wmweibel

An extra example of how far scandal sheets were willing to go: During the investigation around Roscoe Arbuckle (I forget whether there was a trial), a newspaper published a doctored photo on the front page of him behind bars. He was, in fact, never held in custody. In the 1990's, Thames Television produced a beautiful series about the silent era titled simply "Hollywood". One chapter described the Arbuckle scandal at length, and the susbsequent beginnings of Hollywood's self-censorship.