Popcorn Crunchers, Reel 151 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Lon Chaney Jr.

Creighton Tull Chaney (1906-1973) used the nom de théâtre Lon Chaney Jr. to take advantage of his father's fame as an actor. The younger Chaney was well known as the creator of many grotesque characters: Count Alucard, Frankenstein's monster, the mummy, and many others.

His alcoholism and cigarette smoking limited his success and hastened his death. In "The Black Castle," he plays Gargon, Count von Bruno's manservant, whose tongue was cut out by angry African natives. Reviewer Jennifer Garden says, "Almost anyone could have lumbered around and grunted in the few scenes where he appears, looking like a cross between Igor and Quasimodo." Chaney objected to having no lines as Gargon. To assuage his upset, director Nathan Juran shot some scenes in which the actor spoke, but none of these were ultimately used in the motion picture.

Answer: The Atomic Horror

"Atom Man vs. Superman" (1950) was the second time 15 episodes of a theatrical Superman serial were cobbled together into one feature-length motion picture. "The Atomic Kid" (1954) was a black-and-white science fiction comedy movie starring Mickey Rooney. "Creature with the Atom Brain" (1955) was a zombie horror science fiction motion picture about a German scientist who uses atomic radiation to resurrect the recently dead and turns them into an army of slaves.

There is a bizarre merchandise shop in Orlando, Florida, called Atomic Horror.

There was a role-playing game called "GURPS Atomic Horror" by Paul Elliott and Chris W. McCubbin, published in 1993. Tim Curran wrote the novel "Atomic Horrors" (2023). Nobody appears to have made a 1950s horror film called "The Atomic Horror."

Answer: his inability to absorb oxygen

The lumbering monster into which Lt. Prescott has turned, gasps and wheezes due to its inability to get enough oxygen into its blood by breathing. His brother Chuck has Dr Paul von Essen open a high-altitude chamber into which he directs Dan. The brothers are taken up to the equivalent of 38,000 feet. Dan says he cannot remember what happened in the flight, but explains, "I just had to be the first man into space." Growing weaker with every breath, Dan collapses and dies.

Answer: Ann Robinson

Ann Robinson (b. 1929) distinguished herself both as a stunt rider of horses and an actress. She accumulated movie and television credits for both. Her role as Sylvia Van Buren in "The War of the Worlds" was her most memorable role. She reprised it in two later motion pictures -- "Midnight Movie Massacre" (1988) and "The Naked Monster" (2005). She also played the role in the Fox TV series "War of the Worlds" (2019-2022).

Answer: Louis Belnap

Edward G. Robinson's character, Rene Bressard, is NOT the homicidal hypnotist in "Nightmare," although the movie's promotional materials make it appear that he is. The abandoned house to which Stan led Rene is owned by Louis Belnap. Rene shows Stan a photograph of Belnap, whom he recognises as Harry Britten, his neighbour. Britten turns out to be an expert in hypnosis and uses that skill to induce Stan to murder Belnap's unfaithful wife and her lover.

Answer: an original "Bowery Boys" screenplay

Screenwriters Elwood Ullman and Edward Bernds had a formula which worked for "Bowery Boys" scripts. They used a similar formula when they later wrote scripts for the Three Stooges. "The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters" was inspired by "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1948), which was originally titled "Abbott and Costello Meet the Monsters."

Several of the characters in "The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters" depended rather heavily on members of "The Addams Family" cartoons drawn by Charles Addams. Compare Grissom the butler with Lurch, Francesca with Morticia, and Amelia Gravesend with Grandma Addams.

Answer: magazine photographer and reporter

Glenda Thomas works as a photographer, reporter and correspondent for a popular science magazine. She is interested in the many accidents which have occurred at Science Associates, some resulting in the theft of some of their inventions and one resulting in the death of a researcher. Burt Winslow, the public relations officer for Science Associates, assuages many of her concerns, as does Jeff King, in whom she has a particular interest, not entirely professional.

Answer: producing/directing

Edward Davis Wood Jr. (1924-1978) had a remarkably diverse career. He was an actor, author, and filmmaker. His writing career was prolific but limited to pulp novels and pornography. He produced and/or directed a number of low-budget motion pictures in the 1950s, including science fiction and horror films: "Bride of the Monster" (1955), "Plan 9 from Outer Space" (1957), "The Bride and the Beast" (1958) and "Night of the Ghouls" (1959).

In the sixties and seventies, his movies tended to be sexploitation films and pornography.

In film-critic Michael Medved's book "The Golden Turkey Awards" (1980), he named Ed Wood Jr. as the worst director of all time. Tim Burton made a biopic of Wood's life in 1994 starring Johnny Depp as the director.

Answer: The Eastern Bloc

The Phantom Ruler has his henchpersons, Burton and Harris, kidnap four people from "The Eastern Bloc" and transport them to the United States. "The Eastern Bloc" was also known as "the Communist Bloc," "the Socialist Bloc," and "the Soviet Bloc." This term was used in the West to refer to the coalition of Communist states which were perceived to be under the influence (if not complete control) of the USSR. The Red Scare of the 1950s and its attendant McCarthyism inferred evil intent in all of Eastern Europe.

Answer: She is old, wrinkly and unattractive.

To the rest of the world, Marguerite du Grand is the elderly aunt of the beautiful Gisele du Grand. In truth, they are the same person. Julian du Grand is working on a method to restore Marguerite's youth and beauty and to give her eternal life. The experimental method involves transferring the blood of a beautiful young woman into Marguerite. The problem is that the enhanced state may reverse without warning, and Gisele may return to being Marguerite.