Girl 27 (2007) - full transcript

Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.

Where did this story go, and

what really happened here?
This is a huge story.

How did this story die, and, if
it did die, who buried it?

These lovely girls... and you
have the finest of them... greet

you.
And as to show you how we feel

about you and the kind of a good
time that's ahead of you,

starting tonight...
If they had any idea of the

ramifications and the ripple
effect that that had on her, it

changed her life, my
grandmother's life, mine.

I have no idea where her life
would have gone had it not been



for that night.
You don't believe in taking

"no" for an answer, do you?
Don't look at me like that,

Mr. Powell.
You scare me.

"She's a tramp."
The whole vocabulary of bad

woman... "Slut," "tart,"
"tramp," everything... came up

immediately if anybody mentioned
she was raped.

First, I was stunned.
I have read a lot about legal

cases over the years.
I had never heard of her, and I

was actually quite scandalized
that, number one, this had

happened to her, and, number
two, was that why wasn't anybody

talking about it?
Why are we sweeping this under

the carpet?

Aah!

I was on deadline for my
second book, and I was at the



part where Jean Harlow is dying.
It was the first week of June

1937.
Look at that drive.

All of 200 yards.
And it's a huge story.

26-year-old, at home, dying.
Nobody knows why, nobody knows

how.
Meanwhile, the king of england

is abdicating his throne to
marry an American divorcée, so

here we have two historic
stories, and, suddenly,

something's pushing both of them
off the front pages.

An underage dancer named
Patricia Douglas goes public

with shocking charges against
MGM, accusing them of rape...

That she had been raped at an
MGM sales convention party that

she had been lured into under
false pretenses.

Now, I kind of pride myself of
having heard about everything

pertaining to MGM, because that's my job.

I'm writing a book about Jean Harlow.

I ought to know everything
that's going on at MGM.

I've never heard of
Patricia Douglas, never heard

her name mentioned, never seen
her name in any of the reference

sources... any.
The editor of my book was

Jackie Onassis.
We went out to lunch, and she

said, "is there anything you're
interested in doing?"

And I said, "there's a story
that I came across when I was

doing the Harlow book, and this
is what it is."

And I told her about all these
headlines I'd found... "Wild

party hosted by MGM for its
salesmen."

Patricia Douglas charges one of
them, David Ross, with rape,

then takes her case all the way
up to federal court.

That didn't compute.

And why has this never appeared
anywhere since 1937?

"Am I crazy, or is this a huge
story that no one's ever told?"

And Jackie said, "well, if
anyone can find what happened to

her, David, it's you."
And when you're given that kind

of mandate from that kind of
person, how do you walk away

from it?

At the time the Patricia Douglas
story went public,

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was home to
Hollywood's biggest stars.

Ladies and gentlemen, here
comes the thrill of the

evening... Mr. Clark Gable.
Thank you.

Oh, and what a lovely,
lovely, beautiful creature is

Jean Harlow.
Thank you.

That, of course, is
Joan Crawford, as you all know.

Thank you.
You can probably guess from

the cheering that it's miss Norma Shearer.

I want to congratulate everybody in it.

I think they're all marvelous.
Now, friends, the excitement

breaks all bounds, as the
enthusiastic spectators dash

forward to greet and acclaim
their favorite stars.

MGM had its own police force,
grade school, private railroad,

and acting academy.
Oh, wait a minute.

In the first place, the kiss is awful.

You know perfectly well not to bump noses.

Presiding over it all was the
most powerful man in Hollywood

and the highest-paid man in america.

Ladies and gentlemen,
Mr. Louis B. Mayer.

It was like
"the Wizard of Oz."

You know, it's no wonder they
made the movie, because

Louis B. Mayer was the
Wizard of Oz.

He made everything work.

Our fans are entitled to the best.

I'm thankful that we can supply
what we consider fine pictures.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer... oh,

oh, what a lion.

So, here we are at the
ambassador hotel, at the very

spot where the 282 MGM
conventioneers arrived in 1937.

In the middle of the
great depression, MGM had just

posted record profits, thanks to
its sales force, who sold the

studio's movies to theaters
across the U.S.

And now these salesmen are
getting to participate in the

fantasy factory, and they're
being welcomed into this world.

They're being picked up at the
train station in a private

railcar and then taken by motorcade to the

ambassador hotel, rented out in
its entirety for them.

Then they're being escorted by
motorcycle police to MGM, the

greatest film studio in the world.

And they're being told, "we're
the greatest film studio, and

you're the greatest film sales
force."

So they're like part of the
royal family, and that's

intentional.
That's what MGM wants them to

think.
But what it feeds into is this

idea that "we're above the law.
We can do what we want."

In 1937, if you said to someone,

"I'm going on a convention,"
what it's basically saying is,

"I get to go wild.
I get to leave my home

community, leave the social
constrictions in that home

community, and I get to have fun
sponsored by my employer."

You have a nice trip up?
All the boys had a good time.

In fact, we run out of scotch last night.

That's the setting for this
convention, because

Louis B. Mayer says to them,
"thank you."

And that's to show you how we
feel about you and the kind of a

good time that's ahead of you,
starting tonight at the famous

cocoanut grove.
"I'm going to treat you like

kings.
I'm going to wine you and dine

you and make you feel as
important as you are to this

studio.
Welcome to California.

Anything you want."
Anything you want.

At 16, I went to work for
MGM, and I considered it was a

windfall.

There was an air... a constant
air... of being pursued.

All the men tended to try to
break women down.

These were very aggressive men.
Twice I was asked to go to be

interviewed, and the guy got up
and said, "well, let's see your

legs."
now raise them up a little.

Oh, don't mind me.
I just want to see if you're the

right type.
And you'd pull up your skirt,

and he'd say, "turn around, honey.

Pull it up higher."
Aw, bring them up a little

higher.
Up, up. Yeah. Ahh.

And then he'd say, "let's see
how you feel."

And then he'd walk around the
desk and grab you.

You know, uh, I kind of like you myself.

You couldn't go to the
citizen-news and say, "you

know, Mr. So-and-so did this to
me at MGM."

No way, because the studios
owned Hollywood.

I mean, this is no exaggeration.
It was one of the laws I learned

very early on.
Even the adults were afraid.

Everybody seemed to be afraid of
something, except the men

that were pursuing girls, you know.

That was the one thing that
nobody seemed to have any

compunction about.
Eddie Mannix, Louis B. Mayer.

There's something going on there.

Where we are now is the Hal Rach Ranch.

So, where we're walking on
now was a 10-acre ranch?

I mean, this pleasant, sweet row
of houses... suburbia?

Except it didn't look anything like this.

MGM producer hal roach owned
the ranch where the convention

party took place.
I asked Richard Bann, a

hal roach historian, to show me
around the scene of the crime.

If you were working here... if
you were Laurel and Hardy or

our gang... because this is
where hal roach made all their

movies, no phones, no public
transportation.

I mean, if you're here, you're
here because you've been taken

here.
Right.

And this is where she claimed
she was raped... in this field,

where he dragged her to a parked
car and raped her.

And she was talking about the
freshly tilled soil in her

account of the event, so it
would have been...

The party would have been up
at the top of the hill.

The big barn would have been where the...

That's where the party...
They said it was held in a barn.

So, they would have parked their
cars here, gone up to the party,

which was held in the barn.
The girls... these dancers that

they brought in for a "movie
call"... they would have been up

there waiting in the barn for
something to happen.

And they did film here all the time.

So if you got a call saying
you were shooting at the

roach ranch, that was completely
legitimate.

Yes.
Go home! Go home!

Did you hear me?
I said, "go home."

According to the newspaper
articles, the dandridge sisters

were there as entertainment.
Dorothy dandridge, only 13 years

old at the time...

Laurel and Hardy were there as
entertainment.

This was a big event.

500 cases of scotch and
champagne for 282 men?

No wonder the newspapers called
it a drunken orgy.

Yes, it is disillusioning.

I remember two words that I
learned, and one of them was

"rape," which was an extreme disaster.

And the other one that usually
was in the same conversation was

"tart."

"Well, she's a tart.
What do you expect?

She's a tramp."
The whole vocabulary of bad

woman... "Slut," "tart,"
"tramp," everything... came up

immediately if anybody mentioned
she was raped.

I've been watching all these
movies from Patricia Douglas'

day, and rape absolutely does not exist.

Either she passes out just in time...

...or he passes out just in

time.
Or there's a handy weapon nearby

for that "just in the Nick of time" escape.

You would think rape would be no
laughing matter, but the place

you see it most is cartoons.
Some creep's always after poor

No, no, no, no, no, no!
I have you in me hands.

Let me alone!
Ah.

Stop it! Help!
Let go!

Let me alone, you big brute, you!

Drop that girl!
Okay.

Ouch!
Wise guy!

"The Story of Temple Drake"
is this huge exception.

Based on the novel "sanctuary"
by William Faulkner and released

in 1933, "The Story of
Temple Drake" is about a spoiled

southern belle who really gets raped.

Aah!
And even though she goes

public in court, Temple Drake's
carried off to a happy ending.

Be proud of her, judge.
I am.

"The Story of Temple Drake"
is an intense movie, which is

why so few people got to see it.
Even though the rape scene was

painstakingly story boarded in
advance, the film was banned and

barely seen.
Even today, seven decades later,

it's unavailable on TV, VHS, or DVD.

MGM was meticulous about purging
its files, but some stuff ended

up at the university of
southern California, so I

called Ned Comstock in
special collections, and in deep

storage he found a Patricia Douglas file.

Has anybody ever looked at this file?

Not this particular file, that I know of.

What do we got here?
This is the call sheet for

120 girls.
Hmm.

"May 5, 1937."
4:00 P.M. was the call time.

"Where to report... the ranch."
It's just like it's a movie

call.
There she is.

Girl 27... Patricia Douglas.

And this, they typed it up,
and she's still girl 27, but

it's in caps, underlined...
"Pat Douglas."

Pat.
This is from western costume,

which was right next door to
Paramount and where you'd go to

be costumed for a film.
"Pat Douglas... one brown felt

large cowboy hat, one suedette
skirt, one pair of black

side-seam boots."
So, they're dressing these

dancers like Betty Boop.
Aah! Oh!

They'd be like hostesses for
the conventioneers?

Evidently, but they didn't know it.

They would have thought they
were in some sort of western

musical.
Yeah, these girls would get

called by the casting directors
and go from studio to studio to

studio, whatever the call was,
and I don't think they paid a

whole lot of attention to what
they were doing.

They did their musical number,
and they were done.

Right.
This is a list of the people

who worked at the party.
L.A. police, state police,

Culver city police, and "our own
police and watchmen."

So you had policemen from four
different departments.

You have the Los Angeles city
police, the California State

police, the Culver city police,
and the MGM internal studio

police, and nobody ever files a
report that this girl has been

raped.
This is a questionnaire.

This is probably what they gave
to the 119 other girls.

"What is your name?
What is your age?

Do you know Patricia Douglas?
When did you first meet her?

State in detail what you know
about Patricia Douglas' past

reputation for morality.
Have you ever seen

Patricia Douglas intoxicated
before or after the party?"

They need these people to tow
the party line.

They need them to say that she
was a tramp and she was a drunk

and, therefore, she couldn't
possibly have been raped,

because tramps can't get raped,
in terms of the 1937 mind-set.

This is the pinkerton detective
agency report.

The same day Patricia Douglas
goes public, their surveillance

of her... they're watching her,
they're asking people questions

about her, they're standing
outside her house all day,

they're seeing who's going in,
who's going out, where she's

going.
"Say, 'Patricia Douglas is a

drinker.
Her character is questionable.'"

I mean, this is character assassination.

Little piece of paper from the
desk of hal roach.

Dr. B. Dakin "treated Douglas
for G.U."

"G.U." is "genital-urinary," and
that was a discreet term, at the

time, for V.D...
Specifically, gonorrhea.

Hal roach owned the ranch where
the party took place.

Now he wants his doctor to say
Patricia Douglas had V.D.,

because if Patricia Douglas had
V.D., she was sexually active.

And if she was sexually active,
she was a slut.

Nowhere in this file does it say
she wasn't raped.

There's nothing here where
they're saying that her

contention isn't true.

What's here is, "we have to make
her look immoral, because if she

is immoral, she is not rapable."

Have you been able to find her?

You have to believe she came to a bad end.

From what we've just seen, MGM
went all out to destroy her.

I do believe her.
I absolutely believe her.

I think you've got an assault and battery.

It's a classic assault-and-battery case.

I have read a lot about legal
cases over the years.

I'd never heard of
Patricia Douglas, so I did a

little research.
In fact, I even employed some of

the Fox News channel research
capabilities and could find

nothing about her.
She had been completely hidden.

She was off the legal radar screen.

Michael taitelman's law firm
handles high-profile Hollywood

cases, and Greta Van Susteren
analyzes them for the Fox News

channel.

I gave them both the
Patricia Douglas court files,

which haven't been seen since 1937.

As a lawyer advising someone
about whether to bring a case

like that, you tell your client
what to expect.

I would hope that her lawyer
told her it would be very

difficult, you've got to have a
lot of courage, you're going to

be raked over the coals, you're
going to be portrayed as someone

you're not, and do you still want to do it?

I think the mere fact that she
went forward, especially in that

day and age, says a lot about
her character.

What's fascinating about this
woman is that she was bringing a

federal lawsuit... a
civil-rights claim... perhaps

the first one... for a group of
women who were tricked into

attending a party and tricked
into being put in a very

dangerous situation, and then
she was raped.

The people were sued.
David Ross was never served.

Again, I find that hard to believe.

To serve a guy who is working
for MGM, and presumably working

at MGM in Illinois, should not be too hard.

I mean, there are process
servers all over the country.

You send the papers to the
process server, and you tell the

process server to find the guy.

I mean, in my wildest dreams,
the idea that the D.A. would not

have disqualified himself, in
light of the fact that he was

getting substantial
contributions from MGM to his

political campaign... today,
we'd be in his front yard.

Every time he walked out, we'd
stick a microphone in his face

and say, "how in the world can
you possibly give this woman a

fair shake when you've got MGM
stuffing cash in your pocket

for your election?"
Would I have taken the case

then?

Who knows?
There's a lot that I imagine

people would think about in
deciding to go up against the

Goliath, MGM.
A crime was committed against

her, and then what happens?
Everybody runs.

No one will help her.
The law won't help her.

The D.A. won't help her.
MGM won't help her.

The doctor who examined her
wouldn't help her.

What I find disturbing... I can
think of no reason... none,

zero, even though I'm a
criminal-defense attorney...

No reason at all to publish
her name, her picture, her

address, and refer to
MGM studio, who is financing

this 5-day extravaganza... this
drunken brawl for its

salespeople... refer to them as
a local studio.

If that doesn't tell you, right
from the get-go, the sort of

community sentiment about these
cases back in the late '30s, I

don't know what does.
MGM had one of its employees

accused of raping this woman and
the others accused of

participating in the scheme to
bring these people to this

place, so of course MGM had a
huge interest in having this

case go away.
So, I discovered the

Patricia Douglas case inspired
another girl to come forward who

also said she had been raped.

Her name was Eloise Spann, and
she was a contract player at

MGM.
She was a singer, 19 years old.

Came forward and accused an MGM
executive of raping her.

She became pregnant.
She had to have an abortion.

She had been a virgin.
She went to the same lawyer that

represented Patricia Douglas and
then saw everything unfold

exactly as it had for Patricia Douglas.

According to the court records,
this house is where Eloise Spann

was raped.
Mom never talked about this,

is what's so amazing to me.
When you called, I had mixed

feelings.
Excuse me.

Well, because this is not a nice
story, and this is someone that

you love.
Jack Terry is the son of

Eloise Spann.
When I found him, he knew

nothing about her case.

Very proud of what she did,
and I don't know if she thought

she could win or not, but that
doesn't make a hill of beans.

She went after him.
And this, at the time, would

have been the ultimate humiliation.

A few weeks after the attack,
miss Spann testified it was

necessary for her to undergo an
operation to avoid becoming a

mother.
My mother never felt well.

And I don't know if it's from
the abortion that she had

through this gentleman, because
I'd come home from school... I

got off the bus, and mom would
be on the couch or mom would be

in bed.
A lot of our dinners were

scrambled eggs and toast.
When I first called you, you

said, "my mother died of a
respiratory problem."

And I had had her death
certificate, and I didn't want

to say anything, because...
She killed herself.

This is the coroner's report.
She hung herself.

And your father was trying to
get the door open.

I didn't get into it.
I... you lose your mother, and

you only want to know so much,
and then you don't want to know

any more.
My wife and I are religious

people, and we just hope, when
they go before the big guy...

That they have to pay the price
for this nonsense, because what

they've done is they've ruined,
harmed, killed...

Too many people.
She never would sing.

I will hear her voice for the first time...

Soon... today.
And I don't... i-i'm... i'm

really anxious.
Jack's watching an old movie

of his mother singing.

I wish everyone else could watch
it, too, but when they heard

about this project, the studio
which owns all her films refused

to release any footage of Eloise Spann.

Knowing about Eloise Spann's
suicide, I was sure

Patricia Douglas had met an
equally tragic fate.

Women who were the epicenter of
a Hollywood scandal didn't live

to a ripe old age.

Otherwise, we would have heard from her.

Someone would have found her or
she would have found someone and

said, "this is my story.
I need to tell this story."

So the idea that she would be a
woman in her mid-80s that was

still alive and just sitting
there, waiting, had never

entered my mind.
I was... furious when I heard

from David.
Imagine, 65 years, nobody

knowing what happened to you
when you were young.

And here comes some young fella,
out of the blue, and wants to

talk to me about the case.
So, I didn't care about the

story being told.
I kept it a secret 65 years.

Why not go... die with it?
Who would care?

My family always called me
"baby," I guess because I was

the baby of the family.
For the first few months, she

hung up on me.
You're bringing back

memories, see, and I don't like them.

Do you understand that?
We need it on record, is why

we're discussing it now.

Talk is cheap.

She won't meet or mention
MGM's wild party, but, with her

permission, I'm taping our
calls, because even though she

doesn't seem to know it, this
little old lady is the key

player in both MGM's most
shocking scandal and the biggest

cover-up in Hollywood history.
Want Patricia Douglas on this

show?
I would kill to have

Patricia Douglas on my show.
I would kill to find out what

her experience was... not the
rape, not the sordid, ugly

details, but the system, the corruption.

I believe my mother was
married eight times.

She was a young designer.
She designed gowns for

actresses, and she had her own shop.

She worked for the studios.
She was a tiny woman, but when

she put on heels, she was the right height.

And she had a walk, with so much
poise, that clothes were made

for her.
And she was just a joy to watch.

I loved to walk behind her,
because everybody would walk

past and not look at her, and
the minute she passed, all the

heads would turn to look at her.
I never gave myself a thought...

Just pride in her.
And then she kind of

disappeared.
All she had was a mother.

The father was long gone out of
her life, and she never had

siblings.
Never, ever was I nurtured.

I think my mother was the type
that wanted a child and when she

had them and the cuteness wore
off, then it was like a toy

you'd get tired of.
I used to go to the movies...

For having people around me,
because, in my family, I was

such a loner, I was ignored.
I was just there.

So, at least, in a movie, even
though I didn't like the

picture, there were people
around me, and I felt loved.

So, did you have close friends?

No.
I do not make friends easily.

I don't expose myself... give
them a chance to hurt me.

Nobody gets that chance, because
I don't get that close to them.

You want the truth?
Yeah, I want the truth.

I don't feel anything.
I'm not impressed by what we're

doing.
Have you ever been in love?

No, I have never been in
love, and I have never known

what it is to love somebody.
And do you think that was

taken away from you by what
happened at the MGM party?

Oh, I think that was taken
away from me because I believe,

no matter how much I feel
towards a man, I still don't

trust.
Doing extra work in the movies

was not a thrill for me.
It meant nothing.

I was quite popular with dance
directors because I was a very

quick learner.
Once I would learn the step, I

could help teach the other dancers.

And how old were you when you
started doing that?

I'd say around 14, 15.
These are underage girls.

They were not 21.
Under the law, they're kids.

A lot of young girls were
chorus girls and dancers, and

the dancers were fair game.
There were more young women

brought in during the musical
period who were really, really

vulnerable.

These girls... and that's
what most of them were...

Underage girls... would work
half naked among all-male crews.

And in those days, a girl who
had rhythm, who knew how to move

her body, was considered
sexually aware and thus sexually

available.
And you're always kind of

being pursued on the set.
That's why I hated the set,

because you were so vulnerable
and there were a lot of

obscenities.
They were fair game.

It was just open season all the time.

As far as sex was concerned,
that was never explained to me.

We never talked about sex.
It was never brought up.

It was never, ever brought up.
My mother was too busy, I guess,

getting married.
She seemed to be very adept at

it.
That's it, get them up, get

them up, get them up.
Good. Rest.

Fine. That's fine.
That's fine.

All the girls who worked as
dancers in Hollywood... all they

did was work in these numbers,
these extravaganzas that were

full of fantasy and music and
dance and, hence, romance.

The idea that everything was
about romance is a wonderful,

romantic notion, but what
happens when someone eyes you

and romance isn't on his mind?
Your mother hasn't told you a

thing.
All she's told you is, "dance,

find romance.
If he proposes, say yes."

But what if he propositions?
What if he doesn't propose?

And there's a big difference.
Or what if he doesn't even

proposition?
What if he just takes you and

grabs you and drags you out to a car?

And that happens, and that's
what this story is about.

This is The Story of someone
that that happened to.

I never thought of being an
actress or being a star.

And did you like to dance?
Yeah, I liked to dance.

I loved to dance.
We had these 3- or 4-hour

phone conversations, and her TV
is always on in the background.

And I asked her once, "what are
you watching?"

And she said, "mtv.
I love to see these kids dance."

And I said, "what kind of a
dancer were you?"

And without missing a beat, she
said, "I moved just like jlo."

She moved just like jlo, but
after 1937, Patricia Douglas

never danced again.
I was shocked by the

hypocrisy of stars that
everybody believed in.

Example... Loretta Young, when
she had the baby by Clark Gable,

said she adopted it.
As the baby matured and got

older, it was the spitting image of her.

There's no way she could deny
it, and she denied it till her

deathbed to that poor girl that
she wasn't her mother.

Loretta Young gets pregnant by Clark Gable.

He's married, she's a staunch
catholic, so when rumors start

flying, she stages a press
conference in her bedroom.

Even though she's eight months
pregnant, she swears it's just a

stomach ailment.
And when a baby girl is born,

she deposits it in an orphanage,
waits 18 months, then announces

she's adopting a little girl...
Her little girl, which everyone

in Hollywood knew, but no one
dared to say aloud.

I couldn't understand why
Patricia fixated on this story

until I went through the
newspapers from 1937.

And while she's on all the front
pages, buried inside is

Loretta Young's adoption announcement.

So while a rape victim's
crucified in the press, a movie

star gets totally protected.

My name is Judy Lewis, and
I'm the daughter of

Loretta Young and Clark Gable.

My mother said she adopted me.
And, of course, she didn't adopt

me, because I was her natural daughter.

She wasn't fooling anybody, really.

Hollywood knew the true story.
I was the only one who didn't.

When I was a little girl, I
always had a feeling that there

was something not quite right about me...

Because I was born with my
father's enormous ears.

And they were enormous.
They stuck straight out.

And my mother had me in bonnets
all the time.

I couldn't go outside in public
without wearing these bonnets,

and I hated them.
So, when I was 7, I had my ears

operated on, and I had them
pinned back, so I no longer have

my father's dumbo ears.
I went to an all-girls high

school.
I had a friend in class with me,

and she said, "Judy, how come
you look like your mother when

you're adopted?"
She says, "I'm adopted, and I

don't look like my mother."
So, of course, I went home, and

I said, "mom, how come I look
like you when I'm adopted?"

And my mother... without a
second's breath, she said, "oh,

well, honey, we live in the same
house together, and you have my

mannerisms, and it's very
natural that you, you know," and

off it went.
And I learned about my true

parentage a week before I was married.

I called the priest who was
going to marry us, and I said to

him, "I've just heard the most
incredible story that

Clark Gable is my father, and
I'm going to confront my

mother."
and he said, "don't.

She won't tell you."
And I didn't.

When I finally confronted my
mother, years later, she threw

up.
She vomited.

She said, "oh, well, you're
just a walking mortal sin,"

which was a little shocking to
me at the time, needless to say.

My mother asked me to keep her
secret from my daughter.

So, she's asking me to carry a
lie and a secret down to the

third generation, which I
absolutely refused to do.

I've never lied to my daughter
about anything.

When I can say publicly, "I am
the daughter of Loretta Young

and Clark Gable," I'm whole.
I'm present.

I'm... I'm here, you know?
And it's been really wonderful.

It's a whole different life for me.

I'm getting away from it,
what I want to tell you.

You did talk about how
David Ross was pestering you all

night.
He wanted you to teach him the

shag.
Or was it trucking?

Trucking. That's what it was.
He kept asking me to teach

him how to truck.
That was the dance at the time.

Kept asking you to teach him how
to dance, you realized he

thought you were there to be his girl.

I don't think I realized it.
I don't know whether I was naive

or dumb.
Really, frankly, I don't think I

gave it any thought because I'm
not a suspicious nature.

Never entered my mind, anybody
would do me any harm.

Whether it was a setup or a
party or anything, I don't think

it ever entered my mind.
But he was all hands.

We'd call it "copping a feel,"
was the word that was used for

any excuse to brush up against
you, to put his arm all the way

around you or anywhere where he
could touch some part of you,

which was very disgusting.

"Slimy" is the only word I could
think of to describe the man's

looks.
I hate to compare him to a

pekingese, but that's about the best.

He had bulging eyes... very big,
bulging eyes... that almost

dominated his face.
David Ross was never served,

and, again, I find that hard to believe.

He's one of the luckiest guys in the world.

Never served with this, never
charged with this.

Now, he had to live with it, and
I don't know how he lived with

it, but at least he didn't go to
prison forever and he didn't

have to pay financial damages for doing it.

The only thing I can remember
is this David Ross' face.

Of course, it was in my
nightmare for many years.

I could not get him off my mind
and what he had done to me.

He took my innocence.
You can never get that back.

You were a virgin?

I don't like to bring it up.
But it's important for the

story, because you were talking
about he took your innocence.

He took it on every level.
You were a virgin.

Yep.
I don't want to talk anymore.

Aah!
These lovely girls...

Anything you want.
No!

Don't touch me!
Aah!

Aah!
Aah!

No! Keep away from me!
Let me out of here!

Don't look at me like that,
Mr. Powell.

You scare me.
Help!

Let go!
Don't!

Aah!
Get away from me!

Don't touch me!
The next thing I remember

is being in a small hospital...
One story... it's just a tiny

place... and being given a
douche.

And the way I remember that is
because they used cold water,

which is not very pleasant.

When she went to the
hospital, she wouldn't have had

a doctor cleanse her and then
attempt to do an examination...

A doctor whose entire business
was dependent on MGM... so the

fix looked in at the examination.

And, of course, at the time,
I didn't realize that that would

erase all evidence, because I
didn't know about things like

that.
I can't remember anything right

now.
Do you remember seeing

yourself on the front page?
I remember the headlines.

How did you feel about the headlines?

Humiliated.
I don't want to talk anymore.

Can I stop?
Absolutely.

He heard someone crying and
screaming in the bushes, and he

went, and they arranged for an
ambulance to come.

Clement soth was the parking
attendant who heard Patricia

screaming, then saw David Ross run away.

On the witness stand,
clement soth changed his

testimony, saying he didn't recognize Ross.

I tracked down clement soth's daughters.

At first, they said they knew nothing.

Then, 10 minutes later, they
called back with the truth.

Daddy testified at a trial,
doing MGM a favor, and what he

was to get in return was a
lifetime job at MGM.

He had to perjure himself, so
when you do that, that never

leaves you.
I mean, that's a big deal.

He had only disdain for most
of the stars of the time and

certainly for the heads of the studio.

I mean, Louis B. Mayer was just
no good as far as he was

concerned.
But he had a family that he

had to support.
Who's to say that any of us

wouldn't have done that?
I mean, we don't really know

what we would have done.
It's easy to say from hindsight.

But at the time, who knows?
Because one little testimony

is not gonna touch those big
studio people, it wouldn't have

changed anything.
They would have wiggled out.

There are so many women that
this has happened to.

It affects their whole life forever.

And so if we can help one woman,
then it would be a good thing to

do.
And that's why I decided to do

this.
Here we are at the gold coast

hotel in Las Vegas, and I am
supposed to meet

Patricia Douglas tonight.
Her apartment's right around the

corner, and that's why she
wanted me to stay here.

This means a lot to me, and,
um... I've waited a long time for

this.

It's 8:40 now, and she said, "do
not come over before 9:00."

I'm nervous.
If this goes well, it begins.

If it doesn't go well, it ends.
I'm just sitting here waiting

because I can't concentrate on
anything else.

She does not like a man who
wears jeans, so you don't see

any jeans on me tonight.
She also said her favorite look

on a gentleman is a vicuña coat,
and I had no idea what she was

talking about, and then I
remembered there was a scene in

"Sunset Boulevard" where
Gloria Swanson takes

William Holden shopping.
Now we need a topcoat.

Let me see what you have in camel's hair.

Here are some camel's hair.
But I'd like you just to feel

this.
It's vicuña.

Of course, it's a little more expensive.

The camel's hair will do.
The salesman sort of leans in

with a leer and says...
Well, as long as the lady's

paying for it, why not take the vicuña?

"Sunset Boulevard" was made

in 1950, so that look is about
50 years old.

I think she's actually listed in

the phone book.
She's listed in the phone book.

Just her first initial, "p," but
she's listed in the phone book.

I looked for her for so long,
and after all that... but you

would have had to have known her last name.

I'm rambling.
There's so much at stake.

There's so much... your first
meeting, it's like...

Hello?

She... panicked.
She couldn't do it.

She called me on the hotel phone.

I knew it was her because
everybody else... nobody knows

I'm here.
They'd call on my cell.

She wouldn't call on my cell
because it's a long-distance

call and she won't make a
long-distance call.

She can't afford it.
And she was really upset.

She felt terrible.
She just said, "I can't.

I'm so sorry. I can't."
I just kept saying, "it's okay.

It's okay. There's no rush."
And all I'm thinking is, "if you

go, this story goes with you."
But on the other hand, you're

thinking, "this poor woman.
Leave her alone, David.

Leave her alone.
Let her die with her secret."

But you think about what she was
like in 1937, and you think,

"well, that has to be characterological.

That's her personality.
That can't have changed."

Maybe this is a test on her part
to see if I'll give up and go

away, and when she sees that I
won't, maybe next time that'll

make a difference.
She still has a chance to find

vindication.
And as long as she has that

chance, then I'll be there.
What will I do now?

I-I don't know.

The coldest day of the year...
Temperature dropped 35 degrees

since I landed last night.
But I'm here 'cause I finally

found David Ross.

He had no siblings and no
children, and there's nobody

left who can even recall him.
This guy got away with rape,

went back to Chicago, kept his job at MGM.

I didn't tell her I was coming,
but I know she'll want every

detail because it really closes
the chapter.

Here he is, dead and buried.
And there's the proof.

You want me to look at you, David?

Okay.
My name is Patricia Douglas.

It's very difficult for me to
try to remember these things.

They've been buried so many
years... believe it or not, 65

years... and to try, when
they're buried so deep, to bring

them out...
Maybe it'll help young people

not to be trusting.
I don't know.

I hope so.

This is the part of Las Vegas
that you don't see, right in the

shadow of the strip.
This is Patricia's apartment.

She sleeps in her bedroom, wakes
up at 4:00 in the afternoon,

moves from her bedroom to her
couch, sits down on her couch,

turns on the television, watches
television until 4:00 in the

morning, gets up from the couch,
and then goes back into her

bedroom, and that's her life.
It isn't that I mind living

alone, because I'm a loner, as
you no doubt have known from my

story now that, uh...
I enjoy being alone.

Her favorite show is
"the sopranos," which I don't

think she realizes she probably
relates to because her own

experience at MGM and what they
did to her was almost like the

mafia swinging into action.
James gandolfini... such a

wonderful actor, such a compelling force.

She doesn't leave her
apartment, and the only time

she'll leave is for a doctor's appointment.

I'm very private.
I don't expose myself... give

them a chance to hurt me.
I'll never forget the first

time I went into that apartment.
I was so nervous.

He was so formal.
He was so sweet.

I remember I opened the door,
and the back of the couch faced

me.
I was so nasty to him.

And I saw this figure with
her back to me, sitting on the

couch.
I was so nasty to him...

'Cause he invaded my privacy
that I thought was so secure.

And she was just sitting
there, and I knocked on the

door, and she said, "come in."
She had this great, low,

gravelly voice.
So I hang up on him.

But he persisted, thank god.
And I walked around like

this, and I thought...
"What do I do? What do I do?"

And I just... I just...
Impulsively, I just sort of

threw my arms around her and
hugged her, and I said, "I'm

really glad to meet you," and I
think she was taken aback.

She went like this a little,
but... then she settled into it.

He courted me.
He sent me flowers.

Uh...
At first, she was so hard and

tough and shellacked, and then I
knew it was a veneer, but to get

inside of it and to see this
person bloom and so much love

inside of her that she was
afraid to give...

Bless your heart.
She ate terribly.

I mean, her diet... I don't even
know how to describe her diet.

She basically didn't eat, and
she always used to say, "how can

I be such a fat old broad and
never eat?"

He's got some bad faults.
He's bossy.

And he likes his own way.
And he's pretty adamant about

that... getting that... too.
But then so am I.

I go to kfc because she says
that's the best coleslaw she's

ever eaten.
She said, "you can't get better

coleslaw anywhere in the world
than at kfc."

So I said, "well, would you like
me to get you some?"

And she said, "oh, would you?"
And I said, "well, you know I

would."
I have my way, and I make him

think it's his.
You know, we women can do those

things.
I started to clean toilets,

and I said to her, "this gives
you an idea of how I feel about

you, that I'm sitting here
scrubbing your toilet."

If you'd seen how I fought him...

And look what I would have lost.
I guess I love her.

I mean, she's... she... when you
care about someone, you want to

do anything you can for them
that they want.

You'll never meet anybody like him ever.

I wish we could do his story.
All right, let's skip me.

No.
This is you. It's your show.

We're over now with me.
What's throwing the shadow here?

Don't worry.
You're not the cameraman.

You're the star.
Don't you worry.

Well, I mean, it's different.
Don't you worry.

She's got you lit.
It's not on me? Why not?

Oh, look... now she's
Marlene Dietrich.

The battle's not over, and
until I am vindicated publicly,

where everybody knows the true
story of what really happened...

I won't be.
The doors are open now, and the

gloves are off.
If I have to fight, I'll fight.

If you have to take me to court
in a wheelchair or on a

stretcher, I'll go.

I was called... by the studio.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer... oh,

oh, what a lion.
And I was told to report to

western costume company because
I would need a costume for the

film they were doing.
And that was the words that were

used... "This film they were
doing."

Snap into it, girls.
You're five minutes late now.

I didn't notice there weren't cameras.

I was trusting. I was dumb.
I'd never been around bad

people, so I didn't know one
when I saw one.

I've always... been fortunate
enough that I could trust

anybody.
But you couldn't trust this man.

Slime.
Pure slime.

He wanted me to teach him to dance.

I didn't want any part of him.

And we got back to the table,
and there was...

Pitchers... pitchers.
One of them had something bubbly

in it...
And the other one had a terrible

odor, and they said that was scotch...

In fact, we run out of scotch last night.

...and that the other one was
champagne.

Champagne, champagne, and more champagne!

The only way I'd ever seen
champagne was in a movie, where

they pop it and it foams all over.

And to see it in a regular

pitcher was such a comedown,
mentally, for the way I had it

pictured.
And they said, "do you want to

taste it?"
And I said, "no. No.

I don't drink."
And that other one that smelled

so awful... "Well, that's
scotch."

"Well, how can anybody drink
something that smells that bad?"

"Well, it's delicious.
Taste it."

"No, I don't want to taste it."
So, when I wouldn't drink, they

poured some champagne and some
scotch into a glass, and one of

them held my nose and the other
one poured the liquor all over

me and down my throat...
And almost the whole glass.

So, right away I had to go
outside to vomit, and I could

hardly walk.
I don't want to talk anymore.

I want to remember this because
I want everybody to know what it

feels like to be violated.
And then, in other ways, I don't

want them to know, 'cause it's a
horrible feeling.

No. Leave me alone.
And when Ross was... i'm

sorry.
I have to use the word

"attacking."
I cannot use the other word.

He'd said that...
He wanted to destroy me.

I don't know why he would want
to destroy me.

Oh, I'm getting cold chills.

Oh, god, I'm cold.

He was slapping me in the face...

To keep me awake...
'cause he wanted me to

cooperate, and I was fighting him.

I was screaming, "I have been attacked!

I have been attacked!"
And then someone... I think it

was the...
man in charge of the parking

lot... called to me.
They brought me home in an

ambulance, and I went to sleep,
and I didn't wake up until...

The next afternoon.
My eyes swelled up, and besides

that, I was extremely sore,
ladylike, in my extremities, is

the only way I can think of to say it.

And then my family... I don't
know why they didn't mention it.

The pictures in the paper were
never mentioned.

How did I feel? Was I sore?
Do I... is there anything I need

to make me feel... nothing.
A hug would have been nice, I

imagine, but I never got that.
It was never mentioned.

It never happened.
That's the only way I can figure

out.
The way my family handled it was

to ignore it.
It didn't happen.

I did want him punished.
I could not get him off my mind

because he took my innocence,
because I was a virgin, and he

left me...
With horrendous memories of my

first time.
And believe it or not, it

affected the rest of my life physically.

I was a frigid... woman, and I
never changed.

It was a packed courtroom.
This district attorney said to

the jury and the courtroom,
"look at her," and he said it

with such disgust.

"Look at her.
Who would want her?"

And it changed my entire life.
And I often wonder if that

man... if it ever bothered him
that he had done that to another

human being or if he realized
what he had done.

And then when you leave the
courtroom, reporters push you up

against David Ross, who's shown
up with Louis B. Mayer's

personal attorney to call your
charges "absurd and ridiculous."

Oh, it was so horrendous.
I believe I just gave up.

I didn't like my life, and I
wanted to get out of it.

And then you have a vague
memory of trying to jump out the

window.
I remember seeing a window at

the end of the corridor... we
were way up high... and running

towards it.
That's all I can remember.

I just wanted to get it over
with, whatever it took.

My own daughter, my
grandchildren have no idea.

They're gonna be astounded to
find out that I was in this...

"Scandal" 65 years ago.
But I'd like them to know it,

but only under the condition
that they knew...

That I really was a nice person.
I wasn't this dirty woman.

I wasn't an easy woman.
A rape victim is looked upon

as someone who brought it on
herself, and that is what makes

it so different from other
crimes, is the woman feels

dirty.
She feels cheap, trash.

I thought, "well, if I had a
child, I could give my love so

freely and it would be reciprocated.

There would be no judging me.
They wouldn't... they would

think I was wonderful no matter
who I was or what I looked like

or what I did or what I had done.

It would be mine."

When I was about 2, I had a
ruptured appendix, and I was in

the hospital a long time.
It was very upsetting

emotionally, and she didn't like
having that kind of emotion.

When I got out of the hospital,
she sent me to live with my

great-grandmother, and I don't
remember seeing her for years.

She slept all day, and then she
ate a big dinner and watched TV

and then stayed up all night long.

I didn't expect her to iron my
clothes or cook a meal or go to

my school or talk to my teachers
or... anything like that.

I don't know what she did.
I guess she was asleep.

I have a daughter that's...
Well, let's say we don't get

along.
She gets along with me for her

friends' sake, I think, so that
when they say, "my mother," then

she can be able to do it, too.
But otherwise, there's no

closeness there.
I always wondered why she

couldn't seem to leave the house
and she never had any friends.

Because I was so alone.
Did your mother ever talk to

you about sex?
Oh, no.

No.
As far as sex was concerned,

that was never explained to me.
I never had a mother-daughter

talk.
I never had that.

So I married a man and used the
expression "as a stud."

I had a beautiful daughter out of it.

He wasn't worthy...
And she's just like him.

She was stifled emotionally,
and then physically she stifled

herself.
My second husband... I think

I knew him no more than three
weeks, maybe two.

He had never been married, and
because of my low self-esteem,

he was a challenge.
I only lived with my mother

by herself, with a husband, a
stepfather, once, just for a

short amount of time.
It was when I was 9.

And then my last husband...
He married me when he wasn't

divorced and told me he was divorced.

He was kind of scary.
Because they wanted sex, and

the only way they could get it
was to marry me.

So they became bigamists.
Two of them became bigamists

just to be able to have sex.
He was mean.

He was... devious.
He'd do things...

Behind her back.
He'd take a bath with me, and I

was scared not to do what he said.

And... he wanted me to do things
to him, and...

You know, it was our little
secret, of course... you know,

that old deal.
But I just had a feeling that I

was almost being...
Put out as a sacrifice to keep

his interest in her, in being there.

So I never dated again, and I blew it.

I was about 35.
But you can never miss what

you've never had.
All I ever wanted, I remember

growing up, was to have a real family.

I mean, I've been the typical
mother, stay-at-home mom...

Brownies, girl scouts, room
mother... for my four kids.

Come on through.
You're a good girl.

This one sucked my thumb all the
way to the hospital after she

was born.

Their stalls are always open.
Doors are never shut.

I think they're happy horses.
I went to visit my mother one

time, to Las Vegas, and my
daughter was with me, and she

had mentioned in a telephone
conversation, "you don't know

me."
so, very innocently and very

calmly over dinner, I said, "so,
mom, tell me about yourself.

What was your childhood like?"
And, I mean, you could almost

see the hair on her neck go up.
She just started breathing heavy

and got all flustered and,
"what, are you interrogating

me?"
and then I said to my daughter

later, "does that give you any idea...

Of the way I grew up, my
childhood?"

She says, "that's just bizarre."

She took me to my first gay
bar when I was 19.

When I finally told her, she's
like, "oh, god!

Thank god one of you is!
Grandma always knew you were a

queen."

I don't want my grandchildren
to be embarrassed because they

don't know the real story.
They don't know anything.

Everything was a secret.
We never knew anything.

So, I'd like them to know the whole story.

No, that was what she told me.

Mom, you look gorgeous.
Bye. Love you.

Love you, too.

You were saying to this day
you can't watch a movie where

there's a rape.
It conjures up memories.

Five decades after
Patricia Douglas is raped,

"the accused" is released.
Here's a movie about a rape

victim who takes her case to
court and wins.

The wonderful thing about
this movie is that it forces you

to see the human ugliness in all of us.

One actress wins an Oscar.
The other actress goes public

with the fact that she has been raped.

I wouldn't allow the audience
to go to this film and say,

"well, this is just a movie.
This doesn't really happen."

No, I'm here to say that it does
happen and it really does happen

to people all over the world,
and I think it affected me

greatly and I think it will
continue to affect me the rest

of my life.
But I cannot watch...

Any movie where they show an
actual person being attacked,

and by that, I mean a physical attack...

Involving sex.
I cannot watch...

To this day.
And, like I said, it's been 65

years.
So, after the grand jury sets

David Ross free, you file a
federal rape case... apparently

the first one ever.
Then nothing happens.

Why did this landmark case go away?

I have no idea.
That is completely vague.

The way it ultimately ended,
to me, suggests that something

occurred... something that was
not right.

No, I went to the lawyer he told me.

I couldn't tell you the name.
William J.F. Brown.

My name is Kelly Brown.
My father went into his own

practice, criminal law, which he
thoroughly enjoyed, and did that

till his retirement.

This case was dismissed in
state court, was refiled in

federal court.
It sat for three years and was

dismissed by the court for lack
of prosecution.

He was very flamboyant in the
L.A. lifestyle and always smoked

a cigar.
In this instance, there's a

document dated February 8, 1940,
which references a February 5,

1940, case having been called
for the third time and no one

showed.
I would go downtown with him

a lot.
He'd like to take me to court.

Her lawyer did not show in
federal court on three

occasions.
But it was something that

kind of turned me off to the
law, I think, a little bit, that

it was just a lot of deals being
made, and, I think, more so in

those days.
The only reason you don't

show up at a trial call is if
you've settled the case and

you've got a settlement
agreement done, let's say, and

you don't care that the case is
gonna get dismissed because it's

been resolved.
But from what I understand,

there was no settlement, and so
if there was no settlement and

this case was pending in federal court...

They punked it.
It would be a little harder

to get away with those things in
our decades than it was then.

For the lawyer to have
dropped the ball and to have

allowed the case to be
dismissed... I mean, I think

that is malpractice.
The lawyer's behavior is

deplorable.
The lawyer should be arrested.

My understanding is that this
lawyer that represented her

ultimately ran for the district
attorney of L.A. county.

He ran for district attorney.
And I don't think you win an

election in the 1930s for the
district attorney of L.A. county

without the support of MGM, the
biggest employer in L.A. county.

It almost seems like MGM had
a lock... a lock on the

community.
The movie industry was huge

in those days, and...

You know, they were in bed with
a lot of the city officials.

In both the state case and
the federal case, the first

order of business was the
appointment of a guardian ad

litem... her mother.
So, Mildred Mitchell essentially

controlled the litigation and
made decisions in the

litigation.
Not only did her mother have

a legal obligation to pursue the
claim for her as the guardian,

as her mother, but you would
think she would also have a

moral obligation.
This is your kid.

This is your daughter.
She was raped.

The mother...
Pulled the plug.

And her mother sold her out.

Patricia Douglas took a risk,
and she really, especially in

that day and age, stepped up to
get this out there, to stop it

from happening to other people,
to vindicate her rights, and to

have her mother and her
lawyer... to have it unfold the

way it unfolded is a miscarriage
of justice.

It's hard to even think of a
sort of David and Goliath story

more than this one, except for
in the end, David didn't win

this.
Patricia Douglas didn't win this

case in the end.
MGM successfully did.

They had the D.A.
they had the newspaper.

They had the one witness who
could corroborate... suddenly he

can't remember what he said at
first, and suddenly he's given

this great job at MGM forever.
They had the doctor, they had

the hospital, they had her lawyer.

MGM even had her own mother.
The fix was in.

Mildred Mitchell used her
hush money to buy a liquor

store, horses, furs, and a
younger husband who abandoned

her and took it all with him.
He walked out with everything

my grandmother had and left her
way in debt.

Except for her three brief
marriages, Patricia Douglas

lived her entire adult life with
her mother.

She swore she had no idea about
Mildred Mitchell's betrayal, but

I sensed on some level she'd
always known the truth and was

punishing both her mother and herself.

I never understood it.
It was like a symbiotic

love-hate thing.
She couldn't leave her mother,

but she was mean and angry at
her all the time.

My mother said one time, about
10, 15 years ago, "you just

don't know what's gone on."
And I said, "well, don't you

think whatever it was, it's time
to let it go?"

I said, "my god, you're 75 years old.

She's 95. Let it go."
"Oh, well, you just don't know."

There's no question
Mildred Mitchell felt guilty.

She went from totally neglecting
her daughter to waiting on her

hand and foot.
She was always acting like

she had to take care of the
baby, making special meals.

I mean, she did everything.
And my mother was just nasty to

her.
We didn't get real close till

she got helpless and I took care of her.

Then I felt needed.
I'd say the last 10 years of her

life is the only time I could
say I really loved my mother.

I haven't told this to anybody.
And do you feel vindicated

now?
No.

What will it take to make you
feel vindicated?

What will it take to make me
feel vindicated?

I want it in black and white.
66 years after first seeking

justice, Patricia Douglas
agreed to come forward once

again with her story.

Vanity Fair magazine called
me and assigned me to photograph

Patricia Douglas for their Hollywood issue.

She was a bit overwhelmed.
I showed up with three photo

assistants and somebody to do
her hair and makeup, and she

avoided direct eye contact.

She was definitely in this kind
of cave situation, and, like

when you enter the cave of some
kind of caged animal, she was

very protective of her space.
Patricia sat in the same place

on the same couch every day.
That was kind of her throne.

You see her medications and you
see her calendar, which she's

filled in with all kinds of
notes about talking to David and

all these kind of personal items
that are kind of her lifeline to

the real world.

I read the article.
I called her, and I said, "I am

so proud of you.
I cannot believe the strength

and courage that you have and
that you had to do that and to

follow through like that.
I am so proud of you.

It was just amazing."
And I said, "I don't know why

you ever would not have told me
and shared that with me."

I said, "I just... I am just
really proud of you."

And I got nothing but silence.
I mean, she wasn't even gonna

respond to that.
And...

She never did talk about it to me.

I was thinking that I'm almost 85...

And I really should...
Start thinking about dying.

I called the hospital, and I
said, "I understand my mother is

in the hospital."
And they said, "yes, she's been

here for several weeks."
And I said, "I had no idea."

And I said, "how is she doing?"
And they said, "she's not doing

well."
and I said, "do you think I

should come?"
She says, "yeah, you better

hurry."
how could I help but do good

if I exposed what they did and
that I changed it in my own

little way...
That I'm part of that?

I'd like to be proud.
And now I'm near to tears.

And I talked to her, and I
said, "I'm here," and...

I don't know if she wouldn't or
couldn't talk to me, but she

didn't look at me.
She didn't say anything.

And so I guess I wanted to think
she couldn't.

So I just told her, you know,
"go toward the light and go be

with your mother."
Patricia Douglas died later

that night.
She was 86 years old.

It was her wishes to be cremated.

We said, "we want her cremated."
"Do you want to buy this urn or

that urn?"
I said, "I don't want to buy an

urn.
I don't want these ashes.

My mother is gone.
She is not here."

It's like, "what do you want to
do with this car after you've

junked it?"
And I said, "just a cardboard

box," so he showed me a
cardboard box for $25, and I

said, "that's ridiculous."
I said, "I can go to the grocery

store and get a cardboard box.
These are ashes we're talking

about."
and, I mean, they just were

appalled.
I called the New York Times

to let them know she was gone,
and they refused to run an

obituary.
Here's the e-mail they sent me.

"David, we did not run a
Patricia Douglas obituary.

Her story is compelling, and you told it.

For an obituary, we need
something more... a significant

legal ruling that grew out of
her case, a news pick of some

sort.
She was a wronged woman who

never got her day in court and
vanished from the scene until

you found her.
That story is not an obituary."

Nobody knew who
Patricia Douglas was because

everyone did everything he or
she possibly could to make sure

we didn't know who Patricia Douglas was.

There's a huge part of me that
doesn't see her as a tragic

victim but as a hero.
She had guts. She was tough.

She was willing to fight.
She was a kid, but she was

willing to still take on the establishment.

That's my vindication...
Is the truth.

The truth always wins.
It comes out no matter what, no

matter what you do or how many
years go by or how you lie or be

lied against.
The truth's gonna out.

And I guess that's my vindication.

Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.