The hilarious classic that answers the burning question: What do women talk about when there are no men around? The answer: men, and how to steal them! Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer and Rosalind Russell lead an all-star cast in some of the funniest and most amazing catfights ever put on screen. When Mary Haines (Shearer) is jilted by her husband, the claws come out, and Crawford’s pushy princess tries to snag her man. Based on the hit Broadway play by Clare Boothe Luce and deftly directed by George Cukor, The Women will leave you in stitches!

Prior to the film, author Ira Resnick discusses his new book Moxie, illustrated with more than two hundred film stills, publicity photos, and lobby cards from the Ira M. Resnick collection ―many published here for the first time.  Moderated by Playhouse Founder John Farr.

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.  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.

Books will be available for sale and signing.

Ira M. Resnick is the founder of the Motion Picture Arts Gallery, the first gallery devoted to the art of the movies. He is a trustee of the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the author of Starstruck: Vintage Movie Posters from Classic Hollywood and The Seventies: A Photographic Journey.

Ira Resnick photographed by Rose Callahan on July 1, 2024 in Brooklyn.