Silent Era Movies Trivia

1. A prolific American inventor and his staff made some early short movies, such as 'The Serpentine Dance' (1894), and also devised filming and viewing equipment. Who was this 'wizard' inventor?

From Quiz Going to the Early Movies

Answer: Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison, known as the Wizard of Menlo Park, was a movie pioneer in addition to inventing other things. Between 1889 and 1894 Edison, his employee William Dickson and their team developed a motion picture camera and the Kinetoscope, a motion picture viewer used by one person at a time. Dickson was in charge of making the movies for the Kinetoscope, of which 'Record of a Sneeze' (early 1894) was the first one to be shown to the public. 'The Serpentine Dance' appeared later in 1894 and by the end of that year Edison's factory had made movies showing boxing matches, a rodeo and other scenes featuring staff from Buffalo Bill's Wild West, and other documentary and fictional movies. Viewing movies through a Kinetoscope was very popular in America and Europe at first but Edison and his staff then became involved with projection systems that enabled movies to be watched by a number of people at a time. In 1896 American audiences acclaimed the first movies to be shown via these newer projectors but the projectors were not commercial successes. However, Edison continued to be an influential figure in the fledgling movie industry for several years. Alexander Graham Bell is credited with inventing the telephone, William Cullen invented an early method of refrigeration and Christopher Latham Sholes invented the QWERTY keyboard for typewriters.

From Quiz Silence is Golden

Answer: F. W. Murnau

'Der Letzte Mann' translates from German into English as 'The Last Man' but the film was released to the English-speaking world as 'The Last Laugh'. The latter of the two names seems to me to be a more appropriate one for this 1924 film, directed by the great F. W. Murnau, given that the plot follows the life of an unnamed man (Emil Jannings) who is very much down on his luck until he walks into an unexpected fortune. When things weren't going well for Jannings' character, his colleagues laugh at him mercilessly but in the end 'The Last Man' has 'The Last Laugh'. 'Der Letzte Mann' is a genuinely wonderful piece of Weimar cinema that sticks in the memory. It is perhaps the most famous work from the Kammerspielfilm movement which was noteworthy for its lack of title cards (intertitles). 'Der Letzte Mann', which has a running time of around 90 minutes, features just one title card.

From Quiz Shhhh It's Silent!

Answer: Mary Pickford

Mary Pickford (1892-1972) along with her husband Douglas Fairbanks Sr. (1883-1939) and Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977), among others, created United Artists in 1919. Miss Pickford was a motivating force behind the company and an advocate for all actors' rights throughout her life.

From Quiz Fun with Silent Movie Title Cards

Answer: Martyrs of the Alamo

David Crockett (Allan Sears) wants the men to know what their mission is in "Martyrs of the Alamo," a telling of the famous Battle of the Alamo. All the familiar characters are here: Crockett, James Bowie, General [sic] Travis and Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Santa Anna's men surround the fort and defeat the Texicans. This is not the best work from director D.W. Griffith. I will "remember the Alamo" but not this movie.

From Quiz Silent Movies Are Fun!

Answer: Birth of a Nation

Pres. Wilson told reporters of this film, 'It is like history written with lightning.'

From Quiz Going to the Early Movies

Answer: The Great Train Robbery

A few short Western 'vignettes' appear to have been made before 'The Great Train Robbery' was released. However, this movie is accepted as being the first full-length (for the time) Western movie at twelve minutes long although it was shot in different locations on the East Coast of America. The movie was made by Edwin S Porter, had a coherent plot - of a train robbery followed by a chase and then a shoot-out - and became very popular across America. A short, two-minute Western, 'Kidnapping By Indians', made in 1899 in England was discovered in 1994 and has been referred to as the first Western. It shows the kidnap and rescue of a child but is much simpler than 'The Great Train Robbery' though and was shot in one part of a field by Sagar Mitchell and James Kenyon. The 1978 movie starring Sean Connery was set in England in the nineteenth century and concerned the attempted robbery of gold from a train. It was released as 'The First Great Train Robbery' in the UK but as 'The Great Train Robbery' in America.

From Quiz Silent Movie Era Mixture

Answer: Fritz Lang

One of Fritz Lang's biggest pictures, and one of the most important and influential movies in film history, was "Metropolis". This movie was an examination of capitalism of that time and the relationship between the haves and the have-nots. The subject matter and the visual aspects of this film continue to influence film makers to this day. For a perfect example, watch "Blade Runner" again. One of Mr. Lang's biggest pictures was his first sound film "M". This was also Peter Lorre's first starring role, where he was cast as a child killer. Fritz Lang, an Austrian-German, arrived in the USA at the beginning of World War 2 in 1939 and became a naturalized citizen. Mr. Lang was known for his part in the German Expressionistic movement of the early 20th century. This movement usually dealt with bizarre and intellectual topics and not the usual dramatic or comedic formats. Fritz Lang's influence could be seen in films directed by Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles.

From Quiz Early Silent Film

Answer: paraffin oil

I didn't really know of paraffin oil. I've only known of paraffin as a thick waxy substance, that can be used to make fire starters (ah, the good old days of Girl Scouts!). In Smith's 1903 film, Mary Jane, as played by Smith's wife, first inadvertently gives herself a soot mustache, which she rather seems to enjoy. Then she proceeds to blow herself up (and, presumably, the home).

From Quiz Silent Movies Are Fun!

Answer: Douglas Fairbanks

They were both married to others, when they fell in love. In 1920, they were finally free to marry each other, amidst great speculation that their careers may falter, due to the scandal.

From Quiz Going to the Early Movies

Answer: Historical fiction

The seventeen-minute long movie 'In Old California' was made in Hollywood in 1910 and was a fictional film set sometime between 1821 and 1848 when California was part of Mexico. It was directed by D W Griffith who apparently saw the Hollywood valley while visiting California and, as other people were doing, decided it was a good place to make movies. Hollywood itself had only grown up in the few decades before this movie was made. It evolved from a place with one hut in 1853 into an agricultural community named Cahuenga Valley some twenty years later. By 1900 it was a thriving town which incorporated as the municipality of Hollywood in 1903 and the first movie studio was opened on Sunset Boulevard in 1911 by the Nestor Film Company. In the following years a number of major movie companies moved to Hollywood from the East Coast.

From Quiz Before There Was Sound

Answer: The Story of the Kelly Gang

"The Story of the Kelly Gang" is about Australia's famous bushranger, Ned Kelly. It is often considered to be the first full-length motion picture ever made. Its original running time was just over an hour, and it cost the huge sum of £1,000 to produce. It proved so popular, however, that it continued to be shown for the next 20 years, and is estimated to have earned over £25,000 at the box office. Unfortunately for modern moviegoers, most of the film has been lost; only 17 minutes of the original 60 minutes have been preserved.

From Quiz Shhhh It's Silent!

Answer: Greta Garbo

Greta Garbo (1905-1990) fell in love with John Gilbert (1897-1936) while making this film. Even today its love scenes are incredibly 'real'.

From Quiz Fun with Silent Movie Title Cards

Answer: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

After much temptation to explore his darker side, Dr. Edward Jekyll poses this question to Dr. Lanyon who answers in the negative. This version of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" is a screen adaption of Robert Louis Stevenson's well-known novel about a doctor who develops a drug to switch between two completely different personalities. Jekyll, good; Hyde, bad. John Barrymore (Drew's grandfather) stars in the title role. The other choices were stories by Edgar Allan Poe.

From Quiz Silent Movies Are Fun!

Answer: Mary Pickford

Having started in motion pictures in her late teens, Mary played teens and children into her thirties.

From Quiz Going to the Early Movies

Answer: Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin was an English actor and comedian who signed with Keystone Studios in 1913 and appeared first in 'Making a Living' then in many others of their short silent movies. He quickly became popular in several countries and in 1919 was one of the founders of the United Artists company, set up to allow them control over their own work. He also began directing, producing, writing and composing music for the movies he appeared in. He played comic roles, usually a tramp, in his early movies and continued to do so for many years in longer popular movies. His successes of the 1920s included 'The Kid' and the 1925 'The Gold Rush' while his later very popular movies included the 1931 'City Lights', the 1936 'Modern Times' and the 1940 'The Great Dictator'. He received a number of awards over the years, such as three Academy Awards, and was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1972. Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd and Ben Turpin were all Americans who played comic heroes in Hollywood silent movies.

From Quiz Before There Was Sound

Answer: The Birth of a Nation

"The Birth of a Nation" was based on a novel called "The Clansman" by Thomas Dixon, Jr. It deals with the efforts of the Ku Klux Klan to protect the interests white Southerners from scalawags and carpetbaggers during the Reconstruction period following the Civil War. Its innovative camera techniques and realistic battle scenes transformed the motion picture experience. The full-length film ran for three hours and ten minutes. The price of admission to view the film was $2 - a day's pay for many people in 1915. Despite this, the movie broke all existing box office records, with some sources claiming it grossed an incredible $60 million. The film's treatment of African-Americans, and the use of white actors in black-face to portray them, caused widespread protests in many cities. The film was banned in Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City and many other urban areas. But it was shown at the White House, in a private screening for President Woodrow Wilson. The lack of political correctness notwithstanding, "The Birth of a Nation" remains an incredibly entertaining movie. The American Film Institute ranks it as #44 on the list of the Top 100 American Films.

From Quiz Silence is Golden

Answer: Nosferatu

'Nosferatu', or to give it its full title 'Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens' ('Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror'), is a film that perhaps shouldn't really exist. Clearly based upon the celebrated Bram Stoker novel, 'Dracula', 'Nosferatu' was created without any authorisation and, as such, is an illegal film. The film became the focus of court action and all copies of the film were ordered to be destroyed; this legal ruling has not stopped the silent film, directed by the great F. W. Murnau, from surviving and it is now considered an early classic in the horror genre. In an effort, albeit futile, to stave off legal action, the film changed all the names of the characters and so in place of Count Dracula, we have Count Orlok; nosferatu was the generic name given to a vampire. The story is well known with the film opening with a businessman, Thomas Hutter, travelling to an unwelcoming, remote castle to meet a client - Count Orlok! Despite the local townsfolk attempting to dissuade Hutter from visiting the castle, he does so anyway and, in so doing, he enters a murky world of blood, death and horror. There are many scenes of interest in 'Nosferatu' but my favourites include, one, the footage of Count Orlok creeping up the stairs, his shadow projected menacingly onto the wall behind him, and two, Count Orlok rising from his casket. An excellent film that would enthral fans of horror movies!

From Quiz Shhhh It's Silent!

Answer: Rudolph Valentino

Rudolph Valentino (1895-1926) was always a smoldering presence on screen and women mourned passionately at his funeral. He played Sheik Ahmed Ben Hassan in 1921's 'The Sheik'.

From Quiz Fun with Silent Movie Title Cards

Answer: The Three Musketeers

"The Three Musketeers" is based on the book by Alexandre Dumas and stars a very energetic Douglas Fairbanks Sr. as D'Artagnan. He joins Athos, Porthos and Aramis and their familiar rallying cry to save Queen Consort Anne of Austria from cold, cruel, callous Cardinal Richelieu.

From Quiz Silent Movie Era Mixture

Answer: Mary Pickford

Mary Pickford was born in Toronto, Canada in 1892. Although born in Canada, she was known as "America's Sweetheart". Mary Pickford, along with Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith, founded United Artists. Mary and Douglas Fairbanks were married from 1920 to 1936. They were the first celebrity movie star couple. Their dinners at their home "Pickfair" were where some of the most powerful figures of the time met and dined. Mary was so popular at one time that there were riots at her public appearances of people who just wanted to touch her. She was one of the few stars to give Charlie Chaplin a run for his money. At the age of 27, Mary convincingly played a 12 year old girl in "Pollyanna". This movie, along with "Rosita", earned over a million dollars in the 1920s. That would be over 10 million dollars in 2008 dollars. This is also more than it sounds due to the 25 cent movie ticket prices. Miss Pickford won an Academy Award for Best Actress in the film "Coquette" in 1929. According to biographies of Mary Pickford and Lillian Gish, a disaster was averted in 1931 when Mary considered destroying ALL of her films because she thought future generations would think them ridiculous. Fortunantly, Lillian Gish talked her out of it.

From Quiz A History of Silent Cinema

Answer: Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau

All four of these directors have made movies in the style that is known as German Expressionism. Fritz Lang is the only one who managed to build up a long and successful career in Hollywood. The filming of "Nosferatu" was dramatized in E. Elias Merhige's 2000 movie "Shadow of the Vampire", which featured William Dafoe as Max Schreck and John Malkovich as F.W. Murnau.

From Quiz Early Silent Film

Answer: a baby

Made in 1904, the film showed the influence of the directors' American contemporaries. The directors set up the action to reverse itself and then repeat itself as Rover finds the kidnapped baby, returns to fetch the father, and leads the father to the child. Amusingly, as Rover leads his master across a river, the father uses a luckily positioned boat so that the directors could maintain the same framing, instead of the more practical bridge seen just at the edge of the frame.

From Quiz Silent Movies Are Fun!

Answer: Erich von Stroheim

He loved the German Aristocracy and often portrayed himself as such even though this was not true. The 'von' was a later addition.

From Quiz Going to the Early Movies

Answer: Hinemoa

Whilst several short documentaries had been made and shown in New Zealand from the late nineteenth century onwards, the first feature film believed to be made there was directed by the Frenchman Gaston Melies in 1913. He very quickly made three more films in New Zealand and sent them all to America to be worked on and it seems doubtful that they were shown in New Zealand. Whether by coincidence or not, in 1914 a New Zealand director, George Tarr, made a movie with the same plot and name. Hinemoa was a Maori princess who swam across a lake one night to join her lover, Tutanekai. This movie has been accounted the first feature film financed and made by and for New Zealanders. It was shot in the area around Rotorua and was shown first in Auckland then around the country.

From Quiz Before There Was Sound

Answer: Theda Bara

All of these ladies were popular stars of the silent era, but it was Theda Bara who was noted for her racy pictures. Known as "The Vamp", or "The Girl With the Hungry Eyes", she was actually a rather plain and slightly chubby Jewish girl from Cincinnati named Theodosia Burr Goodman. But she still managed to drive the boys wild during World War I. Much of her popularity can be attributed to her studio's publicity department. First they claimed she was the daughter of an Arab sheikh and a French woman, later that she was the offspring of an Italian sculptor and a French actress, "raised in the shadow of the Sphinx". She was also willing to wear very scanty costumes in her films. Her stage name was an anagram of "Arab death". She starred in more than 40 motion pictures between 1914 and 1926, but, sadly, only a handful survive today. In contrast to her film persona, her private life was rather tame. She married director Charles Brabin in 1921, and the two remained happily together until her death in 1955.

From Quiz Silence is Golden

Answer: Metropolis

'Metropolis' is a 1927 film directed by Fritz Lang and based on the book penned by German novelist Thea von Harbou. The film is considered pioneering and is still much loved to this day despite being incoherent at times (lots of scenes cut and subsequently lost). There is more than enough footage left to work out the general plot of the film which takes place in 2026. The film tracks the fortunes of the working class, who subsist in a bleak underground world (much like H. G. Wells' Morlocks), and how they are subject to the whims and desires of the wealthy rulers who live on the surface. The film seeks to portray the means by which the two groups can live in harmony and concludes by way of intertitle that, "the mediator between the head [the wealthy rulers] and the hands [the workers] must be the heart".

From Quiz Shhhh It's Silent!

Answer: Al Jolson

Al Jolson (1886-1950) was the first actor in talkies when he starred in 'The Jazz Singer'. His famous words 'You ain't seen nothing yet' foreshadowed how films would change and grow over time.

From Quiz Fun with Silent Movie Title Cards

Answer: The Last of the Mohicans

Two young British women search for their father during the French and Indian Wars in "The Last of the Mohicans." Magua (Wallace Beery) and some French soldiers attack them. Magua gives Cora Munro (Barbara Bedford) the chance to be with him or watch her sister, the blonde Alice, (Lillian Hall), die. Chief Great Serpent aka Chingachgook and his son, Uncas, the last of the Mohicans, attempt to save them.

From Quiz Silent Movie Era Mixture

Answer: D. W. Griffith

In 1932, "The Birth Of A Nation" was the highest earning film up to that point with 10 million dollars. These are 1932 dollars and not adjusted for inflation. At many showings of "The Birth of A Nation", there were riots and protests due to the controversial subject matter and the inaccuracies in the film. The film gave a positive view of the Ku Klux Klan and white supremacy through the eyes of two families, one from the north and one from the south. Regardless of the subject matter, the film is regarded as very influential for it's filming techniques and being the first "blockbuster" feature length film. "Intolerance" was thought of as a response to the negative reactions to "The Birth of A Nation". "Intolerance" comprised four stories in four different historical periods, and was an examination of man's intolerance to other people and cultures. Many of the characters didn't have proper names because Griffith wanted them to represent human types and not characters in the usual sense.

From Quiz A History of Silent Cinema

Answer: Sergei Eisenstein

"Battleship Potemkin" was shot in memory of the twentieth anniversary of the 1905 Revolution against tsarism, which failed. Dziga Vertov (aka Denis Kaufman) was the inventor of the kino-eye and his major work was "The Man with a Movie Camera", maybe the first meta-cinematographical movie ever made. Pudovkin made, among other movies, a film adaptation of Gorki's novel "Mother". Dovzhenko made the silent movies "Earth" and "Arsenal".

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