85 Years of the Oscar: The Official History of the Academy Awards - Hardcover

Osborne, Robert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0789211424 ISBN 13: 9780789211422

Publisher: Abbeville Press, 2013

Synopsis

A deluxe, year–by–year chronicle of the Academy Awards, with an entertaining text, hundreds of star–studded photographs, and complete lists of the nominees and winners.

85 Years of the Oscar, newly revised and expanded, is the official history of the Academy Awards. Following an introductory chapter on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the birth of the Oscars, the book presents the story of each year's awards, beginning with the very first, for the years 1927–28. Author Robert Osborne surveys the movies in competition, recounts the speculation on various winners, and describes events during the awards ceremony. He also provides a complete listing of the all the nominees and winners in every category.

Each year is illustrated with evocative stills from winning films and candid shots from the awards ceremony. Altogether, the book features more than 750 rare photographs, including original movie posters for every best picture. Drawing on Osborne's profound knowledge of film, the Academy's exceptional archives, and the personal reminiscences of stars from Katharine Hepburn to Clint Eastwood, 85 Years of the Oscar is unrivaled in illustration, accuracy, and completeness.

About this title

About the Author:

Robert Osborne is host of Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and serves as the official host for the TCM Classic Film Festival and the TCM Classic Cruise. For over 25 years, Osborne served as a reporter and columnist for The Hollywood Reporter, one of the industry’s most important newspapers. He has written a dozen books on the film world, many of them focused on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and has frequently served as host of the Academy’s in-person tributes, in both Beverly Hills and New York. Osborne earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006 and in 2008, received a special award from the National Board of Review for his contributions as a film historian.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

Excerpt from 85 Years of the Oscar

1939
The Twelfth Year

From start (with the January release of Gunga Din) to finish (with the December unveiling of The Light That Failed), the calendar year of 1939 produced probably more bona fide great entertainments and classics than any similar period in moviemaking annals. At Academy Award time, the competition was unintentionally outlandish, but eight of the features survived to win Oscars: Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Stagecoach, Wuthering Heights, The Rains Came, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, When Tomorrow Comes, and Goodbye, Mr. Chips.

Gone With the Wind, in fact, set a new Oscar numbers record, with eight awards, plus the Irving G. Thalberg award for its producer David O. Selznick. Winning writer Sidney Howard, credited with sole authorship of the final G.W.T.W. script, became the Academy's first posthumous winner. He had died in a Massachusetts farm accident in August, 1939, while the film was still in production. Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., the first president of the Academy, was also posthumously awarded at the 1939 award ceremony, held February 29, 1940, at the Cocoanut Grove of the Los Angeles Ambassador Hotel; Fairbanks had died two months before, and his special award was accepted by his son, Douglas, Jr.

For the first time, Bob Hope was an Oscar night master of ceremonies ( What a wonderful thing, this benefit for David Selznick,” he kidded). It was the last year the names of winners were told to the press prior to the actual presentation of awards. As in previous times, the Academy tipped off journalists in advance of the festivities, but under strict instructions the results were not to be printed prior to the ceremonial handing out of Oscars. The Los Angeles Times, however, jump the gun and heralded the winners’ names in their 8:45 p.m. edition, which could be easily read by nominees and guests on their way to the award banquet. It brought on an Academy decision that holds to this day: ever after, the names of the winners would be kept a stony secret from everyone except two representatives of a tight lipped tabulating firm until the actual moment of presentation. Thus, The envelope please ” was born.

About this edition

• Publisher: Abbeville Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0789211424
• ISBN 13: 9780789211422
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 472