Book Description

A book for all film lovers to saver. 2003 is the diamond anniversary of the Academy Awards. Now in paperback for the first time, "All About Oscar builds on Levy's well-known work on the Academy Awards over the past twenty years. It is both history and appreciation, chockablock with inside stories and little known facts. All-new chapters added to the previous edition ("Oscar, Fever, 2001) include: "The Luck of the British," "The Foreign-Language Winners," "The Importance of Being Eccentric," "Is Oscar a White Man's Award?" This book is neither authorized nor endorsed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

From Publishers Weekly

Offering an assemblage of facts rather than a specific point of view, this survey of the Academy Awards is admirable for its breadth but tiring in its uninspired presentation. Building on his earlier Oscar Fever, film scholar Levy imparts a "sociological view of the historic, cultural, and political contexts" in which Oscar nominations are made. He explores the award from many angles, e.g., how genres have been represented, how popularity figures into the awards and what winning an Oscar means. Some of the freshest information comes in the history section, particularly in the discussions of unions and the Academy, and the ending of studio sponsorship of the Oscar ceremony. There are references galore to past Oscar ceremonies and many original observations, such as Levy's reasoning for why so many of the actors in William Wyler films were nominated for Oscars (he says it was because the films' long takes and deep focus helped actors achieve "real dramatic continuity"). But overall, the book is tedious, with many names per page and a fairly commonplace conclusion: Oscar-winning movies are often long, glossy epics. The concluding charts listing, among other things, the most nominated films and the highest-grossing Oscar winners, are welcome. Photos not seen by PW.

Book Dimension

Height (mm) 234 Width (mm) 156