Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears

by Michael Schulman

The author of the New York Times bestseller Her Becoming Meryl Streep returns with a lively history of the Academy Awards, focusing on the brutal battles, the starry rivalries, and the colorful behind-the-scenes drama.

America does not have royalty. It has the Academy Awards. For nine decades, perfectly coiffed starlets, debonair leading men, and producers with gold in their eyes have chased the elusive Oscar. What began as an industry banquet in 1929 has now exploded into a hallowed ceremony, complete with red carpets, envelopes, and little gold men. But don’t be fooled by the the Oscars, more than anything, are a battlefield, where the history of Hollywood—and of America itself—unfolds in dramas large and small. The road to the Oscars may be golden, but it’s paved in blood, sweat, and broken hearts.

In Oscar Wars, Michael Schulman chronicles the remarkable, sprawling history of the Academy Awards and the personal dramas—some iconic, others never-before-revealed—that have played out on the stage and off camera. Unlike other books on the subject, each chapter takes a deep dive into a particular year, conflict, or even category that tells a larger story of cultural change, from Louis B. Mayer to Moonlight. Schulman examines how the red carpet runs through contested turf, and the victors aren't always as clear as the names drawn from envelopes. Caught in the crossfire are their thwarted ambitions, their artistic epiphanies, their messy collaborations, their dreams fulfilled or dashed.

Featuring a star-studded cast of some of the most powerful Hollywood players of today and yesterday, as well as outsiders who stormed the palace gates, this captivating history is a collection of revelatory tales, each representing a turning point for the Academy, for the movies, or for the culture at large.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Film, Audiobook, Media Tie In, Pop Culture, Art

608 pages, ebook

First published February 21, 2023

About the author

Michael Schulman is the author of the New York Times bestseller "Her Again: Becoming Meryl Streep." He is a staff writer at The New Yorker, where he has contributed since 2006. His work has also appeared in the New York Times, Vanity Fair, and other publications. His latest book is "Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears." He lives in New York City.

Reviews

[Justin (Bubbas_Bookshelves) · Rating 5 out of 5]

If there’s anything I love almost as much as books, it’s The Oscars. When I was younger, Oscar night was something I looked forward to every year. My mom and I would get appetizers, watch the red carpet with Joan Rivers, critique the best and worst looks of the night, fill out our ballots, and anxiously await every “and the Oscar goes to…” This book is not only full of Academy Award history from its creation to the present, but it also discusses how movies were made, fought over, and ultimately chosen as Best Picture winners (some of which I disagree with). I loved reading about Halle Berry’s 2002 Oscar- being the first black woman to receive the award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, about how Saving Private Ryan was robbed of Best Picture thanks to likes of scumbag and POS Harvey Weinstein, how Bette Davis ruled over the big screen until she was no longer relevant, and all of the other little parts of Hollywood that aren’t always known. I also now have a long list of movies to watch and rewatch thanks to this book that makes you fall in love with the movies all over again.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I use to make sure that I watched every movie that was ever nominated for an Oscar before the awards show.

I knew who I wanted to win, why I wanted them to win, and what truly motivated me the most to be in love with that movie, or song, or whatever actor/actress I was most fond of for that year…

Because of…The movie.

The Oscars were always a front row seat for me…

And then…Something changed (for me).

I just didn’t feel as driven to watch those movies. It’s like a book that has received the Pulitzer Prize, and you wonder, who in their right mind picked this one and why?

Did the Oscars become political – or were they always that way…

And…I just didn’t realize it. Until I opened my eyes to the realities of popularity and marketing. Of the stars, and the movies.

What were the Academy Awards anyway?

This book attempts to answer that question. We readers can consider it a tradition celebrating great movies and actors and all those behind-the-scenes people that make it worthy for viewing.

But…Look at all it has become, especially with the advent of social media.

“They’re a fashion show. They’re a horse race. They’re an orgy of self-congratulation by rich and famous people who think too highly of themselves.”

Still…This book wants us to see the Oscars as something more. With 11 distinctive chapters, it focuses on…The academy’s turbulent birth, the rebels, the plot against Citizen Kane (war time), the greatest star, screenwriters and the Hollywood blacklist, the counterculture, running the asylum, fiasco period, the Harveys, making history, and; #OscarsSoWhite.

And…However, you want to interpret what that all means, it is a statement to what has become of Oscar.

“In recent years, the Oscars have become a conflict zone for issues of race, gender, and representation, high-profile signifiers of whose stories get told and whose don’t.”

This book is about 502 pages, with additional pages for Notes and a Bibliography and Index.

It is not necessarily a book that you read cover-to-cover, but how you choose to delve into any one chapter that appears interesting for readers at the time.

It definitely will not shine a pretty light on anyone who has ever been in the limelight. Someone like Harvey Weinstein comes to mind, in Chapter 9.

The book is definitely well-researched. Pictures in black and white are at the beginning of each chapter, reflecting the direction that chapter is going to take.

But…It is verbose. And there is a lot covered that may have been read before.

Again…It depends on your mood as a reader, and which subject chapter appears most interesting to you.

Schuman believes the key to understanding the awards comes down to power:

“…who has it, who’s straining to keep it, who’s invading the golden citadel to snatch it.”

So…In that sense the book showcases the power struggle.

And…That is probably why I lost interest in watching the Oscars show. Or caring who won, and who did not. It just didn’t feel genuine any longer (to me).

So…This book provides a history of real people whose actions had consequences…

Which…Makes this book a sad commentary in many ways.

[laurel [the suspected bibliophile] · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some chapters were great, and some chapters felt like they got lost in themselves.

This is a history of the Oscars in vignettes as opposed to a comprehensive history, bumping along from decade to decade, focusing on scandals and important moments in time that might have been forgotten or glossed over or memorialized.

Some people featured more heavily than I anticipated, others that I was expected to see a lot of, did not. Dennis Hopper, for reasons I just cannot fathom even after reading this book, had an entire chapter almost entirely devoted to him.

I'm intrigued that Cuckoo's Nest was featured, but miffed that Kesey was treated as more of an out-of-touch hippie than someone who was actually fucked over in the adaptation of his book.

[Paul Bryant · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t follow the Oscars much, there was even a Best Picture from 2021 called Coda that I’d never heard of until today, but still, it’s always fun complaining about the many times they get it so wrong (James Cagney for Yankee Doodle Dandy? Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart? – and all the great movies they’ve been in!). And sometimes the weird awards they give – Anthony Hopkins gets one for Lead Actor in The Silence of the Lambs and he’s only on screen for 16 minutes? (Beatrice Straight holds the record for the shortest ever performance to win a (Best Supporting) Oscar, 5 minutes 2 seconds in Network.) And of course the huge rows, like when they gave the Best Picture to Crash instead of Brokeback Mountain.

So I thought this would be a fun read, but only parts were, and some were a real drag. The subtitle of this book is A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat and Tears but a more honest subtitle would be Surprisingly Uninteresting Shenanigans in Tinseltown. There was some nasty gossipy fun – that’s what we are here for – so I really liked the chapter where Bette Davis, playing an ageing actress trying to stay afloat (in All About Eve), was up against Gloria Swanson, playing an ageing actress trying to make a comeback (in Sunset Boulevard) – it was gonna be one of these big beasts or the other one – but no, the Best Actress Oscar went to Judy Holliday making her first big movie (Born Yesterday) haha how do you like those apples Bette-Gloria?

But in the early chapters there was acres of dull stuff about how the Academy was set up, how it got into big fights with the unions, and pages and pages about Frank Capra – then later a whole big chapter about some guy called Allan Carr, some bigshot producer I never heard of who liked lavish parties, that was a yawn and a half. Just like politics, there is the talent and there is the cigar smoking deal makers and Michael Schulman is as interested in the deals as he is in the talent, which I am frankly not.

But it did remind me of the odd tale of Harvey Weinstein before he was brought down – he was the boss of Miramax, which specialised in producing indie movies and promoting foreign art movies (that’s a good thing, right?), and it was his enthusiasm that got Pulp Fiction made (“the most influential movie of the 1990s” someone wrote) and for a while Quentin Tarantino was the face of Miramax (“I’m their Mickey Mouse” said Quentin). Fast forward to the 2013 Oscars ceremony – host Seth MacFarlane “ribbed” the Best Supporting Actress nominees :

“Congratulations, you five ladies no longer have to pretend to be attracted to Harvey Weinstein!”

Four years later a New Yorker story blew the lid off of Harvey and the Academy held an emergency meeting and voted to expel him.

We do so not simply to separate ourselves from someone who does not merit the respect of his colleagues but also to send a message that the era of wilful ignorance and shameful complicity in sexually predatory behaviour and workplace harassment in our industry is over.

So ended the casting couch, we earnestly hope and believe.


An Oscar curiosity to end with : which nomination was in itself a terrible plot spoiler ?

Answer : Jaye Davidson as Best Supporting Actor in The Crying Game (1992).



The actor with the most nominations (8) and no win.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oscar Wars is not a comprehensive history of the Academy Awards.  Rather, it is a selection of interesting episodes from the annals of the Oscars.  These include the origins of the Academy and its award, the rivalry between Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine, the competition between "Saving Private Ryan" and "Shakespeare in Love," and the year "La La Land" was mistakenly declared Best Picture.  Some of Schulman's vignettes are better than others.  But, on balance, this book is almost uniformly entertaining and often informative.

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5, rounded down.

This is a curious artifact, eminently readable and filled with esoteric and fun facts. But the truth remains, it is largely a cut & paste job, with the 'author' merely compiling his facts from other sources (hence the 50 pages of bibliography and notes), and it occasionally bogs down with unnecessary and superfluous detail.

Worse, the structure is just ... odd - this is organized into chapters with various themes, so some years are minutely discussed, others passed by entirely. And within each chapter, often three or four different stories are being told simultaneously in rotating sections, which often dilutes their comprehension or impact.

So NOT a definitive history of the 'Gay Super Bowl', as it's called at one point, but a lively and fascinating overview, nonetheless.

[Karine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative and fun, this history of the Oscars provides insider gossip, politics, and scandals from the creation of the Academy in 1927 to the slap in 2022. Each chapter covers approximately ten years and/or a significant evolution in Hollywood. I particularly enjoyed hearing about the early years and the rivalry between sisters Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine.

[Kaylee M · Rating 3 out of 5]

While excellently written and chock full of fascinating stories about Hollywood, this book needed a serious editing.

First of all it’s huge. Over 800 pages on my Kobo. It is covering over 100 years of history but it doesn’t flow very well. Timelines consistently shift within a chapter and it makes it very confusing. Talking about Bette Davis and her new husband Gary Merrill for the first half of chapter 4 and then introducing Judy Holliday who was working with Merrill before he met Davis. But not tying Judy into the overall story of the chapter, it literally came out of nowhere. What??!

Second, this book is supposed to be about the Oscars but the author constantly gets bogged down in the entire history of Hollywood. There are multiple chapters that go 40+ pages before the awards are even mentioned. And then the “Oscar War” is like a page and a half. This book needed to be broken up into two separate books. A history of Hollywood/film-making and Oscar Wars.

[Martin Maenza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oscar Wars comes out on February 21, 2023. Harper Collins provided an early galley for review.

I have always been fascinated by Hollywood, by actors and by the movies. Growing up, I remember flipping through the entertainment magazines that my grandmother would occasionally buy - just to look at the pictures of the stars all dressed in glamour for premieres and such. So, a book like this one was very appealing to me. Also, the cover reminded me a bit of the artwork in movie parodies that ran in Mad Magazine, something I read a lot growing up. I enjoyed those movie parodies even though I might not have actually seen what they were satirizing.

Schulman has done his research when it comes to this book. He covers the nine decades of the Academy Awards, from the way the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences first came together all the way up to most recent times. It is told in a chronological manner, and it highlights some of the biggest films that were nominated, often pitted against one another, and how the battles played out. The stories are filled with the names of those who are legendary in the Hollywood story - actors and actresses, writers, directors, producers and studio executives. This one is a cavalcade of who's who in the entertainment industry.

There were a number of fascinating stories that I got out of this one. I enjoyed the parallels from the two 1950 films Sunset Boulevard and All About Eve. I am always interested to hear about the HUAC actions of the 1950's and how individuals got around being blacklisted. I was intrigued with how Candace Bergen brought about change in the demographics of the Academy in the early 1970's. And, despite all the bad press it got, I rather enjoyed Allan Carr's production of the 1989 Academy Awards show (but I also was a huge fan of his Can't Stop The Music and Grease 2.

I very much recommend this for movie fans.

[Emily St. James]

As a longtime Oscar head, this book was truly enjoyable! It honestly taught me things I didn't know about Oscar races I thought I knew backward and forward (particularly the La La Land/Moonlight mix-up, which I actually covered), and it gave me a ton of insight into the Academy's roots as an organization partially created to crush the early Hollywood labor movement(!). Very well done!

[Jennifer Schultz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a year-by-year chronicle of who won what award; rather, Schulman chronicles key Oscar races/winners/loses from a specific year for each decade, such Citizen Kane's many losses, the long years between Hattie McDaniel and Halle Berry winning an Oscar, Miramax vs. Dreamworks in the Saving Private Ryan vs. Shakespeare in Love, and the infamous La La Land and Moonlight Best Picture mixup, which seemed to be the most scandalous event to happen during the ceremony, until 2022's Slap Heard Round the World.

This is rich, engaging, and has a refined gossipy tone, Catnip for Hollywood history buffs and Oscar watchers!

Many thanks to Harper and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Zachary Bernstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply one of the best pop culture books I’ve ever read. Fun, funny, and fascinating. The author writes about his subjects with an alternatively playful reverence and scholarly seriousness, and both modes are a joy to read. Can’t recommend it enough to anyone who loves reading about pop culture and movies, the personalities that make them, and the larger sociopolitical developments that they both influence and reflect.

[jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very thorough history of the Oscars and much of Hollywood in general. Even though the audiobook is roughly 21 hours long, I sped through it. Highly recommend for anyone interested in pop culture, old Hollywood, and that time Rob Lowe sang a duet with Snow White.

[Elizabeth Sholtis · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are someone who really likes the Oscars, this book is full of gossip and drama that will leave you satisfied. I went in expecting more (maybe too much), so I left slightly disappointed. To nitpick: in the chapter about the rise of MiraMax and the indies, the author describes Harvey Weinstein's persona as being split in two-- Harvey the producer and the more sinister Harvey habitually sexual assaulting multiple actresses. However, it's clear from this book and reporting on his multiple sexual assaults on women in the industry that this behavior was not secret, and not the product of some sort of double life. I know that is a minor detail of this book, and it is clear that the author by no means supports Weinstein or his actions-- in fact for much of the book he is portrayed as downright villainous, stealing wins from the likes of Steven Spielberg, but I wanted this book to have more to say about culture and the Oscar's relationship with it's audience. Instead it is a series of well researched and written microhistories of notable Oscars.

[Chelsey Saatkamp · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was exactly what I wanted!! Yum yum yum I love Hollywood history and drama.

From the inception of the Academy Award in 1929, Hollywood has been losing their minds trying to win the coveted Oscar. Really interesting insights into the early Hollywood studio system, in particular MGM's Louis B. Mayer's manipulative tactics in founding the Academy in the first place. Loved the tales of Frank Capra, Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland doing whatever it takes in order to be nominated.

Also appreciated the deeper dive into how flawed the Academy voting system is, from the smear campaigns against Citizen Kane and the witch hunts of the 50s, to the dubious campaigning that Harvey Weinstein perfected alongside the tokenism of minorities and #OscarsSoWhite.

And of course, we have the behind-the-scenes of 2017's Envelope Gate. Rewatched the whole thing on YouTube and it's just as dramatic as I remembered. What a time!!

[Ofke Teekens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and very entertaining insight into Oscar & Hollywood history. Well-written, thoroughly researched and filled with a lovely nostalgic love for movies.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific read and so much fun for Oscar, film, and history buffs alike. This book made me see that not only are the movies we make reflections of the times in which they were made, but so are the Academy Awards themselves.

Don't let the size of the book intimidate you. Schulman's meticulously-researched work goes down easy. Each chapter focuses on a different Oscar race and, even for those whose endings I knew, I still found myself racing through the pages wondering, "But what happened?!"

Sidebar: I couldn’t have better planned the fact that I’d be finishing this book on a trip to LA that included a visit to the new-ish Academy Museum. I recommend pairing the two if you can swing it 😂

[Gabriel Frieberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this hard to put down. It is immaculately researched and full of juicy stories, industry history and well-drawn character portraits. An instant entry into the best Hollywood books pantheon.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this little microhistory. I'm not a huge movie person, but I loved learning all the ins and outs of the major Academy figures of the past. Who was feuding with who, which stars were politically minded, how traditions were born, etc etc. A little on the long side, though I wouldn't know what to cut bc this book is packed already. There are no filler or extras to trim.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are the type of person that this subject appeals to, you will love this book.

[Sam Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

600 pages of gossip, drama, and epicureanism. Yeah I loved it.

[Lorenz Ruesch · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Let's get on with this farcical charade of vulgar egotism and pomposity." (Bob Hope)

[Jed Walker · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5*s. The editor failed this project. Way too long and too often reads as a pseudo history of Hollywood through the lens of the author’s preferred issues.

[Romulus · Rating 5 out of 5]

O tym, że ta książka dostanie ode mnie pięć gwiazdek wiedziałem już po przeczytaniu dwóch rozdziałów. Przeczytałem je z wypiekami i świadomością, że trafiłem na rarytas.

To nie jest zbiór ciekawostek o Oscarach. Nie dowiecie się z niej także, jakie filmy walczyły o statuetkę rok po roku. To wspaniała opowieść o kinie i jego przemianach na przestrzeni kilkudziesięciu lat. Kanwą są Oscary, bo to wokół walki o nie toczy się ta opowieść. Kanwą jest też historia Akademii przyznającej tę statuetkę. Ale to kino jest bohaterem, filmy, aktorzy, twórcy - bez nich nie byłoby, o czym pisać. To frazes, zdaję sobie sprawę.

Książka jest lekturą obowiązkową dla wszystkich, którzy nie tylko lubią filmy oglądać, ale i czytać o nich, także o ich powstawaniu. Bogata, pasjonująca lektura.

[Anastasia Terendii (livie's version) · Rating 2 out of 5]

я обожнюю кінематограф і різноманітні премії (навіть якщо періодично мене дратують переможці, як на цьогорічному Оскарі), але це було ну дуже нудно. історії або обрано не цікаві, або розказано абсолютно нецікаво. крім цього, більша частина тексту - це вода, і дуже часто хотілось пропускати шматки тексту, бо і так нічого корисного там не описують. сумно, і я розчарована цим нон-фіком, бо ідея насправді крута.

[Matt Pedretti · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/10 at long last I finished!!!! What an incredibly well researched book that really tells a holistic story about how ingrained the Hollywood system is in American culture and politics.

Goes through the good bad and ugly and doesn’t shy away from how PETTY the establishment and maintenance of the Oscars has been for the past century. Recommend for the movie and awards girlies only otherwise you’re going to think it’s so silly.

[Dennis Holland · Rating 5 out of 5]

On my 19th birthday, Titanic won 11 Academy Awards and, five years later, Nicole Kidman won her Best Actress Oscar on my 24th birthday—which felt like special gifts to me after wishing for years, as a star struck youngster, that I would share my day with such a glamorous event. Of course I loved this book that celebrates the drama of Hollywood’s biggest night.

[Mollie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love movies so much, want to know everything about them <333

[Albert Chang · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a guilty pleasure for me, though the guilt was low and the pleasure was high. As a fan of movies, particularly older ones, and history, I thoroughly enjoyed this unique angle on cinematic history. As far as cinema history goes, there are loads of books about this or that star, this genre, etc. I'm sure there are other books detailing the history of the Oscars, the industry, and maybe even awards ceremonies in general or specific awards, but this one was neatly organized into roughly chronological order by chapter, with each one centered around a particular, salient theme for the era at question. It's not exhaustive in the encyclopedic sense; instead, Schulman picks about 3 or 4 storylines and weaves them in and out of each other within the chapter, each buttressing the other to communicate the chapter's chosen theme. It's wonderful to read a bit of history where I can somewhat experience the time and era. I can't rightly take a lens and directly view the time of the Mongols or Julius Caesar, but we can all watch (most of) the movies detailed in cinematic history, given its relatively recency, and approximate the human living of the time being studied. It's, at least, about as close as I can reasonably get. This immediacy added a real sprinkle of verve and vivacity to the usual lesson most folks who read stories or histories tend to conclude: human events tend to have repeating, rhyming patterns. Hollywood, indeed labor, strikes are nothing new; politicking has gone on since the dawn of the academy; "the Oscars are always getting it wrong", as the book announces in its opening sentence; and reducing the complexity of art - not even life! - to winners and losers, and categories, tends to do best when everyone is equally displeased with the results. In short, the content of this book is unique and interesting, thoroughly researched and heavily cited (which I appreciate). The writing is highly competent; in fact, I found it quite easy to read and without much of the pomp and circumstance that New Yorker writers tend to have. (As an aside: I say that with great fondness, for that's what I go to the New Yorker for...see John McPhee, perhaps my favorite non-fiction writer.) If you're interested in the subject and are looking for a relatively easy read you can really sink your teeth into, this is the book for you. The page count is high, but it doesn't feel long, and it doesn't drag. This wasn't a chore to finish for me, and I think any movie fan would have a similarly nice reading experience.

[Paige Connell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meticulously researched and diving deep, way back to almost the turn of the 19th century to trace the inception of the motion picture Academy, its drama, highs and lows, superstars and embarrassments, and its struggles to modernize—this is a book for any true movie fan and those who wish to know how we got here from so long ago.

The book is more than 500 pages long, and each chapter averages 50 pages long, so serious candidates only need apply. I skimmed through a bit of the early years because it was over my head (Frank Capra, Olivia de Haviland, how WWII affected Citizen Kane). But I loved learning about the earliest Hollywood blacklist and Gregory Peck’s turn as academy president. In the 70s when Dennis Hopper and Dustin Hoffman were being written off as “hippie” actors, Peck enlisted Candice Bergen to recruit new, young members to the Academy to re-enliven it. I loved reading about flamboyant Allan Carr producing the 1989 Oscars (“the worst Oscars in history) with a dancing Rob Lowe and Snow White. The explanation of how Harvey Weinstein made himself a film company, campaigned Shakespeare in Love to Best Picture over Saving Private Ryan, alienated everyone in Hollywood (and then got his due by going to jail for sexual assault) was fascinating. And an exploration of how #OscarsSoWhite led to the Moonlight v. La La Land debacle kept me reading late into the night.

This is a huge book, and I’m amazed at the amount of work and research that went into it, but I enjoyed learning so much about the movies and stars I’ve watched for years.