And the Oscar Goes to... (1938) Quiz

Answer: Bob Burns

Bob Burns (1890-1956), born Robin Burn, became known as The Arkansas Traveler, as the radio persona he assumed. It was based on Sanford Faulkner, the composer of the fiddle tune "The Arkansas Traveler".

Burns' bazooka was a homemade musical instrument built around a length of gas pipe. While stationed overseas during World War I, he used it as part of the Marine Corps' jazz band. Eventually, the name and its appearance transferred to the anti-tank rocket launchers used by G.I.s in World War II.

Answer: Spencer Tracy

Spencer Tracy (1900-1967) began his film-acting career with the Fox Film Corporation, and in his first five years was part of 25 undistinguished films. After signing with Metro Goldwyn Mayer in 1935, his career took off, garnering nine nominations for Best Actor in subsequent years.

"Captains Courageous" was based on the novel of the same name by Rudyard Kipling. In the story, Freddie Bartholomew is Harvey Cheyne, a spoiled son of a wealthy business tycoon. Circumstances end up having Cheyne fall overboard and get rescued by a fishing trawler captained by Lionel Barrymore's character, who doesn't believe that Cheyne is wealthy. However, he does offer him a position on the boat. Spencer played the role of Manuel Fidello, a fisherman onboard who takes Cheyne under his wing and helps him adapt to life on the trawler.

Answer: The Good Earth

Luise Rainer began her Hollywood acting career in 1935 with her first film "Escapade". Her acting ability was quickly noted with her win for 1936's "The Great Ziegfeld" and again for 1937's "The Good Earth". Unfortunately, her zest for film acting was short-lived, as she left the industry in 1938. Over the years she made appearances on stage and the odd television and film role, but never anything substantive.

"The Good Earth" was based on the novel of the same name by Pearl S. Buck, and was about a Chinese farming couple struggling to survive against the vagaries of fate. Rainer played O-Lan, the wife to main character Wang Lung, played by Paul Muni.

Answer: No

The "impostor" was actually Henry King, the director of "In Old Chicago" and Brady's statuette was officially presented to her (after engraving) by actor Charles Winninger (photo taken). After Brady died of cancer in 1939, the statuette did go missing, but there is a record of it having been sold at an auction in 2008 to an anonymous bidder.

Alice Brady (1892-1939) had a relatively short film career due to her untimely death from cancer at the age of 47. Yet in that time she acted in over 80 films and kept up an active Broadway acting career at the same time (she actually took a 10-year break from filmmaking to concentrate on theatre from 1923 until 1933).

"In Old Chicago" was a fictionalized rendition of the story of the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. Brady played the part of Mrs. O'Leary, whose cow started the fire. It was based on the story by Niven Busch entitled "We the O'Learys."

Answer: False

Schildkraut (1896-1964) won Best Supporting Actor for his role in "The Life of Émile Zola", but it was not for playing Paul Cézanne (who was played by Vladimir Sokoloff). Rather, the part that Schildkraut played was that of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer within the upper ranks of the French army staff at the German embassy who is wrongly accused of espionage.

Zola (Paul Muni) is asked by Dreyfus' wife to take up her husband's cause, and she convinces him to use his writing prowess to uncover the truth.

Answer: Lost Horizon

Capra's rendition of Hilton's "Lost Horizon" was an ambitious effort that went over its original budget of $1.25 million, with the final production cost hitting over $2.6 million. The film's first cut was six hours long, and that was cut down to three and a half hours for the first preview screening. After more drastic cuts, it premiered at 132 minutes in length. With all the cost overruns, however, it did not make any money until after its 1942 reissue.

Stephen Goosson (1889-1973), the art director for the film, was credited as art director for 137 films over a 35-year career.

Answer: The Good Earth

Karl Freund (1890-1969) was a prolific cinematographer and pioneer of early film. His career began in the early 1910s and lasted until his retirement in the mid-1950s, during which he received cinematography credit on 149 titles, including "Metropolis" (1927), "Dracula" (1931) and the television series "I Love Lucy" (1951-1956).

Pearl S. Buck's novel "The Good Earth" was realized through the vision of directors Sidney Franklin, Victor Fleming, and Gustav Machatý. The main characters, portraying a family struggling to survive in mainland China, were played by Luise Rainer and Paul Muni.

Answer: A Damsel in Distress

"A Damsel in Distress" was the first movie by RKO in which Fred Astaire did not perform with Ginger Rogers. Consequently, it was Astaire's first film effort that lost money.

The plot of "A Damsel in Distress" has Lady Alyce Marshmorton (Joan Fontaine) needing to be married soon, and the household is busy placing wagers on who the lucky man will be. On a trip to London, she meets American Jerry Halliday (Astaire), and from there the false impressions abound.

The Oscar for Best Dance Direction was accepted by choreographer Hermes Pan, known for working with Astaire and Rogers on many films through the 1930s. He lived from 1910 to 1990, working until 1981, with credit on 87 films.

Answer: A Star is Born

William A. Wellman (1896-1975) worked as an actor, writer, director and producer during his career, but became best known for being a director, with 83 directing credits to his name. In fact, he not only co-wrote "A Star is Born", but he also directed it.

Three other people co-wrote the script, including Robert Carson (1909-1983), Dorothy Parker (1893-1967) and Alan Campbell (1904-1963).

Janet Gaynor (1906-1984) starred as Esther Victoria Blodgett, a farm girl from North Dakota who has a mind to become a Hollywood actress. Her career aspirations are given a boost by declining actor Norman Maine, played by Fredric March.

Answer: Zola and His Time

All of the biography titles given as options were written by Matthew Josephson (1899-1978), although "Zola and His Time" (1928) was Josephson's first biography. The subtitle of the book is "The History of His Martial Career in Letters". It was adapted by Herald, Herczeg and Raine into story and screenplay, becoming "The Life of Émile Zola".

The power of Zola's prose in writing persuasive and politically-charged letters is reflected from the book to the film, where Zola's writing prowess is able to save a wrongfully-accused man of being convicted for espionage. Paul Muni played the title role.

"Jean-Jacques Rousseau" was published in 1932, "Victor Hugo" in 1942, and "Stendhal: or The Pursuit of Happiness" in 1946.

Answer: One Hundred Men and a Girl

The Universal Studio Music Department was the recipient of the Oscar for their scoring of the music for "One Hundred Men and a Girl". With a story that centers around musicians, it was a prime candidate for the Award.

In the story, a trombone player (played by Adolphe Menjou) tries unsuccessfully to get a playing position under orchestra leader Leopold Stokowski. In order not to disappoint his daughter (the 'girl' from the title, played by Deanna Durbin), he acquires a promise from a patron to fund the formation of a 100-piece orchestra. Things go wrong, however, and funding falls through -- unless someone can convince the famed Leopold Stokowski to lead this new group!

Answer: Sweet Leilani

Harry Owens (1902-1986) wrote the music and lyrics for "Sweet Leilani" and a number of other songs for the musical film "Waikiki Wedding". Created by RKO Pictures as a counter to the popular musical films featuring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, "Waikiki Wedding" featured Bing Crosby and Shirley Ross. Crosby plays a public relations man tasked with promoting Hawaii, while Ross is a local beauty queen whose comments about the islands are less than flattering.

Answer: True

The last winner of the now-defunct category of Best Assistant Director was Robert Webb for "In Old Chicago". Webb came into his own as the primary director on 16 films between the years 1945 and 1968, including Elvis Presley's debut film "Love Me Tender" (1956).

"In Old Chicago" tells a fictionalized version of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, based on a story by Niven Busch called "We the O'Learys".

Answer: The Awful Truth

"The Awful Truth" is a comedy featuring Cary Grant and Irene Dunn as a soon-to-be divorced couple who go to great lengths to ruin each other's attempts at romantic trysts with other people. Do they go through with the divorce or reconcile? Watch the film and see.

Leo McCarey (1898-1969) had over 100 directing credits to his name in over 40 years of film making. In addition to that, he was also credited with writing for over 90 films (with some overlap). It was McCarey who brought the infamous duo Laurel and Hardy together!.

Answer: The Life of Émile Zola

"The Life of Émile Zola" received nominations in 10 different categories at these Academy Awards, winning three.

The biographical story starred Paul Muni as Émile Zola, a struggling writer in Paris. Success in his writing bring Zola a comfortable life, but it does not last. Zola is drawn into the Dreyfus affair by the wife of the wrongfully accused officer (Dreyfus), who pleads for his aide in proving her husband's innocence. Being Jewish, he has been named as a spy when evidence of one's existence in the French military leadership comes to light. Zola uses his writing skill to bring the whole affair into question, to the detriment of his own career and reputation.