Steven Spielberg felt bullish on the morning of Feb. 17, 1976. “Jaws is about to be nominated in 11 categories,” he crowed to a documentary crew he’d invited to film him watching the Oscar nominations announcement on TV. “You’re about to see us sweep the nominations.” Spielberg had reason to be confident. At 29, he had directed the highest-grossing film of all time, catapulting him to the heights of the Hollywood hierarchy. Universal’s Sid Sheinberg had gloated, “I want to be the first to predict that Steve will win the Best Director Oscar this year.” Advertisement Now, surrounded by friends...