Moxie by Ira M. Resnick and Raissa Bretaña with Isabel Custodio

Cineaste Ira M. Resnick and fashion historian Raissa Bretaña launch Moxie: The Daring Women of Classic Hollywood, a celebration of the fearless, fabulous actresses of Hollywood’s Golden Age—illustrated with stunning photographs from a world-class collection. They will be in conversation with Isabel Custodio, writer, editor, and narrator behind the YouTube channel Be Kind Rewind.

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Lauren Bacall, Louise Brooks, Claudette Colbert, Bette Davis, Marlene Dietrich, Kay Francis, Lillian Gish, Gloria Grahame, Katharine Hepburn, Veronica Lake, Carole Lombard, Myrna Loy, Ida Lupino, Barbara Stanwyck, Anna May Wong—and more!

To make it in Hollywood, it takes more than beauty, brains, and talent—it takes moxie. This was especially true for women in the heyday of the studio system, a period from the 1920s to the 1950s when a small number of companies dominated the production and distribution of films in America. It was an industry controlled by male studio executives, in which directors and producers called the shots and contract players had little say in which roles they would play. Still, a trailblazing group of actresses forged successful careers out of sheer conviction, perseverance, and professional know-how. These spirited women captivated audiences, shaped the film industry, and remain enduring icons of classic cinema.

This gorgeous volume profiles some fifteen leading ladies who had moxie to spare. It is illustrated with more than two hundred film stills, publicity photos, and lobby cards from the collection of Ira M. Resnick—many published here for the first time. Together these captivating images reveal how the stars of the Golden Age used pose and performance, fashion and glamour to shape their images both onscreen and off. Moxie will dazzle and seduce all devotees of classic Hollywood.

Ira M. Resnick started his impressive collection of movie posters and lobby cards while studying at New York University Film School, after which he embarked on a decade-long career as a professional photographer. He is the founder of the Motion Picture Arts Gallery, the first gallery devoted exclusively to the art of the movies, and the author of Starstruck: Vintage Movie Posters from Classic Hollywood and The Seventies: A Photographic Journey (both Abbeville). He is a trustee of the Film Society of Lincoln Center and former chairman of the board. He is also a trustee of City Center in New York City and the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Resnick resides in New York with his wife, Paula, and two children.

Raissa Bretaña, a New York–based fashion historian, has taught at the Fashion Institute of Technology and currently works at the Museum at FIT. She appeared on the Turner Classic Movies series Follow the Thread, which explored the relationship between film and fashion, and hosted the video series Would They Wear That? for Glamour.

Isabel Custodio is the writer, editor, and narrator behind the YouTube channel Be Kind Rewind, which uses the careers of actresses as a lens through which viewers can explore the history of American cinema. Her work has landed her a Shorty Award Nomination for Best Education Channel and, in 2018, her essay on A Star Is Born appeared on BFI’s list of the Best Video Essays. Prior to working on her channel full time, she worked on the creative team at The Museum of Modern Art, developing projects for the museum’s YouTube channel and online publishing platform, Magazine. She is an alumnus of the 2023 Film at Lincoln Center (FLC) Critics Academy.

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