Joseph Cotten Trivia Quiz

Answer: Joseph Cheshire Cotten Jr.

Named for his father, who was a local postal employee, he attended public schools and later the Hickman School of Speech and Expression to study acting. He appeared in local productions and finally onto the New York stage.

Answer: The Philadelphia Story

The filmed "Philadelphia Story" (1940) was nominated for six Academy Awards but only Stewart won an Oscar. The role solidified Cotten as a solid Broadway actor and led to a number of other opportunities.

Answer: Orson Welles

Orson Welles was the guiding light of Cotten's career. His Broadway, radio, and particularly his film career was tied directly or indirectly to Welles' projects.

Answer: Mercury Theatre

Mercury Theatre produced "Julius Caesar" in 1937 in modern dress and set in fascist Italy. This was followed by "Shoemaker's Holiday" (1938) and "Native Son" (1941). The group turned to radio for a critically acclaimed but low rated Mercury Theatre which concentrated on adaptations of classics.

The Halloween broadcast of "War of the Worlds" in 1938 made history with the mass hysteria it generated. Many of the actors followed Welles, including Cotten, into films which included "Citizen Kane"(1939) and the "Magnificent Ambersons" (1942). Long after members had left, Welles attached 'Mercury' to his several projects.

Answer: Kane finishes the critical review that Leland was writing, then fires him

The review which Kane finishes and publishes is a negative review of his wife's operatic performance, a woman without the voice or temperament to be a diva. She had been pushed into this career with the force of Kane's money and only too late does Kane recognise his folly through his friend's drunken unfinished review.

Answer: Studio bosses took the film away from director Welles and edited and distributed without Welles' permission

Welles went to South America to film a documentary. The studio deleted forty minutes of the film and re-shot scenes to give it a happy ending, which Welles had not planned. In spite of this "The Magnificent Ambersons" proved to be both a critical and financial success. Tim Holt played the George Minafer role and Delores Costello played his mother. Orson Welles narrated.

Answer: Graham Greene

The film was directed by Carol Reed from the Graham Greene novel. It won the Grand Prix Award at Cannes in 1950 and is usually included on various lists of 100 great movies. Anton Karas, a zitherist, had one-hit wonder fame for his rendition of the Third Man Theme both in the film and recording. Greene wrote the screen play simultaneously with the novel but the novel was not published until after the film had been released.

Answer: Alfred Hitchcock

"Shadow of a Doubt" was one of Hitchcock's early American film and reportedly one of his personal favorites. Thornton Wilder wrote the story and was assisted in the screen play by Sally Benson. Hitchcock's first American movie was "Rebecca" (1940).

Answer: "Some Come Running" (1958)

In "Gaslight" Cotten plays a police inspector who saves Ingrid Bergman from her evil husband played by Charles Boyer. Cotten plays Eben Adams, a painter who is inspired to paint Jennie who may or may not be real.

In "Duel in the Sun" brothers Cotten and Gregory Peck vie for the affection of Jennifer Jones (along with some others). "Some Come Running" is a Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin flic based on a James Jones novel.

Answer: Patricia Medina

Patricia Medina was often cast in costume pictures such as "The Three Musketeers" (1948), "Botany Bay" (1953), and "Mr. Arkadin" (1955)--with Orson Welles. She co-stared with Donald O'Connor and a mule in "Francis" (1950). She also made appearances in Abbot and Costello and Three Stooges films.