Classic Comedies Trivia Quiz

Answer: The General

"The General" is considered by most to be Buster's masterpiece. He stars as a Confederate train driver who has his train stolen and sweetheart kidnapped by Union spies. He gets them back and in the process is responsible for helping defeat the Union Army in battle.
The brilliantly timed series of sight gags, each one topping the one before, are sheer genius.
The film is based on a true story and is historically accurate.

Answer: Harold Lloyd

At his peak, Harold Lloyd was the most popular of the silent comedians, with his films out-grossing both Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin.
"Safety Last" is probably his best known film today. The scene featuring Harold hanging from the hand of a clock several stories above a busy street is one of the most iconic images in film history.
Harold Lloyd deserves far greater recognition today.

Answer: Way Out West

"Way Out West is a total joy of a film, with Stan and Ollie at the peak of their form.
The humour is gentle, the comic sequences are superbly well executed and beautifully timed and the musical interludes, particularly their dance together outside the saloon, are charming.
I can't think of a film which makes me happier.

Answer: My Little Chickadee

Written by Mae West and W. C. Fields, and directed by Edward Cline, "My Little Chickadee" also featured Joseph Calleia, Margaret Hamilton and Donald Meek in the cast.
The film is an often hilarious send up of the Western genre, with Mae West playing a singer from Chicago called Flower Belle Lee, who becomes involved with a con man, Cuthbert J. Twillie, played by W.C. Fields, and also with a masked bandit.
The sequence of the Indian attack on the train is one of the highlights.

Answer: His Girl Friday

"His Girl Friday" is a reworking of the play "The Front Page", with the character of Hildy Johnson changed to a woman.
It's a hilarious farce, played at breakneck speed.
The interplay between Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant is dazzling.

Answer: Horse Feathers

"Horse Feathers" is one of the great comedies made by the Marx Brothers at Paramount in the early 1930s. The others were "Animal Crackers" and my personal favourite "Duck Soup".
The Brothers went on to greater fame at M.G.M. in "A Night At The Opera", "A Day At The Races", etc., but there are many people today who prefer their earlier work.

Answer: Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda

Charles Coburn and Barbara Stanwyck play a father and daughter team of con artists. Their target is Henry Fonda, playing a rather naïve millionaire anthropologist. Unfortunately for their plans, she finds herself falling in love with him.
The film is a combination of sparkling wit and inspired slapstick, and the battle of the sexes has never been funnier.
It's a pity that Stanwyck and Fonda only made two films together - the other was "The Mad Miss Manton".

Answer: Carole Lombard and John Barrymore

An egomaniacal theatrical producer played by John Barrymore makes a shop girl - Lombard - into a broadway star. When she leaves him, he does everything he can to lure her back during a lengthy train trip on the Twentieth Century Express of the title.
Barrymore's deliciously hammy, over the top performance is hilarious, and he's matched note for note by Lombard.
The film moves at a breakneck pace, and is sheer fun all the way.
Carole Lombard was arguably the finest comic actress of her time. Apart from "Twentieth Century", her most fondly remembered work today is in "Nothing Sacred", "My Man Godfrey" and her last film, the wonderful "To Be Or Not To Be". Tragically, she died before it was released, at the age of only 33.
John Barrymore, on the other hand, is best known for his dramatic work in such films as "Rasputin And The Empress", "Grand Hotel" and "Dinner At Eight". He is the grandfather of actress Drew Barrymore.

Answer: Gregory La Cava

Gregory La Cava was a former cartoonist who began in films as an animator in the 1920s.
Progressing to features in the 1930s, he directed such films as "Gabriel Over The White House", "The Affairs Of Cellini" and "Stage Door", although "My Man Godfrey" is the one for which he is best remembered.
William Powell is best remembered today for playing Nick Charles in the "Thin Man" series of films with Myrna Loy.

Answer: Harvey

"Harvey" was adapted from the Pulitzer Prize winning play by Mary Chase, and was directed by Henry Koster.
The film also starred Josephine Hull, in an Oscar winning performance as Elwood P. Dowd's sister who is trying to have him committed to an asylum, and Peggy Dow, Charles Drake and Cecil Kellaway.
Harvey is never seen by anyone apart from Ellwood P. Dowd, whose best friend and constant companion he is. He is a Pooka, a creature from Irish folklore, who can bring good fortune.