Great Comedy Films of the 1940s Quiz

Answer: Buck Privates

When Universal Studios selected Bud Abbott and Lou Costello to headline "Buck Privates" (1941), they had only appeared briefly in one other film. They proved to be box office leaders for years to come. The release was months before the United States entered WW2.

Although there is a romance between Lee Bowman and Jane Frazee and rousing songs by the Andrew Sisters, the film belongs to Abbott, the straight man, and Costello, the clown. The boys are selling neckties on the sidewalk when they are chased away by a policeman. They duck into a building to hide and sign up to win a prize, not realizing that they had just signed up for a hitch in the army. Skits to look for are the physical exam, old vaudeville routines between Bud and Lou, marching drills, and the boxing scene.

The film was nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Song ("Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy") and Best Musical Score. It set a format for subsequent Abbott and Costello films.

Answer: The play was still running on Broadway

"Arsenic and Old Lace" by Joseph Kesselring opened on Broadway January 1941 and closed June 1944 after 1444 performances. Capra saw comedy potential for a hilarious movie and persuaded the producers to grant a leave of absence from the play for Jean Adair, Josephine Hull, and John Alexander to reprise their roles on film. Boris Karloff was not granted a leave due to contract obligations. The compromise was that Capra would not release the film until its Broadway run was completed, hence the three year wait.

To say the Brewster family was eccentric would be an understatement. As Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant) says in the film, "Insanity does run in this family--it gallops!"

Abby and Martha Brewster lure old lonely unattached men to their home and feed them poisoned elderberry wine. Teddy Brewster, their brother, believing them to be yellow fever victims, buries them in the basement and occasionally runs up the stairs brandishing a sword shouting "Charge!". Meanwhile Johnathon Brewster, a criminal and murderer, has returned to hide out from the law. Raymond Massey plays Johnathon by doing a dead on impression of Boris Karloff. Peter Lorre does a great impression of Peter Lorre, Johnathon's partner. In the midst of this chaos, Grant and Priscilla Lane carry on a romance.

Answer: Jack Benny and Carole Lombard

Although the 1983 version had more production values, Rotten Tomatoes critics rated the 1942 film at 98% and the 1983 at 64%.

Jack Benny was always Jack Benny with not a lot of dramatic range but his years in radio and the stage put him in good stead for this role. Carole Lombard was an established comedy actress from the 1920s silent to this film, her last due to her tragic death. "My Man Godfrey" (1936) and "Nothing Sacred" (1937) are two of her remembered films.
Both films center on a Polish acting troop. Josef Tura (Jack Benny) and Maria (Carole Lombard) are married. When Josef is delivering his "to be or not to be" soliloquy on stage, he notices that a young military man gets up and leaves. When this happens several times, Josef concludes that he is having an affair with his wife. Also, Hitler has invaded Poland and the future of the acting group is in danger. To save the group they engage in various schemes to undermine and sabotage German plans and escape to Britain.

Character actor Tom Dugan steals the limelight as an actor that can do a perfect impression of Adolf Hitler.

A legend is that this film was a favorite among Hollywood elite and was often shown at parties.

Answer: Cary Grant

The Broadway play "The Philadelphia Story" was written especially for Hepburn and she was an investor. She followed it to Hollywood. It received six Oscar nominations and won Best Actor for James Stewart and Best Screenplay for Donald Ogden Stewart. It is often mentioned as the best romantic comedy. Rotten Tomatoes awarded a 100% rating, a rarity.

Cary Grant and James Stewart were added to the cast as they were both highly paid box office draws. Although he did serious roles, from 1932 to 1966 he was the master of sophisticated comedy. Stewart was comfortable in comedy, drama, and westerns beginning in 1934 to a voice-over in 1991.

Basically, after all the shenanigans, Tracy is pulled three ways in her confusion. She can marry the nouveau riche George who would give her a comfortable life and a place in society, or she could go back to Dexter that she divorced because of his drinking and lack of ambition, or Mike Conner (James Stewart), a tabloid reporter assigned to cover the wedding that she had a brief passionate but drunken affair but doesn't remember. Who will she choose?

Answer: Accidently thwarted a robbery

Mahatma Kane Jeeves is listed as the screenwriter that Fields took from an old vaudeville punchline "My hat, my cane, Jeeves".

Sousé finds a wildcat investment he likes called Beefsteak Mines. He pressures his son-in-law Og, a teller at the bank, to embezzle 500 dollars. Things look fine until a bank examiner appears and Sousé has to devise devious means to distract him. Meanwhile, he has to contend with a shrewish wife, disapproving mother-in-law, and vicious children. Scenes include Fields mixing with a motion picture group and a wild chase scene that ends thwarting another bank robbery. The Beefsteak Mine investment comes through so that Sousé is able to return to his former role as town drunk.

The film is regarded as W.C. Field's masterpiece. Also, it is one those rare films that achieved a 100% evaluation from Rotten Tomatoes.

Answer: Birth of sextuplets

Trudy Kockenlocker (Betty Hutton) is a good time girl and on a drinking spree with a soldier, gets married by a justice of the peace. She doesn't remember his name but it was either "Ratzkywatzky or... Zitzkywitzky". But she also gave a fake name as she thought it was a joke. Later it is found out that she is pregnant. Her father believes her boyfriend, Norval Jones (Eddie Bracken), is involved and has several charges levied against him forcing him to flee the town. When the 'miracle' occurs, there is a massive man hunt to bring back Norval to the cheers and delight of all Morgan's Creek. At the end of the film is the following quotation: "But Norval recovered and became increasingly happy for, as Shakespeare said: 'Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some
have greatness thrust upon them'."

The interaction with the censorship Hays Office are legend with outcries of glorifying promiscuity, alcohol use, defamation of the honor of American fighting men, promoting having children out of wedlock, and not reflecting traditional moral values. Preston Sturges released the film with out showing the ending to the Hays Office. In promoting the movie audiences were urged not to reveal the ending so their friends and family could enjoy it. It was the highest grossing film of the year and got an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay.

Answer: I Was a Male War Bride

Regulations were relaxed for war brides so they did have to go trough the arduous red tape of most immigrants. However, the regulations did not provide for female military officers to bring their foreign born husbands into the United States that is the premise for this film.

Lt. Catherine Gates (Ann Sheridan) of the Women's Army Corps works on a military project with French Capt. Henri Rochard (Cary Grant). After a rough start, they fall in love and marry, actually three times - civil, military, and church. When Gates is reassigned stateside, Rochard plans to go with her. After many misunderstandings, he is granted permission to accompany her. However, personnel on the ship do not believe it so Rochard dresses as an army nurse. Although his impersonation of a woman may be flawed, he does get a few whistles from some soldiers and sailors. Their scheme is exposed, they are both arrested and are placed in the ship's brig where for the first time they are able to consummate their marriage.

"I Was A Male War Bride" was one the highest grossing films of 1949.

Answer: Danny Kaye

This was Danny Kaye's first film. It is one of the funniest films I have ever seen. Here are a few examples.

While standing in line to see a movie, Kaye sings and dances using a combination of sounds and double talk to expose a host of film clichés. You will only understand part of what he is saying but you know exactly what he means.

On board a troop ship he does an outrageous lip sync of Dinah Shore.

On the island he is captured by Japanese troops. He wildly impersonates a Japanese officer and bamboozles them to surrender.

Kaye is supported by Dinah Shore and Dana Andrews, It received two Oscar nominations for Best Musical Score and for the song "Now I Know".

Answer: The Man Who Came to Dinner

Betty Davis had a dream to work with John Barrymore and accepted a supporting role as Whiteside's secretary. But when tested for the role, Barrymore was unable to memorize lines nor read them from cue cards due to his alcoholism. So Monte Wholly who had played Whiteside on Broadway was given his first leading role in the film. And it is hard to imagine anyone else in the role.

In a month time Sheridan Whiteside drives his hosts mad by insulting them, monopolizing the house and staff, running up large bills, and having many strange guests, including criminals. He tries to manipulate his secretary's romance so he doesn't lose her skills. In the end he is found to be faking his injury and recovery and is ordered out of the house. As he finally leaves, he again slips on the ice and has to be carried back.

Bosley Crowther of "The New York Times" said, "Woolley makes "The Man Who Came to Dinner" a rare old goat. His zest for rascality is delightful, he spouts alliterations as though he were spitting out orange seeds, and his dynamic dudgeons in a wheelchair are even mightier than those of Lionel Barrymore."

Answer: Chronic hay fever

Embarrassed to return home, he finds a job working in a shipyard. But he writes letters home about his military life and travels. He meets a group of marines and tells them his story. They put a marine uniform on him and trick him onto a train heading toward his hometown. And there he is greeted by the whole town as a hero. The adoration of the town is such that he finds it difficult to tell the truth for in essence they are craving for a hero.

Finally they convince him to run for mayor against the town blowhard. But he can no longer carry one the charade and confesses. The town still wants him for mayor because of his honesty.

Preston Surges received an Oscar nomination for his screenplay. Some of the sets were the same one used in "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" and a billboard advertising that film is captured in one scene. The film's assets are its patriotism and the need for role models that met the tenner of the times. Sturges followed the Hays Office production code, perhaps in part to appease them for his previous code violations such as "Miracle of Morgan's Creek".