The Katharine Hepburn Flop That 'Fueled Rumors' About Her Sexuality: 'A Real Disaster'

Decades ago Tootsie, Mrs. Doubtfire and Shakespeare in love played dress-up for laughs, Katharine Hepburn helped turn drama into a cinematic art form. In the romantic comedy from 1935 Sylvia Scarlettstarring Cary Grant, Hepburn played the title character, a young woman who pretends to be a boy named Sylvester as part of a con.

Unfortunately, the film was not a success and did not contribute much to the strengthening of Hepburn’s career, which is explored in words and photographs in Moxie: Daring Women of Classic Hollywood Ira M. Resnick and Raissa Bretaña, is 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 photographs from the collection of Motion Picture Arts Gallery founder Resnick and a forward written by Hepburn On the Golden Pond Jane Fonda’s daughter.

Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant in ‘Sylvia Scarlett’ from 1935.

Promotional photos of Sylvia Scarlett, RKO Pictures, 1935. Courtesy of Ira M. Resnick.

Despite its lack of success at the box office, Sylvia Scarlett was known for starting a rumor mill about the sexual orientation of its star, who raised eyebrows early in her career for ignoring the traditional standards of femininity that young starlets were expected to adhere to. The film included a then-scandalous kissing scene between Hepburn and her co-star Dennie Moore.

According to the book, Hepburn called the film “a real disaster.” It added: “This subversive gender reassignment fueled rumors about Hepburn’s sexuality – which became a topic of debate after she divorced her husband [Ludlow Ogden Smith] 1934 and started living with a female companion.”

Katharine Hepburn as “Sylvester” in “Sylvia Scarlett”.

Promotional photos of Sylvia Scarlett, RKO Pictures, 1935. Courtesy of Ira M. Resnick.

In an era where female stars were expected to sell sultry and sexy, Hepburn played strong-willed women and, controversially, even wore pants off-screen.

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“Hepburn had a strong aversion to celebrity culture and had no interest in maintaining the illusion of a movie star,” the book states. “She didn’t dress glamorously, sign autographs or give interviews.”

The book also quotes a 1934 interview with Motion Picture 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 aged 96, famously had a long-term relationship with her nine-time co-star Spencer Tracy, from 1941 until his death in 1967 aged 67. But according to Hollywood lore, the long-running love story was a cover to hide the sexual orientation of both stars.

Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn in ‘Woman of the Year’ 1942 Hulton Archive/Getty

In his 2012 book Complete serviceScotty Bowers, an entrepreneur/”pimp to the stars” who supplied Hollywood celebrities with sex partners 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 to he died – to people, including Bowers himself.

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

‘Moxie: Daring Women of Classic Hollywood’ by Ira M. Resnick and Raissa Bretaña (Abbeville Press, 2024).

Abbeville Press

Regardless of where she was on the Kinsey scale, Moxie is clear about Hepburn’s legacy in Hollywood, despite early critical and commercial failures like Sylvia Scarlett. Her “tireless dedication to her career,” the book notes, “is at the core of her cinematic legacy, and has rightfully earned her place as one of the most important stars in the Hollywood pantheon.”

Moxie: 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.

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Source: HIS Education