Film Review: "Girl 27" (2007)

*Get "Girl 27" on Amazon here*
*Get Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow by David Stenn on Amazon here*
*Get Clara Bow: Runnin' Wild by David Stenn on Amazon here*
*Get Lion of Hollywood: The Life and Legend of Louis B. Mayer by Scott Eyman on Amazon here*

Author David Stenn had just finished writing a biography of Jean Harlow when he discovered the story of Patricia Douglas.

In 1937, seventeen year old Douglas was one of a hundred girls brought in to entertain a group of MGM film sellers who were partying in Hollywood at a convention. She was assaulted by David Ross, one of the sellers. There is incredible newsreel footage of the film sellers' arrival, MGM chairman Louis B. Mayer, and David Ross. Stenn, in his only directing effort as of this writing, then opens the film up and engages the viewer in many connected stories.

Stenn could not believe the headlines he was reading about Douglas' case and how film studios had a tight grip on local law enforcement and government with Douglas' case made to disappear. The daughter of Clark Gable and Loretta Young, Judy Lewis, is also interviewed about her incredible life journey of being born out of wedlock to Young, given to an orphanage, and then being "adopted" by her natural mother- all to avoid a scandal. Another assault victim, Eloise Spann, is covered and her family's story is heartbreaking. Stenn's pursuit of Douglas is chronicled, and we finally get to see Douglas onscreen. The way her life was changed by the assault, as confirmed by her estranged daughter and a grandson, is also emotional.

To say Ross, who died in the early 1960s with no charges ever brought against him, ruined Douglas' life would be an understatement. Everything was changed by the assault. Douglas' relationships with everyone around her was ruined. She was a virgin when attacked, and her life took a downward spiral that never recovered. There is no happy ending- Douglas doesn't lovingly reunite with her family, get revenge on Ross, or receive an official apology from the City of Los Angeles or MGM. She never smiles during the documentary, leading a sad and solitary life of late-night television, and not eating well after a few broken marriages. No one believed Douglas, despite a witness and necessary medical attention, so she bottled it up and shut down for the next few decades. She became a nobody living in an apartment in Las Vegas and watching MTV for the dancing- she was a background dancer in a few films, and was still a fan.

Eloise Spann, who committed suicide in 1960, could have been a great singer on film but stopped singing after her attack. Her adult son had never heard his mother sing until he was played an old film clip. As an audience, we don't get to hear Spann's voice because the studio holding the film's rights wouldn't release them to the documentary film makers, which speaks volumes about how things are in Hollywood all these years later.

Watch this movie and fight back against our culture of cruelty.

Stats:
(2007) 86 min. (9/10)
-Written and Directed by David Stenn
-With: Patricia Douglas, David Stenn, Judy Lewis, Peggy Montgomery, Richard W. Bann, Greta Van Susteren, Eloise Spann, Louis B. Mayer
-(Not Rated)- Physical violence, some sexual violence, sexual references, strong sexual violence references, strong sexual violence against children references, strong adult situations, alcohol and tobacco use
-Media Viewed: Streaming