He was bigger than life, on and off the silent screen, his popularity second only to Chaplin’s. He could do whatever he liked, including order cases of liquor from hotel desk clerks during
Prohibition. Many liked his act, which was largely behaving like an overgrown little boy, but many colleagues noted his temper when he didn’t get his way. A million a year and full artistic
control of his pictures did little to assuage that ＂little boy＂ reputation; neither did the rumors of his impotence spread by his erstwhile partners. These bits and pieces of his life came
together in a San Francisco hotel, in the form of drink, a besotted and diseased starlet, and a few moments of uneasy silence at a party which led to Arbuckle’s trial for murder. The next
edition will no doubt be improved by photographs of better quality. Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
