57. “Christian citizenship”: Presbytery of Los Angeles to City Council, Sept. 28, 1921, file 2723, Los Angeles City Archive; “Anglo-Saxon development”: Alfred Borden to LAT, Oct. 6, 1921, pt. 2, p. 6. On the petition, see “Censor Ordinance Action Deferred,” Sept. 8, 1921, LAT, pt. 2, p. 11; “Causes Censor,” Wid's Daily, Sept. 19, 1921, p. 1. LA City Ordinance no. 377778, approved Dec. 24, 1917, provided for the employment of one commissioner of films to pre-pass all films, but it was never enforced. The groups involved in pressing the LA City Council included the Ministerial Union; the Church Federation; the Anti-Saloon League; the Proximo Club; Pastor R.P. Shuler, representing the “over thirteen hundred members” of Trinity Methodist Church; and the Presbytery of Los Angeles, located in Pomona, representing “75,000 adherents.” Those most active organizations opposing the measure included the Los Angeles Theaters Association; Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce; American Legion; Merchants and Manufacturers Association of Los Angeles; and Affiliated Pictures Interests, representing all branches of labor involved in making motion pictures. These efforts are documented in “Motion Picture File 2035 to be known as 2723” and “File 2524,” 1921, Los Angeles City Archive. The Sept. 14 City Council meeting on the issue was reported in “Was His Worst Enemy,’ LAT, Sept. 14, 1921, p. 6.
58. “Ministers in Censor Clash,” LAT, Sept. 27, 1921, pt. 2, pp. 1, 9. On Edmundson, see also “Pastor Opposes Censorship,” LAT, Oct. 29, 1921, pt. 2, p. 11. For protests against the Ministerial Union's attack on Edmundson and the censorship ordinance, see American Legion to City Council, Sept. 26, 1921; American Legion to City Council, Sept. 28, 1921, both in file 2723, Los Angeles City Archive.
59. Lillian Thomas to LAT, Sept. 18, 1921, pt. 2, p. 2. A representative sample of pro-industry letters to the LAT includes Edmond Fortune, “Defends Actors,” Sept. 19, 1921, pt. 2, p. 2; John Blackwood, “The World Is Jealous,” Oct. 6, 1921, pt. 1, p. 6; Mrs. A. Perkins, “Likes the Movies,” Oct. 16, 1921, pt. 3, p. 34; T.W. Sheffield, “Censorship UnAmerican,” Oct. 17, 1921, pt. 2, p. 2.
60. J.E. Tilley to LAT, Oct. 3, 1921, pt. 3, p. 2. Michael Rudolph, Esquire, to the City Council, Sept. 28, 1921, file 2723, Los Angeles City Archive; petition, n.d., ibid.
61. Merchants and Manufacturers Association of Los Angeles to City Council, Sept. 24, 1921, file 2723, Los Angeles City Archive. See also Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce to City Council, n.d., ibid.; “Disaster Seen in Censorship,” LAT, Sept. 29, 1921, pt. 2, 2.
62. “Film Studios May Quit City,” LAT, Sept. 25, 1921, p. 6. For the complete letter, see MPPA to City Council, Sept. 23, 1921, file 2723, Los Angeles City Archive.
63. “Film People Tell Views,” LAT, Sept. 13, 1921, pp. 1–2; “Film World Is Rended,” LAT, Sept. 12, 1921, pp. 1–2; “Booze Parties Reported,” LAT, Sept. 13, 1921, p. 3; “Cinema Colony Stirred,” LAT, Sept. 15, 1921, p. 1; “May Seize Arbuckle's Booze Here,” LAT, Sept. 23, 1921, p. 1.
64. “Snap Judgment on Arbuckle Deplored,” LAT, Sept. 14, 1921, p. 2. See also “Officials Seeking Notoriety Try to Hang Arbuckle, Says Schenck,” LAT, Sept. 13, 1921, p. 2; “Brady Won't Try to Clean Up Film Life,” LAT, Sept. 14, 1921, p. 4; “Cinema Colony Stirred,” 1–2; “Should Not Blame Motion Pictures,” LAT, Sept. 23, 1921, p. 2; “Hart Feels Sorry for Film Comedian,” LAT, Sept. 23, 1921, 2.
65. Dore Oliphant Coe, “Inspector of Films,” LAT, Sept. 26, 1921, pt. 2, p. 4. See also “The Arbuckle Incident” Alma Whitaker, “Public Idols,” LAT, Sept. 14, 1921, pt. 2, p. 4; “Was His Own Worst Enemy,” LAT, Sept. 15, 1921, p. 2; “The Mire and the Rose,” LAT, Sept.17, 1921, pt. 1, p. 4; “My Brother's Keeper,” LAT, Sept. 21, pt. 2, p. 4; editorial from the Portland Oregonian, reprinted in LAT, Oct 18, 1921, pt. 2, p. 4.
66. “Quiz Arbuckle Companion,” LAT, Sept. 17, 1921, p. 1; “Here to Trace Arbuckle's Rum,” LAT, Sept. 16, 1921, p. 2; “Push Arbuckle Liquor Case,” LAT, Sept. 17, 1921, p. 2; “Fail to Trace Arbuckle Rum,” LAT, Sept. 18, 1921, p. 2; “Fishback Hasn't Told All,” LAT, Sept. 20, 1921, p. 2; “Death Case Booze Not from Here,” LAT, Sept. 22, 1921, p. 2; “Athletic Club Outs Arbuckle,” LAT, Sept. 13, 1921, p. 1; “Estimate Cash For Arbuckle,” LAT, Sept. 13, 1921, p. 2; “Comedy and Tragedy,” LAT, Sept. 13, 1921, p. 3; “Arbuckle's Furniture Attached,” LAT, Sept. 13, 1921, p. 3; “Tailor and Tire Maker Sue Fatty,” LAT, Sept. 17, 1921, p. 2.
67. “The Arbuckle Incident” “Censorship—Cause and Effect,” LAT, pt. 2, p. 4. See also Dore Oliphant Coe, “Inspector of Films,” LAT, Sept. 26, 1921, pt. 2, p. 4; “For Whom Do They Speak?” LAT, Oct. 6, 1921, pt. 2, p. 4; “Picture Puzzles,” LAT, Oct. 24, 1921, pt. 2, p. 4.
68. “The Arbuckle Case,” Moving Picture World (Oct. 1, 1921): 513.
69. Martin Quigley, “A Million Dollar Carousal,” Exhibitors Herald (Oct. 8, 1921): 39. See also “Scandal Hits Industry,” Variety, Sept. 16, 1921, p. 35.
70. “Arbuckle Case Seized as Ammunition by Reformers,” Exhibitors Herald (Oct. 1, 1921): 55; “Investigation of Industry's ‘Political Activity Planned,’” Exhibitors Herald (Sept. 10, 1921): 39; “'Have Violated No Law’ Says Executives of Famous Players,” Exhibitors Herald (Sept. 17, 1921): 33–36.
71. “The Arbuckle Situation,” Wid's Daily, Sept. 13, 1921, 1. See also “Arbuckle Film Withdrawn,” LAT, Sept. 12, 1921, p. 1. “Arbuckle Films Barred by Every Theatre in Chicago,” CHE, Sept. 13, 1921, p. 3; “Cancel Arbuckle Films: Moving Picture Houses All over the Country Take Action or Are Ordered To,” LAT, Sept. 13, 1921, p. 3; “600 Theaters Here Exclude Arbuckle,” NYT, Sept. 14, 1921, p. 2; “Exhibitors Withdraw Arbuckle Comedies,” Moving Picture World (Sept. 24, 1921): 382.
72. “Ban Rappe Films,” Wid's Daily, Sept. 16, 1921, pp. 1–2. The MPTOA's accusation that First National reissued Rappe's films seemed to spark the action; see “First National Orders Cancellation of All Films Showing Virginia Rappe as Result of Protest by M.P.T.O.,” Wid's Daily, Sept. 18, 1921, p. 1; “Bars Virginia Rappe Films,” LAT, Sept. 22, 1921, p. 2; “Brady Won't Try to Clean Up Film Life.” Arbuckle left Sennett to form an independent company, Comique, after which he became a contract player at FPL/Paramount in 1919.
73. Martin J. Quigley, “Let This Be a Lesson,” Exhibitors Herald (Oct. 1, 1921): 39; “plain, every-day”: T.H. Smith letter to Exhibitors Herald (Oct. 1, 1921): 80.
74. Martin Quigley, “Keep Out of Politics!” Exhibitors Herald (Oct. 22, 1921): 39. “'Herald’ to Supply Slides for the Public Rights League,” Exhibitors Herald (Oct. 15, 1921): 45–48. This weekly campaign ran in the Herald throughout 1922.
75. “S.F.-Hollywood ‘Booze Railroad’ Traced,” SFX, Sept. 18, 1921, p. 1. For a sample of funereal stories, see “Remains of Virginia Go Tonight,” CHE, Sept. 16, 1921, p. 2; “Miss Rappe's Body Departs,” SFX, Sept. 17, 1921, p. 2; “8,000 at L.A. View Body of Virginia Rappe,” SFX, Sept. 19, 1921, p. 3; “Funeral of Actress Held in Hollywood,” NYA, Sept. 20, 1921, p. 3. “Secrets of the Ku Klux Klan Are Exposed: Menace of Anti-Jewish, Anti-Catholic and Alien Organization Revealed,” SFX, Sept. 18, 1921, pp. 1–2. Headlines regarding the two investigations were entwined throughout much of the coverage. See, for instance, “Girl Tells Full Story of Death Party” and “Grand Goblin Risks Death to Expose Ku Klux Secrets,” both in CHE, Sept. 15, 1921, p. 1.
76. “Police Judge Will Exclude Men at Trial,” SFX, Sept. 21, 1921, p. 2. “Cowboys Mob Arbuckle Film,” SFX, Sept. 18, 1921, p. 2; “Cowboys Shoot Up Arbuckle Film Then Burn It,” NYA, Sept. 18, 1921, p. 2. On the ersatz event, see “Arbuckle Film Not Burned,” NYT, Sept. 22, 1921, p. 3.
77. “Arbuckle in Fear of Big Throng,” SFX, Sept. 17, 1921, p. 1. “Police Judge Will Exclude Men at Trial” “Preliminary in Arbuckle Case Begins Today,” SFC, Sept. 22, 1921, p. 1.
78. On the Women's Court in California, see Beverly Blair Cook, “Moral Authority and Gender Difference: Georgia Bullock and the Los Angeles Women's Court,” 77 Judicature 144 (Nov.–Dec. 1993): 30–45. Cook argues that such courts arose to remove women defendants from men's observation
and intimidation, to treat morals complaints as women's problems, and to allow women to protect and discipline other women. On women's relationship to jury service, see Linda Kerber, No Constitutional Right to Be Ladies: Women and the Obligations of Citizenship (New York: Hill & Wang, 1998), ch. 4.
79. See, for instance, “Women's Court Is Endangered by Amendment,” SFC, Aug. 20, 1920, p. 2.
80. “Vigilant Leagues Not Formed in Spirit of Vengeance or Retribution,” The Clubwoman 19.3 (Dec. 1921): 30. The article reprints a speech by Mariana Bertola in which she noted that the group had been “misnamed,” as its original name was the Vigilant Committee. I use the abbreviation WVC because the press called it this, as did the entry in Louis Lyons, ed., Who's Who among the Women of California (San Francisco: Security Publishing Co., 1922), 197. Annie Laurie, “Vice Ring Tries to Stop Citizens,” SFX, Dec. 12, 1920, p. 3.
81. “Women Meet to Pledge Aid in Purging City,” SFX, Dec. 14, 1920, p. 2. Elinor Richey, Eminent Women of the West (Berkeley: Howell-North Books, 1975), 11–12. See also Papers of Dr. Aurelia Reinhardt, Olin Library, Mills College, Oakland, California. San Francisco: Its Builders Past and Present, Vol. 2 (San Francisco: S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1913), 269–272.
82. For a sampling of stories in this vein, see “Bay City Women Stirred,” LAT, Sept. 15, 1921, p. 6; “Arbuckle to Be Tried on Murder Charge in Death of Film Actress,” STL, Sept. 16, 1921, p. 1; “Bail Denied,” CHE, Sept. 17, 1921, p. 2; “Brady Determined to Push Case against Arbuckle,” LAT, Sept. 16, 1921, p. 1; “Arbuckle Arraigned for Murder,” NYA, Sept. 17, 1921, p. 3; “Women Want Only Justice,” LAT, Sept. 17, 1921, pp. 1–2; “Physician Went on Trip after Hearing Dying Actress’ Story,” NYA, Sept. 18, 1921, p. 1; “Testify to Bruises on Virginia Rappe,” NYT, Sept. 23, 1921, p. 5.
83. “Women Want Only Justice,” 1. Bertola quoted in “Women Vigilants Plan to Watch Law Enforcement,” SFX, Sept. 21, 1921, p. 2.
84. Bertola quoted in “Vigilant Women Condemn Wild Orgy of Arbuckle,” SFX, Sept. 15, 1921, p. 2; “Women Vigilants Plan to Watch Law Enforcement.” “Women Jam Courtroom to See Comedian,” SFX, Sept. 23, 1921, p. 2; “Crowds Pack Courtroom and Halls to Hear Arbuckle Testimony,” SFC, Sept. 23, 1921, p. 5. Reportedly every one of the “155 seats” in the courtroom was filled, and “women lined the aisles, stood on window sills, and even crowded for seats in the prisoners’ dock. . . . Outside approximately 500 lined the halls.” Mrs. Harold Lawrence Seager, “Club Leader Raps Talkers and Curious,” SFX, Sept. 23, 1921, p. 3.
85. Myrtle McQuarrie, “More Mature Women, Fewer Girls at Trial,” SFX, Sept. 21, 1921, p. 2.
86. “'Like Howard St. Gang Case,’ Says Leader,” SFX, Sept. 14, 1921, p. 3.
87. “Girl Victims Spent Night of Torture,” SFX, Dec. 6, 1920, p. 2. See also “Lawyer Fails to Shake Girl in Grilling: Jesse Montgomery Withstands Cross-Examination and Attack upon Her Past Character,” SFX, Dec. 18, 1920, p. 2.
88. “Vice Gangsters Slay Three Officers: Lynchers Storm Santa Rosa Jail,” SFX, Dec. 6, 1920, pp. 1–2; “3 Gangsters Lynched by Santa Rosa Mob,” SFX, Dec. 10, 1920, pp. 1–2.
89. “Lynching of Gang Flayed by Governor,” SFX, Dec. 11, 1920, p. 2; “Sonoma Jury Says Sheriff Did Full Duty,” SFC, Dec. 11, 1920, p. 3.
90. “New Outrage Bared: Police Shake-up On,” SFX, Dec. 11, 1920, p. 1. This was the headline the day after the lynching. See Hearst's editorial “Free San Francisco of Criminal Elements, Is Plea of Mr. Hearst,” SFX, Dec. 19, 1920, p. 1.
91. “20 More Gangsters Sought for Howard Street Horrors,” SFX, Dec. 5, 1920, p. 10; Annie Laurie, “Where Is Justice in California? 100 Girls Ravaged in Six Months,” SFX, Dec. 6, 1920, p. 3; “Park Assault Laid to Trio by Girl of 17,” SFX, Dec. 9, 1920, pp. 1–2; “Girl, 20, Sobs Recital of Attack by 19,” SFX, Dec. 11, 1920, pp. 1–2; “Spud Sullen As New Victim Accuses Him,” SFX, Dec. 12, 1920, p. 1.
92. “Progressive San Francisco Sweeps Away Traditional Barriers of Complacency amidst Scenes of Wildest Enthusiasm,” SFX, Feb. 16, 1921, p. 1. “Civic League Launches Vice Investigation,” SFX, Dec. 10, 1920, p. 2; “Women Form Association to Purge S.F.,” SFX, Dec. 11, 1920, p. 3; Annie Laurie, “Vice Ring Tries Threats to Stop Citizens, but Clean-up Work Will Not Halt,” SFX, Dec. 12, 1920, p. 3; “S.F. Citizens Determined to Check Vice,” SFX, Dec. 13, 1920, p. 2.
93. Lyons, Who's Who among the Women of California, 197.
94. “Boxer Will Attack Girl's Reputation,” SFX, Dec. 16, 1920, pp. 1–2; “Murphy Will Plead Alibi in Face of Charges by Girls,” SFX, Dec. 17, 1921, pp. 1–2; “Annie Laurie, “The Underworld's Taking Heart Again; Maybe They Forget Women Can Vote Now,” SFX, Dec. 18, 1920, p. 3; “Vigilant Committee Plans Cleanup of Law Enforcement,” SFX, Jan. 4, 1921, p. 7.
95. Laurie, “The Underworld's Taking Heart Again” Annie Laurie, “Keep the Fires Burning—That's Women's Objective,” SFX, Dec. 24, 1920, p. 2.
96. Gale Gullett, “City Mothers, City Daughters, and the Dance Hall Girls,” in Barbara J. Harris and JoAnn K. McNamara, eds., Women and the Structure of Society (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1984), 150–154.
97. On the campaign, see “Report Urges Judge's Recall, City Cleanup,” SFX, Dec. 14, 1920, p. 2. On the report of the dismissals, see “Report Asks That Roche Quit Office,” SFX, Dec.14, 1921, p. 1. “New story teller”: Laurie, “The Underworld's Taking Heart Again.”
98. Annie Laurie, “Women of City Aroused: Mass Meeting Is Electric with Feeling,” SFX, Dec. 14, 1920, p. 3; “Club Thrown Open to S.F. Working Girls,” SFX, Dec. 15, 1920, p. 2; “Abolish Vice, S.F. Women's Clubs Demand,” SFX, Dec. 15, 1920, p. 2; Annie Laurie, “Indeterminate Sentences—What of Them?” SFX, Dec. 15, 1920, p. 2; “Charges against City Dances Aired,” SFX, Dec. 18, 1920, p. 3; “Clubwomen Aid Zone Plan,” SFX, Dec. 23, 1920, p. 1; Laurie, “Keep the Fires Burning” Laurie, “Vileness Bred at Public Dance Halls: Let's Go Back to Our Pre-war Standards,” SFX, Dec. 31, 1920, p. 1.
99. Dr. Mariana Bertola, “A Cursory Glance over the San Francisco District,” The Clubwoman 9.5 (Feb. 1921): 12. See also “Vigilant Committee Plans Cleanup by Law Enforcement,” SFX, Jan. 18, 1921, 4. “Disreputable Crowd Haunts Charge,” SFX, Dec. 15, 1920, p. 1; “Winter Garden to Be Closed,” SFX, Dec. 21, 1920, p. 1; “9 ‘Closed’ Dance Hall Licenses Are Renewed,” SFX, Dec. 28, 1920, p. 1.
100. “Dance Hall Girls Storm Club Women's Meeting,” SFX, Dec. 31, 1920, pp. 1–2.
101. “Jury Dissents with Police on Dance Halls: Inquisitorial Body Stormed by Girls,” SFX, Jan. 4, 1921, p. 1; “Women's Clubs Welcome Jury Dance Hall Shift,” SFX, Jan. 6, 1921, p. 1.
102. “Police Judges Recalled: Lazarus and Jacks Victors by 4000 Votes,” SFX, March 2, 1921, p. 1.
103. See Kerber, No Constitutional Right to Be Ladies, ch. 4. Jury service followed woman suffrage in 1913.
104. “Titan haired Amazon”: NYA, Dec. 5, 1921, p. 1. See testimony of doctors Shelby Phipps Strange (Court Transcript, 31); William Ophuls (Court Transcript, 39); and Arthur Beardslee (Court Transcript, 209–211).
105. “Arbuckle Evidence: Two Doctors Say Virginia Rappe Was Slain,” CHE, Sept. 23, 1921, pp. 1, 3; “Medical Experts Detail Bruises on Dead Girl's Body,” SFX, Sept. 23, 1921, 2.
106. Prevost, Court Transcript, 301, 310, 299; Blake, Court Transcript, 336.
107. “Testimony Is Vulgar,” LAT, Sept. 25, 1921, p. 1; Prevost, Court Transcript, 300; Blake, Court Transcript, 337.
108. “Fatty's Pal Tells of Ice Bath to Girl,” CHE, Sept. 25, 1921, p. 1. See also Semnacher, Court Transcript, 167. Other accounts include “Arbuckle's Boast Is Revealed: Admission of Actor Given by Semnacher,” SFX, Sept. 25, 1921, p. 1; “Arbuckle's Confession: Admitted He Hurt Girl, Pal Swears,” CHE (final edition) Sept. 25, 1921, p. 1; “Amid Laughter Arbuckle Told of Putting Ice on Girl in Pain,” NYA, Sept. 25, 1921, p. 1; “Testimony Is Vulgar.”
109. “Amid Laughter Arbuckle Told of Putting Ice on Girl in Pain” “Testimony Is Vulgar.” Semnacher, Court Transcript
, 168. “Arbuckle's Confession.”
110. Before the Police Court trial ended, papers ran dozens of reports built around the “testimony” of Delmont, who never testified. See “Brady Closes People's Case against Star,” SFX, Sept. 28, 1921, pp. 1–2; “Accuser Fails to Testify,” CHE, Sept. 28, 1921, pp. 1–2; the Court (Lazarus), Court Transcript, 348–349.
111. Semnacher, Court Transcript, 274.
112. Lazarus, Court Transcript, 350. The testimony was covered in “Arbuckle on Bail for Manslaughter,” NYT, Sept. 29, 1921, pp. 1–2; “Fatty Will Be Tried for Manslaughter,” CHE, Sept. 29, 1921, pp. 1, 3; “Actor Escapes Accusation of Capital Crime,” NYA, Sept. 29, 1921, pp. 1, 3; “Murder Count Is Rejected by Police Judge,” SFX, Sept. 29, 1921, pp. 1–2; “Arbuckle Out on Bail; Held for Manslaughter,” LAT, Sept. 29, 1921, pp. 1, 3.
113. “Arbuckle on Bail for Manslaughter,” 1; “Murder Count Is Rejected by Police Judge,” 1. See also “Women Criticize District Attorney,” SFC, Sept. 29, 1921, p. 1. Mrs. Hamilton quoted in “Women's Ban on Arbuckle Films Voiced,” SFX, Oct. 13, 1921, p. 8. On the California Federation of Women's Clubs endorsement, see “L.A. Women's Clubs Oppose Arbuckle,” SFX, Oct. 5, 1921, p. 3.
114. “Morality Clause for Films,” NYT, Sept. 22, 1921, p. 8; “Morality Test for Film Folk,” SFX, Sept. 22, 1921, p. 2.
115. “Raising the Standard,” editorial, LAT, Sept. 25, 1921, pt. 2, p. 4; “A Million Dollar Carousel,” Exhibitors Herald (Oct. 8, 1921): 42. On demands for silence, see “Scandal Hits Industry,” Variety (Sept. 16, 1921): 35.
116. Swanson, Swanson on Swanson, 167–168.
117. Moving at typically glacial speed, the FTC ordered divorcement of exhibition from production and distribution in the Paramount Case in 1948; see Maltby and Craven, Hollywood Cinema, 71–73.
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