I Want to Hold Your Hand Trivia Quiz

Answer: panther

At the start of the film, Irena's fear that she is descended from residents of a Serbian village who had turned to witchcraft and devil worship, as represented by their ability to transform themselves into that symbol of evil, the cat, seems to be irrational. As the film progresses, it becomes clear that her fears are grounded in reality - anger, hatred, jealousy, love, fear all cause her to transform into a black panther. The transformation is not shown (1942 technology would have made that quite difficult) but is made quite clear through such shots as a series of bloody pawprints that change in the course of two steps into the footprints of a woman wearing high heels.

This film is credited with introducing the horror-film technique known as 'the bus'. When Irena is stalking Alice, the woman with whom her husband has fallen in love, the tension mounts higher and higher as we anticipate the attack that seems to be imminent. (Can I hold your hand while we watch this scene?) Just as we see a close-up of Alice's terrified face, we hear a hissing noise that we are clearly meant to assume is a hissing panther about to attack, but which turns out to be the brakes of the bus pulling over that she will be able to enter and escape from danger. We are left uncertain as to whether or not there was a transformation, and whether or not Alice was actually ever in any real danger. This technique of creating tension then dissipating it quickly is now called 'the bus'.

The Library of Congress selected "Cat People" for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1993, on the grounds that it was 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant'.

Answer: I Walked with a Zombie

To the best of my knowledge, "I Walked with a Zombie" is the only actual movie title among the options. The original screenplay for this film had a happy ending, with Paul (the plantation owner) and Betsy (the nurse) living a happy married life back in her native Ottawa.

The film ends with the recovery of the bodies of Wesley (Paul's half-brother) and Jessica (the wife) from the sea after he had killed her and carried her body into the sea. We are never clear whether this action was voodoo-controlled or not.

Answer: The Leopard Man

"The Leopard Man" is often cited as one of the first movies to attempt a realistic portrayal of a serial killer. The real killer uses a cat's claw as a weapon to make it look as if a large cat had killed and mauled the people whom he had killed. The townspeople are chasing the escaped leopard, but doubts surface. I want to hold your hand as we watch the most disturbing scene, in which a young girl who has been sent on an errand to buy corn meal is mauled outside her home, and we see blood seeping in under the door.

The leopard in this film was played by the same black leopard, named 'Dynamite', as had earlier played the panther in "Cat People".

Answer: Kim Hunter

Kim Hunter, born Janet Cole on November 12, 1922, made her screen debut in Lewton's 1943 film (which also starred Hugh Beaumont, later to play Ward Cleaver, the father in the television show "Leave it to Beaver"). Her performance in "A Streetcar Named Desire" earned her both an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award as Best Supporting Actress. You may also remember her performance as the chimpanzee scientist Zira in the 1968 version of "Planet of the Apes".

Vivien Leigh, who won the Best Actress Oscar as Blanche duBois in "Streetcar", had been in a number of films prior to that, including another Best Actress Oscar for playing Scarlet O'Hara in 1939's "Gone with the Wind". Judy Garland made her film debut in 1929, and will forever stay in our minds as Dorothy in the 1939 classic "The Wizard of Oz". Shirley Temple made her first film appearance in 1932, at the age of 3, in a series of one-reelers called "Baby Burlesks"; most of her films date from the 1930s.

Answer: The Ghost Ship

"The Ghost Ship" is the only one of these seagoing films that was produced by Val Lewton. Whether Captain Stone was or was not insane all along, he clearly becomes so by the climax of the film, killing all those who question his sanity. One of these, the radioman Wilson, writes a message about his fears and gives it to Finn, who shows it to First Officer Bowns after the captain has killed Wilson and had Merriam drugged and tied to his bunk. Bowns starts to discuss the matter with other members of the crew, and Captain Stone goes to Merriam's cabin to kill him, but is himself killed in a struggle with Finn. All's well that ends well.

Answer: The Curse of the Cat People

"The Curse of the Cat People" is not actually a sequel to "Cat People", despite the studio's attempt to exploit that film's popularity in its marketing. While it does feature some of the same characters, it really focuses on childhood fantasy, and there are no cat people. When Amy develops a fantasy friendship with Irena, the deceased cat-woman who had been her father's first wife, her father punishes her for the fantasy. I wouldn't mind having a hand to hold when Amy, caught in a blizzard after leaving her room to look for Irena, hears hoofbeats and remembers the story of the headless horseman. Tension rises high before being dissipated when the sound of hoofbeats turns into the rattling of a dilapidated car. Amy then unwittingly stumbles into more danger as she takes refuge in the house of a demented girl who has sworn to kill her. She is saved, apparently, by the appearance of Irena.

Lewton's proposed title "Amy and Her Friend" would have given audiences a better idea of what was in store, and it might have fared better at the box office. Although Lewton's film had elements of the supernatural and suspense, studio executives insisted on adding some linking scenes, such as the one where boys chase a black cat, and the movie's coherence was distinctly compromised.

Answer: an abused teenager kills his sadistic father

The film is full of wild teenage behavior caused or exacerbated by parental neglect or abuse, and there are several deaths, but the scene where an abused boy kills his father in desperation was cut by the studio. The entire film was considered to be possibly harmful to public morale during the war, so the project got very careful monitoring and editing. Lewton later tried to distance himself from the final version of the film, as it had strayed from his original vision of alerting people to a very real national problem, and possibly instigating some changes to alleviate the problem.

Answer: Boris Karloff

All of these were horror movie stars, but it is Boris Karloff who is best known for his work as Frankenstein's monster in the 1931 film "Frankenstein", the 1935 film "Bride of Frankenstein", and the 1939 film "Son of Frankenstein". In a 1946 interview, Karloff expressed his gratitude to Lewton for saving him from being stuck with the Frankenstein character for even longer. This was the first-released of the three Lewton films in which he would appear.

The plot of the movie, like the plot of the story, reflects the real life exploits of William Burke and William Hare in Edinburgh during the late 1920s. A surgeon (Dr. MacFarlane, played by Henry Daniell) hires a cabman (John Gray, played by Boris Karloff) to dig up graves so as to provide fresh corpses for dissection. Gray and his assistant Joseph (played by Bela Lugosi) have trouble getting enough fresh corpses, so turn to murder. I want to hold your hand as we watch MacFarlane and Gray engaged in hand-to-hand mortal combat which can only lead to further problems for the victor. Although Val Lewton often produced the final script for his films, this is one of the few films for which he took writing credits on screen, using the pen name of Carlos Keith.

Answer: vampire

A vrykolakas is a harmful, undead creature in Greek folklore. It has similarities to many different legendary creatures, but is generally equated with the vampire of the folklore of the neighbouring Slavic countries.

This film has plenty of moments which make me want to hold your hand as I jump out of my seat. The island is shrouded in mist, and we keep stumbling across bodies. Then Mrs St. Aubyn gets buried alive, and awakens from her cataleptic state after the wind changes, panics (she had always feared being buried alive) and kills several characters before running over the edge of a cliff. The dying general is still convinced that Thea is a vrykolakas, and we are left to wonder.

Answer: Bedlam

The Bethlem Royal Hospital of London is a psychiatric hospital, recognised as the world's first and oldest institution to specialise in the mentally ill. It has been variously known as St. Mary Bethlehem, Bethlem Hospital, Bethlehem Hospital and Bedlam.

I would like a hand to hold as we watch the tribulations of actress Nell Bowen, committed to the fictional St. Mary's of Bethlehem Asylum, after she has tried to intervene to get more humane treatment for the inmates. Fortunately, the inmates band together to resist the efforts of the head physician (played by Boris Karloff) to have her silenced, and she is finally rescued. One of the film's more shocking moments occurs after the sadistic head physician has been stabbed with a trowel and buried inside a wall by the inmates - as the last brick goes into place, we see Karloff's eyes open. Many of the incidents and some of the characters are based on real events and people.