Inside Oscar: The Unofficial History of the Academy Awards [Hardcover]

Mason Wiley (Author), Damien Bona (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 12, 1986

ACCLAIM FOR INSIDE OSCAR
"A giddy social history of our place and time...Mr. Wiley and Mr. Bona have found just the right tone for writing about this most particular of American phenomena."
--Vincent Canby
The New York Times
"This is the book for your film reference library, not merely because it reveals where the bodies are buried, but also because it serves as a useful sociological and aesthetic guide to the Hollywood rat race over the past six decades."
--Andrew Sarris
The Village Voice
"A grand, grotesque Hollywood party, and what a guest list!"
--Michael Musto
Saturday Review
"A fat volume of facts, trivia, trash, and gossip (perfectly fitting for the occasion)."
--Patricia Holt
San Francisco Chronicle
"Gossipy fun and a browser's delight! Everyone may know bits and pieces, but no one has ever gathered this kind of material in such a convenient and diverting format."
--Desmond Ryan
The Philadelphia Inquirer
"The fullest--and funniest--chronicle ever accorded the Golden Guy...a remarkable closeup of Oscar--warts and all."
--Harry Haun
New York Daily News
"There are probably more solid laughs on any ten pages of this book than in the last ten years of Academy Award telecasts."
--Dennis Brown
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"It may be the only hilariously funny reference book in the world. At whatever point you open it, your total attention is engaged."
--Quentin Crisp
The New York Native

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This huge, hefty history of the hottest night for Hollywood hotshots is everything an "unofficial" account of the Academy Awards should be: exhaustively researched, informative, catty, and packed with amazing gossip. Authors Mason Wiley and Damien Bona describe the awards and their highlights from a number of different perspectives, quoting Hollywood insiders, reporters, and other public figures as well as offering revealing insights of their own. Inside Oscar reviews every ceremony from the '20s to the '90s, dividing each year into three sections. The first gives a full account of the movies that competed for the season's honors, focusing on the hopes, dreams, and squabbles of the actors, directors, and producers who were nominated. The second section, entitled "The Big Night," recounts the ceremony in full detail, conveying the suspense of the evening, relating the funniest quips by presenters and pundits, and describing the most arresting outfits worn by the celebrities in attendance. "Aftermath" covers the press reactions to the event and follows the fates of some of the winners.

Inside Oscar covers everything from the frenzy surrounding Gone with the Wind to the first televised awards to the disastrous 1994 ceremony, which was hosted by a terminally unfunny David Letterman. Each year is great fun to relive, but readers of this book may agree that the most memorable decade for Oscar was the 1970s, when the unexpected consistently prevailed. In 1970, George C. Scott, nominated for Patton, shocked the industry by declining the Best Actor Award. In '72, Marlon Brando refused his prize for The Godfather, sending a Native American woman, Sacheen Littlefeather, to chastise the astonished celebrities for their ill treatment of her people. Vanessa Redgrave accepted the statuette for Julia in 1977, delivering an anti-Zionist diatribe from the podium. And let's not forget the streaker who bolted onstage in '73.

You'll find full accounts of these events and many, many others in a book that's as much fun to thumb through as it is to read from cover to cover. This volume conveys the anticipation, the glamour, the viciousness, the surprises, and the fallout of the ceremonies with tremendous detail and high enthusiasm. --Raphael Efrem Shargel --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This entertaining sojourn through movieland concentrates on the Academy Awards ceremony and surrounding hoopla. A detailed program listing for each annual ceremony gives dates, location, host, and who presented each of the two dozen or so major awards that year, as well as who performed the nominated songs. The chapter for each year also provides short, gossipy pieces on Oscar-related news, plus accounts of which celebrities arrived at the ceremonies with whom, and what they were wearing. A comprehensive appendix lists "every Award the Academy has ever bestowed," year by year from 1927 through 1984, including all nominations, a listing that nearly makes obsolete the excellent Academy Awards: an Ungar reference index ( LJ 12/15/78; 1982. 2d ed.). Movie buffs will enjoy this, and skeptics may well find reading the book more enjoyable than watching the show. Richard W. Grefrath, Univ. of Nevada Lib., Reno
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 850 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1st edition (February 12, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345314239
• ISBN-13: 978-0345314239
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.4 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #191,416 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars filmbuffs...your bible is here, October 5, 2002

By 

L. Shirley "Laurie's Boomer Views" (Huntington Beach,CA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Inside Oscar, 10th Anniversary Edition (Paperback)

As I was perusing the book store here at Amazon, I came across
"Inside Oscar 2". I immediatley put in in my shopping cart, as I remembered how glued to the over 1100 pages of "Inside Oscar" by Mason Wiley and Damien Bona, I became. I originally bought this "refrence" book because I have a huge movie collection and I wanted to put my library in some kind of order. This book had all the Oscar winners by year, so I thought I would just be using it to look up dates, actors etc. Fahget about it!
Once I opened it, it was all over, I couldn't put it down.
This book has a year by year, blow by blow account of the Academy Awards history. We get the stories behind the stories. The rivalries,the studio hub bub, the lobbying, poignant moments and LOTS of good laughs.
Each chapter decribes a year in the life of Oscar. It starts out with the events leading up to the nominations,goes into "The Big Night" telling us who won, where it was held, who said what, and even who presented, and ends with "The Aftermath" goings ons.
The second section of the book has detailed lists of every award won and all the nominations in every year. It goes from 1927-1994 ("Wings" to Forrest Gump".)
If you are a movie buff, if you want to impress your freinds with Hollywood history trivia, or you just like reading about the stars, this is the book for you. I can't wait until my "sequel"(1995-2000) arrives.
Ciao dahlings.........Laurie

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oscar Euphoria!, June 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Inside Oscar, 10th Anniversary Edition (Paperback)

This book is amazing. Its year-by-year descriptions are historical and often suspensful. I remember the first time I read this book, before I knew the outcome of many of the years' awards; each year was a new drama with Mr. Wiley and company setting up the atmosphere of the race. Now, fifteen years later, I own the latest edition of Inside Oscar. It is a constant source of amusement and information. The writing is skillful and clever, and the categorical listing at the back is an invaluable reference. Every year during Oscar season, I will pick up an article by some journalist whose grasp of Oscar history is minimal, and I wonder why they don't just look up who REALLY won in Inside Oscar. I know Mr. Wiley is no longer with us, but I hope Mr. Bona and company continue the great work for future editions. I know I'd love to be a contributor to this tremendous work.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The winner is...."Inside Oscar", December 14, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Inside Oscar, 10th Anniversary Edition (Paperback)

If you enjoy the hype of the Academy Awards, this is the book for you. Plenty of behind-the-scenes action that you're not going to find by simply watching the Academy Awards. It's gossipy, dishy, and dirty...a definite guilty pleasure. Great index of past Academy Award winners and nominees as well.