Each year, with considerable fanfare and excitement, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presents the film world's most prized and coveted award - the Oscar. No matter who wins, the Oscar is always news and makes the front pages of newspapers all over the world. As far as Oscar books go, Hollywood Gold is invaluable. Here at last is a fully illustrated reference book that gives every feature film that has ever won an Oscar in any category - whether for best special effects, best sound, best song, or even for best black-and-white costume design. Useful, entertaining, compulsively readable, no similar book deals so simply and quickly with the Oscar-winning movies. All are arranged in alphabetical order, from The Adventures of Don Juan to Zorba the Greek. Each entry shows how many Oscars the film has won, the names of the individuals who were honored in each category, the leading cast members, the director, production company, Technicolor and technical processes, and running time. There is also a brief synopsis for each film describing the basic theme or storyline. A major aspect of the delight and charm of the book is its inclusion of unusual information about the Oscar-winning movies. Film buffs will find this the perfect book to answer all major queries that may crop up in conversation: What film is the only remake to receive an Oscar for Best Picture: What is the only horror movie to be nominated for Best Picture: Who was the first black performer to receive the Oscar? Who is the only actor so far to have refused the Oscar? Which film has received the most Oscar nominations but did not win any? At the end of the book, for quick reference, is a chronological listing by year of all the nominees and Oscar-winners in the top six categories (film, director, and the four acting awards). Also at the back are two appendices - one listing a hundred famous films that for one reason or another never received a single Oscar nomination (including Chaplin's Modern Times and Welles' Touch of Evil); the other listing another hundred films which were nominated but didn't win a single Oscar (including The Maltese Falcon and Singin' in the Rain). And there are listings of all the special Oscars which have been presented, as well as the recipients of the Hersholt Humanitarian Award and the Irving Thalberg Award. Whether browsing for fun or checking a specific fact, every film buff will find Hollywood Gold indispensable. - Dust jacket.