The Fatty Arbuckle Trial: The Injustice of the Century

This article discusses the Fatty Arbuckle case, an incident in which it is still not known whether or not he caused the death of Virginia Rappe. It discusses the various accounts given of the incident and whether or not some of the witnesses may have purposely lied about events for their own gain

Actors & athletes on trial: A Textual analysis of two scandals in the 1920s

Using textual analysis, this thesis studied newspaper coverage of the Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle murder trial and the 1919 World Series fix. It examined differences in how hometown papers (Chicago Daily Tribune and Los Angeles Times)and a national paper (New York Times)covered the scandals. It answered questions about coverage of a scandal within the entertainment industry versus one within the sports arena, and also explored how reports revealed standards of morality in the 1920s. Results showed subtle differences in hometown and national newspaper coverage, but vast differences in reports about the entertainment scandal versus the sports scandal. The research also found that citizens with a vested interest in the outcome of the scandals served as strong voices of morality

Alice Howell

One of only a handful of silent comediennes who ventured into the “men’s terrain” of rough-house physical comedy, at her peak Alice Howell’s name was as well-known to moviegoers as any of the popular male comics of the day, and like them, her films were designed to showcase her talents and the characterization that she had made famous. In her day, her popularity could be compared with that of Marie Dressler and Mabel Normand, but she is unfortunately not as well remembered. At Mack Sennett’s Keystone Film Company, Howell quickly worked her way up from crowd scenes to featured parts in shorts such as Charlie Chaplin’s Laughing Gas (1914), and starred in at least one, Shot in the Excitement (1914). In this early one-reeler Alice helps her father whitewash a fence when sweetheart Al St. John comes calling. Complications ensue with a jealous rival, and the film ends with Alice, Al, the rival, Dad, and a couple of Keystone Cops all being chased by flying cannonballs. In her earliest known comedy in which she has the starring role, Howell’s comic timing is already in place as is her capacity for taking punishment: in the course of the film she slips down stairs, gets soaked with water, is chased by cannonballs, and has a rock bounced off her head

The Photographs of Jacob Riis: History in Relation to Truth

This article discusses the photographs and writing of Jacob Riis, who was instrumental in informing middle and upperclass people in the 1870\u27s about the poverty and conditions in the slums. It suggests that Riis may have staged some of his photographs, and that he was not without bias in his reporting, but that his pictures and writing did help in charging the social reform movements