Pre-Code: A Fascinating Genre (Part Two) Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. In "New Morals for Old" (1932) we find the Thomas' parents (Lewis Stone and Laura Crews) bemoaning the declining morals of their children. Phyllis, their daughter, has left home to live with an unhappily married man, and their son, Ralph, has moved to Paris to live the Bohemian life. Who played the son? (Hint: on television he knew best for Bud, Betty, and Kathy.)

Answer: Robert Young

The film is based on John Van Druten's play "After All" (1931). Although modern day critics seem to disparage it, the film is quite clever in its dialogue. We see both female and male models in shadows and a few French women displaying their legs. After the parents die, Ralph and Phyllis realize how much they are like their parents.

The play starred Humphrey Bogart on Broadway. Myrna Loy has a supporting role as a French art student with whom Young has an affair.

2. In "Washington Masquerade"(1932) a Clarence Darrow-type lawyer, sickened by the politics of Washington, runs for Congress and wins. But he is forced to resign after being seduced by a wily woman and ends up in a scandal. Who played Jefferson Keane?

Answer: Lionel Barrymore

Lionel Barrymore was a Hollywood icon from an acting family. His siblings, John and Ethel, were both honored actors. Although modern audiences know him chiefly as Mr. Potter in the Christmas film "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946), he actually began in films in 1911 and appeared in 11 D. W. Griffith productions. He won an Academy Award in 1931 for his performance in the film "A Free Soul".

Barrymore had chronic arthritis from 1926 on. After 1938 he appeared only on screen in a wheelchair. In "Washington Masquerade" he seems to shuffle when he walks very awkwardly. In some scenes he leans against props such as a desk or he is given support from other actors.

Hattie McDaniel, in what is believed to be her first screen appearance, has a minor part as a maid.

3. In "Day of Reckoning"(1933) Richard Dix can not keep up with his wife's expensive tastes and resorts to embezzlement. He pleads guilty and believes that he will be placed on probation. However, instead the judge, who has been bribed, sentences him to two years in jail. Meanwhile the lawyer who paid off the judge begins an affair with Dix's wife. This does not go well as the lawyer ends up shooting the wife. Things really heat up when the lawyer is assigned to the same jail as Dix. What child actor who was to be famous as member of the "Our Gang" series plays Dix's son?

Answer: Spanky McFarland

Suffice to say that Dix got his day of reckoning. The film is enhanced with good performances by the supporting players, including a young Una Merkel as the family maid, Stu Erwin as her milkman boyfriend, and Raymond Hatton as Dix's friend in jail.

Cooper preceded McFarland who became the center of the comic series after several cast changes. Moore was only involved for about a year although Switzer lasted longer.

4. "The Secret of Madame Blanche" (1933) follows the plight of a woman whose husband has committed suicide, trying to escape the snare of the child's grandfather. The domineering grandfather was the reason for his son's suicide. The woman, an entertainer, takes her child to escape and is working as a singer in a bar which is also a cover for a brothel. The grandfather has her declared an unfit mother and takes the child away from her. Twenty years pass and the world is engaged in World War One. The child, now an officer in the British army, is stationed just outside Paris. He convinces a naive French girl to accompany him to a nightclub which is also a cover for a brothel and presided over by Madame Blanche. The girl's father pursues them and after a struggle the young officer accidently kills the father. Madame Blanche has found out the the young man is her son and attempts to take the blame for the death. Who was the star of this film who also had success with "The Awful Truth"(1937), "My Favorite Wife" (1940), and "Penny Serenade"(1941)?

Answer: Irene Dunne

At Madame Blanche's trial, the truth is revealed and her son is sent to prison. There is a tender scene at the end where Dunne and her son pledge to start a new life when he is released in two years. They share a kiss through the chain fence of the prison.

Irene Dunne had a long career in Hollywood. She had a talent for light comedy and her more successful films were of that sort.

5. At the Academy Awards in 1935, what film was the first to capture all five most prestigious awards: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Screenplay?

Answer: It Happened One Night

"It Happened One Night" set a high standard for comedies to come. Frank Capra was the Director, Clark Gable the male lead, and Claudette Colbert, the female lead. Robert Riskin won for his screenplay. The capture of these awards was not duplicated until "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" in 1975.

Claudette Colbert plays a rich girl running away from a controlling father. Gable plays a roguish reporter. Two memorable scenes are when Gable is unable to get a car to stop when hitchhiking, Colbert stops one immediately by flashing her leg. The other scene is the blanket suspended above the bed so that Gable and Colbert have a barrier between them while sharing a bed.

6. A torrential rain pours down on this Pacific isle creating a purgatory for a detachment of marines, the noble savage islanders, a Bible-thumping preacher, a Nietzsche-quoting innkeeper, and a prostitute named Sadie Thompson. Each play their roles in waiting to escape either to a heaven or a hell. At first Sadie romps with the marines, but comes under the spell on the righteous minister and must make a decision whether to return to San Francisco and pay the price for her previous sins or to elope to Australia with O'Hara, a marine sergeant. The film is "Rain" (1932). Joan Crawford stars as Sadie, but who plays Davidson the preacher?

Answer: Walter Huston

While Huston's character tries very hard to save Sadie's soul, he eventually gives in to his own dark side. We do not see his final scene with Sadie but we see his remains in what is ruled as a suicide the next morning. The rains end and the battle between good and evil seems as remote as ever.

Crawford was leased to another studio for the film. Experienced actors in the film did not feel she could measure up to Jeanne Engles' Broadway performance nor Gloria Swanson's turn in the 1928 silent version. A much sanitized version starring Rita Hayworth came in 1953.

7. A review of the Pre-Code era would not be complete without a mention of this trio, sometimes quartet, whose comedies dominated that period. Who were they?

Answer: The Marx Brothers

In a compiled list of 100 best Pre-Code films, #2 was "Duck Soup"(1931), #6 was "Animal Crackers" (1930), and #12 was "Horse Feathers"(1933). Groucho's antics were at the forefront, Chico had his unidentifiable accent and piano talents, and Harpo was one of the premier mimes of all time as well as a featured harpist. We sometimes saw Zeppo as a romantic lead in early films.

8. Crime films changed when "The Thin Man"(1934) hit the theater. It was still 'crime does not pay' but when the detectives were Nick and Nora Charles, we found wit, sex, and hard drinking were fun along the way. William Powell and Myrna Loy played Nick and Nora. As a tribute to crossword puzzle fans everywhere, what was the name of their dog?

Answer: Asta

Powell and Loy made six 'Thin Man' films and bridged the gap between the Pre-Code era and the Hays Office. The Charles went from sharing a bed to twin beds to upper and lower berths on a train.

Contrary to popular thought, William Powell was not the 'thin man'. The thin man was a character in the first film in 1934. The studio kept the name in the title so fans would know that it was another adventure for Nick and Nora.

Asta was a wire-haired terrier whose real name was Skippy. He appeared in the first two "Thin Man" films and lookalikes in others. He appeared in several films such as "The Awful Truth" where Cary Grant accidently called him Skippy. So he will not be forgotten, his name is often found in crosswords as 'the Thin Man's dog'.

9. Audiences flocked to to see "King Kong" in 1933. The tale of the capture of the fifty foot ape, his exploitation, and his love and protection of Fay Wray are film legends. The film concludes with what famous movie line?

Answer: "It was beauty that killed the beast."

"King Kong" was not nominated for any Academy Awards. A special effects Oscar was not awarded until five years later. Although the explorers take only Kong from Skull Island, they see a host of prehistoric animals. The film introduced the use of stop motion camera when Kong is shown in animation.

Kong has found his way into comic books, pulp novels, cartoons, pinball games, video games, and a host of foreign language rip-offs. Two production value remakes have been made: in 1976 with Jessica Lange and in 2005 with Naomi Watts in the Fay Wray role and had moderate success. The original 1933 version has an 84% Rotten Tomatoes rating.

10. If you admire Ethel Merman's or Rosalind Russell's work in "Gypsy", they would take a back seat to Alice Brady in 1933's "Stage Mother". Brady plays Kitty Lorraine, a widowed mother forced to leave her infant daughter in the care of stuffy Bostonian relatives, in order to return to vaudeville. However, her partner turns out to be a hopeless drunk. She regains custody of her child at age 14 and begins to train her for the stage. Success comes but Shirley Lorraine has little chance to experience normal childhood. On the sly she meets a young man (Franchot Tone) and falls in love with him. When Kitty finds out she takes $5000 dollars from his parents to break them up. Earlier she took pictures of a promoter in a compromising situation in order to break a contract. When Shirley becomes interested in a rising politician, Kitty gets $25,000 from his political campaign to break off this relationship. Kitty promotes a relationship with a wealthy English Lord but Shirley has never gotten over her affair with Tone. Who played Shirley Lorraine? (Hint: She later made six films as a companion to the "Ape Man".)

Answer: Maureen O'Sullivan

The film has been criticized for its weak ending. However, it is in many ways a typical Pre-Code film. There are several scantily clad chorus girls in the production numbers. In one the dancers are in a gauze-like dress while a bright light leaves little to the imagination. There is a very effeminate dance teacher. Brady is a 'fallen woman' and O'Sullivan is seduced by Tone.

Maureen O'Sullivan is most remembered as the mate of Tarzan in six films although she made other films. She was also the mother of Mia Farrow.

Larry Fine of Three Stooges fame has a bit part. It is believed that Moe Howard and Curly Howard were extras.

Source: Author Rehaberpro

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

Pre-code films were produced after the silent era in Hollywood until the advent of formal screen censorship in roughly 1935. These films often had fallen women, a peek at lingerie, and adult storylines. Here are a few films from that era.

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