New to the Trade: They Started in Silent Films Quiz

Answer: Wings

Gary Cooper's career started with uncredited bit parts in the early 1920s and lasted until his death in 1961. It was through his relationship with Clara Bow that he received a role as Cadet White in the 1927 film "Wings". The epic WW1 film followed two fighter pilots, Jack (Charles Rogers) and David (Richard Arlen), who both were chasing the town beauty (Jobyna Ralston). Unbeknownst to Jack, the girl-next-door Mary (Bow) was in love with him, and she followed him to Europe, working as an ambulance driver. David was shot down behind enemy lines but managed to survive and steal a German plane to escape. Unfortunately, Jack spotted the German plane and believing David to be dead, wanted to avenge his friend's death. At the first Academy Award ceremony held in May 1929 for films from 1927 and 1928, Wings won the "Outstanding Picture" and "Best Engineering Effects" award.

The picture is just a pair of wings.

Answer: Lady of the Night

Joan Crawford's career lasted from the mid 1920s until the 1970s, while Shearer left the business in the early 1940s. Crawford appeared in nearly 30 silent films with five films believed to be lost, while Shearer was in over 40 with 18 films either lost, partially lost or status unknown. "Lady of the Night" luckily is not one of those films. In the film, Shearer portrayed both the saucy daughter (Molly) of a convict and the sophisticated daughter (Florence) of the judge who sentenced him. Their paths crossed when Molly fell for an inventor, David (Malcolm McGregor), who developed a method for opening safes. Molly's boyfriend Chunky (George K. Arthur) wanted him to sell it to a gang, but Molly talked him into selling it to bankers to prevent theft instead ("crime doesn't pay"). He then met Florence while meeting with the judge to go over the contract, and Florence fell for him too. The two women met after Florence accepted David's proposal, and then they took turns being noble before one of them ended up with David. The body double scene took place in the car when the two met; Crawford was portraying Molly in that scene. Reportedly the two did not get along with Shearer later recalling the scene: "I found myself sitting in a car and in the other corner was a girl with the most beautiful eyes... but they didn't trust me. I could see that. They never have".

The picture? It's just a woman at night.

Answer: The Sheik

Loretta Young first appeared in a 1916 silent film called "Sweet Kitty Bellairs" at the age of three, and she worked steadily until the 1950s, with occasional appearances thereafter. She and her older sisters, Sally Blane and Polly Ann Young all appeared as uncredited Arab children in the 1921 film "The Sheik". The film was based on a romance novel about a free-spirited English woman, Lady Diana Mayo (Agnes Ayres) who was captured by Arab Sheik Ahmed Ben Hassan (Valentino) while on a solo trip into the Sahara. When Lady Diana tried to escape, she was nearly captured by a bandit Omair (Walter Long) but was saved by Hassan. Hassan was in love with her and on the advice of his friend, French doctor St. Hubert (Adolphe Menjou). He released her in the company of his guards and valet. This time, Omair succeeded in abducting her after killing the guards and wounding the valet. Hassan then rescued Lady Diana again, killing Omair but being seriously injured himself.

The picture is a drawing of an Arab.

Answer: Arms and the Woman

One of the problems with silent films is that there is limited documentation on the casts, so it can be hard to confirm whether a performer was in the film if they have a minor role, particularly if the film was lost. In this film, Edward G. Robinson reportedly portrayed a worker in the factory. At the time, Robinson was working on Broadway, so it is possible that he appeared as an extra in the film which was shot in New York. If so, then his film career ranged from 1916 to 1973. In "Arms and the Woman", David Trevor (Lumsden Hare), the owner of a steel factory that manufactured munitions, became mesmerized by the voice a young Hungarian immigrant Rozika (Mary Nash). He paid for her training and married her after she became an opera star. When WWI broke out, Rozika pleaded with Trevor to not make munitions to be used against her homeland, but he ignored her. Meanwhile Rozika's brother Carl (Carl Harbaugh) had joined a group of anarchists and was tasked with blowing up the factory. When Rozika discovered Carl's mission, she tried unsuccessfully to stop him. Although "Arms and the Woman" didn't show up on any lost film lists that I could find, it does have a survival status of "unknown" on one of the silent film websites.

The picture is of a woman with arms (the weapon type).

Answer: Broadway Nights

The film also provided the debut of Ann Sothern, like Stanwyck, in an uncredited role as a dancer. Barbara Stanwyck's career lasted into the mid 1980s, with much of her later work being on television. In "Broadway Nights", Fannie (Lois Wilson) and Johnny (Sam Hardy) were music hall performers who married and had a child. Fannie was offered a musical comedy job, but when she discovered the offer was only for her, she declined it. But after Johnny gambled away their money, and they lost their job because of the child, Fannie accepted the offer and left Johnny. But she didn't have success until Johnny came back into her life. "Broadway Nights" sadly shows up on lists of lost films, but a photo from the film exists showing Stanwyck in costume.

The picture is a night shot of Manhattan, the home of Broadway.

Answer: The Happy Warrior

Leslie Howard only appeared in a few silent films, but they were early in his career, between 1914 and 1920. He then focused on the stage before returning to films in the 1930s. "The Happy Warrior" was reportedly his second film appearance and his first credited role. The film was advertised as a "five-act photo play" in an Australian article, but the film bill stated it was "A great British production in six acts". In the film, Percival/The Happy Warrior (James Knight) was the legitimate son of an English lord and a village woman. After his parents' deaths, he was raised by the woman's sister, the village postmistress (Minna Grey), who intended to have him claim his title when he turned 21. When he grew up, he became friends with Rollo (Howard), the perceived heir and with a girl named Dora, with whom he was enamored. He ended up joining a circus where he learned to box, and when he became a champion, he returned for her, only to find that she was now engaged to Rollo. I couldn't find any status information for the film; not sure if it's lost.

The picture is of a warrior - nothing to do with the film, but it's a clue to the film's title.

Answer: Second Fiddle

Perhaps best known for her role as Brigid O'Shaughnessy in the 1941 film "The Maltese Falcon", Mary Astor had a long career on film, from the 1920s to the mid 1960s. Several sources list her first film as an uncredited appearance in Buster Keaton's 1920 short "The Scarecrow", but unless she was a picture in a magazine, she didn't appear in that film; there weren't many characters in that classic short. Overall, she appeared in around fifty silent pictures, many of which are sadly considered lost. But "Second Fiddle" still exists; according to the Library of Congress, copies of the film resides in the UCLA Film and Television Archive and the New Zealand Film Archive, and the film has had viewings at silent film festivals in the U.S. and the U.K over the years. The 1923 melodrama was directed by Frank Tuttle and starred Glenn Hunter and Astor, in a leading role. Hunter played Jim Bradley, the "second fiddle" mechanic brother to college man Herbert (Townsend Martin). Astor portrayed Polly, Jim's girlfriend whom Herbert tried to steal away from Jim. When a murderer (William Nally) broke into the Bradley home, Jim held the man at bay with an unarmed shotgun while Herbert went for help, but Jim fainted, leaving Herbert to be the hero when he arrived in the nick of time to save the family. But when the murdered returned after escaping from jail, it was Jim who saved the day.

The picture is two fiddles -- one is first and one is second.

Answer: The Johnstown Flood

Clark Gable appeared in around twelve silent films during his career which ranged from the early 1920s until his death in 1961. Carole Lombard appeared in over thirty silent films, many of them "shorts". Her career ranged from the early 1920s until her plane crash death in 1942. The two apparently didn't meet during the filming of "The Johnstown Flood"; legend has it they first became acquainted during the filming of the 1932 film "No Man of Her Own" and later married in 1939. In "The Johnstown Flood", Gable could be seen standing at a bar, and Lombard was a bridesmaid. Some sources also list Gary Cooper as an extra in the film as one of the flood survivors. The film was a fictionalized account of a true event: The collapse of the South Fork Dam near Johnstown, Pennsylvania on May 31, 1889 in which over 2200 people died. In the film, engineer Tom O'Day (George O'Brien) warned logging-camp owner John Hamilton (Anders Randolf) that the dam was weakening, but Hamilton refused to take action. O'Day was in a relationship with Hamilton's daughter Gloria (Florence Gilbert) and planned to marry her while Hamilton was out of town. The dam collapsed, and a workman's daughter Anna (Janet Gaynor) rode through the valley, trying to warn the residents, but the flood was too fast and crashed into the church. There are at least two surviving copies of the film.

The picture depicts flood waters surrounding a bench.

Answer: A Girl in Every Port

Myrna Loy achieved most of her success in the mid-1930s to the 1940s, but her career started in the mid-1920s with over 30 appearances in silent films. She had already appeared in over 25 films by the time she took the uncredited role of Jetta, a girl in Singapore, in "A Girl in Every Port", but the film is worth mentioning because it was an early Howard Hawks production. In the film, Victor McLaglen portrayed Spike, a sailor who picked up a girl in every port he visited, but he soon realized that they all had the same earlier admirer. After ending up in jail following a brawl with another sailor named Bill (Robert Armstrong), Spike realized that Bill was the man in question. After another fight, the two ended up as best pals and started sailing together. Spike then decided to give up the sailing life after reaching Marseille where he fell for a carnival girl (Louise Brooks), but Bill recognized her as his old girlfriend from New York, and he realized that she was trying to con Spike. William Demarest (Uncle Charlie on "My Three Sons") also had an uncredited role in the film as a man in Bombay. Although the film survives, the scenes in Asia including the ones with Loy and Demarest, appear to be missing.

The picture is of an unnamed port - no girls, but hopefully it was enough of a clue.

Answer: Brown of Harvard

With a career that ranged from the mid-1920s to the mid-1970s, John Wayne started out in the film industry by working on film sets doing odd jobs. He thus appeared in around twelve silent films as an extra because he happened to be on the scene. Based on a 1906 Broadway play, "Brown of Harvard" told the story of Harvard student Tom Brown (William Haines) who was a cocky big man on campus. He was pursuing Mary (Mary Brian) with the serious and studious Bob McAndrew (Ralph Bushman) as his rival. After losing a rowing contest to McAndrew and getting a bit rough with Mary, he took to drinking and was apparently kicked off the football team. But he got his chance at redemption when his sickly roommate Doo (Jack Pickford) took a call from the coach, and then chased Brown down in the rain to tell him that he was still on the team and had a chance to play in the big Harvard/Yale football match. Wayne reportedly was one of the Yale football players.

The picture features a brown "H" for Harvard.