And the Oscar Goes to... (1934) Quiz

Answer: Will Rogers

William Penn Adair Rogers was born on November 4th, 1879 in Oklahoma, the youngest of eight children (only he and three older sisters survived to adulthood).

Rogers began his career in show business with Texas Jack's Wild West Circus, as a trick roper in his early 20s, from which he made the move to vaudeville in 1904. His first sojourn into film did not occur until 1918's "Laughing Bill Hyde", beginning a career that would span nearly 20 years, ending with his death in 1935, not quite a year-and-a-half after hosting the Oscars. In all, Rogers made 71 films; 50 silent movies, and 21 'talkies.'

Answer: True

For this one time, the period of eligibility for films considered was 16 months in total, spanning from August 1st, 1932 until December 31st, 1933. Thus, while it appears that there is a year missing in Oscar presentations, with a jump from the 5th Oscars in 1932 to the 6th in 1934, there is no gap where films were not considered for awards.

Answer: Charles Laughton

"The Private Life of Henry VIII" (1933) was the name of the film in which Laughton played the title role, winning the Oscar for Best Actor. He reprised the role in the 1953 film "Young Bess", which starred Jean Simmons as Elizabeth I.

Charles Laughton (1899-1962) was born in Scarborough, Yorkshire, serving in World War I and then joining the family business (his father owned a hotel). While working, he would participate in amateur theatre productions in Scarborough until he was able to become a drama student at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1925. His first professional stage appearance came in 1926, performing in "The Government Inspector".

Laughton began working in film while still acting for the stage in England. His first credited film was a short film in 1928 entitled "The Tonic". While performing a play in the United States in 1931, his skills as an actor led to Hollywood film offers. His first American film was "The Old Dark House" (1932) with Boris Karloff.

American citizenship came for Laughton in 1950, and he continued his storied film career until his death in 1962.

Answer: Katharine Hepburn

Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003) took home the Oscar for Best Actress in just her third film! In "Morning Glory" she played a young actress trying to make it in the world of Broadway theatre.

In a film career that spanned over 60 years, Hepburn received 12 nominations for Best Actress (with four wins). In 1999, the American Film Institute's list of "100 Years, 100 Stars" placed Hepburn as the Number 1 female actor since the inception of moving pictures.

Katharine Hepburn was portrayed by Cate Blanchett in "The Aviator" (2004), who won the Oscar for Best Supporting actress for the role. It marked the first time that an Oscar-winning performer was the subject of an Oscar-winning performance.

Answer: Little Women

"Little Women" (1933) was adapted by Sarah Y. Mason and Victor Heerman from the Louisa May Alcott novel of the same name. First published in two parts in 1868 and 1869, "Little Women" had already been adapted for the screen in two silent-film versions in 1917 and 1917. The 1933 rendition had the March girls portrayed by Katharine Hepburn as Jo, Joan Bennett as Amy, Jean Parker as Beth, and Frances Dee as Meg.

The story revolves around the four March girls and their mother (Marmee, played by Spring Byington) at the end of the US Civil War and afterwards.

Answer: One Way Passage

"One Way Passage" (1932) starred William Powell as convicted murderer Dan Hardesty, and Kay Francis as Joan Ames, a woman with a terminal illness. After meeting in a bar in Hong Kong, they both end up on a ship bound for San Francisco, where their attraction to each other blossoms. Tragically, although the audience knows, neither of the two lovers ever learns of the other's secret. They part ways, not knowing that the other is destined for an early demise.

Robert Lord (1900-1976) had 72 writing credits in his career, and was also nominated in the same category in 1938 for "Black Legion" (1937).

Answer: "A Farewell to Arms" (Charles Lang)

"A Farewell to Arms" (1932) was adapted for the screen by Oliver H.P. Garrett and Benjamin Glazer from Hemingway's 1929 novel. While the other choices listed are all movies made of Hemingway's works, one of them was based on a short story ("The Killers", written in 1927), while the other two were not published until 1937 ("To Have and Have Not") and 1940 ("For Whom the Bell Tolls").

Starring Gary Cooper and Helen Hayes, "A Farewell to Arms" is set in World War I and is a tragedy following the ill-fated love story of an American ambulance driver (working with the Italian army) and an English Red Cross nurse. Nominated in four categories, the film won two Oscars (Best Cinematography and Best Sound Recording).

Charles Lang (1901-1998) is credited with 146 films as cinematographer. He garnered 18 Oscar nominations over his career, but only won this one time.

Answer: Best Assistant Director

In 1934, the nominees for Best Assistant Director were chosen without any particular film in mind. Subsequent years were more in line with the other individual award categories, matching an assistant director with the film they worked on, and limiting the nominees to a handful.

The winners were Charles Barton (Paramount), Rick James (Universal), Charles Dorian (MGM), Fred Fox (United Artists), Gordon Hollingshead (Warner Bros), Dewey Starkey (RKO Radio), and William Tummel (Fox).

Answer: Frank Capra

Will Rogers quickly made the correction, calling Frank Lloyd up, and then to minimize the gaffe, also called up the third nominee George Cukor (nominated for "Little Women" (1933)) to join the two Franks on stage.

This was Frank Lloyd's second Oscar win, having won for "The Divine Lady" (1929) at the 2nd Academy Awards. Lloyd continued to direct until the mid-1950s, credited with 134 titles under his belt. He passed away in 1960 at the age of 74.

Frank Capra (1897-1991) received his first nomination for Best Director with "Lady for a Day", and while he did not win this time around, he took home the Oscar for Best Director on three other occasions in later years. In total, Capra was credited with directing 54 titles in his 42-year career, along with 42 production credits and 41 writing credits.

Answer: Cavalcade

"Cavalcade" (1933) was based on the 1931 Noël Coward play by the same name. Focusing on three decades of life from the perspective of an affluent British family (the Maryotts), the play was a great success and ran for nearly a year at the Theatre Royal in London. The play had 400 cast and crew members, along with many massive sets.

This scope was translated well into a film adaptation, with the timeline changing from ending on New Year's Eve in 1929 to New Year's Day, 1933. The lead roles (husband and wife Robert and Jane Maryott) were played by Clive Brook and Diana Wynyard.

In total, "Cavalcade" won three Oscars from four nominations: Best Picture, Best Director (Frank Lloyd), and Best Art Direction (William S. Darling and Fredric Hope).