Easy What 1940s Movie Am I? - Take 2 Trivia Quiz | Movies

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. I am a 1944 comedy/crime movie directed by Frank Capra. My story told of an author who had just got married and had to tell that fact to his two elderly aunts. However, he found out that they were serial killers, his step-brother was also a murderer, and that insanity ran in his family! What is the name of this movie?

Answer: Arsenic and Old Lace

"Arsenic and Old Lace" starred Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane, Raymond Massey, Jack Carson, Edward Everett Horton, Peter Lorre, and James Gleason.

Cary Grant was paid $100,000 to play the role of Mortimer Brewster in this movie and he donated the entire amount to the US War Relief Fund. He later said that this was the least favourite of all his movies as he thought that his acting was "over the top".

Bob Hope was initially offered the role of Mortimer but because of contractual obligations with another studio he could not take the part. Jack Benny and Ronald Reagan both turned the role down.

"Arsenic and Old Lace" opened as a Broadway comedy in 1941, the same year the movie was made. However, the release of the movie had to be delayed until 1944 when the Broadway musical ended.

On the American Film Institute's 2000 list of "100 Years . . . 100 Laughs" this movie is rated number 30.

2. I am a 1944 crime/Film-Noir directed by Billy Wilder. I am based on a 1943 novella of the same name, written by James M Cain, which in turn was based on a true event. My story, told in flashback, was of a seductive housewife who coerced an insurance salesman into helping her kill her husband for his life insurance. What movie am I?

Answer: Double Indemnity

"Double Indemnity" starred Fred MacMurray as the insurance salesman, Walter Neff, and Barbara Stanwyck as Phyllis Dietrichson, the woman who wanted her husband dead. The movie was nominated for seven Academy Awards, but did not win any.

The screenplay was co-written by Director Billy Wilder and author Raymond Chandler, who also had a cameo appearance in this film. The hero in Chandler's books was the private detective, Philip Marlowe. Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler did not get along and there were many conflicts between the two.

The movie appears on several American Film Institute lists including:
"100 Years . . . 100 Movies" - number 38 on the 1998 list; "100 Years . . . 100 Thrills" - number 24 on the 2001 list; "100 Years . . . 100 Passions" - number 84 on the 2002 list; "100 Years . . . 100 Heroes and Villains - Phyllis Dietrichson - number 8 on the 2003 list; and "100 Years . . 100 Movies (10th Anniversary) - number 29 on the 2007 list.

3. I am a 1946 Christmas movie produced and directed by Frank Capra. I am considered to be one of the most rousing and inspiring movies of all time. My story told of a deeply troubled man who had his own dreams, but gave them up to help others, and who wished he had never been born. His Guardian Angel came to him and showed him how his town would have been without him. What movie am I?

Answer: It's a Wonderful Life

"It's a Wonderful Life" starred James Stewart (as George Bailey), Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, and Henry Travers (as the Guardian Angel, Clarence). The film was based on a story written in 1939 by Philip Van Doren Stern, titled "The Greatest Gift".

At the 1947 Academy Awards, this film was nominated for five Oscars, but did not win one. However, the director Frank Capra won a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Director.

4. I am a 1941 animated family/musical movie from the Walt Disney studios, based on a story by Helen Aberson. I told of a baby elephant with very large ears. In fact, they were so large, he could fly! Of course the movie was "Dumbo". What was the name of Dumbo's very best friend (who happened to be a mouse)?

Answer: Timothy

Dumbo, whose real name was Jumbo Jr., was born whilst the circus in which his mother, Mrs Jumbo, performed, was travelling from one place to another. Because he had such big ears, the other elephants made fun of him and gave him the nickname "Dumbo". His mother got mad with the other elephants for the way they treated her son, so she was locked up and the baby elephant was all alone, except for Mr Timothy Q Mouse. After several adventures with Timothy, Dumbo was finally reunited with his mother and he became the star attraction at the circus.

At the 1942 Academy Awards "Dumbo" was nominated for two Oscars and won one, Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture.

In the movie, Timothy said "Lots of people with big ears are famous" which was a reference to Clark Gable.

This is the first Walt Disney animated movie in which the title character did not speak. His mother only spoke once, when she said his real name "Jumbo". Dumbo was to be on the cover of "Time" Magazine in 1941, but because of the attack on Pearl Harbour, this did not happen.

5. I am a 1941 movie directed by Howard Hawks. My stars are Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan and Joan Leslie. I told the true story of a sharpshooter and his exploits during World War I. What movie am I?

Answer: Sergeant York

"Sergeant York" was based on the diary of one of America's best-decorated soldiers of World War I, Alvin York. He was a pacifist and, because of his religious beliefs, claimed to be a conscientious objector. However he was drafted into the US Army, and once the Army saw his prowess with a rifle, he was quickly promoted and sent overseas. After seeing his friends being killed, he took up his rifle and because of his accuracy with that rifle, the Germans that he was fighting surrendered and he and his friends ended up taking 132 prisoners. He was awarded the Medal of Honour.

The film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won two: Best Actor in a Leading Role (Gary Cooper), and Best Film Editing. When Gary Cooper accepted the Oscar he said: "It was Sergeant Alvin York who won this award; Shucks, I've been in this business sixteen years and sometimes dreamed I might get one of these things. That's all I can say! Funny, when I was dreaming, I always made a good speech." He said later that "Sergeant York" was his favourite film.

The real Alvin York would not agree to the movie being made unless Gary Cooper played him. Cooper considered himself too old at 40, as Alvin York was not quite 30, but Cooper agreed to take the role.

6. I am a 1947 romantic/fantasy/mystery movie based on a 1945 novel written by Josephine Leslie. I told the story of a young widow who moved to a coastal village with her daughter and maid in 1900, and rented a house named Gull Cottage. However, on the first night in the house, she found that she was sharing the house with a ghost! What movie am I?

Answer: The Ghost and Mrs Muir

"The Ghost and Mrs Muir" was directed by Joseph L Mankiewcz, and starred Gene Tierney as Mrs Lucy Muir, Rex Harrison as the ghost Captain Daniel Gregg, and Natalie Wood as the child Anna Muir. The movie was nominated for an Oscar at the 1948 Academy Awards.

In 1947 the movie was adapted into a radio play and in 1951 it appeared on TV in the Screen Director's Playhouse, and starred Charles Boyer and Madeline Carroll.

A successful TV series aired from 1968 to 1970 that starred Hope Lange and Edward Mulhare.

7. I am a 1944 musical/comedy directed by Leo McCarey. I told the story of an unconventional young Catholic priest who took over a parish from an elderly priest, and how he dealt with church affairs, the people, and everyday events. What movie am I?

Answer: Going My Way

"Going My Way" starred Bing Crosby as Father Chuck O'Malley and Barry Fitzgerald as Father Fitzgibbon. It was nominated for ten Academy Awards and won seven: Best Actor in a Leading Role (Bing Crosby); Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Barry Fitzgerald); Best Director; Best Music, Original Song ("Swinging on a Star"); Best Picture; Best Writing, Original Story; and Best Writing, Screenplay. The movie also won many other awards, including three Golden Globes. It was the highest grossing movie in 1944.

In the scene when Bing Crosby sang "Swinging on a Star" Andy Williams and three of his brothers were among the boys in this scene.

A sequel, "The Bells of St Mary's" was released in 1945 in which Bing Crosby repeated his role as Father Chuck O'Malley.

A copy of the film was presented by Bing Crosby and the director Leo McCarey, to Pope Pius XII at the Vatican, after World War II.

8. I am a 1948 movie directed by John Huston. I told the story of an ex-soldier who travelled to Florida to visit the widow of a friend who was killed during World War II. She managed a small, ramshackle hotel with her father-in-law, who was in a wheelchair. However, whilst he was there, several gangsters took over the hotel to shelter from a hurricane. What movie am I?

Answer: Key Largo

"Key Largo" starred Humphrey Bogart, Edward G Robinson, Lauren Bacall, Lionel Barrymore, and Claire Trevor, who won an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

This was the last of four films in which Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall starred together. A fifth was planned but unfortunately Humphrey Bogart passed away before filming commenced. The three other films are "To Have and Have Not" (1944), "The Big Sleep" (1946), and "Dark Passage" (1947).

The gangster character, Johnny Rocco, played by Edward G Robinson, was styled on real-life gangsters Lucky Luciana and Al Capone. Capone had retired to Florida and died there a year before the film was made

The number one hit song "Key Largo" by singer-songwriter Bertie Higgins, was influenced by this film.

9. I am a 1942 movie directed by Raoul Walsh, and set in the 1880s in San Francisco. My story, based on a real person, told of a young bare-knuckled fighter who had new and innovative footwork, and who was eventually matched against his childhood hero, John L Sullivan, for the World Championship. What movie am I?

Answer: Gentleman Jim

"Gentleman Jim" starred Errol Flynn as James J Corbett, with Alexis Smith, Jack Carson, Alan Hale and Ward Bond as John L Sullivan. It was based on John J Corbett's autobiography "The Roar of the Crowd". He was the first boxer to use the "Marquis of Queensberry Rules" and eventually knocked out John L Sullivan after 21 rounds.

Errol Flynn did all of his own boxing in the movie, despite suffering a mild heart attack during filming. However the footwork was performed by former Junior Welterweight champion, Mushy Callahan, who also trained Flynn for the fight scenes.

According to "Variety" this was the third Errol Flynn movie to gross approximately $2 million for Warner Brothers in the 1940s.

10. I am a 1945 movie directed by Billy Wilder and based on a novel of the same name written by Charles R Jackson. My story told of a few years in the life of alcoholic New York writer, Don Birnam, and his reflections over his life whilst on a four-day bender. What movie am I?

Answer: The Lost Weekend

"The Lost Weekend" starred Ray Milland as Don Birnam, with Jane Wyman and Howard Da Silva. The movie was nominated for seven Academy Awards and won four: Best Actor in a Leading Role (Ray Milland); Best Director; Best Picture; and Best Writing Screenplay. The movie won several other awards including three Golden Globes and two Cannes Film Festival Awards.

Director Billy Wilder wanted something to read on a long train journey and picked up a copy of "The Lost Weekend" at a train station. By the time he arrived at his destination, he had decided that this would be his next movie. The author, Charles R Jackson, was paid $50,000 for the rights to his novel.

Cary Grant and Jose Ferrer were considered for the lead role. Initially, Ray Milland was reluctant to take it.

Source: Author wenray

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor skunkee before going online.
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What 1940s Movie Am I? - Take 2 Quiz

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