Popcorn Crunchers, Reel 123 Trivia Quiz

Answer: a programme to launch Earth satellites

The space programme described in "War of the Satellites" is not the work of any one country but rather a collective effort of the members of the United Nations. The first ten attempts to place a satellite in Earth orbit have resulted in the destruction of the devices or their launch vehicles. Some participating states favour desisting from the project.

Answer: The Invisible Vampire

Child actor Richard Eyer played ten-year-old Timmie Merrinoe in "The Invisible Boy" (1957). John Carradine plays Dr. Karol Noymann, whose dead body is taken over by the "Invisible Invaders" (1959)."The Invisible Monster" was a 12-part serial made by Fred C. Brannon for Republic Pictures in 1950. These shorts were then edited into a feature-length film released in 1953.

Invisibility is fascinating. James Whale's adaptation of H.G. Wells' "The Invisible Man" (1897) to the screen (1933) was immensely popular and (despite developments in special effects) remains an enjoyable film. Other examples are the Cloak of Invisibility in "Harry Potter" and the One Ring in "The Hobbit" (1937). Tony Simmons wrote "Invisible Vampires: From the Case Files of Sir Arthur Magus" in 2018. Tanya Coleby wrote "His Invisible Hold: Invisible vampires seeking their fated human mate" in 2023. Nobody appears to have produced a movie in the 1950s called "The Invisible Vampire".

Answer: Mother Riley dismembers it.

The robot kidnaps Old Mother Riley in her lodgings and takes her to the home of Von Housen. She gets into a struggle with the robot, rips each of its legs off with her bare hands, and the Mark I shorts out in a puff of smoke.

Answer: Max Showalter

Max Gordon Showalter (1917-2000) is sometimes credited as Casey Adams, a name given to him by Darryl F. Zanuck at Fox. Showalter's part in "Indestructible Man" was a big one in that he not only played the police detective Chasen on screen but also narrated the entire film, rather in the style of Jack Webb in "Dragnet".

In addition to his roles in motion pictures and on television, he was a stage actor, a painter, a pianist, composer and singer. He played in 3000 performances of "Hello Dolly!" and over a thousand times on TV. Showalter appeared in very few science fiction or horror films: "Indestructible Man" (1956) and "The Monster That Challenged the World" (1957).

He appeared as Ward Cleaver in the pilot episode of television's "Leave it to Beaver" (1957-1963) but lost the role to Hugh Beaumont.

Answer: True

Hoyt Curtin's score for "Mesa of Lost Women" used flamenco guitar and piano throughout. Curtin (1922-2000) was a prolific music composer-producer-director in his long career in Hollywood. He is best known for the music he wrote for Hanna-Barbera including "The Ruff & Reddy Show", "Huckleberry Hound", "Quick Draw McGraw", "The Flintstones", "Top Cat", "The Jetsons", "Jonny Quest", "Super Friends", "Josie and the Pussycats", and "The Smurfs".

His score for "Mesa of Lost Women" was used again by Ed Wood in "Jail Bait" (1954).

Answer: a 1864 novel by Jules Verne

Screenwriter and film producer Charles Brackett (1892-1969) adapted the story in Jules Verne's 1864 novel "Voyage au centre de la Terre" for the screen in "Journey to the Center of the Earth". The beginning and ending were moved from Germany to Scotland.

The singing graduate student (played by Pat Boone) was an innovation. Director and screenwriter Walter Reisch (1903-1983) also worked on the adaptation. The novel has been adapted to other media several times, e.g. as a Spanish-language feature-length film "Viaje al centro de la Tierra" (1989) and as an animated children's series on ABC-TV (1967-1969).

Answer: .38 calibre semi-automatic pistol

Waiting for the guests in the living room are seven little coffins, one for each of them plus one each for Mr. Loren and his wife. Each coffin contains a loaded Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammer semi-automatic pistol. Annabella declines hers. Nora's is loaded with blanks ... but she doesn't know that.

Answer: directing

Howard Hawks (1896-1977) directed, produced and wrote scripts for motion pictures. Leonard Maltin described him as "the greatest American director who is not a household name". Well-known films which he directed include "Bringing Up Baby" (1938), "His Girl Friday" (1940), "To Have and Have Not" (1944), "The Big Sleep" (1946), "Red River" (1948), "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (1953), and "Rio Bravo" (1959).

He was the producer of "The Thing from Another World" (1951) but there was lots of discussion in Hollywood circles about how much assistance he gave the credited director Christian Nyby.

Some film historians list "The Thing" as part of his directorial filmography.

Answer: the California desert

The film begins with a television announcer describing an asteroid, comet or meteor seen around the world. Scientists predict, he says, that the glowing red ball of fire will land somewhere in California. Indeed, it crosses the United States and crashes into the Earth in the California desert.

This occurs near an unnamed small town where the characters in the film reside, including the one who will become the "50 Foot (tall) Woman".

Answer: resurrect an army of recently-dead humans

When Commander Eros returns from Earth to Space Station 7 and reports his inability to persuade the governments of Earth to surrender, he recommends to the Ruler that they implement Plan 9. This plan is to resurrect recently-dead people and use them as an obedient army of "ghouls" to kill the living.

The Ruler agrees and the extraterrestrials set to work unearthing the recently buried and setting them on task.