Acid Girl’s Wish

In the wake of the stunt, critics were divided as to the efficacy of the acid test. It appears that Lotus was either involved with filming or about to film a Fox Sunshine comedy at the time of all this hijinx. Coincidentally, the Sunshine comedies came to a close in 1925. The Brainless Horsemen could well have been the last film they almost made. In an interview from Australia in 1933, Lotus lamented the souring of the relationship with Fox as she was ‘getting on well with them’ prior to the notorious prank.

In the wake of the stunts, there were promises and announcements made; it is difficult to say which of those eventuated. Unfortunately, Valentino’s offer didn’t materialise due to his premature death the year after. The first film that I can find, post-acid, is The Iron Mule (1925).

The Iron Mule 1925

A few months after the ‘Acid Girl’ incident, Lotus accepted a part in The Iron Mule. There would be nothing spectacular about that but it was directed by a man who was Hollywood poison, with a reputation that may or may not have been deserved, and it was produced by a legendary performer.

‘Fatty’ Roscoe Arbuckle directed Iron Mule under the pseudonym William Goodrich. Arbuckle had once mentored Charlie Chaplin and discovered Buster Keaton, the producer of the film, who also makes an appearance in it, dressed as an Indian Chief (it was a different time).

Arbuckle was one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood but his career came tumbling down after the alleged rape and murder of a young woman at a party, Virginia Rappe, in 1921. After three trials he was acquitted of all charges, but his reputation never recovered and none of the studios were willing to collaborate with him.

Doing this film was risky. It was a professional risk for Lotus to play in a film directed by Arbuckle and on a personal level, there were women who may not have been comfortable around a man faced by such accusations. Perhaps it was even a risk for Keaton to take on a young woman who was very well known for her prank on the film industry, but they all got on with the job at hand.

Al St John plays the engineer, he is accompanied by George Davis, Glen Cavender, Billy Franey, Walter Reed, Buster Keaton, and a large cast of extras who dressed up as Indians for the day. There are three women in the film: Florence Reed, Lotus Thompson ,and Doris Deane, who married Arbuckle a month after the thirteen minute short was released.

It is pure slapstick, physical theatre and comedy at its finest. The gags are a bit tired; they fall over a lot and hit each other but it’s well executed. It’s actually entertaining. They even face a river without a bridge and have to invent a solution quickly. This adventure into unknown country – the Iron Mule (known as the Twenty Cent Limited) loads up with passengers and faces all manner of obstacles and bad luck but those challenges pale into comparison as they cross over into Indian land only to find themselves ambushed.

Lotus finds herself all alone in one scene, the sole target of an attack. While at first, she plays a damsel in distress, she comes to her own rescue. Her reaction changes from fear to fury as she grapples in the recesses of the stagecoach for a pistol. She cleans the barrel with one of the arrows fired at her, loads the gun, and fires back. The camera plays up her facial expressions throughout the scene.

Afterwards, perhaps impressed by her feisty demeanour, The Indian Chief, played by Buster Keaton, sneaks up from behind and kidnaps Lotus from the stagecoach. He carries her on his back, across the hills, but was pursued by one freakishly strong, very angry old lady from the train who beats him to a pulp.

It may have been completely intentional or it may have been used for comic irony but there’s a running theme throughout the film, connecting women with power that is very interesting. In The American Cinema, Andrew Sarris writes that “Keaton accepts women as his equal with clear-eyed candour.”

Film writer, Hillary Hallett, described the story of Arbuckle himself as a powerful origins text about gender relations and power in Hollywood and the dangers young women faced. Lotus took no notice. This film provided Lotus with a chance to play a dramatic role where she would not be required to show her legs. They were seen, technically, for a brief moment but they were covered up by the long, frilly pants beneath her dress. This was a win.