In Oscar Wars, Michael Schulman chronicles the remarkable, sprawling history of the Academy Awards and the personal dramas—some iconic, others never-before-revealed—that have played out on the stage and off camera. Unlike other books on the subject, each chapter takes a deep dive into a particular year, conflict, or even category that tells a larger story of cultural change, from Louis B. Mayer to Moonlight. Schulman examines how the red carpet runs through contested turf, and the victors aren't always as clear as the names drawn from envelopes. Caught in the crossfire are people: their thwarted ambitions, their artistic epiphanies, their messy collaborations, their dreams fulfilled or dashed.
I have always been fascinated by Hollywood, by actors and by the movies. Schulman covers the nine decades of the Academy Awards, from the way the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences first came together all the way up to most recent times. There were a number of fascinating stories: the parallels from the two 1950 films Sunset Boulevard and All About Eve, the HUAC blacklisting actions of the 1950's, and how the demographics of the Academy in the early 1970's. I very much recommend this for movie fans.
Adult / Nonfiction
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