They Wrote Screenplays? Online Quiz | Movie Mixture

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Mario Puzo was a respected novelist, short story writer, and magazine editor. In 1969 he published "The Godfather" that shot him to national recognition. He was called to Hollywood to work on the screenplays for all three "Godfather" films "The Godfather"(1972), "Godfather 2"(1974). and "Godfather 3"(1990). He also wrote a screenplay for what comic book superhero?

Answer: Superman

Puzo wrote the the original story for "Superman" (1978) and contributed to "Superman Two" (1980). Puzo won Academy Awards for both "Godfather" and "Godfather 2". He was called back in 1990 for the less successful "Godfather 3".

Puzo made a living by editing 'nudity' magazines. He published many short stories under the pseudonym Mario Cleri. He had written four novels prior to the "The Godfather" that had received positive critical reviews but little in the way of monetary gain or fame. In an interview he confessed that he wrote "The Godfather" to appeal to those interested in betrayal, revenge, criminals, sex, to cultivate a mass audience and to make money. All of his subsequent novels have a crime/mafia theme as he had found his audience.

Puzo died in 1999 at 78 of heart failure.

2. William Saroyan was of Armenian extraction born in Fresno, CA that became the setting for his most of his novels and plays. In 1943 Saroyan was hired to write a screenplay for MGM. When the script was deemed 'too long', Saroyan in protest was fired. In anger and rage, he reformed the script into a novel that was published just before the film's release. It was a rare occurrence when a novel is based on a screenplay at that time. What was Saroyan's novel?

Answer: The Human Comedy

Another screenwriter was credited with the writing for the film and that earned an Academy Award. Mickey Rooney was nominated for Best Actor along with Cinematography, Best Director ,and Best Picture. The seamless plot concerns how a small California town is impacted by World War Two. Rooney plays a telegram delivery boy who often must bring bad news to the residents about the fate of loved ones in the military. In one scene Rooney, feeling uncomfortable delivering a telegram says "Your son is dead. Maybe it's a mistake. Maybe it wasn't your son. Maybe it was somebody else. The telegram says it was Juan Domingo. But maybe the telegram is wrong."

Saroyan's play, "The Time of Your Life"(1939), won the Pulitzer Prize which Saroyan refused. He did not feel the Pulitzer Committee was qualified to judge 'the arts' as the prize was controlled by publishing companies. His later novels were regarded as too sentimental by critics. Saroyan was troubled by alcohol and gambling addictions.

3. At least eighteen films have been adapted for the screen from this author. He was cited as 'from a story' or 'additional dialogue' but his name as screenwriter appeared in only two films. Who wrote the stories of "Mildred Pierce",(1945) "The Postman Always Rings Twice"(1946) and "Double Indemnity" (1944)?

Answer: James M. Cain

"Stand Up and Fight" (1939) and "Gypsy Wildcat" (1944) were his only screenwriting credits, both westerns. But his style of writing made his novels and short stories very adaptable to film. He is associated with a genre 'roman noir' that means 'black novel' associated with toughness and lack of sentimentality; often the protagonist is a victim in a lose-lose situation.

4. Dorothy Parker gained fame as a literary critic, a poet, and as a central wit of the renowned Algonquin Round Table. In the 1930s she ventured to Hollywood. While there she had two nominations for the Academy Award for screenplay. Which of these is a film to which she did NOT contribute?

Answer: A Star is Born (1976)

Parker was nominated for the 1937 and 1954 versions of "A Star Is Born" but not the 1976 remake. The other nomination was for "Smash-Up" which starred Susan Hayward as an alcoholic. One early scene has Hayward in a hospital bed screaming for a 'a drink', a scene so typical of Parker's life.

By the 1930s Parker had turned to screenwriting as a career along with her bisexual husband Alan Campbell whom Dorothy described as "queer as a billy goat". Her targets were many. Of Ayn Rand she said that "Atlas Shrugged" was not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. "It should be thrown with great force". Of Katharine Hepburn's acting Parker said that she ran the gamut of emotions from A to B. At a story conference with Sam Goldwyn who was demanding a 'happy ending' to a screenplay Parker countered "I know this will come as a shock to you, Mr. Goldwyn, but in all history, which has held billions and billions of human beings, not a single one ever had a happy ending."

And of course, my favorite Dorothy Parker poem:

"Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren't lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live."

5. Roald Dahl was a man of many talents. He was a World War Two fighter pilot and ace, an intelligence officer, and one of the most revered authors of children's literature. Among his written works are "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"(published 1964), "The Fantastic Mr. Fox" (1970), and "BFG"(1982). Which of these 'spy' novels did he adapt for the screen?

Answer: You Only Live Twice

As a friend of Ian Fleming, Dahl agreed to write the screenplay for "You Only Live Twice" although he believed that it was Fleming's worst novel and not really adaptable to the screen. In addition he was hampered by specific formulas that producers were insistent upon in a James Bond film.

Dahl went on to complain "If you've got enough money to live comfortably, there's no reason in the world to do a screenplay... the only reason anybody ever does a screenplay is because you're paid so much money and because you're hungry."

However, Dahl helped write the screenplay for "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" but felt that Charlie should be the main protagonist rather than Willy. He adapted his friend Ian Fleming's children's book "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" in 1968. In 1971 wrote the screenplay "The Night Digger" as a return to film for his wife Patricia Neal after her stroke.

6. Ray Bradbury died in 2012 leaving behind a legacy of superb fantasy and science fiction. In 1956 he was called upon to adapt what novel of a sea adventure into a screenplay?

Answer: Moby Dick

Bradbury later wrote about this screenwriting experience. The novel is dense with symbolism and in parts rambling so the source material was a difficulty, especially because Bradbury had never completely read the Melville novel. John Huston was a demanding director and Bradbury felt often that he was being bullied into making changes. Huston had wanted his father, Walter Huston, to play the troubled Captain Ahab but he died before funding was secured for the film.

The studio optioned Gregory Peck as Ahab as he had name recognition. Peck was somewhat surprised by his selection.

In all, Bradbury's screenplay is closest to the original source material.

7. If you have a world class novel to film, why not hire a world class writer? Who is the writer, who portrayed the 1920s so vividly in his novels and short stories, who was hired to bring "Gone With the Wind" (1939) to life?

Answer: F. Scott Fitzgerald

Although burdened with alcoholism, debt, and broke, Fitzgerald took his screenwriting seriously. He had previously worked as a screenwriter for "A Yank at Oxford"(1938). At his death he left over 2000 pages of screen various treatments. Bringing "Gone With the Wind"(1939) to the screen was a circus. Countless women tried for the prime role of Scarlett.

The film endured a parade of screenwriters and directors. Fitzgerald's script, if it had been filmed, would have resulted in a six hour marathon and was rejected out of hand.

8. Truman Capote was a larger than life character. Many of his short stories, novels and non-fiction books have been produced for film. During his time he wrote two screenplays not based on his own works. One was "The Innocents" (1961) based on a Henry James novel "The Turn of the Screw". The other was "Beat The Devil"(1953). Who was Capote's co-writer on that film and also the director?

Answer: John Huston

From all reports the filming of "Beat The Devil" was a romp. On a shaky premise, Capote and Huston fashioned a script on a day-to-day basis. The all star cast, including Humphrey Bogart, Jennifer Jones, Gina Lollobrigida, Robert Morley, Peter Lorre and Bernard Lee, were mostly on vacation and felt free to adlib material.

The film was indifferently received but through the years has developed a cult following.

9. William Faulkner was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949, mostly for his body of work. The money he donated to establish the Faulkner Prize to encourage young writers. But Faulkner's income from his novels and short stories was never what he expected so over a decade he went to Hollywood to collaborate on screenplays. For which of these films is he NOT listed as a screenwriter?

Answer: Mildred Pierce

Although he was not listed in the credits, biographers of Faulkner have shown that he did work on "Mildred Pierce"(1939), "Gunga Din"(1939) and "Drums Along the Mohawk"(1939) along with several lesser films. Howard Hawks had him on several of his directorial efforts. "Slave Ship"(1937) was an early forgettable film.

In addition to the Nobel, Faulkner won two Pulitzer Prizes in 1959 ("A Fable") and 1962 ("The Reivers"). In trying to read Faulkner's novels, I became very discouraged by his long complex sentences replete with backtracks and clauses. Later when I forced myself to revisit, I found that those sentences are truly a work of art.

10. When the 1957 Academy Awards were presented for best screenplay, whose name was read? (Hint: an alias)

Answer: Robert Rich

Because of blacklisting in Hollywood in the 1950s, Dalton Trumbo was unable to write screenplays under his own name. Therefore, he used the alias Robert Rich for his award for "The Brave One". A friend, Ian McClellan Hunter, fronted for him in his writing award for "Roman Holiday"(1953). This deception was well known among Hollywood insiders. Previously, Trumbo had been nominated for best screenplay in 1940 for "Kitty Foyle". The awards were corrected in 1976.

Dalton wrote twelve books of fiction and non-fiction prior to turning his talents to film. He had 36 films to his credit. He is listed as a writer on "Spartacus"(1960), "Exodus"(1960), "Hawaii"(1966), and "Papillon"(1973) among others.

Source: Author Rehaberpro

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They Wrote Screenplays? Trivia Quiz

A number of successful writers ventured into Hollywood to write screenplays although their fame rests elsewhere. Here are a few that made their way to Tinsel Town.

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