The Academy and the Award

The Coming of Age of Oscar and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

De: Bruce Davis

Narrado por: Jim Meskimen

The first behind-the-scenes history of the organization behind the Academy Awards

For all the near-fanatic attention brought each year to the Academy Awards, the organization that dispenses those awards—the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences—has yet to be understood. To date, no one has ever produced a thorough account of the Academy’s birth and its awkward adolescence, and the few reports on those periods from outside have always had a glancing, cursory quality. Yet the story of the Academy’s creation and development is a critical piece of Hollywood’s history.

Now that story is finally being told. Bruce Davis, executive director of the Academy for over twenty years, was given unprecedented access to its archives, and the result is a revealing and compelling story of the men and women, famous and infamous, who shaped one of the best-known organizations in the world. Davis writes about the Academy with as intimate a view of its workings, its awards, and its world-famous membership. Thorough and long overdue, The Academy and the Award fills a crucial gap in Hollywood history.

©2022 Bruce Davis (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing

This is the comprehensive history of the Oscars I’ve been thirsting for.

I’ve been rooting around Audible for a broad look at the history of the Academy. I’ve downloaded a couple that were informative and fun but not a legit look at the overall history of the Academy as opposed to anecdotes of different tabloidesque events over the years of its existence. This book provides a nice comprehensive look at relevant events and players of the Academy’s history and I recommend it if you are looking for the same.

A very interesting look at the Academy Awards

I enjoyed this book very much. Here are a few reasons why.

- The narrator was clear and easy to understand, and the author (who may be the narrator), spoke with authority and credibility thanks to his experience in the industry and as a member of the Academy.

- I liked learning small details about the move to plaster and plastic during WW2, and how the statue was conceived and made.

- I especially liked hearing how 3,000 films were brought back to life from paper prints. Amazing!

This is ridiculously well researched

The information found in this title is invaluable to the history of the Academy. A little more attention could have been given to the chronology of events as the storytelling jumps year to year almost incoherently in the last third. Nonetheless this is an excellent resource.