Hollywood... Classified Trivia Quiz

Answer: Book

This 1922 novel represents one of those rare occasions that Edgar Rice Burroughs strays from the heroic fiction and science fiction genres, in which he'd had enormous success. The story centres on the Pennington family, who live on a beautiful but remote ranch in California, their children Custer and Eva and their interaction with a (somewhat) principled Hollywood actress who has drug issues.

This question was submitted by Phoenix Rising's Pollucci19.

Answer: Song

Billy Joel wrote this song, which was the opening track on his "Turnstiles" album in 1976. The song became much more popular in 1981, when a live version recorded in Milwaukee was released as a single. Joel has explained that he wrote the song partly as an homage to Ronnie Spector's recording of "Be My Baby", which is especially ironic because Ronnie Spector later (1977) released a single version of "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" with Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band providing the instrumentation. Joel wrote the lyrics alluding to his move back to New York City from Hollywood in 1975; Spector said her life had fallen apart in Hollywood so it was especially apt for her as well.

This question was submitted by Phoenix Rising's pusdoc.

Answer: Film

The 1937 film "Hollywood Hotel" was based on a popular radio show of the same name. With a hearty mixture of singing, romance, and comedy, the film followed a few actors through their Hollywood experiences. Ronnie Bowers was the new kid on the block who could sing and play the saxophone. Benny Goodman made an appearance by having his band play "Hooray for Hollywood" to wish Ronnie luck. The entitled star, Mona Marshall, was sulking and refused to attend the premiere of her latest movie. So the studio had her film double Virginia Stanton pretending to be Mona along with Ronnie as an escort... and then the two fall in love. Things continued to get better for Ronnie as he found himself with a Hollywood contract in the end.

Interestingly, the actresses who played Mona and her double Virginia are real-life sisters, Rosemary and Lola Lane. Also, Ronald Reagan made his second-ever film appearance by playing the uncredited role of a radio host. Both the film and the song "Hooray for Hollywood" were nominated to the AFI's 100 Years list for greatest musical movie and song. The only one who didn't like the film was the Campbell's Soup company which had sponsored the radio show but was not invited to profit from the film, so of course, they sued.

This question was submitted by Phoenix Rising's BigTriviaDawg.

Answer: Song

Bob Seger did not like Los Angeles, preferring his home state Michigan and the Midwest. Occasionally, though, he would record at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama. However, for the "Stranger In Town" album in 1978, Segar had to move to Los Angeles to finish the album. According to a 2019 interview with "Goldmine" magazine, Segar was driving around the Hollywood Hills area where he had rented a house, when an idea for a song popped into his head. He started singing "Hollywood nights/Hollywood Hills/Above the lights/Hollywood nights". He said in the interview that he turned around and went back to his rented house, to record the words before he forgot them. In his house was a copy of "Time" magazine with Cheryl Tiegs on the cover. He thought she was an LA stereotype: big smile, thin, blonde. This inspired Seger to write about a Midwest guy who moves to Hollywood and meets his dream girl, a romance happens quickly but all too soon he wakes up alone. He is left looking over the Hollywood Hills, knowing he can no longer go home.

This question was contributed by Phoenix Rising's JAM6430.

Answer: Book

This is the 1990 autobiography on the life of British comedian Ernie Wise. Commencing with his initial success at London's West End, where he became an overnight success at the tender age of thirteen, his career in music halls before the war and his forays into television after it. Most importantly, it builds on the longstanding friendship and the incredible working partnership he had with Eric Morecambe.

This question was submitted by Polluci19.

Answer: Song

"Hollywood's Bleeding" was the title track of Post Malone's third studio album. There was an impressive lineup of guest performers on the album and six of the tracks were released as singles. As for the song itself, "Hollywood's Bleeding" was a beautiful display of Post Malone's melodic voice. The song talked about the dangers of Tinsel Town and how easy it is to be lonely there. While the song was never released as a single, Post Malone did sing it at the 2021 Grammy Awards. The album "Hollywood's Bleeding" won the American Music Award for "Favorite Album - Rap/Hip-Hop" and The Billboard Music Award for "Top Album".

This question was submitted by Phoenix Rising's BigTriviaDawg.

Answer: Book

Of several novels with this title, Gore Vidal's is perhaps the most ambitious.

This was the fifth episode in his "Narratives of Empire", which was a series of six historical novels that formed a 'complete' biography of the United States.

The narrative followed the protagonist from the previous novels in the series, Caroline Sanford, as she discovered the power of film to manipulate the real world as she became a movie star under the name of Emma Traxler. The story demonstrated how Caroline balanced her two 'lives' -- West Coast movie star and East Coast senator's mistress. This served to juxtapose how America had balanced (or not) its two power centres: Hollywood, the imaginary and Washington DC, the real.

This question was submitted by Phoenix Rising's 1nn1.

Answer: Song

This song was released in 2011 as the second single from Michael Jackson's posthumously released album "Michael". Jackson, initially, wrote the song during the time of his "Invincible" album (2001) but didn't complete it. He began work on it again in 2007 and had a working copy completed by 2008. He felt it needed additional improvements but never did get around to it. The final copy was produced by Teddy Riley and Theron "Neff-U" Feemster, after Jackson's passing.

This question was submitted by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19.

Answer: Song

"Hollywood Seven" was a 1976 song by Australian singer Jon English. The song was written by Americans Gloria Sklerov and Harry Lloyd. Ms Sklerov was a staff writer for Garrett Music. One evening she was driving down a Los Angeles freeway when she saw a motel sign called "Hollywood Eight". She was intrigued by the sign and wondered who would check in there. With her writing partner, she wrote the story, changing "eight" to "seven" as it sang better, of a wannabe film star who checked into a "seven bucks a night motel" "waiting for the call" from the movie studios which never came. The song was written for Terry Jacks but this did not go ahead. The song was sent out to all the sub-publishers including those in Australia. The song was picked up by Jon English's management and it was his third highest-selling single. The song has been covered by Alides Hidding, Anthony Newley and Dennis Waterman among others.

This question was submitted by Phoenix Rising's 1nn1.

Answer: Film

"Not Quite Hollywood" (2008) wears the subtitle "The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!" and is a documentary that covers the rival of the Australian film industry that commenced in the 1970s and developed in the 1980s. Aided by the newly created R-Rating, Australian directors took this as an advantage to produce risqué productions such as "Alvin Purple" (1973), the crass "The Adventures of Barry McKenzie" (1972) and the dystopian horror "Turkey Shoot" (1982), a movie that inspired Quentin Tarantino, who is one of many directors interviewed during the course of the film.

This question was submitted by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19.

Answer: Book

"Hollywood Wives", written in 1983, was a popular novel by Jackie Collins covering the lives of the wives of successful Hollywood men. The novel told the tale of all the drama that happened as these ladies did whatever it took to stay at the top. From glamorous parties and outrageous shopping sprees to scandalous affairs, it was all there for the reader to devour.

The novel was very popular from the start and inspired an equally popular TV miniseries. Author Jackie Collins also expanded her "Hollywood" repertoire by adding several novels including "Hollywood Husbands" and "Hollywood Kids" to name a few. The lives of the rich and famous will always be of interest to the many who wish they had such glamour in their lives.

This question was submitted by Phoenix Rising's BigTriviaDawg.

Answer: Film

"Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood" was a 2019 comedy-drama film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, and Margot Robbie. It was written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Like most of his films, it has multiple plot lines and references to other movies and other pop culture items. The storyline mixed fictional characters like fading star Rick Dalton (DiCaprio) and his stunt double/personal assistant Cliff Booth (Pitt) who lived next door to real-life people such as Sharon Tate (Robbie).

The movie was a critical and commercial success. It was nominated for ten Academy Awards, winning two, notably Best Supporting Actor going to Brad Pitt.
In 2021 Tarantino published a novel based on the movie "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - A Novel" as part of a two-book publishing deal. Tarantino described his first novel as "a complete rethinking of the entire story".

This question was submitted by Phoenix Rising's 1nn1.