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Pre-Code Blockbusters Trivia Quiz

Pre-code films are films made before The Motion Picture Production Code, more commonly known as the Hays Code, was enforced in 1934. The Hays Code was created in 1930 to eliminate sexual situations and innuendo in film, but wasn't enforced until 1934.

A multiple-choice quiz by Tigerlily2kx. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
Tigerlily2kx

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
371,588

Updated
Jan 03 24

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Easy

Avg Score
9 / 10

Plays
522

Awards
Top 20% Quiz

Last 3 plays: Guest 68 (10/10), Guest 172 (10/10), Guest 75 (1/10).

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. This actress starred in many hit movies during her long career including "The Lady Eve", "Double Indemnity", and the film that many believe was the raciest of all pre-code films, "Baby Face". But, she is probably best known as the matriarch of the Barkley clan in the TV western series "Big Valley". Who is she? Hint

Joan Fontaine

Judy Garland

Barbara Stanwyck

Marlene Deitrich

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Question 2 of 10

2. 1932's "Red Dust" is a steamy tale that takes place on an Indonesian rubber plantation during Monsoon season. The two lead characters are played by Jean Harlow and this actor, who is better known for another film's iconic line "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn". Who is he? Hint

Cary Grant

Lon Chaney

Gilbert Roland

Clark Gable

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Question 3 of 10

3. This 1930 film was produced and directed by Howard Hughes. Hughes even did some of the aerial stunts when the pilots hired for the film refused to do the dangerous maneuvers. The film is set during WWI and boasts some of the greatest aerial stunts ever filmed. Name the film. Hint

The Red Barron

Hell's Angels

Airplane!

Wings

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Question 4 of 10

4. Our next film, "Design for Living", is about two American friends who move to Paris to pursue their artistic ambitions. They move into a flat with a woman they meet and agree that their relationships with her will remain platonic. This agreement doesn't last for long. The film stars Miriam Hopkins, Fredric March, and this actor who was much better known for his role in westerns like "High Noon". Name him. Hint

Clint Eastwood

Robert Taylor

Gary Cooper

Paul Muni

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Question 5 of 10

5. Al Capone was a famous mobster who ran Chicago's underworld in the 1920s and '30s. Which 1932 film is loosely based on his life and is also Capone's nickname? Hint

Big Al

Godfather

Scarface

Skippy

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Question 6 of 10

6. Our next film stars Bette Davis, Joan Blondell, and Ann Dvorak as childhood friends whose adult lives go in very different directions. The name of this film comes from a superstition held by soldiers during WWI. Which film is it? Hint

Three on a Match

The Number 13

Step on a Crack

Hats on the Bed

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Question 7 of 10

7. In 1933's "She Done Him Wrong", this actress plays a singing seductress with many jealous suitors. She tells Cary Grant to "come up some time and see me". What is her name? Hint

Jayne Mansfield

Mae West

Kitty Carlisle

Norma Shearer

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Question 8 of 10

8. Greta Garbo played the title role in this 1931 movie loosely based on the real life of an exotic dancer convicted of spying in WWI. Name the film. Hint

Camille

Mata Hari

Ninochka

Queen Christine

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Question 9 of 10

9. Although this actress is known as the "original blond bombshell" and the term "platinum blond" was first used to describe her, one of her naughtier roles was that of a husband stealing red-head in 1932's "Red-Headed Woman". She tragically died of kidney failure at the age of 26. Who is she? Hint

Clara Bow

Gloria Swanson

Jean Harlow

Marilyn Monroe

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Question 10 of 10

10. This film, while released in 1934, is the very last pre-code film. The film contains a few brief flashes of nudity. Particularly, an infamous scene with Claudette Colbert bathing in a tub of asses milk. It was remade in 1962 with Elizabeth Taylor in the title role. Name the film. Hint

Cleopatra

Catherine the Great

Elizabeth

Marie Antoinette

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

Answer: Barbara Stanwyck

"Baby Face" starts off with a teenage Stanwyck being pimped by her father in the brothel they live in. She moves to the big city where she uses her charms to move up the corporate ladder the only way she knows how.
Stanwyck's acting career spanned 60 years, and she worked every one of them. It has often been said that she was one of the most down to Earth and professional actresses by the cast and crew members she worked with.
Barbara Stanwyck died in 1990 at the age of 82.

Answer: Clark Gable

"Red Dust" was directed by Victor Fleming and starred Jean Harlow, Clark Gable, Mary Astor, and Gene Raymond. Harlow and Grant made six films together.
"Red Dust" was remade in 1953 as "Mogambo". It starred Clark Gable (in the same role he played 21 years earlier), Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly, and Donald Sinden.

Answer: Hell's Angels

"Hells Angels" was originally shot as a silent film. Production took so long that Hughes added sound to keep up with the other films being released that year. It also has a color sequence, the only one of Harlow's career.
The professional pilots were right. Hughes crashed his plane and was seriously injured.
The filming of "Hell's Angels" is one of the plot lines in 2004's "The Aviator" starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes.

Answer: Gary Cooper

"Design for Living" was written by Noel Coward and directed by Ernst Lubitsch. It's a wild film. It's hard to imagine the stoic Cooper starring in a film as an artist engaging in menage a trois.

5. Al Capone was a famous mobster who ran Chicago's underworld in the 1920s and '30s. Which 1932 film is loosely based on his life and is also Capone's nickname?

Answer: Scarface

"Scarface" (1932) starred Paul Muni as Tony Camonte. The character of Camonte was based on real life gangster Al Capone.
In 1983 Brian DePalma made another film named "Scarface". While that film had nothing to do with Al Capone and Chicago gangsters, DePalma said that the 1932 film influenced his direction.

Answer: Three on a Match

The film "Three on a Match" was released in 1932. It was directed by Mervyn LeRoy. Some of its themes are adultery, child neglect, drug abuse, and debauchery. Some of the sets were reused on the film "Baby Face".
The title comes from the belief that the third soldier to light a cigarette on the same match would be shot. The first to light up would alert the enemy to their location, the second would give the enemy time to cock their gun, and the third would be the one shot.

7. In 1933's "She Done Him Wrong", this actress plays a singing seductress with many jealous suitors. She tells Cary Grant to "come up some time and see me". What is her name?

Answer: Mae West

"She Done Him Wrong" takes place in 1890s NY. West plays a saloon singer expertly juggling several boyfriends who are all leading double lives. Although West claimed to have discovered Cary Grant, this was was Grant's second major film. His first was "Blue Angel".
Mae West's career spanned five decades. She not only starred in her films, but she also wrote almost all of her dialogue and produced many of her films as well.

8. Greta Garbo played the title role in this 1931 movie loosely based on the real life of an exotic dancer convicted of spying in WWI. Name the film.

Answer: Mata Hari

Greta Garbo plays the WWI spy who seduces officers played by Lionel Barrymore and Ramon Novarro in a dangerous game of international intrigue.
The real Mata Hari was born Margaretha Geertruida Zelle MacLeod in Holland in 1876 and moved to Paris in 1903 to became a trick pony rider, exotic dancer, a courtesan, and of course, a spy.
She was executed by firing squad on October 15, 1917 at the age of 41.

Answer: Jean Harlow

"Red Headed Woman" was a departure from the usual films Harlow starred in that played up her blond hair, and her great comedic timing. In this role, she played a calculating red-head with little comic relief.
Jean Harlow became an international star with 1930's "Hell's Angels". Some of her best known films were "Dinner at Eight", "Platinum Blond", "Bombshell", and "The Public Enemy". Her final film was "Saratoga" with Clark Gable.

Answer: Cleopatra

1934's "Cleopatra" starred Claudette Colbert as Cleopatra, Warren William as Julius Caesar, and DeMille favorite, Henry Wilcoxon.
Wilcoxon is unintentionally funny in DeMille's "The Ten Commandments".
The Hays Code had just taken effect shortly after the film wrapped. That, and director Cecil B. DeMille's stellar reputation, got the film released unedited by Hays Code officials.
It won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography.

Source: Author Tigerlily2kx

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor jmorrow before going online.
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