Deck 6: Moving Toward a New Hollywood, 1955-1967

Question 1

The conglomerate-owned studios shifted production practices toward which of the following?

A) downsizing the workforce
B) focus on distribution over production
C) a turn towards market research to focus on a handful of projects
D) all of the above

Answer 1

all of the above

Question 2

While Hollywood had to compete with television for a captive audience, it also was able to find a mutually beneficial relationship via which new exhibition market?

A) second-run contracts
B) B movies
C) radio production
D) home video sales

Answer 2

second-run contracts

Question 3

This term refers to the conglomerate practice of studios buying independently made films and distributing them.

A) horizontal integration
B) vertical integration
C) packaging
D) negative pickup

Answer 3

negative pickup

Question 4

This company took over Universal Pictures during the first wave of corporate buyouts and takeovers.

A) Music Corporation of America (MCA)
B) Time magazine
C) TransAmerica
D) DC Comics

Question 5

Which studio formed an alliance with the ABC television network and expanded into the amusement park business in the 1950s in order to diversify its holdings?

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

Question 6

Name the preproduction practice of pairing a new script with a specific talent agency's stars and talent and selling it off to the highest bidder.

A) points on the gross
B) blind bidding
C) block booking
D) packaging

Question 7

Name the talent agent who headed MCA, innovated packaging, and eventually rose to the top of a major studio.

A) Jules Stein
B) Lew Wasserman
C) Steven Spielberg
D) Ari Gold

Question 8

Name the executive tasked with running the MPAA in the wake of the Production Code's disintegration and the man behind the current film rating system.

A) Lew Wasserman
B) Lyndon Johnson
C) Jack Valenti
D) Mike Nichols

Question 9

The Hollywood studio system was threatened by all of the following changes from 1955 to 1967 EXCEPT

A) the expansion of a suburban middle class.
B) television.
C) mature foreign films.
D) the evolution of 3-D film technology.

Question 10

This form of revenue became an important negotiating tool between talent agents, unions, and studios as television and new media forms expanded their reach.

A) points on the gross
B) residuals
C) packaging
D) upfront bonuses

Question 11

Which new breed of manager was born out of the power vacuum created in the wake of the Paramount Decree?

A) public relations consultant
B) talent agent
C) union representative
D) advertising executive

Question 12

Hollywood rented out dormant production spaces and increased its visibility through which of the following maneuvers in the mid-1950s?

A) producing propaganda for the United States government
B) making educational films for K-12 and public universities
C) making industrial films for corporations and manufacturers
D) producing content for television networks.

Question 13

Name the director who developed several properties in direct opposition to the Production Code Administration, ultimately rendering the code irrelevant.

A) Alfred Hitchcock
B) John Ford
C) Otto Preminger
D) Stanley Kubrick

Question 14

This film was given a PCA seal of approval despite an abundance of infractions because the MPAA owed Elia Kazan for his HUAC testimony.

A) A Streetcar Named Desire
B) East of Eden
C) Baby Doll
D) Lolita

Question 15

Which one of the following forms of revenue was innovated by talent agents in order to attract new clients?

A) points on the gross
B) exclusive studio contracts
C) upfront bonuses
D) packaging

Question 16

Which "new" type of film increasingly challenged the Production Code Administration well into the 1960s?

A) documentaries
B) foreign-made negative pickups
C) mainstream Hollywood productions
D) B movies

Question 17

This Supreme Court decision overturned the 1915 Mutual decision and extended First Amendment protections to films.

A) Roe v.Wade
B) Brown v.Board
C) New York Times v.United States
D) the Miracle case

Question 18

Which of the following modes of filmmaking was born out of the practices of the conglomerate era?

A) art house
B) documentary
C) independent
D) blockbuster

Question 19

This oil company took over Paramount Pictures during the first wave of corporate buyouts and takeovers.

A) Kinney National Service
B) Transamerica
C) MCA
D) Gulf + Western

Question 20

The ban on on-screen nudity came to an end in 1957 with the release of which film?

A) Garden of Eden
B) East of Eden
C) The Immoral Mr.Teas
D) Mr.Peter's Pets

Question 21

This Edward Albee stage play adaptation was the new MPAA's first test case, given the screenplay's use of the phrases "screw" and "hump the hostess."

A) Baby Doll
B) Carnal Knowledge
C) Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
D) The Man with a Golden Arm

Question 22

Which 21st-century movie star best matches the unique energy of the Jerry Lewis persona?

A) Jim Carrey (Ace Ventura, Liar Liar)
B) Seth Rogen (Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin)
C) Steve Carell (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Anchorman)
D) Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids, Ghostbusters)

Question 23

Which American auteur became synonymous with the western?

A) Alfred Hitchcock
B) Orson Welles
C) Billy Wilder
D) John Ford

Question 24

Comedian Jerry Lewis began his career opposite this straight man.

A) Frank Sinatra
B) Dean Martin
C) George Burns
D) Buster Keaton

Question 25

Name the production company headed by Roger Corman that was responsible for most of the B movies and drive-in pictures of the 1950s and 1960s.

A) Legendary Pictures
B) American International Pictures
C) Revue Pictures
D) LucasFilm

Question 26

Featuring James Dean in a leading role, this youth picture focused on teenage alienation and used expressive camera work to underline shifting gender roles after World War II.

A) The Blackboard Jungle
B) Rebel without a Cause
C) East of Eden
D) The Wild One

Question 27

This motorcycle-centered youth picture featured Marlon Brando in one of his first starring roles.

A) Rebel without a Cause
B) The Blackboard Jungle
C) A Streetcar Named Desire
D) The Wild One

Question 28

Which 21st-century movie star best matches the unique charisma of Marilyn Monroe?

A) Natalie Portman (Thor, Jackie)
B) Meryl Streep (Mamma Mia, The Post)
C) Amy Schumer (Trainwreck, I Feel Pretty)
D) Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook, The Hunger Games)

Question 29

This film-which first paired John Ford and John Wayne-became the defining western of the early sound era.

A) The Tornado
B) The Iron Horse
C) Stagecoach
D) The Searchers

Question 30

This European film directed by art house auteur Michelangelo Antonioni essentially rendered the PCA dead and buried thanks to a combination of box office success and a final-cut contract clause with MGM.

A) L'Avventura
B) La Notte
C) Blow-Up
D) The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Question 31

The mid-to-late 1960s saw a pivot from the production of films suitable for a general audience to films specifically designated "for mature audiences." By 1968, approximately what percentage of films was designated adults only?

A) 25 percent
B) 40 percent
C) 60 percent
D) 75 percent

Question 32

The rise of this new film genre was a direct response to the shifting demographics of the moviegoing public in the post-World War II era.

A) the western
B) the teen picture
C) film noir
D) the melodrama

Question 33

Alfred Hitchcock's filmmaking technique can best be defined by which description?

A) montage-heavy
B) deep focus and moving-camera dominant
C) a gritty and realist approach to the mise-en-scene
D) objective camerawork

Question 34

The 1960s musical revival was defined by which of the following characteristics?

A) technological innovations (widescreen, large-format 70mm)
B) refusal to cater towards the youth market, thanks largely to an "out of touch" approach to musical selections (show tunes vs.rock and roll)
C) favoring older generations as the primary audience demographic in the choice of content
D) all of the above

Question 35

Which 21st-century movie star best matches the charisma of John Wayne?

A) George Clooney (Ocean's 11, Gravity)
B) Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby)
C) Channing Tatum (Magic Mike, G.I.Joe)
D) Robert Downey Jr.(Iron Man, The Avengers)

Question 36

West Side Story was a popular award-winning musical that capitalized on the revival mentality (nostalgia for an aging clientele) by adapting this Shakespeare play.

A) Macbeth
B) Much Ado About Nothing
C) Hamlet
D) Romeo and Juliet

Question 37

The comedic persona of Jerry Lewis can best be described by which of the following?

A) the straight man
B) the tramp
C) lazy and egocentric
D) the spastic child

Question 38

The western film genre often deals with all of the following thematic oppositions EXCEPT

A) progress vs.nostalgia.
B) civilization vs.wilderness.
C) male vs.female.
D) male bonding vs.male isolation.

Question 39

Hitchcock's thematic preoccupations include which one of the following?

A) the wrong man being suspected of a crime
B) absolute morality
C) pleasure in being looked at
D) critiquing masculinity

Question 40

This later John Ford/John Wayne western complicated genre conventions by portraying Wayne's character as both an arrogant racist and a paternal uncle.

A) Stagecoach
B) The Wild One
C) The Quiet Man
D) The Searchers

Question 41

Describe Hollywood's relationship to television in the early 1950s.

Question 42

Describe how the studio system changed in the early period of corporate conglomeration in the early 1960s.

Question 43

Which contemporary film best captures the sentiments of The Graduate?

A) Garden State
B) Easy A
C) Pitch Perfect
D) Toy Story 3

Question 44

Compare and contrast the late-1950s and early-1960s musical revival to the rise of the teen pic at the same time.

Question 45

Describe the factors that led to the renovation of the Production Code Administration and the compromise that was ultimately struck.

Question 46

Which 21st-century movie star best matches the unique charisma of Doris Day?

A) Natalie Portman (Thor, Jackie)
B) Meryl Streep (Mama Mia, The Post)
C) Amy Schumer (Trainwreck, I Feel Pretty)
D) Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids, Ghostbusters)

Question 47

Describe the role of the talent agent and how that role came about in the postwar studio industry.

Question 48

This 1967 film starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway helped usher in the era of the counterculture film.

A) Shampoo
B) Chinatown
C) Bonnie and Clyde
D) The Graduate

Question 49

This 1967 film starred Dustin Hoffman and crossbred the teen pic, romantic comedy, and melodrama within a French New Wave-inspired container and paved the way for the Hollywood Renaissance.

A) Midnight Cowboy
B) Bonnie and Clyde
C) The Graduate
D) The Seven Year Itch

Question 50

Which contemporary film best captures the sentiments of Bonnie and Clyde?

A) Natural Born Killers
B) La La Land
C) Juno
D) Mean Girls