Incredible journey through the dark side. A powerful depiction of the long term impact and consequences of rape on Patricia and all the members of her family. I will send it up to my class to watch.

At one point, I thought “James Ellroy doesn’t write fiction, he writes fact.” The total corruption he portrays in his Hollywood books has been written large by this documentary.

So many brave people made this compelling watching. Patricia will no longer be forgotten.

This is the way of the world, and once the elite gets comfortable conspiring and covering up these relatively minor horrors, then those who could make a change, suddenly find themselves COMPROMISED, forced to choose between feeding their families or telling the truth - once the press conspires, as a matter of business policy, to obscure the truth as a favor to those in power, then the press becomes a machine in the hands of the elite to destroy the victims and exonerate the guilty.  And once you’ve compromised yourself, then you’ve sold your soul - you’re tainted, they’ve “got something on you”.  And still, even though it is easy to see how simple it is in this story for dozens to conspire and to suppress the truth, everyone somehow wants to believe that when it comes to 9/11, we suddenly have a lily-white world of do-gooders committed to telling the truth, that the press is composed of honest men who fight government lies and corruption, the government is suddenly peopled by saints, the military manned by selfless heroes who would never commit crimes to benefit large multi-national defense corporations and oil conglomerates. 

You can tell the huge lies by the ease of the little lies.

Wow.  Girl 27.  I was struck by how well Mr. Stenn exposed such an elaborate cover-up, enabled on all sides by the Los Angeles City police, the Culver City Police, the state police, by the studio police, by prosecutors, by doctors, by hired attorneys, by the lot watchman… even by her own mother lied and took payola instead of pursuing the truth - all this elaborate COVER-UP and conspiracy, known to so many and revealed by NONE… over what, to protect some minor bug-eyed yokel film salesman David Ross?  Mr. Stenn opened it up like peeling away the layers of an onion.  He finds the conspiracy instruction sheet in her file – all done to manipulated the truth.  The truth is just a commodity to the elite.

And after watching this, how can you not realize the 9/11 cover-up could be a conspiracy?  Suppose 9/11 were done not by Bin Laden but instead by a powerful moneyed-elite cabal, do you really think that good people would suddenly rush forward to tell the truth, when good people can’t even tell the truth about something as minor as this horrid little rape, something so common that it occurs every day?  But in this case it mattered, because it impinged on the character of Louis B. Meyer, the richest man in America. So it was easy for this man to manipulate the cops, the prosecutor, the media, the witnesses.  So in the case of 9/11, something that really matters, why do you really think the press would act to tell the truth, when you see how the press worked in this case to expose and humiliate this little victim, and covered up MGM’s role in the crime?  If money and power covers up even minor kind of crimes like this rape and Eloise Spann’s rape… then why don’t you believe it is easy to conspire to cover up major crimes?  How easy it would have been for just a few good men to do the right thing and bring out the truth, but instead, they accepted bribes and acted in so many ways to cover it up.  How easy it would have been to hang this little man, David Ross, out to dry, but instead, we see a huge mechanization, a huge cover up to save David Ross’ skin. Over a NOBODY the moneyed elite is willing to stretch its tentacles in every direction to conspire, to cover up the truth.

The truth set Patricia free. As a father of five daughters and five grandaughters I thank you for a story that needs to be told and retold for we live in a society that continues to place the lie as more compelling than the truth. And the beat goes on.

I am speechless. Truly the most fascinating story I had seen in many years. R.I.P. Patricia Douglas, you are truly a hero for all women.

Why is everybody acting so surprised about this? It happens repeatedly in Corporate business and the Military. Exploiting attractive women and pimping young office girls out to lunch meetings to negotiate business deals exist regularily.

wow, how incredibly sad for her. just goes to show how scummy hollywood truely is!that stuff is still going on, all these hollywood players, ruining innocent lives. it makes you wonder about certain actors and producers.... scum!

Tragic yet great reminder of how one act by each of us can change lives for the better . . . or worse.  May each of us wake up and learn from Girl27.  Her life was lost when it should have been joyous.  I hope we can all learn to reveal ourselves to others and that when confronted with such revelations, we can succeed in the miracle of healing.  Thanks David Stenn for allowing us into the life and conflict of Patricia Douglas.

powerful film.  the biblical dictum that the children will bear the sins (and in this case, the pain) of the parents is never more aptly proven true.  well worth your time.

i appreciated that they portrayed the story with such seriousness, and that they took the time to do thorough research.  it is, unfortunately, a story that is still very common.  if there is a segment of our society - and there are several, women being only one of them - who’s stories are kept secret, this hurts all of us.  you could see in this film how secrets affect the person holding them, their significant others, their children, their grandchildren - as well as the system (in this case the movie company) by allowing it to silence these stories for their own gain.  and so the cycle continues.  by telling these untold stories, we have a chance to make a change.

She may have been a “bitter” woman with low self esteem or even “mental problems”, but she had her reasons...and as anyone who has been through somthing like that knows ..it isnt easy to remember or face such a horrible incident. She also was obviously very affected by it.Who wouldnt be. SOme people are stronger than others...i think it takes a very strong person to survive all those years with such a horrible secret eating away at her and seeing that justice abandoned her..its no wonder why she was so indifferent & untrusting to those around her.

This is just one example of the exploitation that happened and CONTINOUS to happen. although now it is more like an Understanding that if a woman wants to make it, she has to pay the “Dues” even by the time of Monroe that was understood.  and Monroe regularly had to “DO” all the executives of any new picture she got.  In fact, I believe that she was desireable enough that executives were willing to “give her” a movie as payment for the opportunity to HAVE her.  after all she was a bad actress, the story lines worthless, so it was more like 20 executives would “pitch in” in the movie payoff deal in exchange for having sex with her. 
it is a known fact Monroe had to do several executives and producers in a single day and more on subsequent days until all “got a piece” then she would get a new deal.

But Patricia Douglas Really got a RAW deal.
she got a forceful rape and then a cover up
by the Studio.

It is too bad that she was so bitter to the end that she could not come forward and do a new “trial”.
and expose MGM

This Documentary was a beginning of a Vindication but NOT a full Vindication.

MGM still is the same. nothing happened.

To Abel—Did you see the whole film?  It is not surprising that she had such a low self - esteem considering what MGM and others who supposingly loved her and were ‘on her side’ all did to her.  Some people are stronger than others but at least in this day and age a woman can fight back more to what is done to them—more than a woman could do at that time. IMO it took alot of courage to come out with her story in 1937 and try to fight ‘city hall’ in that time and era. There are many stories of corruption in the movie industry during the 30’s and so on.  Mental problems or not it took courage and I am glad that she finally summoned the strength to tell her story once again so it would not be forgotten. It may have given her some peace before she passed on. It is just sad that she didn’t do so sooner.  She might have found a good man instead of the ones she ended up with who hurt her daughter as well. If she had opened up then maybe she could have had a better relationship with her daughter. But Ms. Douglas came from a different generation who had a different mentality of ‘opening up’ to others. Look at what happened when she did try in the 30’s, so in her mind she probably figured it was better not to face what happened to her any more and try to just bury it.
BTW, IMO this would make a good movie and would finally give some justice to show how corrupt MGM was........... I am sure there were many others who were victims of MGM as well.  This story can give them some justice as well........

I think the woman did and does have sever mental problems!

I stumbled upon this story while surfing the net.  This was a well made documentary.  Very powerful!  And, yes Patricia Truth always comes out at the END.  You trully have been vindicated!!

Very powerful and very moving! The documentary tells a real account of how women were treated as second, or third class citizens in 1937, unfortunately Women still do not have the equal respect and human rights and full dignity in many circles and in many places,some 72 years later! We live in a great country, but until equality, dignity and respect are afforded women, gays, minorities and other people who are given only token rights by various segments of society, we will never truly be the greatest country, we all have much work to do if this is to ever happen!

Gordon Hughes
Missouri

Unfortunately, this story is as true today as it ever was.  Young women are commodified for male consumers, coerced by popular culture into believing that they have no value other than to be used by men, but, unlike the heroine of this film, they feel too complicit in the crimes against them to speak out.

I enjoyed this story emensiley.As with Patricias daughter I also was made to bathe and satisfy my stepfather. Degrading and embarrassing. He did however appoligize before he passed on. For what it was worth it helped somewhat.Great Documentary Thank You.

Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely. True in 1937, true now. Hollywood’s brightest moment was also it’s darkest chapter. After watching this film it is easy to understand how they did Gangster movies so very well. They lived it! They were all gangsters who didn’t share a shred of morality among them. Why we still idolize people in this industry is beyond me. They were then and may very well still be animals.
I hope there was room enough in hell for everyone complicit in this destruction of a fourteen year-old girl, her mother included.

Awesome movie, me too - - I was fixated on the movie until the end.  Nobody won at the very end, not Patricia, her beautiful daughter, her mother and certainly not MGM.  It is so sad that one horrendous event colored so many generations of women, it is truly sad.  Patricia could not love not after what happened to her, not even her own daughter. I don’t doubt she loved her daughter, it just could not be expressed.  unfortunately it was the times when women who are raped are seen more guilty than the rapist, that somehow they caused it - which is still occurring in this day and age in other countries. A woman is nothing except for her reproductive organs, i.e. to produce a heir.  It was a fascinating documentary, but because of the damage one slime bucket --and he looked totally slimey himsef—did to one person look at the domino effect.  I hope the slime bucket had an awful life, thank goodness he did not marry nor reproduce.  He died relatively young, so I hope he sufferred at the end of his awful life. . . and hope he is now paying for his sins.

SAD STORY.IT WORKS FOR ME THAT TRUTH PREVAILS .
LIKE MY FATHER HAD ALWAYS SAID WHY LIE WHEN THE TRUTH WORKS JUST AS WELL.
PEOPLE JUST DON’T GET . THEY LIE AND LIVE IT UNTIL THEY DIE .
AMAN TO THAT REPORTER

This was Awesome!!! I was just browsing the docs, but couldn’t stop watching it. Great Doc! I look forward to more of your films.

I was going to watch it for a minute or two and ended up not moving until the entire movie was over. I was overwhelmed with anger at powerful people who could so easily destroy another person’s life and so sad for a woman who never got to be all that she could be.

This is an amazing story. I am so glad that you took the time and the determination to make sure it was told.

What an incredible tribute to a courageous woman who fought back in a time and place when it was barely possible. It is fascinating to realize how many people were affected not only by her rape, but also the shame of its cover-up. Being violated by a despicable man changed the course of Patricia Douglas’s life as well as her daughter’s. Imagine the lives they both might have led if this had never happened to her...This story has an important place in women’s history, Hollywood history, and legal history.

Hope you continue documentaries, Mr. Stenn! Thank you for breaking the silence!

What an incredible tribute to a courageous woman who fought back in a time and place when it was barely possible. It is fascinating to realize how many people were affected not only by her rape, but also the shame of its cover-up. Being violated by a despicable man changed the course of Patricia Douglas’s life as well as her daughter’s. Imagine the lives they both might have led if this had never happened to her...This story has an important place in women’s history, Hollywood history, and legal history.

Hope you continue documentaries, Mr. Stenn! Thank you for breaking the silence!

Sad to see the horrors hollywood power players got away with, and in many cases still do.  This story is most poignantly told and it only serves to prove that one voice can be heard, above the masses of nay-sayers, even though it may take all of our lives to shout it.

Patricia Douglas was a very strong willed person, whose story is an inspiration for all of us who have to live with a watershed experience in our lives.  She achieved vindication and a degree of justice by being willing to do this interview and movie that will enpower others who watch it to deal with the adversity in each of our lives.

Violence against Women comes in many forms and none more Insidious than What happened to Patricia Douglas in 1937!! She asked “Who would care?” I Would and DO!!

This film will be on my mind for a very long time. Patricia Douglas showed courage for sharing her story after so many years.It’s amazing that the truth was finally able to be told.

I recently read an article about the “Radium Girls” and the great lengths U.S. Radium went to in order to cover things up and discredit those who came forward.

I never really gave much thought to what life was like for women during the 1930’s.

A real eye-opener because I am a movie fan of the thirties and forties and never heard of this happening.  Oh sure, I knew the studio’s were very powerful in keeping sordid studio events and their stars under wraps during those times but this was a pretty big story.  I remember reading that the studios tried to keep the Fatty Arbuckles rape case quiet and also the strange “suicide” of Jean Harlow’s husband Paul Bern.  You wonder how many other stories that were never told and kept from the public eye?  A facinating decade in the thirties. I’m glad Patricia was able to finally to get her story told and I think that may have helped her before she passed away.

A real eye-opener because I am a movie fan of the thirties and forties and never heard of this happening.  Oh sure, I knew the studio’s were very powerful in keeping sordid studio events and their stars under wraps during those times but this was a pretty big story.  I remember reading that the studios tried to keep the Fatty Arbuckles rape case quiet and also the strange “suicide” of Jean Harlow’s husband Paul Bern.  You wonder how many other stories that were never told?  A facinating decade in the thirties. I’m glad Patricia was able to finally to get her story told and I think that may have helped her before she passed away.

The best documentary I have ever seen! I wish Patricia was still alive so I could let her know how much I admired her courage.Thank you for the great story!!

This was an amazing story. Thank you Mr. Stenn.

I am at a loss for words. An amazing story, an amazing film, and an amazing lady. I always knew there was a reason Louis B. Mayer gave me the creeps.