Customer Reviews

The Academy Awards: The Complete History of Oscar

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

While I am always excited when a new Oscar book is published this is a book that you probably shouldn't get too excited over. While there are some interesting parts about this book the very simple fact that they get the most basic facts wrong is inexcusable. Estelle Parsons has only won 1 Oscar, not 2. There are other such mistakes like that. It just made me wonder how many other mistakes there are in the book that I didn't catch. There are some admirable aspects to this book, but wait until this book is in the $10 book bin to buy it.

Don't get me wrong this was an enjoyable book, the layout extremely impressive, and , considering I have a lot of books on The Oscars, this one managed to keep my interest. However I am concerned about some glaring mistakes throughout the book, which to me devalues the book when it comes to settling arguments. Errors which include the book stating that Katherine Hepburn has won 8 oscars!, it incorrectly identifies Walter Brennan as Wallace Berry, says the Helen Hayes won in her screen debut then a few years later notes that Gale Sondergaard becomes the first person to win an Oscar in her debut film. As well as that it notes the Laurence Olivier is the only person to direct himself to an Oscar, totally ignoring the fact that Roberto Benigni did it in 1998. As I said an enjoyable book but be wary with the facts. Not worth the 60-70$ price range, but still a nice buy.

Well, it's a nice big book and there are great pictures. But this book is filled with amazing and laughable ERRORS.

Most Spectacularly:

West Side Story Oscar Winner for Best Supporting Actress RITA MORENO is identified as CHITA RIVERA. Pg 144

In a blurb about JUDY HOLLIDAY, in the section about her Oscar Win for Born Yesterday, the book tells us that Madonna lists Holliday as one of her biggest influences and that Holliday recorded many great jazz albums with many jazz greats. HELLO? Madonna is talking about BILLIE HOLLIDAY. Pg 99

Trust me, this is JUST THE TIP OF THE ICE BERG is this ERROR-RIDDEN book. What is fascinating is that this book made it to press at all with these GLARING mistakes.

Who wrote this book? What could possibly be wrong with them? These mistakes aren't typos - the are major errors committed by someone who obviously came to film study by way of sheep grazing.

Fascinatingly wrong, but by no means a reliable reference. I feel completely cheated, but mysteriously entertained.

HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

Avoid this error-ridden expensive book at all costs! Want examples? Katharine Hepburn "went on to win eight Academy Awards" (pg 30). Er, how about three, guys? "Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne were the first couple to be nominated in the same year" (pg 27). How about Norma Shearer and Irving Thalberg, who were nominated together the year before? Supporting actress winner Mercedes McCambridge died in the year 2000 (pg. 94), which must be news to the still-living McCambridge. Embarrassing book with errors on practically every Oscar year. Authors Gail Kinn and Jim Piazza deserve a very special hall of shame award for producing the least-accurate and most amateurish book on any subject I've ever read.

Yes, Judy Holliday recorded albums with Jazz greats. However, she is not one of Madonna's influences. (reference US Weekly 1998 article in which Madonna discusses her love of BILLIE Holliday - the singer.)

I don't claim to be a movie expert. But neither can the authors of this book. Of the 19 online reviews of this book, 12 note the large number of factual errors. It's simply not a reliable reference.

Yes, Chita Rivera originated the role of Anita in West Side Story. On Broadway. But she was not in the movie, did not win an Oscar, and was not "standing in the winner's circle" with George Chakiris. If the authors want to fancifully "right an aggregious wrong" then their book should be sold under FICTION. And if they want to spell words correctly, it's EGREGIOUS.

What is the excuse for saying that Katharine Hepburn won 8 Oscars, difnyc? For listing Clark Gable as Best Actor for Gone With the Wind? More righting of "E"gregious wrongs?

Ah, I wish it were so. Does this mean I can write an Oscar book where Julie Andrews wins for "My Fair Lady?" (Because you know, she did originate the role on Broadway.)

It's a poorly-edited, poorly fact-checked book. Case closed.

I love reading about the Oscars and but this book is pretty much worthless. It is riddled with errors. There are some nice pictures, but the people in them are frequently mis-identified. For instance, Rita Moreno is called Chita Rivera, Richard Dix is called Warner Baxter, and so on. The authors say that Citizen Kane was a 1940 release, when it was really 1941, and they also have the wrong year for Alfred Hitchcock's Lady Vanishes.

The authors also attribute Bette Davis's famous quote about wanting to be the first to win 3 Oscars, and being sure that she would be, to Katharine Hepburn, who never much cared about the Oscars.

I'm sure there are plenty of other errors, but I've put the book away in exasperation and disgust. Considering how expensive it is, there should have been a copy editor.

Some of the pictures are interesting, but you can get them in a better package in Robert Osborne's books, and you can get all the stories about the Oscars in the Wiley/Bona Inside Oscar (and they're accurate there).

I just finished the book, and then read all of the online reviews. If I had paid full price for the book i would be upset too. It's just not accurate about so many things.

I can't agree with the review by dfnyc which says that the authors were righting a wrong by confusing Chita Rivera with Rita Moreno. That makes the whole book seem unreliable. And the Clark Gable mistake is a pretty big one.

I don't really understand all the furor on here though. I would imagine that these positive reviews are probably written by the authors themselves and their friends and maybe rightfully so. But otherwise who would back up a book that is so clearly built on an unsteady foundation? The facts are incorrect.

But the pictures are lovely and their are a lot of them.

Thank you.

Book was a gift. Interesting at first, but as all other reviewers have noticed, it's riddled with mistakes.

Not just name switches or typos, I refer to major gaps in information and logic. It's mysterious because it makes you wonder how a large professional book of this magnitude comes together at all with such errors.

Aside from the racist oversight identifying Rita Moreno as Chita Rivera (which is mind-boggling) the statement that Hepburn won 8 Oscars? That Gable won best Actor for Gone with the Wind?

Impossible to conceive how something like this happens. Unless it was ghost-written by 12 people who never met and had very shoddy information.

Don't waste your money.

Sorry...I was typing a bit quickly. Katharine Hepburn has won four Oscars, not three as I had written in my review.

This is a handsome book with fascinating pictures, however, some of the data is incorrect. For example, the authors list Vivien Leigh as the first non-American to win Best Actress, when in fact, Luise Rainer, an Austrian, was the first actress to do this, in 1936 and 1937; Vivien was Best Actress of 1939. One thing about the book I like is the birth/death dates of the winners, although my 20+ years of collecting Oscar data sometimes diagrees with the authors' dates, all in all, they are pretty correct. Also, this is not the fault possibly of the authors but the publisher, but some of the yearly categories list the nominees but no winner is highlighted, and some of the categories are run together typographically in the book. Just small quabbles, this is a nice book and even nicer photos.