Famous Hollywood Scandals and Tragedies

The whole world knows him. Burlesque comedy genius, popular actor, author, director, producer, composer, choreographer, Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977) used his talent to serve an ideal of justice and freedom. But his best scenario was his own destiny, a story written into the political and artistic history of the 20th century.

Charlie plays an actor who bungles several scenes and is kicked out. He returns convincingly dressed as a lady and charms the director, but Charlie never makes it into the film.

A frustrated, protective father tries to stop his secretaries from falling in love with his charming daughter, Betty. He hires two secretaries— only for them to be in on the practical jokes Betty plays on her father.

A womanizing city man meets Tillie in the country. When he sees that her father has a very large bankroll for his workers, he persuades her to elope with him.

Charlie is a clumsy waiter in a cheap cabaret, suffering the strict orders from his boss. He meets a pretty girl in the park and tries to impress her by pretending to be an ambassador. Unfortunately she has a jealous fiancé.

A tramp gets drunk in a hotel lobby and, upstairs, causes some misunderstandings between Mabel, two hotel guests across the hall from her room, and Mabel's visiting sweetheart.

The first talkie was directed by Alice Guy, the first color film was produced by Lois Weber, who directed more than 300 films over 10 years. Frances Marion wrote screenplays for the Hollywood Star Mary Pickford and won two Oscars, Dorothy Arzner was the most powerful film director in Hollywood. And what do all of them have in common? They are all women and they have all been forgotten. Incredibly, it also took until 2010 for the first woman, Kathryn Bigelow, to win the Oscar for Best Director. Even if underrepresented women have always played a big part in Hollywood and it is this part of the film history left untold that this documentary sets out to uncover.

A Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle & Mabel Normand comedy short. The film is considered lost.

The young granddaughter of a banker plays a game of hide-and-seek with her mother, Mabel. After Mabel walks away, the child disappears. A clerk, realizing the time, closes the vault she’d been hiding in. Mabel, unbeknownst to her child’s wandering, believes her daughter is locked in the now closed vault. Mabel frantically calls for help, resulting in a comedic rescue.

Three men compete for the attentions of a pretty girl. One of them, a little tramp, plays dirty.

This film is a compilation, with narration by Steve Allen, of comedies from the old Mack Sennett silent studio. Sennett, himself, appears in a cameo at the end of the film.

First National gala celebrity banquet with stars.

The Tramp, a film Johnnie (someone who loiters near theaters or studios to meet stars or get a job), attempts to meet his favorite movie actress at the Keystone Studio, but does not win friends there.

The manager of a small town hotel installs a cabaret in an attempt to achieve the standard set by restaurants in the large cities. His effort is ludicrous because of the fact that his talent is all recruited from the help in the hotel. Roscoe, the cook, is forced to appear in a dress suit and when Al St. John appears from the bar there is a lively rivalry between the two for the applause of the crowd. Mabel, the waitress, vies with a professional dancer from the city. Into this setting comes William Jefferson, a polished sharper, who takes the innocent Mabel by storm.

An appreciative, uncritical look at silent film comedies and thrillers from early in the century through the 1920s.

Mabel tries to sell hot dogs at a car race, but isn't doing a very good job at it. She sets down the box of hot dogs and leaves them for a moment. Charlie finds them and gives them away to the hungry spectators at the track as Mabel frantically tries to find her lost box of hot dogs. Mabel finds out that Charlie has stolen them and sends the police after him. Chaos ensues.

One way or another, the Hollywood police have been kept busy with murders on their ground. There are numerous theories about the killings of Thelma Todd, Jack Healy (Three Stooges), Elizabeth Short, alias The Black Dahlia, Bugsy Siegal and Johnny Stompano. The files of William Desmond Taylor, Raymond Navarro and Sal Mineo are also re-opened. Femmes fatales are often deadly for the man's wallet or reputation -- these ladies killed for real. From Calamity Jane, gang boss Ma Baker and New York madame Polly Adler to axe-murderess Winnie Ruth Judd and others, we look at the Black Widow Spider syndrome. Rare archival footage and many hitherto unseen interviews, film, video clip tapes, and photographs are included in this hour-long program.

A villain, competing with his rival's race car, kidnaps the rival before the race. Mabel decides to take the wheel in his place.

Before the G, PG and R ratings system there was the Production Code, and before that there was, well, nothing. This eye-opening documentary examines the rampant sexuality of early Hollywood through movie clips and reminiscences by stars of the era. Gloria Swanson, Mary Pickford, Marlene Dietrich and others relate tales of the artistic freedom that led to the draconian Production Code, which governed content from 1934 to 1968. Diane Lane narrates.