The George Cukor Experience Trivia Quiz

Answer: Little Women

When Cukor directed his version of Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women" in 1933, it had been fifteen years since the last version of the novel was filmed, before the advancement of sound in motion pictures. Even with excellent color versions made later by acclaimed directors Mervyn LeRoy in 1949 and Gillian Armstrong in 1994, this black and white version remains a favorite of many movie buffs.

Answer: Katharine Hepburn

Cukor directed Hepburn in her acclaimed debut film, "A Bill of Divorcement". He then went on to direct her in "Little Women", "Sylvia Scarlett", "The Philadelphia Story" (the only Cukor film for which her performance was Oscar nominated), "Holiday", and three films with Spencer Tracy: "Keeper of the Flame", "Adam's Rib", and "Pat and Mike".

More than 25 years after this last theatrical film, Cukor would direct Hepburn in two made-for-TV movies, "Love Among the Ruins" and a remake of the 1945 Bette Davis film, "The Corn is Green".

Answer: Greta Garbo

The film is based on a novel by Alexandre Dumas Fils entitled, "La dame aux camélias". Garbo played a courtesan who falls in love with a man (played by Robert Taylor) whose father insists she end their relationship out of concern for his son's reputation and future.

Cukor would direct Garbo in one more film, "Two Faced Woman", which would be her last. After that she famously turned her back on Hollywood, never to return. She would live her life outside of the public eye until passing away in 1990. It is believed that "Camille" was Garbo's favorite of all her films.

Answer: The Women

Contrary to popular belief, Cukor was not replaced by director Victor Fleming at the request of Clark Gable. It was producer David O. Selznick who did not agree with Cukor's approach to directing the film. (Either that, or the director's style was simply too evident, and Selznick wanted it to be HIS movie, and not "a George Cukor film".) As soon as Cukor became available, producer Hunt Stromberg wasted no time in hiring him to direct "The Women".

Coincidentally, Cukor also did some early work on another film taken over by Fleming that same year, "The Wizard of Oz". He was there for the early stages of the film and advised against the more mature (and brassy) look that Judy Garland was initially given as Dorothy Gale, resulting in her appearance in the completed film being more appropriate for a young girl.

Answer: Gaslight

Many people who've seen Cukor's "Gaslight" are unaware that there was a British version filmed four years earlier, with London stage star Diana Wynyard ("Cavalcade") playing the role made famous stateside by Bergman. In fact, many movie buffs prefer the British version.

The story was originally written for the stage by playwright Patrick Hamilton, the son of novelist Olivia Roy, who also had one of her works turned into a film (1920's "The Husband Hunter"). Hamilton also wrote a play based on the Leopold and Loeb murder case entitled "Rope's End", which later became Alfred Hitchcock's 1948 film, "Rope".

Answer: A Double Life

People who call George Cukor a "woman's director" are perhaps unaware, or forget, that Ronald Colman won the Academy Award for Best ACTOR under his direction. With this film, actress Signe Hasso would become the third Swedish-born performer to work with Cukor (after Garbo and Bergman). "A Double Life" earned Cukor his third Academy Award nomination, seven years after his nod for "The Philadelphia Story".

Answer: Judy Holliday in "Born Yesterday"

Holliday reprised the role of Billie Dawn which she originated on the stage. Ironically, the role was not written for her, but for Jean Arthur (whose film career had peaked in the late 1930's and was two decades older than Holliday). Arthur dropped out three days before the play opened, and Holliday had to quickly learn the role. She ended up playing Billie Dawn for over four years.

That same year, Cukor also directed Lana Turner in the lesser-known "A Life of Her Own". Surprisingly, he never worked with Bette Davis.

Answer: A Star is Born

The other three films listed are all remakes of earlier films, including "The Opposite Sex" which starred June Allyson and was a remake of Cukor's own, "The Women". But "A Star is Born" is the film which gave Judy Garland a much-needed film comeback, along with an Oscar nomination. That year the big winner was "On the Waterfront", but many fans feel Judy deserved to win over Grace Kelly's performance in "The Country Girl", one of her less-remembered film roles. Groucho Marx even called it, "the biggest robbery since the Brinks heist".

"A Star is Born" is the film in which Judy performs the showstopping song, "The Man That Got Away", a song which was also Oscar nominated, but lost to the more sentimental "Three Coins in the Fountain". In 1976, the story was retold again with Barbra Streisand in the lead role. It was not nearly as successful. And while the 1937 version is excellent, for many Cukor's 1954 film remains the definitive version.

Answer: My Fair Lady

"My Fair Lady" was the big winner for 1964, receiving eight Oscars. Cukor's competition that year included Robert Stevenson, who directed Julie Andrews in "Mary Poppins". At the time many fans of the Broadway version were very upset that Julie Andrews would not be reprising the role of Eliza Doolittle she originated on stage. As a result, Audrey Hepburn was conspicuously absent from the list of twelve nominations that went to "My Fair Lady", leaving an easy Best Actress victory for Andrews as the singing nanny.

Robert Stevenson would not be Oscar nominated again, although he would have several major box office successes, most memorably "The Love Bug". He was named a "Disney Legend" by Disney studios in 2002.

Answer: Rich and Famous

Prior to this film, the other three features Cukor directed after winning the Oscar were, "Justine", "Travels With My Aunt" (starring Maggie Smith, who would give Cukor his final Oscar-nominated performance), and the troubled 1976 production "The Blue Bird".

"Rich and Famous" is similar to Herbert Ross's "The Turning Point" in that it follows the friendship of two women over a period of several years. Bergen and Bisset were both in their mid-thirties during filming, with Meg Ryan making her film debut at 19 as Bergen's daughter. The film is not regarded as one of Cukor's best, but that is understandable since he set the bar so high in a career that spanned half a century. Thanks for playing!