Girl 27

While completing a project on Jean Harlow, writer-filmmaker David Stenn stumbled upon the story of dancer Patricia Douglas, who was raped during a 1937 MGM studio party. A little more research revealed a botched trial and monumental cover-up that carried all the way from the studio parking lot attendant to figures in the highest corridors of Hollywood power (not to mention Douglas' own mother). For his sometimes fascinating but often flawed documentary Girl 27, Stenn had one goal: to find Douglas and hear her side of the story. Unfortunately, his quest to interview Douglas makes this as much (if not more) a story about the filmmaker (who is an annoying onscreen presence) as it is about the subject. A tabloid-style exposé that combines rare archival footage with truly pointless scenes (including a home movie of the director as a toddler), Girl 27 is a potentially sensational true-life tale that ends up feeling oddly anticlimactic. Optional. (B. Gibron)