Girl 27

The 1937 scandal is definitely a story worth learneing about. There are some interesting interviews, great film references, but the director of the film clearly does not know how to direct a documentary. There is an ego about him that is just not acceptable. He insinuates himself into the story and into the life of the woman who back in 1937 was Girl 27. He never passes up an opportunity to bring up the fact that he is also an author of celebrity biographies. He never passes up the opportunity to let his audience know the famous people he has worked with. I am not someone who believes there is a perfect cookie cutter way of making a documentary film. Sometimes it's necessary for a director to knock down that fourth wall and make himself or herself a presence in the film he or she is producing. A good director should never steer the focus of the subject matter onto himself or herself, though. David Stenn is not just annoying as a documentary filmmaker, he is disgraceful as a documentary filmmaker. This documentary should be taught in film schools about what NOT to do as a documentary filmmaker.

Anyway... this is the only existing documentary that covers the subject matter of the 1937 MGM sex scandal. It's a story worth knowing. It's unfortunate that the story was brushed under the rug as long as it was. In this, the time of #MeToo and #TimesUp, it's really important not to brush such stories under the rug. History absolutely repeats itself. 'Girl 27' as well as other documentary films and biopics like 2019's 'Judy', for example, are evidence that Louis B. Mayer was the Harvey Weinstein of the '30s, '40s, and '50s. Some people live their whole lives and die without being brought to justice for their horrible behavior. Justice sometimes comes in the form of unearthing the truth postmortem, denying their legacies praise, and condemning them for their insidious existence.

This is in response to mravenwud's comment. You say that "girls are incredibly naive about men's sexuality" and that "they should not let themselves be left alone EVER in a place where there are men drinking". Why are you placing the blame for what happened to Patricia Douglas on her own shoulders? Are you saying that men are all naturally rapists, and that if women don't guard themselves carefully, they can expect to be violated? That does a disservice to both men and women, in my opinion.

Attitudes like this are part of the reason why it is so heartbreakingly difficult, even today, for people who have been raped to come forward with their stories. Patricia Douglas didn't do anything wrong. She didn't "let herself" get raped-- she WAS raped.

This exposes old Hollywood as a cesspool of corruption and cover ups, which historians already knew, but for the average person would be eye opening. Then you get the effects that a rape had on a person and how it trickles down through the generations added in to the mix which makes this a must see for anyone to understand how a violent act traumatizes more than just one person and why they need to be treated more seriously.

What a heart-wrenching story! The way Mr. Stenn, who also directs this film, presented Patricia's story is refreshing, in fact the manner in which he insinuated himself as a part of this drama seemed to be implicitly sanctioned by her own words. She was thankful that he persevered in his quest to obtain this particular story, despite her fears. Furthermore, he genuinely seemed to care for her, as well as what she had experienced. He was highly criticized by critics and reviewers for his unusual style - to allow his own relationship with Patricia to unfold on screen.

For so many of us women who have experienced assault during our lifetime and had to learn that 'safe' is a rather tenuous term, it can be comforting to see someone like Mr. Stenn put himself 'up front' as he did, in a supportive role. At least, I found it so in this film.

This documentary certainly rent the veil of 'The Good Old Days' to pieces. By interspersing some old film spots of MGM as Pat was delivering her interview, it was made much less easy to obtain that nostalgic feel we might usually glean.

Are men dogs? My uncle Doug (a self confessed dog) says it is so, and that, furthermore, we women just need to be aware and ever cynical. We are less naive these days, I think.

I believe lawyers would find it a tad bit trickier to dump such a case these days, as they did in Pat's. Still, then or today, it takes an inordinate amount of courage to attempt to hold someone accountable for committing such terrific violence against us. If anything, I appreciate Mr. Stenn for giving Patricia her opportunity for vindication, as well as my chance to experience, albeit vicariously, some sort of weird justice on this end.

"Girl 27" is a fascinating story of Hollywood history and the workings of the studios. The studios owned Hollywood: the police, the DA, all the way up. The movie magazines were studio organs. They had private hospitals, doctors on payroll. Anything could be hidden.

Patricia Douglas was a young girl working in Hollywood as a dancer. "I moved like J. Lo" she tells the interviewer, David Stenn. One day she and some other women were asked to report to what they believed to be a film set, and they were sent to Western Costume to get costumes.

When they arrived on the "set," it was a convention on a farm for MGM salespeople. Patricia Douglas was raped by one of them in a field. It was hushed up, and the doctor, under MGM's influence, put in her record that she had been treated for VD.

Patricia attempted to sue but lost, so she took it to Federal Court. MGM bribed her mother and lawyer to make the case go away, and they did. The lawyer never showed up in court any time the case was called. Her mother got a liquor store out of it.

At the time of the documentary, Patricia Douglas was 84, living alone in Las Vegas, when she was found by writer-producer Stenn. At first he spoke with her on the phone - she would say so much and then hang up abruptly. Finally she agreed to meet him and tell her story.

There have been many complaints about Stenn's presence in this film. I used to work for David Stenn. When he says he loves Patricia Douglas, he's not playing nice to get the story at all. He's not that kind of person.

As for his presence in the film, she would only talk to him, so he was stuck there - yes, he could have cut himself out. In the beginning, I think he had to lay the foundation as he did - he is a film historian, an expert on MGM and that era.

Did he have to mention Jackie Onassis? Probably not, but I think it made his credentials all the more impressive.

There's nothing uncommon in a documentary about looking at records and having someone go over them with you. So maybe in total, five minutes of Stenn could have been cut. I do not think he took away from this woman's agonizing story.

Not only is this a searing documentary about the machinations of MGM and Mayer, it is such a sad commentary on the time during which Patricia Douglas was young. Families swept incidents such as rape under the rug.

There was no place she could go for help. She was never able to move on. It ruined her life. She said she was frigid. She was married three times; she wanted a child desperately to love and be loved, yet she gave the child to someone else to raise. She couldn't get too close to anyone.

Her beautiful daughter tells a sad story about their relationship or lack of it. Patricia never told anyone what had happened to her. When the story broke in Vanity Fair, she told her mother that she was so incredibly proud of her. And her mother said nothing.

It's such a tragic account, it breaks your heart. An entire live ruined. Patricia could have tried to move on, but how does one do that when violated and no one acknowledges it? When everyone expects you to act as if nothing's wrong?

The studio heads were sleazes. When I interviewed actress Rita Gam, an incredibly beautiful woman even today, she said she received many offers from Hollywood.

But she smartly waited until she was offered a contract for $1250 a week. Why? Because if you made less than that, she said, you were part of the "visiting firemen" circuit, in other words, a prostitute.

Starlets were expected to sleep with men for jobs, and at the behest of the studio. Even Rita Hayworth's husband tried to pimp her out to Harry Cohn.

I think the story overrides David Stenn's presence in the film, which some find offensive. Personally I didn't mind it. I loved the film clips that were interjected. A nice touch to a horrible story.