Mamet movie will tell story of the Fatty Arbuckle scandal

NEW YORK David Mamet has agreed to write and direct a film aboutone of Hollywood's ugliest scandals, the blackballing of silent filmstar Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle.

The script will be based on the 1991 book Frame-Up: The UntoldStory of Roscoe `Fatty' Arbuckle, by Andy Edmonds.

Mamet, a Chicago native, is hoping to direct it as the followupto "The Spanish Prisoner," which he also wrote. That film, starringCampbell Scott and Steve Martin, is expected to begin filming thisfall.

Rotund comic Arbuckle landed the highest salary at the time -$1 million per film - in a multipicture deal with Paramount in 1921.He never got to collect that check, because his career was ruineddays later at a celebration party in San Francisco. A starlet namedVirginia Rappe died of a ruptured bladder, and a scandal erupted whenher companion, Maude Delmont, claimed the starlet implicatedArbuckle.

William Randolph Hearst's newspapers blared the sordidspeculation, with theories that Arbuckle injured Rappe in a bizarresex act involving a bottle. Arbuckle was tried for manslaughter andexonerated by a jury, which apologized to him. But he was bannedfrom the movie industry six days later by censor William H. Hays.Arbuckle died in 1933.

Edmonds - who spoke to Arbuckle's wife, Minta Durfee, andothers close to the comic - said that Arbuckle had been framed fromthe start by Paramount owner Adolph Zukor because the mogul was angryat Arbuckle for shopping himself to other studios, which forcedParamount to pay him the high salary.

Zukor, Edmonds wrote, arranged for the party and thequestionable women in hope of blackmailing Arbuckle. Zukor thenbalked at paying the money and worked to ruin his biggest star. Haysused the incident to bolster his position as morality czar and wrotethe banishment letter on Zukor's stationery, evidence that the twowere in cahoots.

"What actually happened is that Roscoe was the only one notdrinking," said Edmonds. "They were playing this game where theytickled Fatty and his knee jerked up, and when Virginia did it, hisknee hit her stomach and she began bleeding.

"Virginia was a Hollywood hooker; she'd had abortions andstomach trouble and wasn't this young innocent the studio made herout to be. Basically, it was a greedy Hollywood mogul who decided hewas going to punish a star who wouldn't capitulate to what he wanted.Roscoe was like an ungrateful child, and Zukor felt the need topunish him."

Harry Ufland, who will produce the film, said the resentmentstill exists: "Studios still pay stars too much money, bend overbackwards for them, then hate them for it and try to discredit them.It hasn't changed in 70 years. We hope to put it to rest by tellingthe real story, and you couldn't find anyone better than Mamet to doit."

Mamet's writing credits include the films "The Untouchables"and "Hoffa" and the play "Glengarry Glen Ross."