Oscar(r) Fever: The History and Politics of the Academy Awards(r)

by Emanuel Levy

Book Overview

Oscar Fever is a completely new and far more popular rewriting of And the winner is (1987; 1990). It is both history and appreciation, full of inside stories and little-known facts. - Who can up with... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 082641284X
• ISBN13: 9780826412843
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.94 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Fresh Angle on the Oscars

I like movies, but I am not a movie buff or an avid watcher of the Oscar telecast. Yet, I was doing some research and browsed through the magazine, The Economist, where I came across a most interesting table, reprinted from Emanuel Levy's Oscar Fever: The History and Politics of the Academy Awards. The table classified all Oscar-nominated and Oscar-winning films, showing a clear preference for serious-message movies, like "Schindler's List." "Rainman" or "The Lost Weekend" on the one hand, and historical epics, such as "Gladiator," "Ben Hur," or "Lawrence of Arabia" on the other. I was surprised to read that. According to Mr. Levy, the Academy has shown consistent bias against the comedy genres and comedy performers. I never realized that Chaplin or Cary Grant had never won a legit Oscar for their comic work, and that Jack Lemmon was nominated for comedies, but finally won his Best Actor Oscar for a serious drama, "Save the Tiger." These biases piqued my interest and I picked up Oscar Fever, which contains a lot of interesting information. I highly recommend this meticulously researched book for anyone interested in popular culture, not just Hollywood lore.

A lively and comprehensive history of the Oscars

Emanuel Levy's OSCAR FEVER is a treasure trove of Academy Award history and lore. It is a sociological study in the best sense in that it tells us quite a bit about our culture's functions and dysfunctions over nearly 75 years--how the Academy has awarded, or not, actresses, minorities, message pictures, or trendy-blockbuster films. Yet, the book entertains at the same time. Unlike most sociologists, Levy writes with assurance and panache. What is it exactly that makes the Academy Awards so special? In an age when most everything seems stage-managed, overblown, and overdone, perhaps it is the sheer spontaneity and unpredictability of the Oscars that most grab us. Who can forget Jack Palance's one-armed push-ups? The audacity of Marlon Brando? OSCAR FEVER tells many behind-the-scenes stories of life imitating art, which is perhaps what most interests us: the egos and politics behind Oscar. For example, ALL ABOUT EVE, the most-nominated film of all time (along with TITANIC), caused a real-life cat fight between Bette Davis and Anne Baxter over the Best Actress/Supporting Actress categories. ("The title isn't 'All about Margo Channing' Anne Baxter maintained.) Neither won that year--nor did Gloria Swanson (SUNSET BOULEVARD). The Oscar went to Judy Holliday for BORN YESTERDAY! One look at the amazingly crowded and comprehensive index shows OSCAR FEVER is both a reference source and history--in its way, Everything You Always Wanted to Know about the Oscars but Were Afraid to Ask. This book takes popular culture seriously and, in doing so, is insightful, refreshing, and original--in short, a treat.

Good Read for Oscar Fans

I just finished reading the paperback edition of Emanuel Levy's Oscar Fever: The History and Politics of the Academy Awards. There are a few errors in the book which is unfortunate, but on balance it's a great read, and really informative. I learned much more than I expected from Levy's analysis of the Oscar as the most coveted, glamorous, and controversial fixture of American show business, not just movies. The book chronicles the full range of prejudices, nostalgia, and politics exhibited by the Academy voters over the past seven decades, and takes a pretty detailed look at why movies win. The statistics that Levy provides about the age of the winners, the difference between male and female artists, the underrepresentation of black and other ethnic minorities, the discrimination against women directors, and the type of movies and screen roles that win Oscars, are fascinating. Levy finds some pretty consistent trends and documents them. I have no doubts that Oscar Fever (a good title) will be kept in print forever, as it provides the most comprehensive and knowledgeable discussion of the Oscars as a unique Hollywood and now global phenomenon. In short, I recommend the book to anyone interested in understanding what's contagious about American pop culture. On a scale of 1 to 5, I rank it 4.

Oscar goes to Levy's Oscar Fever

I am an Academy Awards fan; I love watching them and reading about them. I am also a fan of Emanuel Levy's book Oscar Fever. It's not just another dictionary or a chronology of winners and losers. It's a deep, extremely intelligent, even-handed and perceptive study of a very complicated institution. I also like the fact that the approach is unique and original - looking at the awards from a socio-historical perspective, from the perspective of what the Academy Awards can tell us about the world we live in not just who won. Levy organizes the book thematically rather than the standard chronology like every other book on the Oscars - this lets him delve quite deeply into each of his points. Levy's insights on gender and age are amazing - particularly his analysis of women. Go figure the logic of the Academy - Sally Field has won two Oscars out of two nominations; the great Garbo never took home a statuette. How could Ganhdi have won over ET - one of Spielberg's best -- or Gladiator over Traffic? Oscar Fever goes a long way in answering explaining the politics of the Oscar. It's a great book -- definitive I would say. It gets top marks from me.

It's Good, but Not Perfect, for the Film and Oscar Buff

Levy has done a thorough job of examining the history of the Academy Awards, although there was not as much material on the politics of the awards process. He does deal slightly with the recent controversies involving Miramax's campaign blitzes for nominations and awards. As a film buff and historian, I was suprised at the number of errors contained within the book, i.e. Joan Fontaine won her Best Actress Oscar for "Rebecca", Hilary Swank appeared in a TV show called "Beverly Hills, 90212", plot descriptions that were inaccurate. There was at least one glaring error in each chapter, with the same facts stated correctly in other chapters. Where was the editor? Levy should have caught these things himself. Overall, I would say that the book met most of its purposes and is interesting reading if one is not too picky over facts.