Marvellous Movies of the 1930s Quiz

Answer: The Big Trail

The young actor in question was John Wayne and the story centred round the pioneers who used 'The Oregon Trail' to travel to the west.
The movie was classified by the US Library of Congress as being 'culturally, historically or aesthetically significant' enough to be selected for inclusion in the National Film Registry.
'Talkies' had been around since 1927 ('The Jazz Singer') so by 1930, soundtracks were clearer and less tinny, also directors were experimenting with various film formats, hence widescreen.

Answer: Platinum Blonde

Harlow was noted more for playing working class feisty girls, good-time girls or gangsters molls, so this film added to her range of artistic abilities and showed her at her best in romantic comedies, as an upper class girl used to getting her own way, but losing her chosen man in the end.
She was born in 1911 as Harlean Harlow Carpenter, in Kansas City. She died tragically at the age of 26, from undiagnosed renal failure, for which at the time, there was very little treatment.

Answer: Tarzan the Ape Man

The film centred around 'Tarzan', an orphan who lost his parents in the jungle and was subsequently brought up by apes. He is discovered by the explorer, who then finds that Tarzan is actually of the British aristocracy. After a brief spell back in Britain, he decides to return to the jungle with his 'mate', Jane.
The Olympic medallist was Johnny Weissmuller, who had won gold medals for freestyle swimming and one bronze in the 1924 and 1928 Olympic Games. He also won 52 US National Championships and set 67 world records, a rather impressive record even by today's standards. He was not the first actor to play Tarzan but even today is the best known one, although there have been many portrayals of Edgar Rice Burroughs' character over the years.
The explorer in the film was played by British actor C Aubrey Smith, who, prior to his acting career, was a professional fast bowler for the Sussex cricket team.

Answer: The Private Life of Henry Vlll

The film was shot in England with Charles Laughton portraying Henry throughout his life, from his coronation to his death and through all his marriages and troubles with the Catholic Church. He won an Academy Award for Best Leading Man.
He was also noted for his portrayal of Quasimodo in 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' (1939) and as Captain Bligh in 'The Mutiny on the Bounty' (1935)
Laughton was adept at many character portrayals in various genres of film, from serious drama to light comedy.

Answer: It Happened One Night

Claudette Colbert won an Academy Award for Best Leading Lady for this movie and her co-star, Clark Gable, won an Academy Award for Best Leading Man; hardly surprising really as their characters really sparked off one another. She starred as a 'poor little rich girl' trying to escape from the life that is mapped out for her - being an heiress.

She is helped by a man who appears to be a 'free spirit', but is actually a reporter who sees a good story in it if he helps her. Of course, they end up falling in love! The movie also won Best Director, Best Film and Best Writing Adaptation Academy Awards.

Answer: David Copperfield

The movie was based on Charles Dickens' 'David Copperfield'. Although it did not stick religiously to the book, missing out some parts of Copperfield's life, nevertheless it was a great screen adaptation.
The movie is a semi-autobiographical story of a young boy sent away to live in various schools and with distant relatives, meeting up with many of life's unfairnesses on the way. However, he manages to triumph over all these as he matures and makes good.
Although the film was nominated for three Academy Awards (Best Film, Best Film Editing and Best Assistant Director), it failed to win any of these.

Answer: The Great Ziegfeld

'The Great Ziegfeld' won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Dance Direction as well as being nominated for, but failing to achieve, Best Art Direction, Best Direction, Film Editing and Writing, Original Screenplay.
William Powell and Myrna Loy starred in 14 successful films together, often portraying a married couple.
The film follows the life of Lorenz Ziegfeld, showing his rivalry with another revue producer, Billings, one that continued almost all their professional lives. It highlights the roller coaster pattern to Ziegfeld's financial status, as he makes and loses money on various shows and also in his private life.

Answer: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

'Snow White' came originally from the imagination of the Brothers Grimm, in Germany, although several other European countries had a similar story in their folk tales. It is about a young girl, pursued by a wicked queen (her step-mother), who seeks refuge and friendship with seven mining dwarves.
It is the first full length feature cartoon/animation from the studios of Walt Disney and even now, after several decades, it is still one of his most famous films, beloved by all age groups.
It has been nominated by AFI as the greatest American animated film of all time.
It was also the only animated film in the AFI top 100 list, ranking at number 34.

Answer: The Lady Vanishes

The movie was one of the many excellent productions brought out by Hitchcock. It was named Film of the Year' by the New York Times and Hitchcock received the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Direction. The film is set in pre-war Europe and centres on a rich young American woman, who makes the acquaintance of an elderly lady when their train is prevented from travelling further overnight due to harsh weather conditions.

The passengers are put up in a small hotel overnight, then continue their journey the next day.

However, the elderly lady seems to have disappeared and nobody can remember seeing her!

Answer: Ninotchka

The star concerned was Greta Garbo and the film was her first, and only, role in light comedy. In fact, the billboards carried the blurb 'Garbo Laughs!' on them.
The film is about one of the oldest plots going, that of the 'eternal triangle' with Garbo acting as envoy for a Russian Grand Duchess, whose chosen beau is interested in Garbo. She is sent to find the person who is supposedly buying the Duchess' jewels and who is late. Meanwhile, whilst in Paris, she makes the acquaintance of Melvyn Douglas, and is fascinated by him.
She was nominated for the Best Actress Academy Award, but of course lost out to Vivien Leigh in 'Gone With the Wind'.
Her final film was 'The Two Faced Woman' in 1941, after which she retired and went into seclusion.