DVD - Girl 27

Hollywood seems forever plagued by scandals, whether real or used for publicity, but early Hollywood seemed to be overly rife with them. It was as though the players must have felt they were invincible (and, maybe, they were). Girl 27 is the story of Patricia Douglas, a woman involved in one of those scandals, who lost her life (metaphorically), because of the power of those involved, and the climate of American society at the time.

Studios often threw parties for various reasons, and often hired girls to entertain at said parties. In 1937, MGM threw a party for its distributors, and it was to be a night of drunken debauchery, with alcohol and women. It was never supposed to go far, but when one of the attendees raped one of the girls (Patricia Douglas) and she came forward, It touched off a scandal for MGM.

Girl 27 is a fascinating piece of Hollywood history. Patricia Douglas had interesting story, and you can feel that the pain of the situation was still with her when the film was being made. My only problem with the doc was director David Stenn, who seemed hell bent on trying to insert himself into the story as much as possible. The voice over, the on camera appearances… He was trying to Michael Moore the whole thing, and it was just not necessary.

DVD - The Brothers Warner

As time goes on, it seems like we are getting more and more little leaks about the goings on of early Hollywood. A fascinating world which has been, for almost a century, kept under a relatively tight lock and key. Historians are finally digging up the dirt, though, as studios are releasing more paper work and artifacts that paint an often times negative portrait of the movers and shakers that ran Hollywood.

The Brothers Warner is a film about four immigrant brothers who came together to try and carve out a small piece for themselves in the earliest phases of film distribution, and ended up building a studio who's legacy continues to shine bright. It discusses what each of them brought to the table, the good things that they did, and the not so good. The Brothers Warner is a well made and informative documentary, and for those of you that are interested in Hollywood history, you will enjoy this.