Ira M. Resnick

For four decades film historian Ira M. Resnick has been amassing a superb collection of 2,000 vintage movie posters and 1,500 stills, which has never before been published. Starstruck: Vintage Movie Posters from Classic Hollywood features the best of Resnick’s collection, with vivid reproductions of 250 posters and forty stills from the golden age of Hollywood, 1912 to 1962. In a moving introduction, Resnick relates how his love of vintage movie art translated into a career as a collector and the founder of the Motion Picture Arts Gallery, the first gallery devoted exclusively to the art of the movies. Resnick’s firsthand account offers entertaining anecdotes about how he managed to acquire such stellar film artwork, as well as historical information about the stars and films shown on the pieces he collected. Guiding the reader through the best posters and stills of his collection, Resnick provides a tour of cinematic history, starting in the silent film era and continuing up to Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961). By showcasing several posters for each performer—such as Lillian Gish, the Marx Brothers, Marilyn Monroe, John Barrymore, and Audrey Hepburn—Resnick offers a unique method of charting the evolution of each movie star’s career. Organizing his account both chronologically and thematically, in later chapters Resnick discusses some of Hollywood’s legendary directors and films, and critiques fantastic graphic art from little-known films. Bonus material includes a list of Resnick’s fifty favorite one-sheets, helpful tips for the collector, and a glossary of terms and poster sizes. A must-have book for every collector and film buff, Starstruck offers a beautifully illustrated, personal tour of a bygone age of the motion picture advertising industry.

A celebration of the fearless, fabulous actresses of Hollywood’s Golden Age — illustrated with stunning photographs from a world-class collection. Lauren Bacall, Louise Brooks, Claudette Colbert, Bette Davis, Marlene Dietrich, 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 14 leading ladies who had moxie to spare. It is illustrated with more than 200 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.

This finely printed and bound volume is an expanded, more personal version of Ira Resnick's critically acclaimed photo book The Seventies: A Photographic Journey, featuring twice as many celebrity photos and anecdotes. In images and words, Resnick re-creates his path through a decade of tremendous change, in the world and in himself - from film school at NYU, through travels in Israel and Canada, to the cultural ferment of Mill Valley and the glamour of Hollywood. Along the way, Resnick's work as a professional photographer brought him in contact with the leading personalities of his time: Musicians like the Rolling Stones, Stevie Nicks, and James TaylorActors and directors like Sissy Spacek, Warren Beatty, and Martin ScorseseComedians like Steve Martin, Gilda Radner, and Bill MurrayAthletes like Muhammad Ali, Billie Jean King, and Kareem Abdul-JabbarPoliticians like Jimmy Carter, Jerry Brown, and Bella Abzug Resnick's photographs of these iconic figures - many never seen since their original publication in magazines like Rolling Stone, People, and Us - will fascinate anyone with an interest in popular culture. And his personal journey will resonate with anyone who came of age in the 1970s.

The seventies in America were a time of social and cultural ferment, and Ira Resnick was there with his camera to capture it all. Now he is opening his archives to reveal hundreds of rare celebrity photos—many never seen since their original publication in magazines like Rolling Stone, People, and Us. Musicians like the Rolling Stones, Stevie Nicks, and James Taylor. Actors and directors like Sissy Spacek, Warren Beatty, and Martin Scorsese. Comedians like Steve Martin, Gilda Radner, and Bill Murray. Athletes like Muhammad Ali, Billie Jean King, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Politicians like Jimmy Carter, Jerry Brown, and Bella Abzug. Resnick’s dynamic shots are accompanied by personal anecdotes about his legendary subjects.