79 1940s Movies Trivia Questions & Answers

Answer: Casablanca

Undeniably one of the highest-regarded films of the 1940s, "Casablanca's" legacy is nearly insurmountable. Including the quotes listed in the question, "Casablanca" has six quotes on the American Film Institute's list of the '100 Greatest Movie Quotes of All Time'. Six! If that doesn't make it eminently watchable, I don't know what does.
"Casablanca", set in the city of the same name, was a WWII romance starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman as an ex-pat and his former lover as they dealt with some war-related letters of great importance. It was nominated for eight Oscars and won three (including Best Picture and Best Director).

Answer: Buck Privates

When Universal Studios selected Bud Abbott and Lou Costello to headline "Buck Privates" (1941), they had only appeared briefly in one other film. They proved to be box office leaders for years to come. The release was months before the United States entered WW2.

Although there is a romance between Lee Bowman and Jane Frazee and rousing songs by the Andrew Sisters, the film belongs to Abbott, the straight man, and Costello, the clown. The boys are selling neckties on the sidewalk when they are chased away by a policeman. They duck into a building to hide and sign up to win a prize, not realizing that they had just signed up for a hitch in the army. Skits to look for are the physical exam, old vaudeville routines between Bud and Lou, marching drills, and the boxing scene.

The film was nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Song ("Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy") and Best Musical Score. It set a format for subsequent Abbott and Costello films.

Answer: Henry Fonda

Henry Fonda (1905-1982) was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role of Tom Joad. However, he lost out to James Stewart in "The Philadelphia Story". His first acting coach was Dorothy Brando, the mother of Marlon Brando. However, in 1981 he become the oldest recipient of the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in "On Golden Pond".
"The Grapes of Wrath" was a novel by John Steinbeck and is the story of a family that lost their farm in Oklahoma during the Great Depression of the 1930s and they travel across the country to California in search of work. John Carradine played the role of Jim Casy a former preacher in the movie and James Stewart did not appear in the movie.

Answer: Double Indemnity

Starring Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, Edward G Robinson and superbly directed by Billy Wilder, "Double Indemnity" is considered one of the best examples of Film Noir.

Answer: C. K. Dexter Haven

C.K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant) was Tracy Lord's ex-husband. She had planned to marry George Kittredge (John Howard) but remarried C.K. Dexter Haven at the last moment. Mike Connors (James Stewart) was a reporter sent to the wedding to cover the story by Sidney Kidd (Henry Daniell) the publisher of "Spy" magazine. James Stewart won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in this movie. The film was remade in 1956 and renamed "High Society" starring Grace Kelly (Tracy Lord), Bing Crosby (C.K. Dexter Haven) and Frank Sinatra (Mike Connors).

Answer: Adenoid Hynkel

This was Chaplin's (1889-1977) first talking movie, however, he had made his name on the silent screen. He directed, produced, wrote and acted in the movie.
The movie was a satirical political and comedy drama. Chaplin plays the roles of a Jewish barber and Hynkel, the dictator of Tomania. Hynkel orders all Jews to be round up but the barber escapes the internment camp dressed as Hynkel. While out duck shooting and dressed in civilian clothes, Hynkel is mistaken for the escaped barber and is imprisoned. The barber dressed as Hynkel addresses a large crowd of followers and informs everybody that he (Hynkel) has changed his mind and wishes goodwill to all mankind. Benzino Napaloni was a parody of Benito Mussolini played by Jack Oakie. Commander Schultz (Reginald Gardiner) was a friend of the Jewish barber played by Chaplin and encouraged him to make the speech to the crowd dressed as Hynkel.
Chaplin later regretted doing the movie when he became aware of the persecution and horrors of the concentration camps. Having been born in London he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II and became Sir Charles Chaplin in 1975.

Answer: The Bank Dick

This comedy classic, written by and starring W.C. Fields, is just as funny today as it was then. Fields played Egbert Souse, accent on the SAY. Joe the bartender was played by Shemp Howard, brother of Moe and Curly and sometime Stooge himself.

Answer: The Third Man

Classic noir at its finest, "The Third Man" was known for cinematography indicative of the genre (dutch angles and harsh Expressionist overtones). If you're a fan of true hard-boiled detective films, then you should look no further; it broods in just the way a post-WWII action film should.
"The Third Man", directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Carol Reed (he won for "Oliver!"), involved a mysterious death in Vienna, Austria. Many cite it as an ideal example of post-WWII, pre-Cold War tension in film. It ended up winning the Grand Prix at Cannes and was nominated for three Oscars (winning one).

Answer: The play was still running on Broadway

"Arsenic and Old Lace" by Joseph Kesselring opened on Broadway January 1941 and closed June 1944 after 1444 performances. Capra saw comedy potential for a hilarious movie and persuaded the producers to grant a leave of absence from the play for Jean Adair, Josephine Hull, and John Alexander to reprise their roles on film. Boris Karloff was not granted a leave due to contract obligations. The compromise was that Capra would not release the film until its Broadway run was completed, hence the three year wait.

To say the Brewster family was eccentric would be an understatement. As Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant) says in the film, "Insanity does run in this family--it gallops!"

Abby and Martha Brewster lure old lonely unattached men to their home and feed them poisoned elderberry wine. Teddy Brewster, their brother, believing them to be yellow fever victims, buries them in the basement and occasionally runs up the stairs brandishing a sword shouting "Charge!". Meanwhile Johnathon Brewster, a criminal and murderer, has returned to hide out from the law. Raymond Massey plays Johnathon by doing a dead on impression of Boris Karloff. Peter Lorre does a great impression of Peter Lorre, Johnathon's partner. In the midst of this chaos, Grant and Priscilla Lane carry on a romance.

Answer: Lana Turner

Lana Turner (1921-1996) was a film and TV actress spanning the years 1937 to the mid 1980s. She was married eight times to seven different husbands. During her career she received one Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in 1957 for "Peyton Place". Along with Betty Grable and Dorothy Lamour, they were pin-up girls for servicemen throughout WWII.
Ingrid Bergman (Ivy Pearson), Sara Allgood (Mrs. Higgins) and Lydia Bilbrook (Lady Copwell) all appeared in this 1941 horror movie.

Answer: Sydney Greenstreet

Sydney Greenstreet (1879-1954) was an accomplished and versatile English stage actor and made his film debut in this movie. In the movie he was also known as the sinister "Fat Man" Kasper Gutman. Greenstreet weighed between 280-300 pounds. He had a successful movie career in the following years until his death in 1954. He also appeared in such movies as "Casablanca", "The Verdict", and "Three Strangers". Peter Lorre, Ward Bond and Barton MacLane also appeared in "The Maltese Falcon".

Answer: Pip

"Great Expectations" follows the story of Pip, an impoverished lad, who becomes a servant to a rich old lady, Miss Haversham, who was jilted at the altar and has grieved ever since. There he meets the beautiful, but spoilt, Estella, who is destined to play a major part in his life. Later, he receives money from a mysterious, wealthy benefactor and becomes a well-to-do "gentleman". But who is the anonymous benefactor?

The wrong answers:
Herbert is Pip's gentleman friend (played by Alec Guinness in the 1948 movie).
Magwitch is an escaped convict who is assisted by a Pip as a young boy.
Joe is an old friend of Pip from his impoverished past.

John Mills was a stalwart of the British movie business for over 60 years. He enlisted in the army at the outbreak of World War II (1939), but he was discharged in 1942 on medical grounds. To UK movie audiences, he is perhaps best known for playing military roles, such as "In Which We Serve" (1942), "Ice-Cold in Alex" (1958) and "Dunkirk" (1958).

Answer: National Velvet

While the movie only loosely follows the book, the sentiment and intensity so prevalent in the book carries over into the film. As part of a large and rather boisterous family, Velvet Brown wins a horse, finds her individuality, and takes Pie to England's Grand National race. It stars Elizabeth Taylor as the young Velvet, and after the film, Elizabeth got to keep Pie. Anne Revere - the actress who plays Velvet's mother - went on to win a best supporting actress Oscar.

Answer: Laurence Olivier

Lawrence Olivier starred as Hamlet and directed the feature. He also dubbed the voice of the ghost by recording a vocal track and slightly slowing the speed. The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture and for Best Actor. Eileen Herlie was cast as Queen Gertrude although she was only 28 years old and Olivier was 13 years her senior. She would go on to have a regular role on the television soap opera. "All My Children" (1970). Jean Simmons was cast as Ophelia.
William Walton wrote the musical score for the film. British actor Basil Rathbone was known for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in film. Basil Sydney was cast as Claudius in "Hamlet".

Answer: Fantasia

The other choices are three of the musical selections in the film. The other two are "The Rite of Spring" and "Ave Maria". Conductor Leopold Stokowski and musicologist Deems Taylor were featured in the live action segments.

Answer: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Now preserved by the United States National Film Registry, "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" should be on the 'to watch' list partly because of its background and partly because it's a critically-beloved western. The movie was one of the earliest Hollywood-produced films to be at least partly shot outside the United States (in Mexico) and it ended up resulting in three Oscar wins, two of which, interestingly enough, went to father and son Walter and John Huston, the former of which took Best Supporting Actor and the latter of which directed the picture. The original novel was written by German author B. Traven, and the film is considered a surprisingly faithful adaptation.

Answer: Jack Benny and Carole Lombard

Although the 1983 version had more production values, Rotten Tomatoes critics rated the 1942 film at 98% and the 1983 at 64%.

Jack Benny was always Jack Benny with not a lot of dramatic range but his years in radio and the stage put him in good stead for this role. Carole Lombard was an established comedy actress from the 1920s silent to this film, her last due to her tragic death. "My Man Godfrey" (1936) and "Nothing Sacred" (1937) are two of her remembered films.
Both films center on a Polish acting troop. Josef Tura (Jack Benny) and Maria (Carole Lombard) are married. When Josef is delivering his "to be or not to be" soliloquy on stage, he notices that a young military man gets up and leaves. When this happens several times, Josef concludes that he is having an affair with his wife. Also, Hitler has invaded Poland and the future of the acting group is in danger. To save the group they engage in various schemes to undermine and sabotage German plans and escape to Britain.

Character actor Tom Dugan steals the limelight as an actor that can do a perfect impression of Adolf Hitler.

A legend is that this film was a favorite among Hollywood elite and was often shown at parties.

Answer: The Killers

Burt Lancaster stars as 'Swede' Anderson in this great 1946 classic. It was Lancaster's first movie and Ava Gardner's second starring role. The supporting cast is superb, featuring, Edmond O'Brien, Albert Decker, Sam Levene, Charles McGraw and William Conrad. This film was remade by Don Siegel in 1964, starring John Cassevetes, Angie Dickinson, Lee Marvin and in his last film role, Ronald Reagan. The script by Anthony Veiler is from a short story by Ernest Hemingway.

Answer: George M. Cohan

George M. Cohan (1878-1942) was an entertainer, composer, singer, dancer, actor, playwright and producer. He started his acting career as a child and prior to WWI he was known as "the man who owned Broadway". There is a statue of him in Times Square, New York. W.C. Fields (1880-1946) was a vaudeville actor, juggler, comedian and writer. Eddie Cantor (1892-1964) was a songwriter, actor, dancer and singer. Al Jolson (1886-1950) was a singer, comedian and actor. Jolson is best remembered as the star of the first talking movie "The Jazz Singer" (1927).

Answer: Ingrid Bergman

All of the above actors were in the 1939 movie "Casablanca" and Bergman, as Ilsa Lund, said this line to Sam (Dooley Wilson) the piano-player and singer.
This was No: 28 on the AFI's 100 Years of Movie Quotes. Ingrid Bergman (1915-1982) was a Swedish actress who won three Academy Awards. She won two Oscars for Best Actress in "Gaslight" (1944) and in "Anastasia" (1956) and a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for "Murder on the Orient Express" (1974).

Answer: Ingrid Bergman

Ingrid Bergman played Bogart's former lover Ilsa Lund. She re-entered his life when she came into his bar with her husband, played by Paul Henreid. They required letters of transport to get out of the country. Bogart eventually helped them to escape. Bergman had previously worked on several films in her native Sweden and had recently completed playing Ivy Peterson in "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" in 1941 before being cast in "Casablanca". Before Bergman was cast as Ilsa Ann Sheridan and Hedy Lamarr were among the actresses considered.
Lauren Bacall worked with Bogart in films including "To Have and Have Not" (1944). Hepburn and Bogart took a boat down an African river in "The African Queen" in 1951 and Mary Astor worked with Bogart in "The Maltese Falcon" the year before "Casablanca" was released.

Answer: Foreign Correspondent

For Hitchcock, Joel McCrae was an atypical choice as star. Hitch later preferred Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart, but they hadn't appeared in any of his movies yet. Laraine Day had the female lead. She later married baseball manager Leo Durocher.

Answer: It's a Wonderful Life

This one is pretty important as far as classic Christmas movies. "It's a Wonderful Life" followed George Bailey as a man who, after deciding to commit suicide, had a bit of a revelation from a guardian angel and realized that he was too important as a part of the community to go through with it... on Christmas.
Directed by Frank Capra (winner of three Best Director Oscars), "It's a Wonderful Life" ended up getting six Oscar nominations and only won one (it lost four to "The Best Years of Our Lives"). It did, however, end up creating a bit of a legacy in home entertainment, both because it became a traditional TV film and because it was one of the first films to release on CD-ROM in the 1990s.

Answer: Cary Grant

The Broadway play "The Philadelphia Story" was written especially for Hepburn and she was an investor. She followed it to Hollywood. It received six Oscar nominations and won Best Actor for James Stewart and Best Screenplay for Donald Ogden Stewart. It is often mentioned as the best romantic comedy. Rotten Tomatoes awarded a 100% rating, a rarity.

Cary Grant and James Stewart were added to the cast as they were both highly paid box office draws. Although he did serious roles, from 1932 to 1966 he was the master of sophisticated comedy. Stewart was comfortable in comedy, drama, and westerns beginning in 1934 to a voice-over in 1991.

Basically, after all the shenanigans, Tracy is pulled three ways in her confusion. She can marry the nouveau riche George who would give her a comfortable life and a place in society, or she could go back to Dexter that she divorced because of his drinking and lack of ambition, or Mike Conner (James Stewart), a tabloid reporter assigned to cover the wedding that she had a brief passionate but drunken affair but doesn't remember. Who will she choose?

Answer: Falls in front of an oncoming train

Charlie Oakley believes his niece (Charlotte "Charlie" Oakley) knows that he is the Merry Widow Murderer and tries to kill her on the train but instead he falls into the path of an oncoming train. His niece never discloses her suspicions that her Uncle Charlie was the real Merry Widow Murderer as he is honoured at his funeral by the people of the town. Charlotte "Charlie" Oakley (Teresa Wright) actually falls down the steep stairs which were supposedly cut through by Charlie Oakley. A second suspect which was thought to be the Merry Widow Murderer runs into an airplane propeller while being chased by police.