Popcorn Crunchers, Reel 33 Trivia Quiz

Answer: False

Speech occurs when air is forced from the lungs, through the windpipe (trachea), across the vocal cords (larynx) and out the mouth. The breath makes the vocal cords vibrate which produces a sound. In "The Brain that Wouldn't Die", Jan Compton's head is severed from her body in an automobile accident.

Her head is preserved in a pan of blood, enriched by a serum, connected to wires and tubes. However, she has no lungs and therefore would be unable to utter a sound.

Answer: The Unknown Master

"X: The Unknown" (1956) is a British film set in Scotland. "Unknown World" (1951) is an American film set inside the Earth. "The Unknown Terror" (1957) is an American film set in the Caribbean. In the "Star Wars" franchise, there is a character named The Unknown Master, a male Jedi Master who came to the planet Vaklin to die without revealing his name.

In 1912, Dr. Marc Haven (whose real name was Dr. Emmanuel Lalande), published "Cagliostro: The Unknown Master" in French. Count Alessandro di Cagliostro was the founder of the Egyptian Rite of Freemasonry.

It does not appear that there was a 1950s motion picture named "The Unknown Master".

Answer: napalm dropped from jet fighters

In the exciting culmination of "Tarantula" (1955), the spider is headed from the desert toward the town of Desert Rock. Sheriff Andrews' men shoot it with their guns but this does not harm the giant spider. They try to blow it up with dynamite, but that destroys only a road on which it is walking.

The US Air Force sends a squadron of P-80 Shooting Star jet fighters to drop napalm on the tarantula which burns it to death, right at the edge of town.

Answer: George Sanders

George Sanders (1906-1972) was a British actor, born in Russia, who played primarily serious roles in movies, often as a sophisticated villain. He is best remembered as The Falcon in a series of movies made in the 1940s and as Simon Templar in films made in the 1930s and 1940s.

He also played Mr. Freeze on a two-part episode of the TV series "Batman" (1966) and provided the voice of Shere Khan in the Walt Disney animated movie "The Jungle Book" (1967). He did not play in science fiction nor horror roles.

When offered a part in "The Undying Monster" (1942), he refused saying, "I like to be seen in pictures that at least seem to be slightly worthwhile."

Answer: an interstellar energy-beam weapon

As the US spaceship Starfire approaches the space station for which it is bound, some sort of ray is fired at the station, which is completely destroyed. The ship is also hit by the beam and disabled. The crew learns that this weapon is a Beta Disintegrator. Queen Yllana plans to use it to destroy the Earth.

The earthmen, with Talleah's help, disable the weapon. When the queen engages the ray, it malfunctions, explodes and kills her instead.

Answer: a 1942 sci-fi short story

Science-fiction writers Henry Kuttner and his wife C.L. Moore used the single pseudonym Lewis Padgett when they collaborated on novels or short stories. They created the nom de plume by cobbling together their mothers' maiden names. Their short story "The Twonky" appeared in Astounding Science Fiction (September 1942). Arch Oboler loosely adapted the story to film.

In the original story, the Twonky was a radio, not a television set.

Answer: scopolamine and hypnotic regression

Tony is referred to a psychologist, Dr. Alfred Brandon, who practices hypnotherapy. His personal research has led him to develop a scopolamine-based serum which enhances his ability to regress subjects to their former lives. Using this on Tony, he suggests that the boy was, at one time, a werewolf. Startling sounds, like a ringing telephone, cause Tony to turn into the beast.

Answer: directing

Joseph Pevney (1911-2008) was a boy soprano in vaudeville, who acted in films from 1946 and became a director in 1950. He worked as a director of motion pictures and television programmes until 1985. He directed Charles Laughton, Boris Karloff, Frank Sinatra, Alan Ladd, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Joan Crawford, Jeff Chandler, Debbie Reynolds, Walter Brennan, Leslie Nielsen, James Cagney, James Garner and Natalie Wood.

As to why he directed "The Strange Door" (1951), Pevney said, "I was a new director and I was assigned movies in those days and they told me, 'This is what you're gonna do.'"

Answer: Transylvania

The story of Dr Callistratus -- his execution, his resurrection and his evil career -- is set in Transylvania. The location makes some sense as the doctor was suspected of being a vampire, which was a very Transylvanian thing to suspect in the 1870s, when these events are shown to have occurred.

Answer: a troop of Brownies

"Attack of the Puppet People" begins with a troop of Brownies in their uniforms being escorted by their adult leader, played by June Jocelyn, into the offices of Dolls Incorporated. While they wait for the owner, Mister Franz, played by John Hoyt, to give them a tour of his facility, they look at a display of dolls in the office lobby.

A special locked display is of eight glass-encased dolls which are highly realistic in their detail. The receptionist/secretary warns the girls not to touch these.