And the Loser is: A History of Oscar Oversights

In this updated edition of Aubrey Malone’s ground-breaking study of the unsung heroes and heroines of the Oscar ceremonies, he delves further into the circumstances surrounding many of the films either ignored or undervalued by the Academy from the 1920s up to the embarrassing gaffe of 2017 which saw La La Land wrongly announced as Best Picture instead of Moonlight.
In a book which doubles as an unofficial history of Hollywood, he writes about all the great stars who never won an Oscar and, more poignantly, the tragedies that often befell winners as the law of diminishing returns set in. People like Susan Hayward, Rod Steiger, Vivien Leigh and many others never recaptured the magic after winning the golden statue.
Instead of a foretaste of better things, for many of them it was the beginning of the end. In the case of some winners, like Gig Young, the decline resulted in a horrific murder/suicide some years down the road.
The book also studies concepts like sympathy Oscars, consolation Oscars, Life Achievement Awards that are often AMPAS apologies for Oscar bypasses, and the number of relationships and marriages that broke down after Oscar wins. It also looks at those near-perennial bridesmaids at the Oscar wedding who were repeatedly passed over, often on spurious grounds.
This intricate, highly detailed book also looks at the effect of the blacklist on the awarding of Oscars, and the various prejudices that saw many people excluded from the winner’s enclosure when they richly deserved to be there.

Acknowledgements
Preface
Prologue
Introduction (by Daniel Kimmel)
Cosy Cartels
Omissions Impossible
The Worst Years of Their Lives
A Peak You Reach
Oscar Wild
They Shoot Wives, Don’t They
Snubbing the Snubbers
And Injustice for All
Endearing Accolades
The Nonsensical Nineties
New Millennium
Ebony and Ivory
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Aubrey Malone is an M.A. graduate in English from University College Dublin. He has been reviewing films professionally since 1972 when he wrote for “TCD Miscellany.” In 1977 he became the resident film critic for “Image” magazine and held that position until 1989. That year he became the resident film critic for “Modern Woman”, a supplement of “The Meath Chronicle” and held that position until 2002. In 2002 he became the resident film critic for “The Irish Catholic” and has held that position until the present day. His reviews can be seen posted online on this website. Also, he has been a book author since 1996 and has written numerous books on the cinema: “Hollyweird” (Michael O’Mara Books, ( “I Was a Fugitive from a Hollywood Trivia Factory” (Prion/Carlton), “The Rise and Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley” (Leopold books), “Sacred Profanity” (ABC-CLIO), “Censoring Hollywood” (McFarland), “Maureen O’Hara: The Biography” (University of Kentucky Press), “The Defiant One: A Biography of Tony Curtis” (McFarland) “Hollywood’s Second Sex: The Treatment of Women in Films from 1900-1999” (McFarland). Forthcoming is a biography of Marlon Brando from Propertius Press. He also reviews books on the cinema for various publications and writes film features and profiles for journals and magazines.

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