This is a joyous, intense book: Gregory is bracingly up front about the outright sexism that has dogged professional stuntwomen almost from the beginning. But Gregory, who interviewed dozens of stuntwomen of all ages, focuses on much more than injustices and legal battles. What comes through most strongly is the joy these women take from their work.
~New York Times
While Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story fits comfortably on the shelf of any film history buff, it also provides essential relevance to those interested in feminism, American social/culture studies, and even contemporary law. Mollie Gregory has done a splendid job.
~Mel Neuhaus, film writer, Examiner.com
Stuntwomen, a history of American stuntwomen from silent films up through the movies of the present, is an exhaustively researched, comprehensive volume. Gregory's book fills a void in film history about this interesting, often overlooked, and vital cog in the film industry.
~Sheila Benson, former chief film critic for the Los Angeles Times and writer for the National Society of Film Critics
Mollie Gregory clearly knows her subject inside out, and writes about it vividly and excitingly.
~Kevin Brownlow, filmmaker and film historian
A highly original, pioneering volume on the under-appreciated role of women in film. Stuntwomen documents the unique and until now untold story of its title subjects from the 1910s through the present. Mollie Gregory brings to her project the same skill, enerfy and vitality that those stuntwomen displayed, 'a come-from-behind, risk-it-all saga,' as she describes it. Much as men took over the role of director from the early women filmmakers, so did stuntmen quite deliberately it seems exclude their female counterparts, and it was not until fairly recent times that women once again proved just how capable they were in this field. The stunts are discussed in detail, along with the political, social, union, and, of course, gender issues involved. And did I mention that Stuntwomen is highly readable and pleasantly jargon-free?
~Anthony Slide, author of "It's the Pictures That Got Small": Charles Bracket on Billy Wilder and Hollywood's Golden Age and Silent Players: A Biographical and Autobiographical Study of 100 Silent Film Actors and Actresses
Studded with absorbing descriptions of the hazardous work of these athletic, unsung heroes, Mollie Gregory's excellent account is a richly detailed and long-overdue history of the daring stuntwomen of the screen.
~William M. Drew, author of The Last Silent Picture Show: Silent Films on American Screens in the 1930s
This book aims to uncover just how bad the institutionalised sexism of Hollywood studios was for stuntwomen who were often overlooked in favour of men in wigs.
~Wow 247
Smart, thorough, and well researched.... Stuntwomen covers the film industry's most daring ladies and their feats from silent era [to present day].
~Los Angeles Magazine
This chronicle is long overdue and Gregory seems to have found the right people to help tell the tale.
~Leonard Maltin, Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy - Holiday Book Roundup
Documentary filmmaker and author Mollie Gregory writes an in-depth account of the stuntwomen who have performed on the big screen and television... to give readers a close view of the exciting and dangerous world these women love to face on a daily basis.
~Shelf Awareness
In her engaging and enlightening book, Gregory digs into this little known corner of Hollywood history and gives voice to the women who have risked their lives for a few (perilous) moments on the big screen. A fascinating look at a risky profession.
~Becky Krystal, Washington Post
Gregory has peeled the lid off a rich subject. There's no other book like this out there.
~Film Comment
A compelling look at a group still marginalized by Hollywood at large today, and threatened by the increasing reliance on CGI, Stuntwomen is a story of women kicking the shadows away and standing in the spotlight!
~Cinema Sentries
An original, thought-provoking history of stuntwomen in the American movie business. Gregory does an excellent job of exploring a plethora of issues that women experienced in the industry, and she complements such explorations wonderfully with excerpts from her interviews and other primary sources. Gregory's book highlights the courage and resilience of stuntwomen, not only in performing physically challenging stunts, but also in facing so many challenges in order to have a job they truly love.
~Oral History Review
