Deck 3: Technical Innovation and Industrial Transformation, 1927-1938

Question 1

Name the first Hollywood feature-film released using the three-strip Technicolor process.

A) Flowers and Trees
B) Becky Sharp
C) A Star is Born
D) The Ten Commandments

Answer 1

Becky Sharp

Question 2

Which description best matches the use of sound in The Jazz Singer (1927)?

A) all-talkie
B) silent
C) silent-sound hybrid
D) music-only sound-on-film

Answer 2

silent-sound hybrid

Question 3

Which studio ultimately partnered with Western Electric and utilized Vitaphone technology, rebranding its image and making itself competitive in the process?

A) MGM
B) Paramount
C) Universal
D) Warner Bros.

Answer 3

Warner Bros.

Question 4

Name the technology that became known as sound-on-disc, which featured a synchronized record (disc) that played alongside moving pictures projected on screen.

A) megaphone
B) Vitaphone
C) Speakerboxx
D) Western Electric

Question 5

Which decade best represents the moment when Hollywood transitioned from black-and-white films to color films?

A) 1930s
B) 1940s
C) 1950s
D) 1960s

Question 6

All of the following figures were fundamental in developing the technology that led to sound film EXCEPT

A) W.K.L.Dickson.
B) Thomas Edison.
C) Samuel Morse.
D) Georges Méliès.

Question 7

Name the inventor who developed sound-on-film (Phonofilm) technology, which streamlined the synchronization process.

A) Thomas Edison
B) W.K.L.Dickson
C) Samuel Morse
D) Lee de Forest

Question 8

What percentage of films were released in color during the 1930s?

A) 1 percent
B) 25 percent
C) 50 percent
D) 90 percent

Question 9

Hollywood talent were compelled to sign exclusive contracts with studios for which of the following reasons?

A) a steady paycheck and job security
B) career management via the option or adhesion contract
C) career longevity via typecasting
D) favorable merchandising rights

Question 10

Name the vaudeville star of The Jazz Singer (1927).

A) Charlie Chaplin
B) Buster Keaton
C) Al Jolson
D) John Barrymore

Question 11

The classical studio system extensively utilized exclusive contracts to deal with talent from technicians to directors and stars.What motivated the studios to utilize such a system?

A) It aided in managing an economy of scale, favored efficiency, and created a stable brand identity for the studio.
B) It promoted loyalty by providing workers with a steady paycheck.
C) California talent unions demanded it.
D) The Supreme Court demanded it.

Question 12

Name the sound-on-film technology developed by William Fox that had a distinct advantage that allowed for on-location shooting and the production of newsreels (like the one covering Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic flight)?

A) Vitaphone
B) Phonofilm
C) Movietone
D) Vitagraph

Question 13

Three-strip Technicolor is based on the principle that adding these three colors together will produce natural color combinations.

A) red, green, and blue
B) magenta, orange, and white
C) red, white, and blue
D) red, orange, and green

Question 14

Which of the following technologies was fundamental in developing sound cinema technology?

A) phonograph
B) telegraph
C) telephone
D) all of the above

Question 15

Vitaphone secured licensing agreements with performers from the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Philharmonic, and ________.

A) the circus
B) vaudeville
C) blues clubs
D) Shakespearean theater

Question 16

The intersection of the conversion to sound and the Great Depression produced all of the following circumstances EXCEPT

A) independent theater chains went bankrupt due to the technological conversion costs, prompting increased vertical integration holdings.
B) the vocabulary of classical Hollywood film transposed most story information from visual storytelling to dialogue.
C) the standardization of film sound technology thanks to joint studio agreements with Electrical Research Products Inc.(ERPI).
D) the rapid expansion of film production in order to meet increased demand.

Question 17

Early experiments in Technicolor produced which of the following production conundrums?

A) high-speed shooting and projection
B) clumsy exhibition prints that were cemented together
C) significantly increased production budgets
D) all of the above

Question 18

The Jazz Singer features a young Jewish singer who performs in which traditional vaudevillian performance style?

A) tap dance
B) verbal comedy
C) blackface
D) feats of strength

Question 19

Which of the following processes was utilized for producing color films prior to the 1930s?

A) hand-tinting
B) uniform tinting
C) hand-painting
D) all of the above

Question 20

Before the advent of sound technology, which three studios dominated production and distribution?

A) First National, MGM, Paramount
B) First National, MGM, Universal
C) First National, Paramount, Universal
D) Paramount, MGM, Universal

Question 21

Which 21st-century movie star best matches James Cagney's allure?

A) George Clooney (Up in the Air, Ocean's 11)
B) Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting, the Bourne franchise)
C) Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump, Big)
D) Leonardo DiCaprio (The Departed, Django Unchained)

Question 22

Which genre is defined by its collective experience (rather than narrative or stylistic parts) of manipulating our sympathies and antipathies by showing us a reality where we don't always get what we deserve?

A) horror
B) melodrama
C) gangster
D) musical

Question 23

Which 21st-century film would best match Warner Bros.'s unique style and brand?

A) The Departed
B) Call Me By Your Name
C) Get Out
D) Toy Story 3

Question 24

Which studio chief implemented a "supervisory system" at MGM, a system in which employees at every level were supervised by middle management and became the model for the contract era at large?

A) Thomas Edison
B) Irving Thalberg
C) Louis B.Mayer
D) Darryl Zanuck

Question 25

This genre deals directly with the social problems of Depression-era America and often focuses on recent immigrants who find themselves on the road to violent ruin because of the dangers of capitalism.

A) horror
B) melodrama
C) gangster
D) musical

Question 26

Name the actress who ultimately successfully challenged the exclusive contract system, resulting in the rise of talent agents and a shift toward independent contract labor.

A) Bette Davis
B) Joan Crawford
C) Olivia de Havilland
D) Joan Fontaine

Question 27

Name the male star who walked off a set at Warner Bros.and demanded more money, fewer assignments, and an end to being typecast.

A) Humphrey Bogart
B) Claude Rains
C) Al Jolson
D) James Cagney

Question 28

Name the studio whose style was synonymous with sound, gritty realism, and gangster films.

A) Universal
B) MGM
C) Paramount
D) Warner Bros.

Question 29

Which of the following terms best describe the representation of the gangster in American film?

A) romantic
B) immigrant
C) capitalist
D) all of the above

Question 30

In the 1930s, which studio's "brand" or "style" was typically identified with quality prestige pictures, some written by prestigious literary talents?

A) Universal
B) Warner Bros.
C) Paramount
D) MGM

Question 31

Name the star who was often typecast as the spoiled, stubborn, selfish woman.

A) Joan Crawford
B) Shirley Temple
C) Judy Garland
D) Bette Davis

Question 32

Name the man who was responsible for overseeing the Production Code Administration and whose tenure there became synonymous with the self-censorship of the Hollywood Golden Age.

A) Will Hays
B) Orson Welles
C) Joseph Breen
D) Thomas Edison

Question 33

Which 21st-century movie star best matches Bette Davis's allure?

A) Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side, Gravity)
B) Reese Witherspoon (Legally Blonde, A Wrinkle in Time)
C) Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle)
D) Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman, Ocean's 11)

Question 34

The road to self-censorship via Will Hays and the Production Code Administration was a long and complicated one.What ultimately led to the adoption of the Production Code in 1934?

A) Will Hays's list of "Don'ts" and "Be Carefuls"
B) the release of Mae West's scandalous She Done Him Wrong, which resulted in her arrest
C) the intervention of the federal government via a Supreme Court ruling
D) organized boycotts on behalf of the Catholic Legion of Decency

Question 35

How did actress Lucille Fay LeSeur get her stage name of Joan Crawford?

A) She changed it when she moved to Hollywood.
B) MGM held a nationwide contest to decide her name.
C) James Cagney gave it to her on set.
D) It was a combination of her middle name and maiden name.

Question 36

Which 21st-century American film would be considered a gangster film?

A) Eastern Promises
B) Django Unchained
C) The Dark Knight
D) Wall-E

Question 37

Which 21st-century film would best match the brand established by MGM?

A) Mad Max: Fury Road
B) The Dark Knight
C) Lincoln
D) Minions

Question 38

Name the production executive who started off as a screenwriter (who could turn out two scripts a month!) and eventually established the Warner Bros.studio brand via the gangster genre film.

A) Irving Thalberg
B) Darryl Zanuck
C) Thomas Edison
D) Louis B.Mayer

Question 39

Which genre was ultimately squashed by the Production Code Administration due to its ties to real-life headlines?

A) horror
B) melodrama
C) gangster
D) musical

Question 40

Melodramas often deal with which of the following attributes?

A) larger social and political arguments about race, class, and sexuality
B) violence and the settling of the American frontier
C) the dangers of a person trading scientific knowledge for a moral compass
D) show business and the interrelationships between performers

Question 41

Name the choreographer known for his kaleidoscopic and surreal musical numbers.

A) Rouben Mamoulian
B) Bob Fosse
C) Busby Berkeley
D) F.W.Murnau

Question 42

Which melodrama tells the story of a respected schoolteacher whose life is destroyed by his relationship with a nightclub performer?

A) Imitation of Life
B) The Blue Angel
C) The Wild Party
D) Leave Her to Heaven

Question 43

Which 21st-century film would be considered a melodrama?

A) Brokeback Mountain
B) Django Unchained
C) Iron Man
D) Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Question 44

Describe the timeline and factors that ultimately led to the adoption of the Production Code.Describe what the Production Code prohibits and whether you believe it is a violation of the First Amendment.

Question 45

Which genre commonly plays on our fear of human frailty and is defined by its effect on audiences?

A) horror
B) melodrama
C) gangster
D) musical

Question 46

Which 21st-century film would best be defined as a musical?

A) Call Me By Your Name
B) Magic Mike
C) Catch Me If You Can
D) There Will Be Blood

Question 47

This genre became defined by wisecracks and double entendres during the sound era.

A) western
B) comedy
C) musical
D) gangster

Question 48

Why was Hollywood reluctant to convert to sound technology, and what factors ultimately pushed it to do so?

Question 49

This genre often provided audiences with a much-needed escape from the daily grind through spectacle and delightful twists of fate.

A) horror
B) western
C) melodrama
D) musical

Question 50

Two 1930s studios have optioned your life story for a biopic: MGM and Warner Bros.How would Irving Thalberg's (MGM) and Darryl Zanuck's (WB) approaches to your life story differ, based on their respective studio styles? What Golden Age stars might best encapsulate your life story?

Question 51

Which of the following stylistic traits best describe the horror film?

A) high-contrast lighting (due to a lack of fill and backlights)
B) three-point lighting, ensuring evenly lit subjects
C) realistic mise-en-scene
D) iconography like the desert, horses, and the settlement

Question 52

Describe the Hollywood studio system in the 1930s and its main labor practices.

Question 53

This subgenre typically focuses on two people who desire a change and find out that life was better "before they were different."

A) romantic comedy
B) backstage musical
C) body horror
D) domestic melodrama