The Washington times., 1921-09-25
HORRIBLE
ORGIES To-
GET LIGHT.
Testimony at Fatty's Trial Will
Reveal Wickedness Long
Kept From Public.


have come at the psychological mo-
ment, and the moving pictures will
be cleansed and benefited because Of
them"
This is the opinion Of a well-known
moving picture producer who has
been making pictures since 1910.
The views of this man, who has
watched the rise Of the star system,
are the views of the majority of the
sane" producers in the business.
Here is his analysis of the moving
picture situation as he outlined it:
Was Proverbial Straw.
The Arbuckle affair was the straw
that broke the camsl's back. 1t was
the climax Of series of orgies that
had its beginning away back in the
days when individuals were first re-
garded as stars" and assets. The
cause Of these orgies was the sudden
acquiring Of large sums Of money by
people who had no education in the
handling of money.
For years every member Of every
studio in the United States has known
of the excesses committed by high.
Salaried moving picture stars and their
satellites, here, in Chicago and on
set" among the politicians, certain
members of society, moving picture
magnates and munificently.paid mov-
ing picture performers have indulged
In orgies from Boston to San Fran!
cisco that shocked even newspaper
men who attended them. In fact.
moving picture banquets" had re.
ceived such an aroma of uncontrolled
wickedness that the men about town
Of the biggest cities have been known
to pay hundreds Of dollars for invita-.
tions to them.
Orgies Concealed.
These orgies have been carefully
kept from the knowledge Of the pup-
lie. They were private affairs. When
the Arbuckle case comes to be aired
in court the names of the men con-
nected either directly or indirectly
with 1t will be found to be the names
of the men mixed up in the Boston
orgy of last year and Of many other
parties Of similar nature stretching
back for the last decade.
The moving picture magnate, for
love Of whom Zelda Crosby Is said
tC have taken her life, Is one of the
men who has rehgiously attended
every wild moving picture party
since he entered the industry.
The star system, now in vogue in
moving pictures, but already on the
wane. has been responsible for such
things as the Boston party, at which
actors and magnates were mulcted
of hundreds Of thousands by black
mailers. It Is also indirectly respon-
sible for the party In the San Fran
cisco hotel in which Virginia Rappe
first showed symptoms Of the illness
that caused her death.
Fatty q Case In Point.
Roscoe Fatty) Arbuckle himself is
o lamentable product Of the star sys-
TEN. Before he went into the pic
lures he was first a farm lad. then
q bar boy, then a cheap barnstorm-
ing ham" actor. Even his advent
into the pictures was under .he
shrewd management of Mack Sen.
constantly decried the star system
with its magnifying Of the impor.
tance Of the individual actor. Sen
nett signed Arbuckle for an addi-
tional two years at a small increase
ever the price he had originally paid
him before he was known. And Ar
buckle, a star of the first magnitude.
worked under this contract and was
perfectly satisfied.
1t was under the stimulus Of huge
sums OF money which he could never
have otherwise earned, that this big
goodnatured. rather stupid and alb
normally fat comedian started on the
career which landed him in 2 jail cell
with charge Of murder hanging over
him.
Desire for Publicity.
He wanted to be in the public eye.
NJ od.tIo haA to
prospective. Flatterers, among which
were the men who hired him and who
feared the loss OF their investment,
constantly gained his ear to tell him
what a great man he was. Fatty natur.
ally believed II and tried to live UP
20 II. Hence his luxr ious motor cars
with their bizarre nountinss and
furnishing. his suites in exclusive ho-
.els and his pie throwing" orgies.
Too much money with no sense with
which to spend It. In the answer to
Fatty Arbuckle.
The man whose affair with Zelda
Crosby is said to have resulted In her
death Is not especially typical Of the
moving pictures. You win find him
in droves In Wall Street, In small towns
wherever young women can stimulate
faded senses. But he 10 in moving
pictures. He is prominent in that
field. And his alleged part In the girls
death will reflect on the character OF
the people in pictures.
The greatest evil the pictures in
herited from the stage was the matt
nee idol or star system. But even II
Virginia Rappe had not died In the
midst Of an orgy, and even IL the
young scenario writer, elda Crosby
had not committed suicide and the
movie magnate had not been connect
ed with her death. the moving pic
lures would In time have reclaimed
themselves. II was Inevitable. Public
opinion had been gradually becoming
aware of the doings Of the high-sa
aried children of fortune who had
come into untold wealth because OF
their beautiful faces or forms.
David wark Griffith, probably the
greatest fophative factor In the do
velopment of moving pictures as an
art, has never deviated from his ex-
pressed belief that the star system
was obnoxious and q hindrance to the
moving picture as a form Of enter.
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