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Quiz about Captain America  The 1944 Movie Serial
Quiz about Captain America  The 1944 Movie Serial

"Captain America" - The 1944 Movie Serial Quiz


This is a quiz about the first movie about a Marvel Comics character. Cap starred in this 15-chapter serial, full of cliffhanging action as he battled the evil plans of the mysterious Scarab!

A multiple-choice quiz by vig407. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
vig407
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
213,522
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Tough
Avg Score
5 / 10
Plays
207
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Question 1 of 10
1. According to this serial, what is the secret identity of Captain America? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. What weapon does Captain America use most often in this serial? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. What was the name of the villain behind the Purple Death? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. What was the name of the special device created by Professor Lyman, the one which was stolen by the Scarab in the first chapter of this serial? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Captain America's pal, Dave, was the first person outside of the Scarab's gang to discover the secret behind the Purple Death. What made the Purple Death so compelling? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Professor Lyman's brother, Clinton, was also an inventor. What was the name of the fantastic device that he created? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. What prestigious institution did Dr. Maldor work for? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. What was the name of the railroad magnate, who inadvertantly learned the true identity of the Scarab? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. The two halves of the copper Mayan plaque formed a map to find what exotic locale? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Grant Gardner wired for a famous brain surgeon to try and save the railroad magnate's life, so he could identify the Scarab. What was the name of the surgeon who he told Gail would be arriving to help? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. According to this serial, what is the secret identity of Captain America?

Answer: Grant Gardner

I really have no idea why Captain America was changed from being Steve Rogers, to Assistant Attorney Grant Gardner. I can see changing his occupation to help facilitate the story, but why change a perfectly good name like Steve Rogers? Apparently, even back in the 40s, Hollywood had a habit of taking proven winners and completely changing things around to suit their own creative egos.

Captain America was portrayed by serial veteran Dick Purcell.
2. What weapon does Captain America use most often in this serial?

Answer: A revolver

Captain America's trademark shield was nowhere to be found in any of the fifteen chapters of this serial. We can only assume that this particular change was made because of the special effects problems that having him throwing it at the bad guys would incur. Instead, in those days before computer-generated animation, Cap was packing heat most of the time.
3. What was the name of the villain behind the Purple Death?

Answer: The Scarab

The Purple Death itself was a special chemical concoction that, when administered to someone, caused the victim to be very susceptible to suggestions, even suggestions that would be completely against their nature (such as killing someone or committing suicide). A side effect of the drug was that the victim also broke out in purple blotches on his skin, but this was only referred to in the serial, never shown. Not that it really would've mattered too much if we did see them, since it was a black and white film.

The Scarab was, in reality, Dr. Maldor. Maldor had been using the Purple death to kill all the members of an expedition to some ancient Mayan ruins in South America. He was the one who had found special information that made the trip successful, but felt he had been slighted in terms of being rewarded for his contribution. So Maldor decided to kill everyone else involved with the expedition and use the information he had discovered for his own gain.

Maldor was played by the wonderfully hammy Lionel Atwill, star of countless B-movies.
4. What was the name of the special device created by Professor Lyman, the one which was stolen by the Scarab in the first chapter of this serial?

Answer: Thermodynamic Vibration Engine

Lyman also called his device the "Dynamic Vibrator" and uttered the immortal line "How'd you find out about my vibrator?" when the Scarab's men broke into his lab to steal it. It was one of those "rolling-on-the-floor" moments when I first watched the serial.

The Scarab's thugs then administered the Purple Death to the scientist, and the Scarab ordered him to commit suicide by walking out in front of a speeding truck.
5. Captain America's pal, Dave, was the first person outside of the Scarab's gang to discover the secret behind the Purple Death. What made the Purple Death so compelling?

Answer: It was distilled from the supridium, a little-known orchid.

After the secret ingredient was discovered, the Scarab stopped using the Purple Death as his main weapon. After the first few chapters of the serial, he started to just use the technology he stole from others to commit his crimes.
6. Professor Lyman's brother, Clinton, was also an inventor. What was the name of the fantastic device that he created?

Answer: The Life Restorer Machine

Dr. Clinton Lyman invented the Life Restorer Machine. It was based on the "diathermic method of inducing fever by high temperatures, resulting from the electronic resuscitation of the circulatory system". He would also inject a special serum into the subject's vital organs. The device would only work on something that hadn't been dead too long.

The demonstration of the Life Restorer featured a dead dog being brought back to life. The procedure was viewed by Grant Gardner, Gail Richards (Lorna Gray), Dr. Maldor and Lyman's fellow members of the Mayan Explorers Club.
7. What prestigious institution did Dr. Maldor work for?

Answer: The Drummond Museum of the Arts and Sciences

The Drummond Museum, through the efforts of Dr. Maldor, had been exhibiting some of the artifacts that the Mayan expedition had brought back.
8. What was the name of the railroad magnate, who inadvertantly learned the true identity of the Scarab?

Answer: G.F. Hillman

Hillman had called Grant Gardner via radiophone from his private railroad car on the Westland Limited. He told the attorney that he had found a copper plaque that was half of a map to a hidden Mayan treasure, and that Maldor had the other half. Maldor was able to capture Hillman and tortured him until he agreed to decipher the map.

He later bombed the farm that Hillman was being held at, since he was the only one who knew for certain that Maldor was the Scarab.
9. The two halves of the copper Mayan plaque formed a map to find what exotic locale?

Answer: The Temple of Emeralds in the lost city of Zada

The Temple of Emeralds was one of the final secrets of the Mayan expedition that Maldor wanted. The villain had been searching for the copper plaque amidst the ruins of the many victims of the Scarab, but fate thrust it upon him in an entirely different way.
10. Grant Gardner wired for a famous brain surgeon to try and save the railroad magnate's life, so he could identify the Scarab. What was the name of the surgeon who he told Gail would be arriving to help?

Answer: Dr. Rodlam Baracs

Gail mentioned to Doctor Maldor that 'Dr. Baracs' was coming to help Hillman. The Scarab soon arranged for a criminal associate to impersonate the surgeon, so that Hillman could be killed and the Scarab's secret identity preserved.

This was all just a ploy by Captain America to trap the Scarab, as the distinguished surgeon he sent for did not actually exist. In fact, his name was merely "Maldor Scarab" spelled backwards, showing that, even this particular movie, Captain America had as much on the ball as his comic book counterpart.
Source: Author vig407

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor skunkee before going online.
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