Question 1

What did the turn-of-the-twentieth-century journalist Joseph Medill Patterson see as particularly significant about the growing popularity of nickelodeon theaters?&#10;A) The increased revenues they would generate for the movie industry.&#10;B) The new, large, and diverse audiences nickelodeons were attracting.&#10;C) How nickelodeons would promote the technological development of the movies.&#10;D) The employment opportunities being created by the nickelodeons.

Accepted Answer

Patterson saw the growing popularity of nickelodeon theaters as significant because they were attracting new, large, and diverse audiences, which indicated a democratization of entertainment and a broadening of the movie-going public.

Question 2

The career of Lois Weber exemplifies what historical trend related to the role of women in the production of movies in America?&#10;A) Since the beginnings of American movies, the opportunities for and influence of women filmmakers have continued to grow and grow.&#10;B) In the first two decades of American movies, few women were interested in entering the movie business.&#10;C) The increasingly hierarchical organization of the movie business from the teens into the twenties began to limit opportunities for women in production.&#10;D) The difficulty early women filmmakers had in finding popular success.

Accepted Answer

In the early days of American cinema, women like Lois Weber had significant roles in production, but as the industry became more structured and hierarchical in the 1910s and 1920s, opportunities for women in these roles began to decrease.

Question 3

What is one way that Enoch Arden is an example of the &#34;uplift movement&#34; in American movies?&#10;A) It features a religious storyline.&#10;B) It is based on what was considered a work of serious literature.&#10;C) It used professional actors.&#10;D) It failed to achieve popular success.

Accepted Answer

Enoch Arden is an example of the "uplift movement" in American movies because it is based on a work considered serious literature, aiming to elevate the cultural and moral standards of its audience by adapting respected literary works.

Question 4

How did D. W. Griffith embody &#34;contradictions that defined the development of American movie culture&#34;?&#10;A) He was a rich man who became fascinated by a medium that mainly appealed to lower income audiences.&#10;B) He desired popular success but refused to make crime movies or romances.&#10;C) He combined innovative new ways to tell stories on film with old-fashioned moral values and prejudices.&#10;D) He considered himself an artist but was reluctant to tackle controversial issues in his movies.

Accepted Answer

Griffith was a pioneering filmmaker who introduced new narrative and technical innovations to cinema, such as cross-cutting and close-ups, while also embedding his films with the moral values and prejudices of his time, notably in "The Birth of a Nation," which glorified the Ku Klux Klan and depicted African Americans in a highly racist manner. This combination of innovation and regressive content reflects the contradictions in the development of American movie culture, where progressive artistic developments coexisted with conservative social values.

Question 5

Which of the following is an important reason that early movie studios did not regularly identify the actors in their movies?&#10;A) If individual actors became well known, they could demand higher salaries and greater influence.&#10;B) Early movie audiences displayed little interest in the names of the actors in movies.&#10;C) Most of the people appearing in early movies were not professional performers.&#10;D) Most live theater and vaudeville programs did not identify performers by name.

Accepted Answer

Early movie studios were concerned that if actors became well known, they could demand higher salaries and greater influence over their work, which would increase production costs and potentially decrease the studios' control over their productions.

Question 6

How does A Girl and Her Trust most reflect changing ideas about gender roles related to the idea of the &#34;New Woman&#34;?&#10;A) The title character has a job and actively fights back against the robbers.&#10;B) The title character is uninterested in romantic relationships of any kind.&#10;C) The title character is working to finance her college education.&#10;D) The title character refuses any help from male characters.

Accepted Answer

The film "A Girl and Her Trust" reflects changing ideas about gender roles and the concept of the "New Woman" through its portrayal of the title character who not only has a job, which was becoming more common for women at the time, but also actively fights back against the robbers, showcasing independence and courage not traditionally attributed to women in earlier narratives.

Question 7

Why did slapstick comedies raise concerns for those worried about the moral fitness of the movies?&#10;A) The focus on pratfalls and physical comedy might lead younger members of the audience to imitate this dangerous behavior.&#10;B) Slapstick comedies only appealed to working-class and immigrant audiences.&#10;C) Most nickelodeon programs only showed slapstick comedies.&#10;D) Slapstick comedy challenged dominant ideas of moral and social propriety.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Why did slapstick comedies raise concerns for...

Question 8

If on the one hand D. W. Griffith's The Red Man's View seems to express sympathy for Indian peoples forced at gunpoint from their homes and land, in what way can it also be experienced as justifying Indian removal?

A) By stressing the war-like nature of the Kiowa nation.
B) By suggesting Indian peoples are more "primitive" than the invading white settlers.
C) By using white actors to play Indian characters.
D) By making the white characters appear extremely sympathetic.

Accepted Answer

The film can be experienced as justifying Indian removal by suggesting that Indian peoples are more "primitive" than the invading white settlers, which can imply that their displacement is a natural or justified progression.

Question 9

Why was the US Supreme Court ruling in the &#34;Mutual Case&#34; especially significant?&#10;A) It specifically stated that the First Amendment right to free speech did not apply to the movies.&#10;B) It specifically stated that the First Amendment right to free speech did apply to the movies.&#10;C) It specifically stated that government could not engage in censorship of the movies.&#10;D) It specifically stated that the National Board of Censorship was unconstitutional.

Accepted Answer

The US Supreme Court ruling in the "Mutual Case" (Mutual Film Corporation v. Industrial Commission of Ohio, 1915) was especially significant because it specifically stated that the First Amendment right to free speech did not apply to the movies. This decision allowed for the continued censorship of films by state and local governments until the ruling was overturned in 1952.

Question 10

The National Board of Censorship is best described as:&#10;A) A US government agency charged with making sure that movies would not contain material harmful to the morals of the audiences.&#10;B) A group of influential Protestant and Catholic clergy that published lists of current movies they found morally objectionable.&#10;C) An organization created by studio owners to avoid government censorship by showing how the movie industry could monitor itself.&#10;D) A volunteer-based society of affluent citizens concerned about the moral welfare of recent immigrants.

Accepted Answer

The National Board of Censorship, later known as the National Board of Review, was indeed an organization created by studio owners to demonstrate that the movie industry could regulate itself and thus avoid government-imposed censorship. This self-regulation was aimed at addressing concerns about the content of films and their impact on audiences.

Question 11

Which of the following factors led to the demise of the Motion Picture Patents Company?&#10;A) The expiration of many of the most important movie technology patents.&#10;B) The growing popularity of longer feature films.&#10;C) Anti-trust rulings against the MPPC by the US government.&#10;D) All of the above.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Which of the following factors led to...

Question 12

Which of the following was not a contributing reason why the movie business relocated to southern California?&#10;A) The California climate provided year-round sunshine and fair weather.&#10;B) Thomas Edison decided to move his company headquarters to Los Angeles.&#10;C) Independent movie companies could avoid the legal reach of the Motion Picture Patents Company.&#10;D) The scenic California landscape provided attractive locations for movie filming.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Which of the following was not a...

Question 13

What does the &#34;split identity&#34; of the movies in the nickelodeon era refer to?&#10;A) The sheer variety of movies featured in a typical nickelodeon program.&#10;B) The contrast between comedies and dramas.&#10;C) The mixture of American made and international movies.&#10;D) The tension between short movies as inexpensive entertainment and longer feature films as upscale theatrical experiences.

Accepted Answer

The answer of What does the &#34;split identity&#34; of the...

Question 14

Which of the following is a significant way that epic movies such as Cabiria challenged the screen experience of the nickelodeons?&#10;A) By creating the model of a single feature film in a formal theater as the focus of the movie experience.&#10;B) By focusing on a historical subject as the subject matter of the movie.&#10;C) By bringing European movies to an American audience.&#10;D) By including special effects in the movie.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Which of the following is a significant...

Question 15

What is one way that the Charlie Chaplin short, The Kid Auto Race at Venice, blurs the distinction between fact and fiction?&#10;A) By using a detailed script that produces the illusion of a documentary.&#10;B) By featuring a professional comedian as the main character.&#10;C) By filming the movie on location.&#10;D) By having Chaplin look directly into the camera and mugging for the theater audience.

Accepted Answer

The answer of What is one way that the Charlie...

Question 16

Why was Weber's Hypocrites subject to local censorship across the country?&#10;A) The movie's opposition to the US entry into the First World War.&#10;B) The movie's excessive display of violence.&#10;C) The appearance of a naked actor to symbolize Truth.&#10;D) The scandal of seeing a movie written and directed by a woman.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Why was Weber's Hypocrites subject to local...

Deck 2: Becoming "The Movies": The Nickelodeon Age, 1908-1915