Room 1219: The Life of Fatty Arbuckle, the Mysterious Death of Virginia Rappe, and the Scandal That Changed Hollywood

“This is a mystery story,” states Hollywood historian Merritt in the introduction. And like an investigator on one of TV’s acronymic crime shows, Merritt meticulously examines silent-film legend Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle’s role in the 1921 death of model/actress Virginia Rappe, a tale distorted by time and innuendo. (The title is a nod to the scene of the crime, Room 1219 in the exclusive St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco, where the star hosted Rappe and others in his liquor-stocked Prohibition-era suite.) Merritt follows Arbuckle from his impoverished origins and meteoric rise through his arrest; three trials for manslaughter; and banishment from Hollywood. The author-detective examines medical records, court proceedings, newspaper archives, and pop culture books to construct a fuller picture of the scandal responsible for the morality code that followed. What emerges is a multifaceted portrait of not only Arbuckle but the early days of a burgeoning industry and the players (Griffith, Sennett, Chaplin, Keaton, etc.) who helped shape it a century ago. Lovers of film history, media studies, and true crime will enjoy the parallels between the film boom of the early 20th century and the tech boom of today. Photos. (Sept.)