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Quiz about Pink Is The New Black
Quiz about Pink Is The New Black

Pink Is The New Black Trivia Quiz


In the 1940s and 50s, the spectre of McCarthyism reared its ugly head in the entertainment industry of the US. The House Un-American Activities Committee sought out "Commie Pinkos", and hundreds of people were blacklisted.

A multiple-choice quiz by babsr. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
babsr
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
376,085
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
2239
Last 3 plays: Mugaboo (9/10), Guest 175 (6/10), adam36 (7/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. This folksinger/songwriter and member of The Weavers, notable for his work to save the Hudson River, was blacklisted in 1953. He passed away in 2014 at the age of 94. Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. The screenwriter Dalton Trumbo was blacklisted in 1947, as part of the Hollywood Ten, for refusing to answer questions posed by the House Un-American Activities Committee as to his role in the Communist Party. He spent 11 months in prison for contempt. Which of these movies was NOT credited to him until the blacklisting was lifted in 1960? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Another blacklister was Ring Lardner, Jr., son of the humorist Ring Lardner. In a comment attributed to Miklos Vamos, a Hungarian writer and professor, Lardner won an Academy Award for an unknown movie and refused to identify it. Why? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. The ecdysiast Gypsy Rose Lee was a member of the Communist Party.


Question 5 of 10
5. An FBI informant testified that this composer was "director of the local communist John Reed Society" while a student at Harvard. Although the FBI had a dossier on this composer of "West Side Story" since the 1930s, they were never able to prove he was, in fact, a member of the Communist Party. Who was he? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. In 1941 during a cartoonists and animators strike, which studio head took out an ad in trade magazine "Variety", declaring the cause to be "Communist agitation"? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. A former Disney employee and one of the strikers supposedly taking action because of "Communist agitation" moved on to "The New York Star", a fledgling newspaper. It was here, as their political cartoonist, he sketched out what became his greatest creation. What was this groundbreaking strip? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. The writer and social activist Langston Hughes was another listee in the pamphlet Red Channels. Among his perceived Communist supportive actions was a poem which the pamphlet defined as "a typical example of vicious and blasphemous propaganda Communists use against religion. '100 Things You Should Know About Communism'. Un-Am. Act. Com., p.46, 47." What poem was it? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. Well-known for movies like "Citizen Kane", you might not have expected to find an actor of the caliber of whom listed in Red Channels? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. The father of actor James Earl Jones was among those snagged by the widely-flung nets of the HUAC. James Earl Jones noted in his autobiography that his father "had been called up because of his involvement with the leftist movement in the late 1930s". Who was he? Hint



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quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. This folksinger/songwriter and member of The Weavers, notable for his work to save the Hudson River, was blacklisted in 1953. He passed away in 2014 at the age of 94.

Answer: Pete Seeger

An activist his entire life, Pete was blacklisted in 1953 with the other members of The Weavers: Lee Hays, Fred Hillerman and Ronnie Gilbert. No radio station would play their music, and it was 1955 before they could actually perform on stage again.

As a songwriter, his music reflected his continued role as an activist, writing songs like "Where Have All the Flowers Gone", "Turn! Turn! Turn!", and "Guantanamera".

In 1967, he performed "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" (relating to the Vietnam conflict) on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. CBS network executives had it cut, as they felt the terminology was unflattering to President Lyndon Johnson. It was allowed a few months later when he again appeared on the show, but the damage had been done, with viewers polarizing against the censors.

In his later years, he campaigned to save the Hudson River and restore it, as part of the Hudson River Clearwater Sloop organization.

I have had the privilege of seeing him in concert twice.

Mike Seeger is one of his brothers.

Bob Seger is a singer, with his group The Silver Bullet Band. No relation.

Kyle Seager is a third baseman with the Seattle Mariners. No relation.
2. The screenwriter Dalton Trumbo was blacklisted in 1947, as part of the Hollywood Ten, for refusing to answer questions posed by the House Un-American Activities Committee as to his role in the Communist Party. He spent 11 months in prison for contempt. Which of these movies was NOT credited to him until the blacklisting was lifted in 1960?

Answer: Exodus

(James) Dalton Trumbo was awarded two Academy Awards during the time he was blacklisted. These were for "The Brave One" (won under his pseudonym Robert Rich) and for "Roman Holiday", credit for which was not restored until 2011. The listed winner was a "frontwriter" who was involved with the writing, but was not the actual writer. In 1960, for "Exodus" there was a "frontwriter" who was given the screen credit, although the director Otto Preminger made it quite clear who really did the screenplay. For "Spartacus", the star Kirk Douglas publicly announced that Trumbo was the writer. These actions pretty much ended the blacklisting, as credibility was gone.

Trumbo had nothing to do with the other three choices ...
3. Another blacklister was Ring Lardner, Jr., son of the humorist Ring Lardner. In a comment attributed to Miklos Vamos, a Hungarian writer and professor, Lardner won an Academy Award for an unknown movie and refused to identify it. Why?

Answer: Because the writer who allowed Lardner to use his name as the screenwriter was doing him a great favor at the time.

Another member of the Hollywood Ten, Lardner was blacklisted in 1947. Unable to get work in the US, he spent time in England writing television scripts. He was given screen credit for "The Cincinnati Kid" in 1965 by director Norman Jewison and producer Martin Ransohoff, which effectively broke the blacklisting.
4. The ecdysiast Gypsy Rose Lee was a member of the Communist Party.

Answer: True

H.L. Mencken, satirist and critic, coined the term for her, since her style of stripping was more "dignified". She was, in fact, a member of the Communist United Front, and was investigated by the House Un-American Activities Committee. Although subpoenaed by a subcommittee, she refused to testify.

She made laconic remarks about it and the committee head during her performances, getting laughs, and keeping the committee at bay.
5. An FBI informant testified that this composer was "director of the local communist John Reed Society" while a student at Harvard. Although the FBI had a dossier on this composer of "West Side Story" since the 1930s, they were never able to prove he was, in fact, a member of the Communist Party. Who was he?

Answer: Leonard Bernstein

June 22, 1950 was the date a list called "Red Channels" was published, listing suspected members of the Communist Party. Going beyond Hollywood, the list included singers, musicians, and other performers. Already under scrutiny by the FBI, it was an easy next step to add Bernstein to this list as well. Although now under public scrutiny, and the threat of blacklisting, he was able to continue composing for the movie industry.

The movie "West Side Story" was an adaptation of the Broadway musical, based on a concept by Jerome Robbins. Robbins ultimately choreographed both, the book was written by Arthur Laurents, with music by Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.
6. In 1941 during a cartoonists and animators strike, which studio head took out an ad in trade magazine "Variety", declaring the cause to be "Communist agitation"?

Answer: Walt Disney

Although some sources indicated the more likely cause was the leadership of Disney himself, he was one of the first called to testify as a friendly witness before the HUAC and give up names of supposed communists within the unions operating at the Disney Studios.

Walter Lantz was the creator of Woody Woodpecker.

Chuck Jones was head animator for Warner Bros./Looney Tunes.

Max Fleischer and his brother Dave ran the studio famous for Popeye the Sailor.
7. A former Disney employee and one of the strikers supposedly taking action because of "Communist agitation" moved on to "The New York Star", a fledgling newspaper. It was here, as their political cartoonist, he sketched out what became his greatest creation. What was this groundbreaking strip?

Answer: Pogo

It was indeed the wee fountain of wisdom, innocence, and thought-provoking comments, "Pogo the Possum". Throughout its run, it was politically apolitical, sweetly sarcastic, and populated with characters which could have easily been interpreted as certain political figures, without naming names.

In the book "Drawing The Line", author Tom Sito notes, "When an editor from Providence, Rhode Island banned his cartoons, saying 'Politics has no place on the comics page!' Kelly struck back by creating a character called Miss Sis Boombah -- 'a political chicken from R.I.'."

The other three strips listed likely can thank Kelly for their popular status as political comics. "Pibgorn" has been inked by Brooke McEldowney, "Bloom County" by Berke Breathed, and "Doonesbury" by Garry Trudeau.
8. The writer and social activist Langston Hughes was another listee in the pamphlet Red Channels. Among his perceived Communist supportive actions was a poem which the pamphlet defined as "a typical example of vicious and blasphemous propaganda Communists use against religion. '100 Things You Should Know About Communism'. Un-Am. Act. Com., p.46, 47." What poem was it?

Answer: Goodbye Christ

These are all poems by Hughes, and all have the patina of social activism. "Goodbye Christ", however, can be viewed in more contemporary times as a diatribe focusing on the idea of Christ not being significant anymore as society reshapes Him into what its own political/ideological bent is.
9. Well-known for movies like "Citizen Kane", you might not have expected to find an actor of the caliber of whom listed in Red Channels?

Answer: Orson Welles

In fact, Red Channels listed several committees and activities which it deemed proof that Welles had Communist leanings. Among them were League of American Writers, Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee, American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born and Sleepy Lagoon Defense Committee.
10. The father of actor James Earl Jones was among those snagged by the widely-flung nets of the HUAC. James Earl Jones noted in his autobiography that his father "had been called up because of his involvement with the leftist movement in the late 1930s". Who was he?

Answer: Robert Earl Jones

Although Robert Earl Jones was blacklisted during the 1950s, he was credited for numerous roles between 1960 and 1990. His filmography included features such as "The Sting", "Witness", and "Trading Places".

He passed in 2006 at the age of 96.
Source: Author babsr

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