Quiz Questions & Answers
What is the name of another New York based distributor who founded the Famous Players Film Company and imported Queen Elizabeth?
Adolph Zukor
Which of the following is NOT among the factors why horror became Universal's signature genre of the early 1930s?
Because it is a Code-friendly genre.
Why did Harry E. Aitken's Mutual Film Corporation/Triangle fail?
Because its huge investments in famous theater stars did not pay off
Which of the following is NOT true about the Depression and the film industry?
Because of the talkie revolution, Hollywood could stay "depression-proof" well into the mid-1930s.
What is the name of the film company where D.W. Griffith launched his directorial career and for which he made 450 one or two reelers?
Biograph
What is the name of the Chicago-based distributor who declared his independence from the Trust in 1909 and formed the Independent Moving Picture Company (Imp)?
Carl Laemmle
Who took over Universal Studios' production 1928?
Carl Laemmle, Jr.
Which of the following tasks was NOT supervised by production executives during the studio era?
Daily shooting on the set
What is the name of the independent producer who said "the movies are over" to writer Ben Hecht in 1951 (in an episode recounted in Thomas Schatz's "Whole Equation of Pictures" chapter)?
David O. Selznick
Which of the following is NOT true about the studio system according to Schatz?
During the 1950s, studios regained their power due to the postwar movie boom.
What is the name of the film company that a nationwide alliance of exhibitors (under Thomas Tally's leadership) founded in 1917 to counter Zukor's Paramount?
First National
Which of the following is NOT true about moguls and their studios during the Depression?
In 1935, after bankruptcy proceedings, Paramount was reorganized and Zukor was booted out.
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
In the Mutual v. Ohio ruling, the Supreme Court granted 1st Amendment protection to movies.
Which of the following is TRUE about the Production Code?
Irish Catholic Joseph I. Breen, head of Production Code Administration (PCA), started to impose the Code strictly from 1934.
Which of the following was NOT among the MPPC's business practices?
It pioneered the transition to feature films to make more profits.
What is the name of Griffith's first feature film?
Judith of Bethulia
What is the name of Hollywood's first all-talkie feature?
Lights of New York
Which of the following was NOT a member of the MPPC (a.k.a. Trust)?
Lumieres
Which of the following is NOT true about D.W. Griffith's career?
Many of his shorts explored exotic topics and reduced minority characters to caricatures.
In 1938, the Justice Dept filed an antitrust suit against eight major studios and attained a consent decree from vertically-integrated companies in 1940. Which of the following is NOT among the decree conditions?
No block-booking
According to Frank Capra's letter to New York Times in 1939 (quoted by Schatz), no more than six men passed on 90% of the scripts and edited 90% of the pictures. Who were they?
Production executives such as Irving Thalberg (MGM) and Darryl Zanuck (Fox)
What is the name of the silent comedian whose trials and scandal led to the formation of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association (MPPDA) in 1922?
Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle
Which of the following companies first moved to Los Angeles?
Selig
Which of the following events was the biggest push for the formation of the Production Code Administration (PCA)?
The Legion of Decency's nationwide campaign to boycott indecent Hollywood movies
According to Sklar, which event provided the solution to the financial crisis of the picture palace?
The advent of talkies
Which of the following is NOT true about The Birth of a Nation?
The film was prematurely withdrawn from circulation due to NAACP's protests.
Which of the following is NOT true about Universal's Frankenstein adaptation?
The film's director insisted that the monster not be killed despite the production chief's opposition.
According to Andre Bazin, a French critic quoted by Schatz, what is most admirable about the American cinema as a classical art?
The genius of the system
Which of the following statements is TRUE about the Payne Fund Study (1929-1932)?
The project focused solely on negative effects of motion pictures on the young.
According to Sklar, which of the following is NOT among the reasons why the film industry relocated to Los Angeles?
The proximity to Mexico as an escape route for legal trouble
Which of the following is NOT true about the new generation of "movie moguls" who fought against the Trust (MPPC)?
They gave up on production of their own films due to the Trust's monopoly on raw film stock.
Which of the following is NOT among the pre-Depression strategies adopted by Universal's new production chief?
To expand theater holdings and vertically integrate Universal
Which of the following is among Schatz's claims about studio-era filmmaking?
Ultimately any individual style was no more than an inflection on an established studio style.
What was the name of Warner Bros.'s sound system?
Vitaphone
What is the name of the studio which led the talkie revolution with the release of The Jazz Singer in October 1927?
Warner Bros.
What is the name of a prolific young writer who became the production chief at Warner Bros. in the 1920s?
What is the name of a prolific young writer who became the production chief at Warner Bros. in the 1920s?
What is the name of the Warren G. Harding administration's Postmaster General who was appointed as head of the MPPDA?
Will H. Hays
What is the name of the New York-based distributor who sued the MPPC after refusing to sell his licensed exchange?
William Fox
Which of the following is NOT true about the formation of Paramount?
Zukor merged his company with Universal and vertically integrated Paramount.
According to Sklar, which of the following social factors played the biggest role in the struggle over movies?
class
