Show Business: The Day for Night Stars

Last week TIME'S art critic Robert Hughes decided to take in a live happening, Oscar night, for a change. His report:

It is mildly hallucinatory to attend the Academy Awards for the first time. One flies 3,000 miles to behold the real thing, only to wander onto the set of a long and shapeless parody of the Johnny Carson Show: all has been pre-empted by television, redesigned in terms of the 19-in. screen. The rituals of former years have gone, or at least become so attenuated as to be barely recognizable. In the old days...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!