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RKO Trivia Quiz

From its beginnings in the early 30s to its end in the late 50s, RKO Radio Pictures made its individual mark on Hollywood.

A multiple-choice quiz by tjoebigham. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
tjoebigham

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
43,683

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
20

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
11 / 20

Plays
669

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 20

1. Who was one of the co-founders of the studio? Hint

Jesse Lasky

Joseph P. Kennedy

Samuel Goldwyn

Harry Cohn

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Question 2 of 20

2. RKO got its name from the merger of RCA and what vaudeville theatre chain? Hint

Keith-Albee-Orpheum

Ginsberg and O'Brien

Balaban and Katz

Sheldrake and Schmidlapp

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Question 3 of 20

3. Who produced and directed RKO's first 'monster' hit? Hint

the Boulting brothers

Hecht and MacArthur

Cooper and Schoedsack

Panama and Frank

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Question 4 of 20

4. Name the famed independent producer who worked at RKO for a while. Hint

Louis Mayer

David Selznick

Darryl Zanuck

Irving Thalberg

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Question 5 of 20

5. Who directed the first musical that teamed Astaire and Rogers? Hint

Thornton Freeland

Mark Sandrich

Busby Berkeley

Ernst Lubitsch

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Question 6 of 20

6. And who directed Astaire and Rogers' last RKO film? Hint

Howard Hawks

George Stevens

George Cukor

H.C. Potter

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Question 7 of 20

7. Name the two films Howard Hawks did at RKO. Hint

'His Girl Friday', 'Ball of Fire'

'The Big Sleep', 'Air Force'

'Bringing Up Baby', 'The Big Sky'

'Red River', 'Rio Bravo'

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Question 8 of 20

8. Who was the producer of such RKO classics as 'Cat People' and 'I Walked With A Zombie'? Hint

Henry Blanke

Carl Laemmle

Jerry Wald

Val Lewton

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Question 9 of 20

9. What future directors edited 'Citizen Kane'? Hint

Robson and Wise

Panama and Frank

Hecht and MacArthur

Gilliat and Launder

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Question 10 of 20

10. How many films did Orson Welles make at RKO? Hint

One

Three

five

Four

NEXT>

Question 11 of 20

11. Name the film that doesn't belong here (for reasons other than where it was set). Hint

Shane

I Remember Mama

Gunga Din

Annie Oakley

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Question 12 of 20

12. Name the film noir that doesn't belong here. Hint

The Narrow Margin

Out Of The Past

The Killers

The Window

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Question 13 of 20

13. The majority of RKO films are black and white. Who directed the studio's first color film? Hint

Michael Curtiz

Vincente Minelli

Frank Borzage

Stanley Donen

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Question 14 of 20

14. What RKO film was Maureen O'Hara's American debut? Hint

Jamaica Inn

Bachelor Mother

Gunga Din

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

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Question 15 of 20

15. How many did Nicholas Ray direct at RKO? Hint

Two

Three

Four

One

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Question 16 of 20

16. What star of 'The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre' made B-westerns at RKO? Hint

Walter Huston

Alfonso Bedoya

Humphrey Bogart

Tim Holt

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Question 17 of 20

17. What eccentric billionaire took over RKO in the 50s? Hint

William Randolph Hearst

Malcolm Forbes

Charles Foster Kane

Howard Hughes

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Question 18 of 20

18. What notorious western did the eccentric billionaire who took over RKO in the 50s make at RKO? Hint

Duel In The Sun

The Outlaw

Rancho Notorious

High Noon

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Question 19 of 20

19. Name the director who never worked at RKO. Hint

Raoul Walsh

Samuel Fuller

Billy Wilder

John Ford

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Question 20 of 20

20. What was RKO's trademark? Hint

a lion

mountain with stars

bullseye target

a radio tower

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Who was one of the co-founders of the studio?

Answer: Joseph P. Kennedy

JFK's father co-founded the studio with RCA honcho David Sarnoff. He also had an affair with Gloria Swanson.

2. RKO got its name from the merger of RCA and what vaudeville theatre chain?

Answer: Keith-Albee-Orpheum

Radio-Keith-Orpheum, that is.

3. Who produced and directed RKO's first 'monster' hit?

Answer: Cooper and Schoedsack

'King Kong', still the best of its kind! That's Cooper and Schoedsack in the plane that finally kills Kong. Hecht and MacArthur ('The Front Page') did some films in the mid-30's, Panama and Frank are best known for their 50s' work, 'The Court Jester', and the Boultings are British!

4. Name the famed independent producer who worked at RKO for a while.

Answer: David Selznick

Selznick's magnum opus, of course, was 'Gone With The Wind'.

5. Who directed the first musical that teamed Astaire and Rogers?

Answer: Thornton Freeland

Ironically, Fred made his movie bow in MGM's 'Dancing Lady'. His last teaming with Ginger would be in MGM's 'The Barkleys of Broadway'. His own last RKO film was 'The Sky's The Limit'.

6. And who directed Astaire and Rogers' last RKO film?

Answer: H.C. Potter

'The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle' was their swan song at RKO. Hawks and Cukor never directed them. Stevens did 'Swing Time' and later lensed Fred sans Ginger in 'A Damsel In Distress'.

7. Name the two films Howard Hawks did at RKO.

Answer: 'Bringing Up Baby', 'The Big Sky'

The other films he did at Warners, Goldwyn and Columbia. Trivia extra: Hawks also supposedly co-directed the 1951 sci-fi classic 'The Thing'.

8. Who was the producer of such RKO classics as 'Cat People' and 'I Walked With A Zombie'?

Answer: Val Lewton

The Russian-born Lewton became a cult figure for producing RKO's 40s string of thoughtful, literate B-horror films. Blanke and Wald were at Warners, while Laemmle was Universal's monster master.

9. What future directors edited 'Citizen Kane'?

Answer: Robson and Wise

Robson and Wise made their directorial debuts in the Lewton series. Robson went on to make the boxing classic 'Champion' while Wise made 'The Set-Up'(at RKO) and 'Somebody Up There Likes Me'.

10. How many films did Orson Welles make at RKO?

Answer: Three

'Citizen Kane', 'The Magnificent Ambersons' and 'Journey Into Fear', which he started to direct but was given to Norman Foster. He started a documentary on Brazil but that petered out and he was given the boot at the studio.

11. Name the film that doesn't belong here (for reasons other than where it was set).

Answer: Shane

Sure, George Stevens directed all of them, but he did 'Shane' at Paramount! "Gunga Din was set in 19th Century India!

12. Name the film noir that doesn't belong here.

Answer: The Killers

Robert Siodmak did 'Killers' at Universal, the rest are RKO's. Jacques Tourneur did 'Past', Ted Tetzlaff did 'Window' and Richard Fleischer did 'Margin'.

13. The majority of RKO films are black and white. Who directed the studio's first color film?

Answer: Frank Borzage

'The Spanish Main', starring Paul Heinreid and Maureen O'Hara, was the first RKO film in color.

14. What RKO film was Maureen O'Hara's American debut?

Answer: The Hunchback of Notre Dame

She played Esmerelda to Charles Laughton's Quasimodo. William Dieterle directed. She also made her film debut opposite Laughton in Hitchcock's 'Jamaica Inn'.

15. How many did Nicholas Ray direct at RKO?

Answer: Four

His debut, 'They Live By Night', 'On Dangerous Ground', 'Born To Be Bad' and 'The Lusty Men'.

16. What star of 'The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre' made B-westerns at RKO?

Answer: Tim Holt

He also starred in 'Ambersons'.

17. What eccentric billionaire took over RKO in the 50s?

Answer: Howard Hughes

His poor choice of material and mismanagement hastened the studio's end.

18. What notorious western did the eccentric billionaire who took over RKO in the 50s make at RKO?

Answer: The Outlaw

Surely you remember the hoopla aboout Jane Russell's cleavage! Howard Hawks, BTW, helped Hughes out.

19. Name the director who never worked at RKO.

Answer: Billy Wilder

Wilder worked exclusively at Paramount til the mid-50's. Fuller made 'Run of the Arrow' there, Walsh did 'The Naked and The Dead' and the studio distributed some of Ford and Cooper's Argosy Pictures.

20. What was RKO's trademark?

Answer: a radio tower

For years that tower on top of the Earth bleeped out the studio's name in Morse code.

Source: Author tjoebigham

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