0:07:34of highly-successful comedy films together.
0:07:37 > 0:07:41These films were the forerunners of today's situation comedies.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51They were initially cast as a working-class couple,
0:07:51 > 0:07:55but as their fame grew, so did their social standing.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00Here, Mabel and Roscoe have clearly gone up in the world,
0:08:00 > 0:08:04with sophisticated sets and equally-sophisticated lighting.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10In 1915, San Francisco invited Mabel and Roscoe
0:08:10 > 0:08:13as guests of honour to view the World Trade Fair.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20The Mayor of San Francisco affords them
0:08:20 > 0:08:22the status of visiting dignitaries.
0:08:27 > 0:08:33This extremely-rare newsreel footage of Roscoe visiting London in 1920
0:08:33 > 0:08:37gives us a valuable glimpse of the man behind the screen character.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40Particularly his sense of fun.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45Keep your eyes on the cigarette.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07Film stars were now bigger than the films they appeared in.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11A publicity machine grew up to feed the public's hunger.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14Some of the stories were outlandish.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18For example, Roscoe Arbuckle was said to have met Pancho Villa,
0:09:18 > 0:09:23the Mexican revolutionary, in El Paso, Texas.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26The story goes that Roscoe Arbuckle and Pancho Villa's men were
0:09:26 > 0:09:29throwing fruit at each other across a large body of water.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32At one point, Roscoe picked up a bunch of bananas,
0:09:32 > 0:09:35threw them across the water, knocked a bandit off his horse.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38Now, you read this story in all the histories of the period,
0:09:38 > 0:09:41but, of course, it's not true. Just think about it for a minute.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44How hard would you have to throw a bunch of bananas
0:09:44 > 0:09:46to knock a seasoned bandit off a horse?
0:09:46 > 0:09:48Quite hard, is the answer.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51But it's one of those stories that came up at the time
0:09:51 > 0:09:53because fans were eager to hear about their favourites,
0:09:53 > 0:09:56and it didn't matter if the story was made up.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58It was good publicity.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03The practice of making up newspaper stories would later
0:10:03 > 0:10:04have a much darker side.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11But for now, any publicity was good publicity.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16It brought people back to the cinema time and time again
0:10:16 > 0:10:20and helped generate unbelievable profits for the movie business.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30Roscoe himself was to earn 1 million a year
0:10:30 > 0:10:33when he switched studios to Paramount Pictures.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36He bought a mansion, and it was here that
0:10:36 > 0:10:38his sense of fun led to
0:10:38 > 0:10:41one of Roscoe's most celebrated practical jokes.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43Perhaps we should go in.
0:10:52 > 0:10:54Wow!
0:10:56 > 0:11:01This is how a movie star lived in the 1910s.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03It's extraordinary to be here.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14This is the dining room.
0:11:14 > 0:11:19I first read about this room when I was 13 years old. To be here is...
0:11:19 > 0:11:25Well, there's the kitchen through there.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27And look at this.
0:11:29 > 0:11:30It's like walking back 100 years.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33It's remained...
0:11:33 > 0:11:36I mean, look at this detail here, look.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39There's a sort of phone system for contacting people.
0:11:39 > 0:11:40What's does it say?
0:11:40 > 0:11:45"Guest room one, the garage, sitting room, master bedroom, boudoir."
0:11:45 > 0:11:46I mean, this is all...
0:11:46 > 0:11:48BELL RINGS
0:11:49 > 0:11:54There was a dinner party happened here once,
0:11:54 > 0:12:01a long time ago, and this kitchen was very much part of the story.
0:12:07 > 0:12:09'To help us restage this dinner party,
0:12:09 > 0:12:12'I shall play the part of a particularly-dumb waiter.'
0:12:15 > 0:12:17The guest of honour is Adolph Zukor.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19He is boss of Paramount Pictures,
0:12:19 > 0:12:22and Roscoe Arbuckle is now Paramount's biggest star.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33Zukor, a man who didn't see the point of a sense of humour,
0:12:33 > 0:12:38was bemused by the waiter's clumsy attempt at serving food.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55Roscoe apologised. Zukor understood.
0:12:57 > 0:12:59PLATES SMASH
0:13:25 > 0:13:29Zukor hated the entire embarrassing experience.
0:13:32 > 0:13:33PLATES SMASH
0:13:50 > 0:13:54What Adolph Zukor didn't realise was that this whole dinner party was
0:13:54 > 0:13:55a practical joke on him,
0:13:55 > 0:13:58and everybody around the table was in on it.
0:13:58 > 0:14:00The waiter had been played by Buster Keaton,
0:14:00 > 0:14:02who turned up as a guest about half an hour later,
0:14:02 > 0:14:04sat here next to Adolph Zukor,
0:14:04 > 0:14:07who recognised him as the waiter, and then realised he'd been had.
0:14:07 > 0:14:08THEY LAUGH
0:14:16 > 0:14:18Roscoe!
0:14:21 > 0:14:24Roscoe could afford to play a practical joke on his boss.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26He was making millions for Paramount,
0:14:26 > 0:14:29and was immensely popular.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33I'm standing by the steps of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York.
0:14:33 > 0:14:37If you want some idea of how popular film stars were in 1918,
0:14:37 > 0:14:42have a look at this same scene with Charlie Chaplin, instead of myself,
0:14:42 > 0:14:43making a personal appearance.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53This is a rally to raise money
0:14:53 > 0:14:55for American troops in the First World War.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01Also with Charlie Chaplin were Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks,
0:15:01 > 0:15:04who addressed huge crowds as they travelled round America.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12They were having an affair with each other at the time,
0:15:12 > 0:15:16but as they were both married, they had to keep this rather quiet.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19Being expected to behave in a moral way by their fans
0:15:19 > 0:15:22may have been inconvenient for Doug and Mary,
0:15:22 > 0:15:26but there was plenty of upside to being a huge star.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31Paramount had tempted Roscoe Arbuckle away from Keystone
0:15:31 > 0:15:33by setting him up with his own film unit.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48His first Paramount film, The Butcher Boy,
0:15:48 > 0:15:50featured a young comedian
0:15:50 > 0:15:53fresh from the vaudeville stage - Buster Keaton.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56Roscoe took Buster under his wing and generously taught him
0:15:56 > 0:16:01the intricate techniques of film comedy, such as how to react
0:16:01 > 0:16:04to a huge bag of flour hitting you in the face.
0:16:06 > 0:16:08This joke was captured in one take.
0:16:08 > 0:16:10Buster was told not to worry about the bag of flour -
0:16:10 > 0:16:12just turn, and it'll be there.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21Their film partnership led to a lifelong friendship.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29Less than a year after Roscoe acquired his own film unit,
0:16:29 > 0:16:32Charlie Chaplin was given his own purpose-built studio.
0:16:38 > 0:16:42We are at the Jim Henson Company, best known as the creators
0:16:42 > 0:16:47of Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal, Farscape and the Muppets.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50This studio has a very colourful history.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54It was built in 1918 for Charlie Chaplin
0:16:54 > 0:16:56by the First National film company.
0:16:56 > 0:16:59In exchange, Charlie promised eight short films.
0:16:59 > 0:17:03Rather optimistically, he hoped that First National would accept
0:17:03 > 0:17:07as one of those films a film about the building of this very studio.
0:17:07 > 0:17:08They didn't.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13The film, How To Make Movies, does offer up
0:17:13 > 0:17:16the only footage we have of Charlie directing.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23In just five years, Chaplin had gone from being
0:17:23 > 0:17:26a successful but fairly anonymous stage actor
0:17:26 > 0:17:29to becoming a studio boss with million-pound budgets
0:17:29 > 0:17:31and complete artistic freedom.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39He oversaw every aspect of production.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53This new studio inspired Charlie to greater heights.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56His second film for First National, Shoulder Arms,
0:17:56 > 0:17:58was noted for its artistic daring.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01A World War I comedy, set in the trenches,
0:18:01 > 0:18:04made while that war was still being fought.
0:18:04 > 0:18:09It was a worldwide smash hit, as well as being an artistic triumph.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15This fluid camera movement was way beyond
0:18:15 > 0:18:18the capabilities of a Keystone comedy.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34The authentic trench setting, with its attention to detail,
0:18:34 > 0:18:37gives the film a documentary flavour.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40The other actor is Sydney Chaplin, Charlie's brother.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46The film was so popular with the Allied troops,
0:18:46 > 0:18:49it was shown to injured soldiers in military hospitals.
0:18:56 > 0:19:00Shoulder Arms was made in this studio here.
0:19:00 > 0:19:02Look at the size of this place.
0:19:02 > 0:19:07In just four years, American screen comedy had come of age.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11Just think of all the masterpieces that were made in this room.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16For The Gold Rush, Charlie created a snowy landscape,
0:19:16 > 0:19:21extraordinary for the time, that made the impossible shot possible.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03As well as family films,
0:20:03 > 0:20:06Hollywood was putting material onto the screen that shocked
0:20:06 > 0:20:09the more conservative elements of American society.
0:20:11 > 0:20:15Their bete noire was director Cecil B DeMille, seen here on set.
0:20:18 > 0:20:23Cecil B DeMille understood that his audiences wanted glamour, sensation,
0:20:23 > 0:20:26as an escape from the humdrum reality of everyday life.
0:20:26 > 0:20:32And you can't get more anti-humdrum than this.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36Here, Cecil dresses his actors and his set in glass.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39Glass that does not reflect the real world.
0:20:49 > 0:20:50I saw him directing,
0:20:50 > 0:20:55and he had the most tremendous energy of anyone I've ever known.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59I always felt I had to give an absolute reason for being a woman,
0:20:59 > 0:21:03for being alive, for being there,
0:21:03 > 0:21:06for occupying air space.
0:21:06 > 0:21:08A deeply eccentric man,
0:21:08 > 0:21:12he ruled his movie sets with a rod of iron.
0:21:16 > 0:21:21One of the actresses who worked with the great one was
0:21:21 > 0:21:24Angela Lansbury, in Samson And Delilah.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27- One director that you worked with is Cecil B DeMille.- Yes.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30I'd be very interested to hear what he was like.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32As the expression goes,
0:21:32 > 0:21:37as my mother in her Irish way would say, he kind of fancied himself as...
0:21:37 > 0:21:38The great director.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40The great director. Yes, he did.
0:21:40 > 0:21:44And could be quite frightening at times.
0:21:44 > 0:21:48He demanded a certain, you know...
0:21:49 > 0:21:52..a performance from everybody, and that went to everybody.
0:21:52 > 0:21:56Any person who worked on a set for DeMille,
0:21:56 > 0:21:58he noted, he knew, and he watched everything.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01There wasn't anything that he just took for granted.
0:22:01 > 0:22:03He never left things to other people,
0:22:03 > 0:22:05although he had a lot of assistants, you know?
0:22:05 > 0:22:09He had a man who was always there with a chair,
0:22:09 > 0:22:11- ready to shove it under his bottom. - So if he decided
0:22:11 > 0:22:13just to sit down, the chair would have to be there?
0:22:13 > 0:22:16Yes, and it would always be there.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19And same with a microphone. He always had a microphone handy,
0:22:19 > 0:22:21cos he liked to make loud announcements,
0:22:21 > 0:22:22and he wanted everybody to hear.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25Quiet, quiet, quiet.
0:22:25 > 0:22:27We're trying to take a scene here.
0:22:27 > 0:22:29We've got 4,000 people on this set.
0:22:29 > 0:22:31Now keep quiet and attend to your business.
0:22:31 > 0:22:37In 1916, Gloria Swanson was co-starring with a dog
0:22:37 > 0:22:39in a Mack Sennett comedy.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42But three years later, Cecil B DeMille had transformed
0:22:42 > 0:22:48her screen image. Here, a naked Gloria is being helped into a bath.
0:23:01 > 0:23:05Film was now the dominant cultural force on the planet.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08People aspired to look like their favourite glamorous stars.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11They copied their hairstyles, the way they dressed.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15Female fashions particularly were influenced
0:23:15 > 0:23:17by what they saw on the screen.
0:23:17 > 0:23:19'If cinema was shaping fashion,
0:23:19 > 0:23:23'it was also changing people's perception of acceptable behaviour.'
0:23:26 > 0:23:28Cheeky moments like this in Male And Female
0:23:28 > 0:23:32outraged powerful conservative forces,
0:23:32 > 0:23:36who saw Hollywood as one big, sordid pit of sin.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40And they weren't just concerned that cinema audiences would start
0:23:40 > 0:23:42glancing at each other's ankles.
0:23:45 > 0:23:50Moral crusaders and social reformers had achieved a stunning victory
0:23:50 > 0:23:54in 1920 when the sale of alcohol was prohibited in America.
0:23:55 > 0:24:00It was an impossible law to police. Bootleg liquor supplied by gangsters
0:24:00 > 0:24:05found thirsty customers in illegal drinking dens, or speakeasies.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08But having secured prohibition,
0:24:08 > 0:24:11these campaigners looked to curtail Hollywood's excesses.
0:24:11 > 0:24:16Some strongly believed that films, like alcohol, could be banned.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19It happened briefly in New York in 1908,
0:24:19 > 0:24:23when the mayor had ordered all cinemas to be closed.
0:24:28 > 0:24:29Hollywood was worried.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32The voices calling for censorship were getting stronger.
0:24:35 > 0:24:39It didn't help that at just this moment Mary Pickford announced that
0:24:39 > 0:24:42she had divorced from her husband, Owen Moore.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46Many people considered divorce shameful.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49She swore that she would never marry again.
0:24:49 > 0:24:5326 days later, she married Douglas Fairbanks, also a divorcee.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00Other film stars kept their marital problems private.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04Roscoe Arbuckle was formally separated from his wife Minta,
0:25:04 > 0:25:05who now lived in New York.
0:25:05 > 0:25:09But his career was going from strength to strength.
0:25:13 > 0:25:18He made the move into feature films, adapting his style
0:25:18 > 0:25:20away from pure slapstick and into more thoughtful,
0:25:20 > 0:25:23carefully-plotted comedies.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37Paramount, astounded at the millions pouring in,
0:25:37 > 0:25:40had pushed Roscoe Arbuckle to make
0:25:40 > 0:25:43three separate feature films simultaneously.
0:25:43 > 0:25:48Upon their completion in the late summer of 1921, he needed a break.
0:25:51 > 0:25:55He left Hollywood behind and ventured out into the real world.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08Roscoe Arbuckle had been working extremely hard.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11He'd made six feature films in just seven months,
0:26:11 > 0:26:14and these films were enormously profitable for Paramount Pictures.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17Nevertheless, Roscoe needed a break.
0:26:17 > 0:26:19On September 3rd 1921,
0:26:19 > 0:26:23he left Los Angeles in his luxury car, along with two friends.
0:26:23 > 0:26:25They headed towards San Francisco.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40They arrived here at the St Francis hotel late Saturday afternoon.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43Roscoe Arbuckle and his two travelling companions,
0:26:43 > 0:26:46Fred Fischbach and Lowell Sherman, checked into their rooms.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50I've got exactly the same rooms nearly 90 years later.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09I'm on the 12th floor of the St Francis Hotel.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12The Arbuckle group hired three rooms -
0:27:12 > 0:27:15a reception room with a single bedroom either side.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23If you have any preconceptions about what happened in these three rooms,
0:27:23 > 0:27:26wipe them from your mind now.
0:27:26 > 0:27:30There have been countless lies, exaggerations and gross libels.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33I, however, shall tell you the truth.
0:27:33 > 0:27:35Follow me.
0:27:43 > 0:27:45This is the Arbuckle reception room.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48This is Lowell Sherman, and this is Fred Fischbach.
0:27:48 > 0:27:51They're Roscoe's travelling companions.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53Lowell's bedroom is off to the left,
0:27:53 > 0:27:56and Fred is sharing with Roscoe off to the right.
0:27:56 > 0:28:02And I'm standing in the reception room between the two bedrooms.
0:28:02 > 0:28:04Prohibition had become law in 1920,
0:28:04 > 0:28:07but had very little effect in San Francisco.
0:28:07 > 0:28:09It was known as an open town.
0:28:09 > 0:28:10In fact, many bars never closed
0:28:10 > 0:28:13throughout the entire prohibition era.
0:28:13 > 0:28:17Some time on Sunday morning, Roscoe put a call in to a local nightclub.
0:28:19 > 0:28:21Within half an hour, there was a knock at his door,
0:28:21 > 0:28:26and Roscoe takes delivery of a case of bootleg booze.
0:28:30 > 0:28:33Roscoe exits into his bedroom.
0:28:33 > 0:28:38At 11:00, a friend of Fred Fischbach arrives at the Arbuckle suite.
0:28:38 > 0:28:39KNOCK ON THE DOOR
0:28:44 > 0:28:47This man, a dress salesman, tells Roscoe that he's just seen
0:28:47 > 0:28:50an actress called Virginia Rappe at his hotel,
0:28:50 > 0:28:51and wonders if he knows her.
0:28:51 > 0:28:53Roscoe does, and Fred Fischbach phones Virginia
0:28:53 > 0:28:56and invites her over.
0:29:00 > 0:29:03Virginia Rappe was a bit-part player
0:29:03 > 0:29:07who was yet to achieve the giddy heights of fame and fortune.
0:29:07 > 0:29:11Roscoe invites her into what was quickly becoming a party -
0:29:11 > 0:29:14a party Roscoe didn't particularly want.
0:29:14 > 0:29:18Waiting downstairs in the hotel lobby was a woman who Virginia had
0:29:18 > 0:29:22only met the day before, one Maude Delmont.
0:29:24 > 0:29:26Shortly after arriving herself,
0:29:26 > 0:29:30Virginia phoned down to the lobby and invited Maude up to the suite.
0:29:35 > 0:29:37'David Yallop was the first writer
0:29:37 > 0:29:40'to properly investigate the Arbuckle case.
0:29:40 > 0:29:43'He quickly focused on Maude Delmont.'
0:29:44 > 0:29:48Her record before this party is that she's known as a bigamist.
0:29:48 > 0:29:54She's into extortion, blackmail, a quite unsavoury person.
0:29:54 > 0:29:57Yes, yes. I mean, not somebody
0:29:57 > 0:29:59that you'd want to upset in particular areas.
0:29:59 > 0:30:01I think the only crime I've found
0:30:01 > 0:30:04that she hadn't committed was probably murder.
0:30:04 > 0:30:06I think everything else, she was up for.
0:30:06 > 0:30:08And certainly, in this she saw an opportunity
0:30:08 > 0:30:10to make large amounts of money.
0:30:12 > 0:30:17This woman, Maude Delmont, is the real villain of the piece.
0:30:20 > 0:30:22All the major players are now in place.
0:30:22 > 0:30:26Now, the tragedy can unfold.
0:30:29 > 0:30:31MUSIC PLAYS
0:30:35 > 0:30:39The party that Roscoe hadn't particularly wanted is
0:30:39 > 0:30:40getting into full swing.
0:30:40 > 0:30:45Other people, hearing that there is a gathering in Arbuckle's suite,
0:30:45 > 0:30:46turn up uninvited.
0:30:51 > 0:30:53After an hour or two of heavy drinking,
0:30:53 > 0:30:56Maude catches the eye of Lowell Sherman.
0:30:56 > 0:30:58He follows her into his bathroom.
0:31:02 > 0:31:07After more alcohol is consumed, Virginia feels unwell and heads
0:31:07 > 0:31:10for the bathroom adjoining Lowell Sherman's bedroom.
0:31:14 > 0:31:19But Maude Delmont and Lowell Sherman are busy, and Maude tells Virginia
0:31:19 > 0:31:23to use the other bathroom adjoining the other bedroom.
0:31:28 > 0:31:32She passes through the living room and into Roscoe's bathroom,
0:31:32 > 0:31:34where she's physically sick.
0:31:37 > 0:31:42A few minutes later, Roscoe, who has an afternoon appointment,
0:31:42 > 0:31:46makes his excuses and leaves the party.
0:31:46 > 0:31:50He finds Virginia, assumes she's had too much to drink,
0:31:50 > 0:31:51and places her on the bed.
0:31:53 > 0:31:57He then shaves and has a quick bath in preparation for going out.
0:31:57 > 0:31:59This takes ten minutes.
0:31:59 > 0:32:02When he finishes, he sees that Virginia has been sick again,
0:32:02 > 0:32:04and he quickly tells the other guests.
0:32:04 > 0:32:07This girl is really sick in here. I think she needs some help.
0:32:07 > 0:32:10Roscoe phones down to the front desk.
0:32:13 > 0:32:17Lowell Sherman and Maude Delmont come from the other bedroom
0:32:17 > 0:32:19to see what's going on.
0:32:19 > 0:32:23The hotel doctor arrives and examines Virginia
0:32:23 > 0:32:27and concludes that she is suffering from excess alcohol.
0:32:27 > 0:32:30Later, a female nurse will also examine her
0:32:30 > 0:32:34and find no evidence of any physical injury.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37Nevertheless, Virginia's condition worsened,
0:32:37 > 0:32:42but she was not taken to hospital for another three days,
0:32:42 > 0:32:44where, 24 hours later, she died.
0:32:46 > 0:32:49She was 27 years old.
0:32:49 > 0:32:51But what did she die of?
0:32:55 > 0:32:58To understand what happened to Virginia Rappe, I asked
0:32:58 > 0:33:01a leading Californian physician, Dr Leslie Kaplan,
0:33:01 > 0:33:04to examine the medical records of the time.
0:33:04 > 0:33:08What was wrong with her? What was she suffering from, do you think?
0:33:08 > 0:33:12As things go on and the doctors see her, we hear about her abdomen,
0:33:12 > 0:33:15her stomach area, being very, very tender.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20The doctors had referred to it as being an acute abdomen.
0:33:20 > 0:33:24An acute abdomen with a fever means usually
0:33:24 > 0:33:27what we call a perforated viscous.
0:33:27 > 0:33:33That means some internal organ has exploded, usually from infection,
0:33:33 > 0:33:35but it can be from other things.
0:33:35 > 0:33:40In a young woman, there are several different things that can happen.
0:33:40 > 0:33:42So, one of them is appendicitis.
0:33:42 > 0:33:45Appendicitis will show up with a high fever,
0:33:45 > 0:33:50abdominal pain, a rigid abdomen and sometimes fever to delirium.
0:33:50 > 0:33:52So will an infection in the female tubes,
0:33:52 > 0:33:55what's called a tubo-ovarian abscess.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58So, between the uterus and the ovary there's a tube
0:33:58 > 0:34:02called the fallopian tube, and if it gets an infection in it,
0:34:02 > 0:34:06that can rupture, and that can leak into the abdomen,
0:34:06 > 0:34:08cause peritonitis and an acute abdomen.
0:34:08 > 0:34:12An ectopic pregnancy, so a pregnancy stuck in the tube,
0:34:12 > 0:34:15can also rupture and do the same thing.
0:34:15 > 0:34:18But whatever Virginia was suffering from,
0:34:18 > 0:34:20she was taken to the wrong kind of hospital.
0:34:22 > 0:34:26The fact that she was taken rather than to a hospital
0:34:26 > 0:34:31to a more of a maternity sanatorium,
0:34:31 > 0:34:35where she eventually died,
0:34:35 > 0:34:41and then when an autopsy was done at that maternity hospital
0:34:41 > 0:34:45and her remains then were returned to the coroner,
0:34:45 > 0:34:48it appears that all of her pelvic organs had been removed
0:34:48 > 0:34:50at the maternity hospital
0:34:50 > 0:34:53prior to her being presented back to the coroner.
0:34:53 > 0:34:55Does that suggest anything?
0:34:55 > 0:35:00Well, it would suggest possibly an illegal abortion
0:35:00 > 0:35:04as being the cause of her injury.
0:35:04 > 0:35:06If the internal organs are removed,
0:35:06 > 0:35:09you're destroying the evidence of that.
0:35:09 > 0:35:11It surely seems that way in terms of...
0:35:11 > 0:35:13As I say, that's the information that we have,
0:35:13 > 0:35:15and that to me is kind of the smoking gun.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18Why else would the people at the maternity hospital,
0:35:18 > 0:35:21when they released the body back to the coroner,
0:35:21 > 0:35:27not provide the organs that might have been injured at such a time
0:35:27 > 0:35:30and might identify that as a cause?
0:35:30 > 0:35:33So, definitely an illegal autopsy,
0:35:33 > 0:35:36possibly to cover up an illegal abortion.
0:35:40 > 0:35:44When Virginia Rappe died, Roscoe was back home in Hollywood.
0:35:44 > 0:35:45The last time he had seen Virginia
0:35:45 > 0:35:47at the St Francis Hotel in San Francisco,
0:35:47 > 0:35:50he, like everybody else present, thought
0:35:50 > 0:35:53she'd simply had too much to drink.
0:35:53 > 0:35:54He'd made his way back home
0:35:54 > 0:35:58thinking that she had received adequate medical care.
0:36:01 > 0:36:06When Virginia died, Maude Delmont took centre stage.
0:36:06 > 0:36:09I've not seen that shot of her before. There she is there.
0:36:09 > 0:36:12As you say, she's always pretty grim-faced.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15So, what was the story that Maude was putting across
0:36:15 > 0:36:16once Virginia died?
0:36:16 > 0:36:19It was the beauty and the beast. It was a man weighing in
0:36:19 > 0:36:22at about 266lbs, and this waif of a little girl there.
0:36:22 > 0:36:26He violated her, he lay on her and burst her bladder.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28That was the kind of story that you would hear.
0:36:28 > 0:36:31Maude Delmont's the source of all these stories.
0:36:31 > 0:36:33Who did she first tell this story to?
0:36:33 > 0:36:37Anyone that would listen. Preferably if they'd got a uniform.
0:36:37 > 0:36:41And the police believed it - took it hook, line and sinker.
0:36:47 > 0:36:51This is how her story first appeared in the press.
0:36:51 > 0:36:56Remember, when Virginia first fell ill at the party, Maude Delmont was
0:36:56 > 0:37:01in Lowell Sherman's bathroom with a busy reception room in between.
0:37:01 > 0:37:05She couldn't possibly have heard screams from Arbuckle's bedroom.
0:37:05 > 0:37:09People who were much nearer heard nothing.
0:37:10 > 0:37:13When Roscoe returned voluntarily to San Francisco
0:37:13 > 0:37:17to be questioned about the St Francis hotel party,
0:37:17 > 0:37:20he must have thought it would be a simple matter to clear up.
0:37:23 > 0:37:26He had no involvement in the girl's death,
0:37:26 > 0:37:29and was shocked by the hysteria that greeted him.
0:37:29 > 0:37:31Women's groups stormed the courthouse,
0:37:31 > 0:37:34appalled by the stories they had read.
0:37:36 > 0:37:39The police, caught up in this public mood of vengeance,
0:37:39 > 0:37:43arrested Roscoe without a shred of evidence against him.
0:37:43 > 0:37:46He was charged with murder.
0:37:52 > 0:37:55Roscoe Arbuckle was facing the fight of his life.
0:37:55 > 0:37:59If found guilty of murder, he'd be sentenced to death.
0:37:59 > 0:38:01If he looked over San Francisco Bay,
0:38:01 > 0:38:04he couldn't help but notice the island of Alcatraz.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07On that island there's a prison,
0:38:07 > 0:38:11and in that prison an electric chair, ready and waiting.
0:38:11 > 0:38:16This photograph was taken moments after Roscoe was charged.
0:38:16 > 0:38:18And one powerful man who wanted
0:38:18 > 0:38:22to make the charge stick was Matthew Brady.
0:38:24 > 0:38:25Brady was District Attorney.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28He was out of town when it happened, so he comes back
0:38:28 > 0:38:31to this madness where they've already charged him with murder.
0:38:31 > 0:38:33He doesn't stop and evaluate the evidence,
0:38:33 > 0:38:36he just jumps on this because Brady, I think, had a different agenda.
0:38:36 > 0:38:39He was a political animal. I think he saw that if you attached yourself
0:38:39 > 0:38:41to this case and were successful,
0:38:41 > 0:38:43he could become Governor of California.
0:38:43 > 0:38:46He might even make a run for the White House.
0:38:46 > 0:38:50I definitely believe that that applied in this man's thinking.
0:38:54 > 0:38:56On Monday September 12th 1921,
0:38:56 > 0:39:00Matthew Brady's name was all over the newspapers.
0:39:00 > 0:39:04Perhaps now realising that there was no credible evidence against Roscoe,
0:39:04 > 0:39:10he elected to fight the case in the press as well as the courtroom.
0:39:10 > 0:39:13The papers were more than happy to continue the gross fiction,
0:39:13 > 0:39:17particularly those published by the Hearst Corporation.
0:39:18 > 0:39:24Brady had a very powerful ally in press baron William Randolph Hearst.
0:39:24 > 0:39:26At his peak, Hearst owned
0:39:26 > 0:39:30nearly 50 newspapers, magazines and periodicals.
0:39:30 > 0:39:35The Hearst newspapers faked this photograph of Roscoe,
0:39:35 > 0:39:38painting prison bars across his face.
0:39:38 > 0:39:42The public believed this was a genuine photo.
0:39:44 > 0:39:46Hearst realised there was
0:39:46 > 0:39:50an enormous profit to be made from the Arbuckle case.
0:39:50 > 0:39:54Hearst often boasted that the Arbuckle story sold more newspapers
0:39:54 > 0:39:59than any other single event since the sinking of the Lusitania,
0:39:59 > 0:40:02which had brought America into the First World War.
0:40:02 > 0:40:06The public's reaction to Arbuckle's indictment was immediate.
0:40:06 > 0:40:09Whipped up by a sensational press and various pressure groups,
0:40:09 > 0:40:12the public no longer saw Roscoe as a loveable fat man,
0:40:12 > 0:40:14but instead saw a gross monster.
0:40:14 > 0:40:18The judge ruled that Arbuckle could be charged with first-degree murder.
0:40:18 > 0:40:21Later, that charge was dropped to manslaughter.
0:40:24 > 0:40:28Roscoe's friends stood by him.
0:40:28 > 0:40:31Buster Keaton wanted to give evidence as a character witness,
0:40:31 > 0:40:33but was told by Roscoe's lawyers that
0:40:33 > 0:40:38San Francisco was so anti-Hollywood that if Keaton appeared in court,
0:40:38 > 0:40:40his own career could be at risk.
0:40:41 > 0:40:44Charlie Chaplin, visiting London, was asked
0:40:44 > 0:40:45about Roscoe's arrest.
0:40:45 > 0:40:50Charlie said, "I simply cannot believe it, and I cannot believe
0:40:50 > 0:40:52"that Roscoe had anything to do with Miss Rappe's death.
0:40:52 > 0:40:56"I know Roscoe to be a genial, easygoing type
0:40:56 > 0:40:57"that would not hurt a fly."
0:41:01 > 0:41:04Chaplin's words went unreported in America.
0:41:04 > 0:41:07They didn't fit the way the story was unfolding.
0:41:12 > 0:41:16When the trial began, Maude Delmont was considered
0:41:16 > 0:41:21such an unreliable witness, she was never called to the stand.
0:41:21 > 0:41:25Here is Roscoe photographed in the courtroom, giving his testimony.
0:41:25 > 0:41:27The jury believed him -
0:41:27 > 0:41:30apart from one member,
0:41:30 > 0:41:34a Mrs Helen Hubbard, who said in the jury room
0:41:34 > 0:41:38Arbuckle was definitely guilty, and nothing would change her mind.
0:41:38 > 0:41:40In this photograph of the jury,
0:41:40 > 0:41:45Mrs Hubbard hides her face from the camera, perhaps in shame.
0:41:45 > 0:41:48It later emerged that her husband was an attorney
0:41:48 > 0:41:51with connections to Matthew Brady's office.
0:41:53 > 0:41:56The trial ended with a hung jury.
0:41:56 > 0:41:59Roscoe Arbuckle would have to undergo a second trial.
0:41:59 > 0:42:03His legal team then made an horrendous mistake.
0:42:03 > 0:42:07Believing that Roscoe had proved his innocence in the first trial,
0:42:07 > 0:42:11they saw no reason to call him to testify in the second.
0:42:11 > 0:42:13This decision did not impress the jury.
0:42:13 > 0:42:20This time, they voted 8-4 in favour of guilty, another hung jury.
0:42:20 > 0:42:22At the third Arbuckle trial,
0:42:22 > 0:42:25Virginia's medical history was revealed for the first time.
0:42:25 > 0:42:30A series of abortions had ruined her health from an early age.
0:42:30 > 0:42:32A doctor's report made it clear that
0:42:32 > 0:42:37Virginia Rappe had not been injured in any way consistent with assault.
0:42:41 > 0:42:44Arbuckle was acquitted at the third trial.
0:42:44 > 0:42:47The foreman of the jury read out a written apology,
0:42:47 > 0:42:51an apology unprecedented in American legal history.
0:42:51 > 0:42:56It read, "Acquittal is not enough for Roscoe Arbuckle.
0:42:56 > 0:42:59"We feel that a great injustice has been done him.
0:42:59 > 0:43:02"There was not the slightest proof produced to connect him in any way
0:43:02 > 0:43:04"with the commission of a crime.
0:43:04 > 0:43:06"He was manly throughout the case,
0:43:06 > 0:43:10"and told a straightforward story which we all believe.
0:43:10 > 0:43:13"We wish him success, and hope that the American people will take
0:43:13 > 0:43:16"the judgment of 14 men and women
0:43:16 > 0:43:21"that Roscoe Arbuckle is entirely innocent and free from all blame."
0:43:21 > 0:43:27Here, the jury members are proud to be photographed with an innocent man
0:43:27 > 0:43:31who was clearly immensely relieved.
0:43:31 > 0:43:34It must have seemed Roscoe's troubles were over.
0:43:38 > 0:43:41His Hollywood friends had never doubted him.
0:43:41 > 0:43:43Charlie Chaplin stood by him.
0:43:45 > 0:43:48And so did Buster Keaton.
0:43:48 > 0:43:51But outside this loyal circle of friends,
0:43:51 > 0:43:52the real power in Hollywood lay
0:43:52 > 0:43:55in the hands of ruthless businessmen,
0:43:55 > 0:44:00men such as Adolph Zukor, head of Paramount Pictures, who had been
0:44:00 > 0:44:06the unwitting stooge and the butt of the joke at Roscoe's dinner party.
0:44:06 > 0:44:11Zukor and other producers were determined at any cost to protect
0:44:11 > 0:44:15their hugely-profitable industry from outside interference.
0:44:17 > 0:44:23By the time of Roscoe's acquittal in 1922, the federal government
0:44:23 > 0:44:27and 36 states were considering enacting laws
0:44:27 > 0:44:29against the movie business.
0:44:29 > 0:44:31Banks were withholding credit.
0:44:34 > 0:44:38The powerful lobbyists that had successfully prohibited
0:44:38 > 0:44:42the sale of alcohol were gunning for Hollywood.
0:44:42 > 0:44:46A nervous film industry decided to regulate itself.
0:44:46 > 0:44:50They needed the right man to help them fend off censorship,
0:44:50 > 0:44:52and they decided on William H Hays.
0:44:52 > 0:44:54Once chairman of the Republican Party,
0:44:54 > 0:44:58Hays had served in government as Postmaster General.
0:44:58 > 0:45:02Some people said he had the appearance of an anxious rabbit.
0:45:02 > 0:45:05As a teetotaller and a church elder, he was the ideal head
0:45:05 > 0:45:10of the newly-formed Motion Picture Producers and Directors Association.
0:45:10 > 0:45:17He was paid 100,000 a year to stop individual states banning films.
0:45:17 > 0:45:21And sitting next to him is Adolph Zukor.
0:45:25 > 0:45:29On April 18th 1922, six days after the acquittal,
0:45:29 > 0:45:33Will Hays, the man appointed to help clean up Hollywood,
0:45:33 > 0:45:36banned Roscoe Arbuckle's films from the screen.
0:45:36 > 0:45:41Despite his total innocence, Hollywood needed a scapegoat.
0:45:41 > 0:45:44And Roscoe was hung out to dry.
0:45:48 > 0:45:54When Hays banned him, that would have been unbelievable.
0:45:54 > 0:45:57After what you've just achieved, which is total exoneration
0:45:57 > 0:45:59of your career, your reputation,
0:45:59 > 0:46:01everything has been given back to you,
0:46:01 > 0:46:03"No, actually, Roscoe, we lied about that.
0:46:03 > 0:46:06"We had our fingers crossed when we said you were innocent,
0:46:06 > 0:46:08"cos we really want to make you guilty,
0:46:08 > 0:46:11"and Mr Hays wants to make you guilty,
0:46:11 > 0:46:15"because he doesn't really want to see this job that he's got,
0:46:15 > 0:46:17"which is going to get even more wealthy for him,
0:46:17 > 0:46:20"more money will be generated for him..."
0:46:20 > 0:46:23And this industry that Mr Zukor and his friends...
0:46:23 > 0:46:25They don't care a crap now about Roscoe.
0:46:25 > 0:46:29He's got to be cut off, he's got to be removed from the body, hasn't he?
0:46:29 > 0:46:32- Amputated.- Amputated, yes, I like that.
0:46:32 > 0:46:35And you know, "If we see him in the street, we'll say hi,
0:46:35 > 0:46:36"but we might not say hi."
0:46:43 > 0:46:45Roscoe was a broken man.
0:46:45 > 0:46:47He had separated from his wife Minta
0:46:47 > 0:46:51a few years before the San Francisco party, and although she stood by him
0:46:51 > 0:46:53in the courtroom, they went their separate ways
0:46:53 > 0:46:55at the end of the trial.
0:46:57 > 0:47:01He no longer had his big salary, and he was forced to sell his big house,
0:47:01 > 0:47:04which once rocked with laughter, to pay legal bills.
0:47:04 > 0:47:08His friends were appalled by Arbuckle's treatment,
0:47:08 > 0:47:11and pressure was put on Hays to lift the screen ban,
0:47:11 > 0:47:14which he did towards the end of 1922.
0:47:14 > 0:47:17But the damage had already been done.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24The negative publicity had been so intense
0:47:24 > 0:47:27that Roscoe never made another appearance
0:47:27 > 0:47:30on the silent screen - with one exception.
0:47:30 > 0:47:35In Go West, director Buster Keaton places Roscoe Arbuckle,
0:47:35 > 0:47:39dressed in drag, in the very centre of this shot.
0:47:39 > 0:47:42And at the back of this one, too.
0:47:46 > 0:47:47Then, a little more riskily,
0:47:47 > 0:47:50Buster goes to a mid shot,
0:47:50 > 0:47:52where, for a moment, Roscoe is recognisable.
0:47:54 > 0:47:59The lift goes up. When it comes down, Roscoe isn't there.
0:47:59 > 0:48:03He's been replaced by an actress who looks nothing like him.
0:48:03 > 0:48:06Even his great friend Buster Keaton couldn't risk
0:48:06 > 0:48:10putting a close-up of Roscoe Arbuckle into his film.
0:48:12 > 0:48:16In that same year, 1925, Charlie in The Gold Rush paid
0:48:16 > 0:48:19his own discreet tribute to Roscoe.
0:48:19 > 0:48:23In 1918, Roscoe had invented this piece of comic business,
0:48:23 > 0:48:27mimicking Charlie's distinctive walk with two bread rolls.
0:48:30 > 0:48:34Charlie remembered the gag, and embellished it further.
0:48:40 > 0:48:44Although Roscoe couldn't expect to find work as a film actor,
0:48:44 > 0:48:46he did as a director.
0:48:46 > 0:48:48Working behind the camera,
0:48:48 > 0:48:52using the pseudonym William Goodrich kept him employed in the industry.
0:48:54 > 0:48:56In this film directed by him,
0:48:56 > 0:49:01we first see a country boy preparing for a big trip to the big city.
0:49:01 > 0:49:05We then see the farm, the rustic setting.
0:49:05 > 0:49:07The father runs over.
0:49:07 > 0:49:09And then...
0:49:27 > 0:49:29Whilst Roscoe was directing others,
0:49:29 > 0:49:31Will H Hays was still doing his best,
0:49:31 > 0:49:34in his anxious, rabbit-like way,
0:49:34 > 0:49:37to tell the rest of America how wonderful Hollywood was.
0:49:37 > 0:49:42Last year, 115 million persons every week attended
0:49:42 > 0:49:46the motion-picture theatres in the United States.
0:49:46 > 0:49:49This was nearly three times as great
0:49:49 > 0:49:53as the 40 million weekly attendance in 1922.
0:49:53 > 0:49:58Such an endorsement from the American people could only have come
0:49:58 > 0:50:02to a form of entertainment essentially wholesome
0:50:02 > 0:50:04and responsive to the needs of the public.
0:50:05 > 0:50:11Hays introduced the stipulation that put a morality clause into every Hollywood contract.
0:50:11 > 0:50:15If an actor's off-screen behaviour reflected badly on his employer,
0:50:15 > 0:50:21that actor's contract could be terminated for bringing the studio into disrepute.
0:50:22 > 0:50:24Around the time of the Arbuckle trial,
0:50:24 > 0:50:27other Hollywood scandals emerged.
0:50:27 > 0:50:31Actor Wallace Reid became addicted to morphine, after
0:50:31 > 0:50:35being prescribed it by a studio doctor following a painful injury.
0:50:35 > 0:50:39He died in a sanatorium in 1923.
0:50:41 > 0:50:45His widow made a film called Human Wreckage, attacking drug use.
0:50:45 > 0:50:48Hays gave it his full support.
0:50:50 > 0:50:54Later, Hays brought in on-screen regulations.
0:50:54 > 0:50:59Married couples' beds could not be nearer than 21 inches.
0:50:59 > 0:51:02No kiss could last for more than three seconds.
0:51:02 > 0:51:04One, two, three...
0:51:05 > 0:51:07And women could not be seen drinking -
0:51:07 > 0:51:10although this was later relaxed.
0:51:10 > 0:51:13This self-censorship would last nearly 40 years.
0:51:14 > 0:51:17Some Hollywood directors like Cecil B DeMille
0:51:17 > 0:51:20had long been getting round this moralising climate
0:51:20 > 0:51:23by dressing sex and sadism up in a bit of history.
0:51:24 > 0:51:27In these films, sinners are punished for their excesses.
0:51:28 > 0:51:32In Manslaughter, DeMille compared the habits of modern youth
0:51:32 > 0:51:35with orgies in ancient Rome.
0:51:40 > 0:51:44AGNES DeMILLE: I think he was filming his own daydreams.
0:51:44 > 0:51:47He really DID like voluptuous young women.
0:51:47 > 0:51:51He really did like them all rolling around in these beds.
0:52:01 > 0:52:04I think it's extraordinary - but then I'm not a man, you see.
0:52:04 > 0:52:07I don't know, I mean, maybe men like that sort of thing.
0:52:07 > 0:52:09Women rolling around bulls...
0:52:22 > 0:52:25Then he finally hit on the formula
0:52:25 > 0:52:30of extreme religious fervour and interest in God
0:52:30 > 0:52:33with extreme sexuality -
0:52:33 > 0:52:37and of course, it's almost irreplaceable as a combo.
0:52:37 > 0:52:40It would be in the Bible
0:52:40 > 0:52:43that DeMille found his greatest inspiration.
0:52:45 > 0:52:50Cecil B DeMille announced that his next production would be his biggest and most ambitious to date.
0:52:50 > 0:52:54The Ten Commandments, filmed here at the Guadeloupe sand dunes,
0:52:54 > 0:52:57150 miles from Hollywood.
0:52:58 > 0:53:02The Ten Commandments gave the director a chance to play God,
0:53:02 > 0:53:04to film miracles.
0:53:04 > 0:53:06Here, he parts the Red Sea...
0:53:16 > 0:53:21Cecil B DeMille built a movie set that still boggles the imagination.
0:53:21 > 0:53:25The location was spread over 25 square miles.
0:53:25 > 0:53:302,500 people were employed to build the costumes and the props.
0:53:30 > 0:53:3316 miles of cloth, three tonnes of leather...
0:53:33 > 0:53:36They built 250 wooden chariots -
0:53:36 > 0:53:38to say nothing of the imposing structures
0:53:38 > 0:53:40that emerged all around it.
0:53:44 > 0:53:511,600 craftsmen constructed a temple 800 feet wide and 120 foot tall,
0:53:51 > 0:53:58flanked by four 40-tonne statues of the Pharaoh Rameses II.
0:53:58 > 0:54:01When location filming was over,
0:54:01 > 0:54:03Cecil B DeMille had a massive problem -
0:54:03 > 0:54:05what to do with the gigantic sets?
0:54:05 > 0:54:08It would be too expensive to transport them back to Los Angeles,
0:54:08 > 0:54:11but he couldn't leave the sets just standing around here
0:54:11 > 0:54:13because another rival film company
0:54:13 > 0:54:15might come along and make its OWN biblical epic.
0:54:15 > 0:54:20So, what they did was they dug a 300-foot trench,
0:54:20 > 0:54:22and buried the set underneath the sand.
0:54:24 > 0:54:26And the best part of a century later,
0:54:26 > 0:54:31the elements have revealed what remains of the Pharaoh's kingdom.
0:54:43 > 0:54:46And like that kingdom, Roscoe Arbuckle's film career
0:54:46 > 0:54:50had been covered over, lost in the sands of time.
0:54:53 > 0:54:55But ten years after his acquittal,
0:54:55 > 0:54:59Roscoe was given an opportunity to return to the screen.
0:55:03 > 0:55:06Roscoe Arbuckle signed a contract with Warner Brothers
0:55:06 > 0:55:08to make six short comedies,
0:55:08 > 0:55:12using his own name on screen for the first time in ten years.
0:55:12 > 0:55:17The films were successful - so much so that on June 28th 1933,
0:55:17 > 0:55:20he signed a contract to make a feature film.
0:55:20 > 0:55:24That night, he celebrated, went home, went to bed...
0:55:26 > 0:55:28..and died of a heart attack in his sleep.
0:55:28 > 0:55:30He was 46.
0:55:30 > 0:55:36But he died knowing that he was back at the top of the profession that he loved so much.
0:55:36 > 0:55:40His ashes were scattered here, in the Pacific Ocean.
0:56:02 > 0:56:07And Roscoe Arbuckle did finally make it to the Walk of Fame.
0:56:08 > 0:56:10Ah...
0:56:10 > 0:56:14Here it is. Here's Roscoe Arbuckle's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame...
0:56:14 > 0:56:19'..unveiled in 1960, nearly 30 years after he died.'
0:56:21 > 0:56:25So let's remember Roscoe Arbuckle this way.
0:57:05 > 0:57:08This was the man Hollywood studio bosses stabbed in the back,
0:57:08 > 0:57:10and made a scapegoat
0:57:10 > 0:57:13so they could brush aside criticisms of excess and decadence
0:57:13 > 0:57:17by saying, "Hey, look - we got rid of Arbuckle."
0:57:18 > 0:57:24Once Roscoe was out of the pictures, the industry could breathe a sigh of relief.
0:57:24 > 0:57:27By the mid-1920s, the Hollywood ship had been steadied.
0:57:27 > 0:57:30Film stars stood on the upper deck
0:57:30 > 0:57:34and took in their privileged elevated views.
0:57:35 > 0:57:39From their giddy vantage point, these stars must have thought that
0:57:39 > 0:57:44their destiny was assured - fated to shine like diamonds for ever.
0:57:44 > 0:57:48But, in the next part of our story, the growth of the big studios
0:57:48 > 0:57:50with their iron grip on the industry,
0:57:50 > 0:57:52they had much more to say about the future of Hollywood.
0:57:52 > 0:57:56And all the stars could do...was twinkle.
0:58:26 > 0:58:29Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd