Forgotten Details From The Golden Age Of Hollywood

A Hollywood Heartthrob With a Controversial Past

As seen above, some of early Hollywood’s scandals make today’s Tinseltown controversies look quite tame by comparison. Another early superstar whose public image was marred by scandal was Rudolph Valentino (1895 – 1926), he of the Falcon Lair estate. Valentino was a Hollywood superstar and heartthrob of the silent film era, and a 1920s’ symbol of masculinity. He shot to fame with captivating performances in silent film blockbusters such as The Sheik, and The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Valentino’s sudden death when he was only thirty one resulted in mass hysteria among his female fans. The early demise at the height of his popularity solidified his iconic status. It later emerged, however, that before his Hollywood stardom, Valentino had probably been a male prostitute. He had worked as a dancer in what were known as “taxi dance clubs”. Such clubs were basically escort services, where clients would come in, examine the club’s stable of dancers, and pay to dance with whichever one caught their eye. As seen below, there was more to it than a dance.

Was Rudolph Valentino a Male Prostitute?

Taxi dance clubs, such as the one in which Rudolph Valentino worked, had a system in place for picking intimate partners. Clients who got good vibes and liked their dance partner would negotiate a price with him or her, then pay the club an “exit fee” to leave with the dancer. To be sure, some taxi dance clubs were legitimate and innocent. However, most were straight up escort services. In Valentino’s case, he was once arrested in a brothel before he became famous.

In short, it is unlikely that Valentino’s taxi dance club was the innocent kind. To put it in perspective, imagine the damage to Brad Pitt’s public image if it emerged that he had been a gigolo or male prostitute who had worked for an escort service. The paparazzi stampede would probably have caused an earthquake. The resultant media and social media firestorm would probably have broken the internet, as the insatiable demand for salacious details produced a never ending stream of stories.

Charlie Chaplin’s Scandalous Pal

As seen in an earlier entry, Charlie Chaplain was scandalous. However, his scandals pale in comparison to that of his orgy pal, comedic actor Fatty Arbuckle. Fatty’s scandal not only tarnished his public image, but outright wrecked his career. Roscoe Conkling Arbuckle, better known as Fatty Arbuckle (1887 – 1933), was a comedian, director, screenwriter, and early silent film era superstar. A hefty fellow who weighed about 300 pounds, Fatty incorporated his mass into his comedy. He moved gracefully, tumbled, threw pies, and was an all-around lovable and jolly fat guy. He was not just an actor, but also a Hollywood mover and shaker.

Fatty mentored Charlie Chaplain, with whom he formed a close personal friendship. He also discovered and launched the careers of future stars such as Buster Keaton and Bob Hope. Then came the scandal that wrecked his public image beyond repair. It began with a wild party at a San Francisco hotel, where Fatty and his friends rented adjacent luxury suites in September, 1921. Several women were invited, and at some point amidst the revelry, an aspiring actress, Virginia Rappe, was found seriously ill in one of the suites. The hotel’s doctor examined her, concluded she was just extremely drunk, and gave her morphine to calm her. In hindsight, he should have examined her more closely.

A Hollywood Scandal for the Ages

Two days later, Virginia Rappe was rushed to a hospital. There, a friend claimed that Fatty Arbuckle had raped Rappe at the party. The next day, Rappe died of peritonitis, caused by a ruptured bladder. Medical examinations found no evidence of rape. Newspapers had a field day, however, and printed increasingly salacious stories. Some alleged that Fatty had killed Virginia Rappe with his weight while he assaulted her. Other stories claimed that Arbuckle had penetrated Rappe with a piece of ice. That eventually grew into accusations that he had ruptured her insides with a bottle of Coca Cola or champagne.

Police investigators theorized that the heavy impact of the overweight Fatty atop Rappe during intercourse ruptured her bladder. He denied any wrongdoing, but was arrested and charged with a slew of felonies. The Hollywood scandal was a major media event, and generated OJ Simpson levels of interest. Fatty was regarded by those who knew him as good natured and shy with women – “the most chaste man in pictures“, as some put it. Charlie Chaplain, for example, “knew Roscoe as a genial and easy going man, who would not harm a fly“. However, newspapers went with a far different image, and depicted him as a gross pervert who routinely used his massive bulk to overpower and have his way with innocent girls.

A Public Image Ruined Beyond Redemption

The media’s coverage of the Fatty Arbuckle scandal caused irreversible damage to his public image. It did not matter that the prosecution’s case against Fatty eventually fizzled. It turned out that San Francisco’s District Attorney, an ambitious man with plans to run for California governor, had pressured witnesses into lying. The defense also obtained a letter from the state’s star witness, Virginia Rappe’s friend who had had first leveled accusations of assault, in which she admitted that she had planned to extort money from the Hollywood superstar.

In the trial, the state produced little credible evidence. Medical experts demonstrated that Rappe’s bladder had been ruptured by an internal inflammation, not by an external force. The jury deadlocked 10-2 in favor of acquittal, and a mistrial was declared. A second trial again ended in a 10-2 deadlock in favor of a not guilty verdict. At the conclusion of a third trial, the jury took just six minutes to return a unanimous verdict of not guilty. Fatty Arbuckle was exonerated, but his reputation never recovered. His public image was destroyed, and so was his career.

When Clark Gable Fought the Nazis

Once known as “The King of Hollywood”, William Clark Gable (1901 – 1960) is one of the silver screen’s greatest legends. He starred in over 60 movies, and is perhaps best known for his role as Rhett Butler in the blockbuster Gone With the Wind. Gable won a Best Actor Oscar for his lead in It Happened One Night. Other notable films in which he starred and that met both critical and commercial success include Mutiny on the Bounty, The Hucksters, and The Misfits, his last film, as well as that of his co-star, Marilyn Monroe.

When America entered WWII, Gable was Tinsletown’s biggest star and its greatest box office draw. He took a break from Hollywood to fight the Axis. Gable had quit school at age sixteen to work in a tire factory, and decided to become an actor after he saw a play. He took acting lessons and worked a variety of jobs, from oil field roustabout to selling neckties. In 1924, he married his acting coach and the couple moved to Hollywood so he could focus on his dream.

The Hollywood Superstar Who Decided to Enlist in the Army

Clark Gable began his Hollywood career as an extra. After years of bit parts and stints in the theater, he got an MGM contract in 1930, and garnered notice for a powerful performance in his first lead role in The Painted Desert. He built upon that success. When MGM paired him with established female stars such as Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford, the combination steamed the screen, and he became an insta-star. By the time America entered WWII, Gable was MGM’s biggest earner.

Gable suffered a serious tragedy when his wife died in an air crash on a war bonds tour. Devastated, he decided to enlist. Despite MGM’s reluctance to let its most lucrative star go, Gable enlisted in the US Army Air Forces in 1942, with the hope of becoming an aerial gunner. He was sent instead to OCS, which he completed in October 1942 and was commissioned a 2^nd lieutenant. On personal orders from the Air Forces’ chief, General Hap Arnold, Gable was sent to the Eighth Air Force in England, with orders to make a combat recruitment film for aerial gunners titled Combat America.

Clark Gable Was a Real Life B-17 Waist Gunner

Clark Gable needed combat footage for his recruitment film. To obtain it, he flew five combat missions as a gunner in a B-17 Flying Fortress, including a bombing raid into Germany. His presence in the missions was for propaganda and PR purposes, but the dangers he ran were all too real. In one mission, Gable’s B-17 was attacked by enemy fighters and hit by antiaircraft fire, and in the process lost an engine and had its stabilizer damaged. Over Germany, his B-17 had two crewmen wounded and another killed after it was struck by flak. Shrapnel went through Gable’s boot, and almost took off his head.

When MGM heard of its most valuable actor’s brushes with death, it worked its connections to have Gable reassigned to noncombat duty. For his service in Europe, he was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross and an Air Medal, and in late 1943, Gable was ordered back home to edit the film. He hoped for another combat assignment, but none came. By the summer of 1944, after the Normandy invasion came and went without a combat assignment, Gable finally gave up and requested to be relieved from active duty on grounds that he was 43-years-old by then, and overage for combat. He stayed in the Air Forces reserves until 1947, when he finally resigned his commission.

The Hollywood Star System

Many film aficionados pine for the Golden Age of Hollywood, when American cinema established the world’s most powerful and pervasive filmmaking style. It was Tinseltown’s most glamorous and fabulous stretch. However, that classical Hollywood era had its seedy side. There was the pervasive manipulations of an era in which the “casting couch” was routine and the likes of Harvey Weinstein were common. Not to mention an extreme lack of diversity. There was also the fact that studios back then pretty much owned their actors and actresses. It was based on the method used to create, promote, and exploit stars.

Talent scouts were hired to spot new performers with potential. Emphasis was placed on image rather than the ability to act, which the studios figured could be taught. Once signed to an exclusive contract, the studios gave the performers new names, and even new backgrounds. Performers were then be given voice, acting, and dance lessons. In a type of apprenticeship, new performers were first tried out in supporting roles. Those with potential progressed to lead roles in minor productions, and if they did well, got to star in major productions. The system was effective, but also rife with abuses.

“I Am Not Paid to Think“

Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, Cary Grant, and Rock Hudson, are just some of the Hollywood giants brought up through the star system. Gable, for example, got started with a pair of supporting roles, before he was signed up by MGM in 1931 to a two-year contract at $350 a week. That year, he acted in another eight movies for MGM, and two more on loan to Warner Brothers. As he progressed through the system, Gable was paired with others from MGM’s stable, such as Joan Crawford and Greta Garbo. Gable was often required to display a savage and sadistic attitude towards women on screen. That established a brand that helped make him a star, but also limited his repertoire. He had little choice. As he put it in 1932: “I have never been consulted as to what part I would like to play. I am not paid to think“.

Gable finally objected to how he was typecast by MGM. As punishment, the studio loaned him out to Columbia Pictures to work on 1934’s It Happened One Night. It worked out well for Gable, who won a Best Actor Oscar for that performance. So MGM signed him to a seven year deal in 1935 with better terms. “Better”, however, was still relative. The studio owned exclusive rights to Gable’s name, image, and voice. If he was hurt or disfigured, he could be suspended without compensation. He had to work 40 weeks annually, and perform in up to three movies per year. He was still a salaried employee, and it was not until 1946 that he got a percentage share in his movies’ grosses. That was the lot of an actor so successful he became known as “The King of Hollywood”. Others had it worse.

When Hollywood Stars Were Studio Property

Because of the star system, classical Hollywood studios and studio executives saw performers as their property. To protect their investment in those whom they had groomed to the heights of fame, the studios signed them to often intrusive exclusive service contracts. Studios owned the commercial rights to their contracted performers’ image and likeness, and they could not work for other studios. To protect the marketable image created by the studios, contracts included morality clauses. Men had to appear as gentlemen. Women were never to leave home without makeup, and had to always dress stylishly and behave like ladies. The studios had absolute control over their performers’ careers, and that often lent itself to abuses. Those who angered their Hollywood masters were often punished with unattractive roles, or were loaned out to less prestigious studios.

Actresses were particularly vulnerable. Jane Greer, for example, caught the eye of tycoon Howard Hughes, who sponsored her entry into Hollywood. In exchange, he signed her to a personal contract – and told her he never wanted her to marry anybody. When she went ahead and married a singer, an enraged Hughes shelved her without any film work. She sued and got out of the personal contract, then signed up with RKO Pictures. So Hughes bought RKO, just to wreck her career. The star system got its first check in the late 1940s after the US Supreme Court ruled against the studios in an antitrust case. Television’s arrival also reduced movie audiences, which transformed contracted stars into expensive overhead. So from the 1940s to 1960s, studios gradually ditched long-term contracts, and Hollywood performers became freelancers, part of a large pool from which studios could draw.

Clark Gable Was Not the Only Hollywood Superstar Who Took on the Nazis

James “Jimmy” Stewart (1908 – 1997) was one of the greatest actors in the history of Hollywood, and starred in many movies that became all-time classics. He was known for a down-to-earth mannerism that helped him excel in portrayals of middle class American men, diffident and resolute of character, as they struggled with crises. Notable among the more than eighty movies in which he appeared are his roles in the Christmas standby It’s a Wonderful Life, as well as The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and Vertigo.

Stewart was nominated for five Oscars and won one for Best Actor for his role in 1940’s Philadelphia Story. He was awarded another Oscar in 1985 for Lifetime Achievement. When WWII came along, Jimmy Stewart took a break from Hollywood to bomb the Nazis, then resumed his illustrious career after the war was over. He had gotten his start in shows with a drama group in Princeton University, from which he graduated in 1932. He then dove into acting, and by 1933, was performing on Broadway. In 1935, he landed a contract with MGM and headed west to Hollywood. A year later, he had his first breakthrough as lead actor in a popular musical comedy, The Dancer.

Jimmy Stewart Was Initially Rejected by the Military for Being Underweight

By the time America joined WWII, Jimmy Stewart was a Hollywood superstar. It would have been easy for him, as others from Tinseltown had done, to avoid service altogether – John, cough, Wayne – or secure a safe military gig that allowed him to be seen in uniform while staying away from danger – cough, cough, Reagan. But Stewart’s grandfather had fought against the South, and his father had fought against both Spain and Germany. When WWII came along, it was thus natural for Stewart to go off to fight. He had been drafted into the Army in 1940, but was medically rejected because he was underweight.

Stewart wanted to fight, however, and figured a way to join the military. He was a flight enthusiast who had secured his pilot’s certificate in 1935. By the time WWII began, he had accumulated over 400 hours in the air. Stewart managed to enlist in the US Army Air Forces in 1941, despite being underweight. After he graduated from a pilot training program 1942, he was commissioned a second lieutenant. Higher ups wanted to shunt him into PR and put his celebrity to use in bonds drives and rally appearances. Stewart, however, wanted a combat assignment. After many travails and clashes with commanders he managed a transfer into a B-24 Liberator heavy bomber group, which joined the US Eighth Air Force in Britain in the autumn of 1943.

Jimmy Stewart Was Also an Air Force General

On December 13^th, 1943, Jimmy Stewart flew his first combat mission. He piloted the lead B-24 of the group’s high squadron as they bombed U-boat facilities in Kiel, Germany. A few days later, he flew lead bomber for the entire group as they bombed Bremen. By February, 1944, Stewart had been promoted to major, and was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross. The following month, he led an entire Bomb Wing in a raid on Berlin, and by the end of March, was assigned as operations officer for a newly formed bomb group. Stewart’s assignment meant he was not required to fly combat missions. However, he sought to inspire and encourage his new unit by personally piloting the lead B-24 on a number of raids deep into the Third Reich.

Stewart also served as a crewman on other missions. His actions earned him a second Distinguished Flying Cross, a French Croix de Guerre, an Air Medal with three oakleaf clusters, and other decorations. After the war, Stewart returned to Hollywood, but continued to serve with the US Air Force Reserves. He kept current with new bombers, and was certified to pilot B-36 Peacemakers, B-47 Stratojets, and B-52 Stratofortresses. Stewart was promoted to colonel in 1953 and given reserve command of Dobbins Air Force base in Georgia. By 1959, he had been promoted to brigadier general, and continued to serve in the Air Force Reserves until he retired in 1968.

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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading:

American Air Museum in Britain – Clark Gable

Atlantic, The, December, 2017 – How John Wayne Became a Hollow Masculine Icon

Bassinger, Jeanine – The Star Machine (2007)

BBC – Fatty Arbuckle and Hollywood’s First Scandal

Coe, Jonathan – Jimmy Stewart: A Wonderful Life (1994)

Cracked – 15 Ways Classic Hollywood Sucked Big Time

Daily Beast – When Lana Turner’s Abusive, Gangster Boyfriend Was Killed by Her Daughter

Defense Media Network – Actor Clark Gable Served in Uniform, Flew Combat Missions in WWII

Eliot, Marc – Jimmy Stewart: A Biography (2006)

Film Reference – Star System

Forbes – Site of Rudolph Valentino’s Falcon Lair Sells for $15 Million

Golden Globes – Forgotten Hollywood: Old Hollywood Estates

Guardian, The, February 22^nd, 2016 – Last of the Red-Hot Myths: What Gossip Over Rudolph Valentino’s S*x Life Says About the Silents

History Collection – Celebrities in the Ancient World

House Digest – The Fabulous Estates of Old Hollywood

IMDb – Rudolph Valentino

New Yorker, September 18^th, 2015 – Charlie Chaplin’s Scandalous Life and Boundless Artistry

Schoenberger, Nancy – Wayne and Ford: The Films, the Friendship, and the Forging of an American Hero (2017)

Smithsonian Magazine, November 8^th, 2011 – The Skinny on the Fatty Arbuckle Trial

Tereba, Tere – Mickey Cohen: The Life and Crimes of LA’s Notorious Mobster (2012)

Vice – Charlie Chaplin Was a Sadistic Tyrant Who Fucked Teenage Girls