Two actors fled Hollywood for Salt Lake City in 1928. One was bludgeoned to death, and the other would call upon none other than Charlie Chaplin for help. As authorities scrambled to uncover what happened to the murdered Don Solovich, Hollywood’s most famous actors fought to keep their secrets safe. Before long, the tiny Utah town learned that Chaplin had been subpoenaed to testify and prepared themselves for a Hollywood invasion. What exactly did the King of Comedy know about the murder of his homosexual butler?

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Sources:

Babcock, Muriel. “The Headline History of Chaplin: 1918-1932.” Movie Classic Vol. 3. No. 3. November, 1932.

“Editor & Publisher: The Fourth Estate.” Vol. 61 No. 1. New York. 6 May, 1928.

Grey Chaplin, Lita and Vance, Jeffrey. Wife of the Life of the Party: A Memoir (Lanham: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1998).

Hurewitz, Daniel. Bohemian Los Angeles: and the Making of Modern Politics (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007).

“LGBTQ+ ‘Panic’ Defense.” The LGBTQ+ Bar. https://lgbtqbar.org/programs/advocacy/gay-trans-panic-defense/ 

Painter, George. “The Sensibilities of Our Forefathers: The History of Sodomy Laws in the United States.” Sodomy Laws. 2004. https://www.glapn.org/sodomylaws/sensibilities/california.htm

Quinn, D. Michael. Same-Sex Dynamics Among Nineteenth-Century Americans: A Mormon Example (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1996).

Newspapers:

Gunnison Valley News

Deseret News

Salt Lake Tribune

Manti Messenger

Daily News (New York)

Los Angeles Times

San Pedro News Pilot

New Britain Herald

Imperial Valley Press

San Bernardino Sun

Bismark Tribune

Evening Star (Washington, D.C.)

Variety

Music: Credits to Holizna, Fesilyan Studios & Virginia Liston

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