Decades before Tootsie, Mrs. Doubtfire And Shakespeare in Love I played cross-dressing for laughs, Catherine Hepburn helped make drag a cinematic art form. In the 1935 romantic comedy Sylvia Scarlettwho played Cary GrantHepburn played the title character, a young woman who poses as a boy named Sylvester as part of a scam.

Unfortunately, the film was not a success and did little to boost Hepburn’s career, which is explored in words and photos in Moxie: the daring women of classic Hollywood by Ira M. Resnick and Raissa Bretaña, to be published November 5 by Abbeville Press. The new book devotes chapters to Hepburn and other legendary screen sirens, including Marlene Dietrich, Bette Davis and Lauren Bacall. It also features rare photos from the collection of Motion Picture Arts Gallery founder Resnick, as well as a preview written by Hepburn. On the golden pond girl, Jane Fonda.

Despite its lack of box office success, Sylvia Scarlett was notable for sparking rumors about the sexual orientation of its star, which raised eyebrows early in her career for ignoring the traditional standards of femininity that young starlets were expected to adhere to. The film also included a then-scandalous film kiss scene between Hepburn and her co-star Dennie Moore.

According to the book, Hepburn called the film “an absolute disaster.” He adds: “This sexual subversion fueled rumors about Hepburn’s sexuality – which became a subject of debate after she divorced her husband (Ludlow Ogden Smith) in 1934 and began living with a companion.”

At a time when female stars were expected to sell sultry, sexy clothing, Hepburn played strong-willed women and, controversially, even wore pants off-screen.

“Hepburn had a strong aversion to celebrity culture and had no interest in perpetuating the illusion of movie stardom,” the book explains. “She didn’t dress glamorous, sign autographs or give interviews.”

The book also cites a 1934 interview with cinema magazine in which Hepburn said: “I don’t live my life for Hollywood or publicity, and I never will. Why should I change my personality?”

Hepburn, who died in 2003 at the age of 96, had a long-term relationship with her nine bandmate Spencer Tracy, from 1941 until his death in 1967 at the age of 67. But according to Hollywood lore, the enduring love story was a blanket to hide the sexual orientation of the two stars.

In his 2012 book Full service, Scotty Bowersan entrepreneur/”pimp to the stars” who supplied sex partners to Hollywood celebrities through a gas station on Melrose Avenue, claimed to have introduced Hepburn to “150 girls” and Tracy – who remained married to Louise Tracy from 1923 until upon his death – to men, including Bowers himself.

“They were just friends…They weren’t in the bed department at all,” he said of the Oscar winners in the 2018 documentary. Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood. (Bowers died in 2019 at age 96).

Regardless of its place on the Kinsey scale, Moxie is clear about Hepburn’s legacy in Hollywood, despite early critical and commercial misfires like Sylvia Scarlett. Her “tireless dedication to her career,” the book observes, “is central to her cinematic legacy, and through it she has rightfully earned her place among the greatest stars in the Hollywood pantheon.”

Moxie: the daring women of classic Hollywood will be published by Abbeville Press on November 5 and is available for pre-order now wherever books are sold.