Classic Movies 1920-1950 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Peter Lorre

The letters of transit Mr. Ugarte carried with him were signed by General Charles de Gaulle. In real life, in 1940, de Gaulle had been convicted of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment, so any letter of transit presented that was signed by him would have resulted in the owner being put under arrest. It is one of the few errors in what is widely believed to be the greatest Hollywood film of all time. Perhaps the most notable other film with Lorre, Greenstreet, and Bogart would be "The Maltese Falcon". The Warner Brothers studio had to churn out 50 films per year, and "Casablanca" was just another one of those films (or so they thought). Ingrid Bergman was never crazy about the film. She thought "Casablanca" was just okay! Her fans for years always wanted to ask her about "Casablanca" and she never wanted to talk about it. A film she had made close to the time of making "Casablanca", "Intermezzo", with Leslie Howard, was an example of a film she believed to be exquisite and superior to "Casablanca".

(Question contributed by Squidwarddd)

Answer: Zero Mostel

The most famous members of the cast of the classic were, in no particular order: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Alan Hale Sr., Claude Rains, Basil Rathbone, and Eugene Pallette. Eugene Pallette played the unforgettable obese friar. Who can forget his line, "Why bless my soul! A miracle!" People just don't talk like that these days; whether that is good or bad is subjective. Claude Rains gave an excellent performance as the dastard Prince John. The original ending shot to the film was longer. It involved Robin Hood and Maid Marian running through the castle doors, riding off on a horse into the sun, and kissing. The director, Michael Curtiz, saw the scene where Robin and Marian ran out the door and said "Cut!" That was it. That was perfect. He added no more to the ending. Errol Flynn once admitted to Olivia de Havilland that he was in love with her. Had they married, she would have been many, many, many years a widow.

(Question contributed by Squidwarddd)

Answer: Margaret Mitchell

The novel was, of course, "Gone With the Wind". The movie, which starred Olivia de Havilland, Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard, and Hattie McDaniel, went on to gross (at adjusted-for-inflation prices) $6,083,614,437.41 on a budget of only $3 million. Hattie McDaniel won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role of Mammy, famously quipping during her acceptance speech, "I'd rather play a maid than be one."

(Question contributed by Matthewpokemon)

Answer: Halloween

Due to all of the horror and fright, Halloween is a most appropriate time for this movie to take place. Originally, Bob Hope was slated to play the role of Mortimer Brewster, but couldn't due to contractual obligations to Paramount Studios. Cary Grant only secured the role after Ronald Reagan and Jack Benny turned down prior offers. Boris Karloff originally played the role of the psychopathic brother Jonathan on Broadway. Even though the role was taken by Raymond Massey in the movie, the joke "You look like Boris Karloff!" oddly remained in the film.

(Question contributed by DR.NO)

Answer: "Bringing up Baby" (1938)

Susan Vance (Katharine Hepburn) mistakenly believes that David Huxley (Cary Grant) is not a paleontologist, but a zoologist. His purportedly being a zoologist is of particular interest to her. Specifically, she has received a leopard named "Baby" from her brother and thinks David can help her take care of it until her Aunt Elizabeth can claim it. Susan's dog, George, also steals the last dinosaur bone required by David to finish a brontosaurus skeleton at his museum. All's well that ends well when Susan and David fall in love, George returns the bone, and Aunt Elizabeth gives Susan a million dollars, which Susan in turn donates to David's museum.

(Question contributed by DR.NO)

Answer: Horse Feathers

In the remarkable film, Groucho plays Quincy Adams Wagstaff, the zany president of Huxley College. Zeppo plays his son, the long late Thelma Todd plays the college widow, and Baravelli and Pinky are played by Chico and Harpo, all leading up to the most memorable football scene ever filmed. "Horse Feathers" is one of the Marx Brothers greatest movies. I always get a kick out of when Zeppo sings "Everyone Says I Love You" and gets to the part about "the folks over 80 and the kid of two". Groucho was always trying to slip sexual innuendo into his movies. He succeeded marvelously in this film, when he sings, "Take a pair of rabbits who get stuck on each other and begin to woo! And pretty soon you'll find a million more rabbits who say I love you!" And of course, who can forget other Groucho songs in this film, such as "I'm Against It!" and "I Always Get My Man!".

(Question contributed by Squidwarddd)

Answer: Kane's boyhood sled

Word is out at Kane's death that his last word was "Rosebud". Much is made of what is "Rosebud". Unless you are watching an early snow scene carefully, the identity of 'Rosebud" is not revealed until workmen throw the old sled into the fire.

At release the film did not recoup its cost. In the 1950s, it was rediscovered and is regarded by critics as one of if not the best American motion picture. Welles essentially used his Mercury Players from radio and other productions such as Joseph Cotton, Agnes Morehead, Everett Stone, and Ray Collins. The film was controversial as Kane's life somewhat paralleled the life of William Randolph Hearst, a powerful newspaper mogul.

(Question contributed by Rehaberpro)

Answer: Sergei Eisenstein

Sergei Eisenstein was a giant among film directors. He is deemed the father of the film technique of montage, as evidenced by "The Battleship Potemkin" as well as in "Ivan the Terrible, Part One" (1944). He planned a trilogy of 'Ivan' and did complete "Part 2" but "Part 3" has been lost except for one scene which has survived. Stalin had no appreciation for the films. In his mind, they made the Russian secret police look bad. Were it not for him, the third part of a terrific silent trilogy would not have been marauded from the world.

(Question contributed by Squidwarddd)

Answer: F. W. Murnau

Brilliant German director F. W. Murnau directed the horror classic "Nosferatu". He was not given the rights by Bram Stoker's estate to make his film, but made what he thought was enough changes. Nevertheless, he was sued and lost. All copies of "Nosferatu" were ordered destroyed. Thankfully, some copies survived so we can still have the masterpiece today. What a horrifying (pun possibly intended) loss the court's decision might have made for the world.

(Question contributed by Squidwarddd)

Answer: Rex Ingram

My God, what a great movie this is. The Technicolor is beautiful. The special effects for a movie like this are not as good as modern movies - they're better! Computer animation does not belong in a live-action movie. There should absolutely be no characters and or creatures made up solely of animation. Rex Ingram, who played the djinn in this film, is also notable for roles such as De Lawd in "Green Pastures" and Nigger Jim in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". In "The Thief of Bagdad", he played a genie. In "Green Pastures", he played God. In "Cabin in the Sky", he played a demon. My, what a versatile actor! Sabu, the star of "The Thief of Bagdad", sadly died of a heart attack at the age of only 39.

(Question contributed by Squidwarddd)