Hollywood Movie Studio Names Quiz | Movie Mixture

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. This studio's name is also the name given to a human figure which is a major element in its logo, adopted in 1924. This element personifies America, and wears a drape that was a USA flag until 1943, when it was replaced by a solid blue drape. What studio shares a name with this logo figure?

Answer: Columbia Pictures

The Columbia studio was founded in 1919 by brothers Jack and Harry Cohn, and Joe Brandt. The company took the name Columbia Pictures in 1924 and commissioned the famous "Lady with a Torch" (named Columbia to represent the USA) that same year. The Lady has changed in appearance several times over the decades, most recently in 1993 when she was slimmed down to meet modern expectations of the ideal woman.

2. This studio was born in 1919 from the ambitions of its founders to create movies of distinction while enjoying added control over their films. The idea was generated when three of the principals, along with cowboy star William S. Hart, toured the USA selling Liberty Bonds in support of World War I causes. What is the name of the studio they formed?

Answer: United Artists

The four Hollywood legends who formed United Artists were Mary Pickford, her then-husband Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin, and director D. W. Griffith. The company was successful for many decades. The name "United Artists" was revived in 2006 as the production company of actor Tom Cruise.

3. Carl Laemmle started his first movie company, the Yankee Film Company, in 1911. A year later he engineered a merger with eight smaller production companies, calling the result the "_________ Film Manufacturing Company." What now-famous studio name is represented by the blank?

Answer: Universal Studios

The most immediate association many people have with "Universal" today is the studio tour/theme parks that bear that name. Few of the historic 'back lots' remain in southern California, given that movie production has largely moved to more economical parts of the USA and the world, so Universal's historic streets and stages are particularly treasured by film buffs.

4. This studio, famous for John Wayne movies, has changed ownership often since the 1935 founding. Though it released successful movies such as "The Quiet Man" and "Johnny Guitar," failing fortunes led owners to sell off the name. But as of 1985, rights to the name, film library, and iconic eagle logo returned to a single corporate owner. What is this studio name?

Answer: Republic Pictures.

The advent of home video has given new value to the large library of westerns, mysteries, and serials that Republic Pictures produced. In addition to the dozens of movies John Wayne made for the studio, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers also starred in numerous westerns for Republic.

5. This studio's name is a combination of the two major naming principles ('for the owner(s)' and 'for the quality audiences should associate with the studio's films'). Formed in 1924, its motto is Ars Gratia Artis. Can you name the studio?

Answer: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

The man who put together the deal to create Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, movie-theater mogul Marcus Loew, modestly did not put his own name into the new firm. This let Samuel Goldwyn and Louis B. Mayer take the limelight, along with "Metro." Metro Pictures, founded in 1915, was named as a reflection of the "metropolitan" sophistication that studio heads hoped audiences would find in their movies.

The name "Goldwyn" is itself a combination of the names of Goldwyn Pictures founders Archibald Selwyn and Samuel Goldfish. Goldfish later legally changed his last name to "Goldwyn."

The MGM motto, "Ars Gratia Artis", is often translated as "Art For Art's Sake" (thanks to Tolkienist for suggesting this information be added).

6. This studio is another with a name reflecting both abstract qualities and owners' names. Founded in 1929, it had corporate ties with vaudeville, radio, and a leading maker of movie sound equipment. Notable associates included Joseph Kennedy, Howard Hughes, and General David Sarnoff. What's the name of this studio?

Answer: RKO Pictures

RKO stands for Radio Keith Orpheum. The first word refers both to the involvement of RCA (headed by David Sarnoff) and to the studio's being dedicated to sound (as opposed to silent) movies. The second and third words refer to the vaudeville roots of the movie business, or more specifically, to the networks of vaudeville theaters that later became movie theaters. "Keith" was Benjamin Franklin Keith who had died fifteen years before RKO was formed, and "Orpheum" refers to the Orpheum Circuit, Inc.

Some of RKO's biggest stars were Katharine Hepburn, and Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Hepburn and Rogers starred in the 1937 RKO classic "Stage Door," in which a contract (minor) player was Lucille Ball. Twenty years later, that minor player and her husband Desi Arnaz, through their own studio Desilu, purchased the RKO lot and filmed their iconic "I Love Lucy" series on its soundstages.

7. Another studio with a compound name (reflecting owners as well as hoped-for mental associations) began in 1935. Among the studio's major assets in its early years were a minor and a skater. Successes were undercut by failures, including a disastrous "Cleopatra". But the studio's corporate heirs managed to thrive; this is a famous media name today. What is the name of this studio?

Answer: Twentieth Century Fox

The "Fox" in Twentieth Century Fox was William Fox (1879 - 1952), who was brought with his family from Hungary to the USA at the age of nine months. He formed his movie studio, Fox Film Corporation, in 1915. For Fox, 1929 was a very bad year: he lost his fortune in the stock market crash, and was severely injured in a car accident. He lost control of his studio, which was merged into the new Twentieth Century Fox six years later. It has been reported that when Fox died in 1952, not a single Hollywood producer attended his funeral.

Given these unfortunate facts, it's possible that Fox is the most obscure, disregarded person in history to have so huge a financial empire named for him.

8. Founded in 1935, this studio was in business only eight years--yet it released some of Hollywood's most famous and highly-regarded movies. This list includes such favorites as 1937's "A Star is Born," 1939's "Gone With the Wind," and 1940's "Rebecca". What is the name of this studio?

Answer: Selznick International Pictures

Though "Gone With the Wind" was both made and released by David O. Selznick's studio, it was purchased by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1944, and since that date all re-releases of the movie (whether in theaters or television, or on home video or DVD) have carried the MGM branding.

9. Several Hollywood studios were founded by brothers; this is one of them. The studio name is associated with hugely successful live action and animation, too, and a venture into theme parks. Today the studio name lives on in several media. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, the studio in Burbank has offered tours of soundstages, craft shops, and back lot streets. Can you name this studio?

Answer: Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. was named for the four Wonskolaser brothers--Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack--who came to the USA from Poland in 1889, changing their family name. They founded their movie studio in 1918. The company they created lives on today in movies, television, and beyond.

The facts in this question are also a close fit with the Walt Disney studio, except for one discrepancy: Disney, unlike Warner, did not offer public tours of its California studio facilities in the 1990s and 2000s (or at any other time that I've been able to discover).

10. This studio was founded in 1923; one of its founders began creating production companies at the age of 18. An early such company was "Laugh-O-Gram Films." This founder's name has become a brand in itself; the studio has expanded into many media. What is the name of this studio?

Answer: Walt Disney Productions

At the 1923 founding date, the name of the studio was "Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio." Various versions of the reasons for the change that left Roy Disney out of the studio name exist. Another naming issue arose about a half-century later, when the Florida theme park complex needed a title. Walt had died in 1966, and older brother Roy, it is said, insisted that the new endeavor be named not simply "Disney World" but "WALT Disney World."

Source: Author Gheelnory

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Nannanut before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Hollywood Movie Studio Names Trivia Quiz

The major Hollywood studios were named in two basic ways: for those in charge, or for a general quality that the makers hoped audiences would find in their films. All choices in this quiz are, or were, real studios; how well do you know their names?

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