16 Silent Film Celebrities & the William Desmond Taylor Case

[GeoStrum3]

Hey this would make some movie! Perhaps Woody Allen would be interested. With the popularity of the Artist the timing for this type of movie is ripe. Get to it you screen ewriters!

[SirKnightspirit]

Mary Miles Minter and Mable Normand were both there at Taylor's house and they left together, Taylor was rumored to be gay, It is remotely possible that Minter and Normand were lovers. People that knew both women said they were close. Minter's mom was rumored to be Taylor's lover and was jealous on his relationship with Normand. Lots of drama in Hollywood in those days.

[rayito2005]

Muchos de estos actores ya estan en el olvido siendo ellos los precursores del cine.

[windstorm1000]

The Taylor murder mystery is, after the Fatty Arbuckle debacle, the ORIGINAL Hollywood scandal--and is STILL unsolved after all these years. Its a fascinating mystery worthy of one of Agatha Christie's plots--but this one is true. I had no idea there were so many glamorous suspects--it appeared WD TAylor cast his own allure over his fellow co-workers--causing some to be obsessed by him and others to be jealous of him--enough to take Taylors life. But WHO did it? A real 'who dunit"

[littlequeen64]

Mary Miles Minter got around eh........

[thenudo]

Mabel & Edna were too sweet to HURT anyone - let alone KILL someone!

[toryroseiii]

This guy had a lot more enemies than friends =\

[16reynoso]

This is so good!!It looks and sounds very proffesional.

[amenic1894]

Why is this in sepia? did you add the sepia when creating this project?

[PikaB]

Yes, that's one of the iMovie effects options.

[amenic1894]

@amenic1894 very effective; looks very professional.

Where did you get the fantastic clips?

[mongoose003b]

apparently, gibson was under an assumed name when she collapsed on the floor in her home in hollywood, when her neighbor came to help, she confessed to killing desmond. the motive is still unknown since she died before she could finish her confession. to this day, the files still have the case as unsolved.

[johnfd0210]

This was very interesting, and I especially enjoyed the footage of Kathlyn Williams and Neva Gerber.

I had the good fortune to be friends with Priscilla Dean the last few years of her life. When I asked her about the Desmond case, her response was a good humored, "Oh, we all knew "Mama" did it." "Mama" being the mother of Mary Miles Minter.

Since Priscilla was living and working in Hollywood at the time, and very much on the social scene, I have always believed this.

[4MaryAnna]

@johnfd0210

In all I've read about this case,I too believe MMM's mother was the shooter.

Thanks for posting this info. :)

[windstorm1000]

@johnfd0210 Wow! Thank you so much for sharing!! What a valuable piece of H'wood info--on the most mysterious murder in H'wood hystory. I take it that "Mamma's" motivation is that Taylor did not want to marry her daughter. It back fired (no pun intended) as MMM was somewhat blamed for the murder and her career was ruined. Taylor was a handsome guy--everybody wanted him alive--or dead!-- it appears!! Why would M. Gibson confess to the crime on her death bed, however? Fascinating case!!

[toddplum]

check out my Silent Vampire Film....peter coukis

[goback3spaces]

Minter's mom did it, right?

[misscarolinec]

Is this Kenneth Anger narrating by chance?

[PikaB]

No.

[misscarolinec]

Do you know who it might be?

[misscarolinec]

Thank You for posting =D

[MamaBarb03]

I thought it was Mabel at first, but when margaret confessed, i kind of thought she did it, but i still think mabel did it.

[luvebug21]

This is an amazing created video to be honest:)

[luvebug21]

Whats the name of this song?please tell me

[whathoney73]

Many silent film studios went bankrupt because they refused to switch over to producing movies with sound. They actuially believed people didn't want to hear movies so they kept pouring their money into silent movies and lost their shirts. Can you imagine that? They actually thought movie goers didn't want to hear the movies.

[chandru1103]

Well it makes sense....these were considered moving PICTURES and therefore a branch of photography, which is always silent. If they had just looked at the films like they were a branch of theatre, they would have had different feelings towards the talkies.

[Mr36O]

A good book you should read is "Max" by Howard Fast its a fictitious novel but it's about the begining of silent films "Moving Pictures"

[gablefan01]

I had never heard of the Margaret Gibson "confession" before. Any chance she really was the killer?

[PikaB]

I'd give it about a 10% probability. She knew and had worked with Taylor, and she was closely linked with a blackmailer.

[Tecun85]

I've read that a witness who saw the murderer leave Taylor's house thought that the person looked like a woman dressed as a man. Plus, Gibson's confessed on one occasion prior to her death-bed confession. She also left the country....so there's alot to consider. Those must have been some wild times

[AnythingGoesProd]

Great collection! Thanks for sharing!!!

[Tecun85]

I must say that this is great stuff, especially for a silent film buff, where did you (PikaB) come across it?

[PikaB]

The clips are from a variety of video sources. Which specific clip are you referring to?

[rickymolotov]

Also, I don't know that Charlie Chaplin disliked Mary Pickford when they both got together to found United Artists. It makes no sense to me. And dating younger girls doesn't mean a guy is a chauvinist. Just about every guy in history has had a certain amount of taste for flesh younger than his own. It's called being normal.

[NYC1927]

Now days grown men who 'have relations' with teen girls are called what they are.....Perverts.

[NYC1927]

I'll be looking out for you on "To Catch A Predator" I guess.

[rickymolotov]

It was not that Chaplin resented being directed by a woman. As he told Mabel Normand once: "You are not qualified to tell me what to do, Mabel..." And he was right. In fact, nobody was qualified to tell him anything. Men, women, or God. He could do it all. Before making films, Charles Chaplin had had extensive vaudevillian experience, and whatever he did in front of the camera was simply a carry over of that previous experience. Mabel Norman didn't know her place, or who she was dealing with.

[bbot64]

I think it's great. Vidor's book "Cast Of Killers" was updated and all the wrong "facts' were rectified. Sad tale all around.

[yelloworangered]

Thank you for putting this together. All the bungalows are gone, torn down for a parking lot, if I remember correctly. But Mary Miles Minter's house is still there and is a home for lost girls or something appropriate like that. I'm sorry I can't be more specific, but it was the early 1990s when I visited the neighborhood.

[xpdnc12]

Well researched, nice presentation, and especially a good narrative voice. I happened on this vid on accident, and found myself drawn in. Good job!

[JumboShrimp256]

who do you think did it?

[12Zwolf]

Thank You For Posting;

A confession, death-bed, or other-wise, isn't worth the paper it's printed on, and must be considered a 'Trojan horse', i.e., it contains one puzzle-piece of knowledge of the actual crime/suspect.

Perhaps the actual murderer, a studio employee/owner, had signed-up W. D. Taylor for an insurance policy, as a 3rd person, which was legal at the time, to pay-off opium/cocaine/gambling/studio debts; or murdered as a 'favour' to cover same debts.

Cheers!

Valkyrie Ziege Mourne

[bubbajimmy8]

chaplin hated mabel

[ceerivera]

why?

[bubbajimmy8]

she was rude to him from the start

he was bossed around by her and nearly got fired because of her until finding out that the king of comedy also disliked her and then chaplin became the director instead of mable

[LexieCasteel]

Was that written in his autobiography?

[yelloworangered]

I've read that Chaplin just couldn't handle the idea of a woman directing his film. She had much more experience than he did at the time, so it was reasonable. Chaplin was a romantic man, but chauvinistic. He disliked Mary Pickford for being intelligent about business and his wives and girlfriends were all much younger than he was. Lita Grey was really just a child at 15.

[tenle]

why??

[Lennophile9]

very good video on a fascinating case. Just wondering why you do not include Sands Peavey Charlotte or Taylor's lover George James Hopkins?

Overall I tend to think the killer was either Sands or the robber who robbed that gas station nearby. As all the witnesses clearly said they saw a man leave the Taylor home after hearing what they thought was backfire.

And I thought the Higham therory that it was just some guy who left before the murdrder and had nothing to do with it makes no sense.

[PikaB]

The theme of the video is: silent film celebrities linked to the Taylor case. Those others you mention are not silent film celebrities.

[saragga]

the assassin was charlotte shelby but you only say her name to point out that she is MMM's mother...

[katnipsoxxx]

I agree. I have thought that all along.

[Hughman54]

Fascinating compilation. It's great to see them all, especially the lesser-known men.

[fringemontreal]

this is great. but i'm curious -- what accounts for the four new additions to the list of actors connected with the case, from 12 to 16?

[PikaB]

A year ago, I did not have any close-up film footage of the other four actors.

[avtanner]

Love this- wonder when Margaret Gibson/Patricia Palmer dyed her hair blonde? Can't wait for more videos!