Silent (and Silent-ish) Films of the 1930s Quiz

Answer: Race relations

Real-life married couple Paul and Eslanda Robeson star as an African-American couple (Pete and Adah) who have rented a home in a largely white area. Further problems arise when Adah begins an affair with a white man. Kenneth Macpherson wrote and directed the film. Though filmed in Switzerland, the film was released with English subtitles.

The picture shows an image of two individuals, one shaded white and one shaded black.

Answer: She is blind.

Filming for "City Lights" took place over nearly two years. Bucking a trend towards sound films, "City Lights" was both critically and commercially very successful, making five million dollars on a 1.5 million dollar budget. Having fallen in love with the beautiful, though blind, flower seller (Virginia Cherrill), Chaplin finds a way to scrape up the money to pay for an operation restoring her sight. While the film includes music, it does not include spoken dialogue.

The picture shows the letters A, B, and C in Braille.

Answer: Japan

The film was produced in Japan by Shochiku Company Limited. It concerns a conflict when two boys (Tomio Aoki and Hideo Sugawara) see their strict father (Tatsuo Saitō) having to play the toady to his boss. Director Yasujirō Ozu would win the Kinema Junpo Award for Best Film of the Year for this film, which later would be redone in 1959 as "Good Morning". The film, which includes Japanese subtitles, runs 100 minutes.

The picture shows an image of the Japanese flag.

Answer: China

The film stars Li Lili as a young woman from a Chinese fishing community who moves to the city of Shanghai. First employed in a factory, she is later forced into prostitution and later joins the revolution. The film ends with her about to be executed by a firing squad. The 96 minute silent film was released with Chinese intertitles.

The picture shows a simplified version of the national emblem of the People's Republic of China.

Answer: The Big Road

Music and sound effects (but not dialogue) were added post-production to "The Big Road". Sun Ju wrote and directed the film which starred Li Lili and Jin Yan. A group of friends who grew up together join the engineering company which is building the road. The theme song of the movie "Song of the Big Road" was composed expressly for the film.

The picture features a wheel and a curved line, suggesting a road.

Answer: Russian Revolution

More specifically it is set before the second revolution of 1917 (October/November). Aleksandr Medvedkin directed the 99-minute film which starred Pyotr Zinovyev and Yelena Yegorova. The film was originally called "The Snatchers" or "The Possessors". A sequence in the original film was originally filmed in color but it has since been lost.

The picture shows a hammer and sickle, symbolic of Communism and the Soviet Union.

Answer: Factory

Chaplin's Tramp character appears in the film as a worker on a factory assembly line. Chaplin considered making the film a "talkie", preparing a script. Ultimately he decided his "tramp" character would only work in a silent film. The finished product included a soundtrack, sound effects and a small amount of recorded dialogue. The theme song for the film would later be given lyrics and called "Smile" which led to its recording by many music artists. Chaplin's co-star, Paulette Goddard, would later become his third wife; he was her second husband.

The picture shows a bulding with chimneys puffing smoke, suggesting a factory.

Answer: Parabola

Mary Ellen Bute worked with cinematographer Ted Nemeth on several films including "Parabola" that employed abstract animation. The soundtrack of the film included "Création du monde" by Darius Milhaud. Filmed in black and white, the film is a short, running at about nine minutes.

The picture shows a parabola.

Answer: Orson Welles

"Too Much Johnson" began as a 1894 stage play by William Gillette. Welles filmed the silent film for a 1938 stage production he directed as a 1938 project with the Mercury Theater. Unfortunately, the venue where the stage production was shown was not suitable for also presenting the film. The film was long thought lost but was found in 2008 and first screened for the public in 2013. The film runs about 66 minutes and cost about $10,000 to make.

The picture shows a well, which should suggest Orson Welles.

Answer: Chains

Originating in the Midlands of England, the firm was in existence from the early 1800s until the 1980s. Specializing in the production of chains, the firm produced the chain to which the Titanic's anchor was attached. The film runs in full about 13 minutes and uses silent motion film and English subtitles to show the labor-intensive process of making chains.

The picture shows a chain letter, suggestive of chains.