National Film Registry: Part 3 Quiz

Answer: Raging Bull

"Raging Bull" is a biographical film about boxer Jake LaMotta (played by Robert De Niro) and how he rises as a boxing champion but chases away his friends and family because of his rage and jealousy. "Taxi Driver" was inducted in 1994, "Mean Streets" in 1997, and "Goodfellas" in 2000.

Answer: Duck Soup

There is no duck soup in the film--the closest we get is a shot of ducks swimming in a cauldron during the opening credits. In the 1930s, the term "duck soup" referred to something that was easy to do.

Answer: There is no soundtrack except during the credits.

There is a song, but it is sung by the characters and not laid over the film. Susan wants David's help with Baby (played by a real leopard) because she thinks he's a zoologist. Various hijinks ensue, which end with Susan destroying a dinosaur skeleton that David has just finished putting together; in typical screwball comedy fashion, he just hugs her.

Answer: Meshes of the Afternoon

The original version of "Meshes of the Afternoon" had no score; various scores have been applied to it since. Deren and her husband Alexander Hammid play the roles of the woman and man. David Lynch has said that Deren's films were a great influence on his own surreal style.

Answer: The Freshman

Along with Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd is one of the most famous silent film stars. One of the most iconic images in silent film is Lloyd hanging from a clock in the 1923 movie "Safety Last!" This film was inducted in 1994.

Answer: His father, Walter Huston

Walter Huston won Best Supporting Actor. He, Humphrey Bogart, and Tim Holt play American prospectors looking for gold in the hills. Not only do they have to worry about bandits, they become paranoid that one of their group might try to steal all the gold for himself.

Answer: Surround sound

It was called Fantasound and was the precursor to modern systems that play different sounds out of different speakers. Since 1940s movie theaters would have had to set up the Fantasound system, which wasn't compatible with monaural speakers, most theaters played a monaural version of the film's soundtrack. Disney toyed with the concept of Smell-o-vision--he wanted to spray scents into the theater to match each segment.

However, he couldn't figure out how to remove each scent from the theater in time to introduce the next one, so he dropped the idea.

Answer: "Red River" and "The River"

"The River" is a 30-minute documentary about the Mississippi River and its importance to farming, whereas cattle driving in Texas is the subject of the narrative film "Red River". All the other answers are also preserved in the Registry.

Answer: O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Sullivan thinks that his funny films are too frivolous and decides to make a serious social piece. At the end of the film, while in a labor camp, he realizes that the poor and disenfranchised love to laugh at movies, so he leaves his social movie unfinished and decides to make comedies again. 2000's Great Depression-set "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" is about three men searching for treasure after escaping a chain gang.

Answer: Ben-Hur

"The Godfather" was also added in this year. "Ben-Hur", set during the time of Christ, is the story of a man who seeks revenge on the friend who made him a slave and imprisoned his family. It wasn't inducted until 2004.