Girl 27

Girl 27
For 70 years, money and power buried the truth...
Directed by	David Stenn
Written by	David Stenn
Release dates	2007 (2007)
Running time	86 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Girl 27 is a 2007 documentary film about the 1937 rape of MGM movie extra Patricia Douglas (1917-2003), the front-page news stories that followed, and the subsequent cover-up of the entire event. Also covered are a similar assault on singer Eloise Spann and her subsequent suicide, as well as the better known scandal involving actress Loretta Young and her "adopted" daughter Judy Lewis.

The filmmaker, David Stenn, uses first-person interviews and vintage film footage and music to explore the political power of movie studios in 1930s Hollywood as well as public attitudes toward sexual assault that discouraged victims from coming forward. The filmmaker's dogged pursuit of Douglas and their subsequent friendship is a consistent theme throughout.

Production

Stenn came across the story when researching his biography on Jean Harlow, Bombshell in 1993. The project was a labour of love. Stenn:

You name it, I did it wrong. I used my own money, which is the first no-no of all time, I did everything myself, like legal clearances, our crew was tiny, and I just didn’t really know what I was doing. It was based on complete inexperience. I broke a cardinal rule by using my own money, but that turned out to be very liberating because I had complete control. But also I was blowing my savings and thinking, “Is anyone ever going to see this?” There was all that stuff, waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, sitting in the car, crying, thinking, “There’s just too much here, I don’t know if we’re going to get it done.” But we did.

External links

• Girl 27 at IMDb