The Oscar Syndrome

The Oscar SyndromeIn the old days it was fun. The annual revels of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences were private affairs, generally held in the Ambassador ballroom, and there was no television to inhibit gaiety. Each studio picked up the tab for all its nominees, the food was good, the liquor abundant, and the people fun – and they even joked among themselves without the aid of a teleprompter.I have reason to remember one occasion, on which Donald Ogden Stewart was nominated for h...