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RKO Trivia Quiz

From its beginnings in the early 30s to its end in the late 50s, RKO Radio Pictures made its individual mark on Hollywood.

A multiple-choice quiz by tjoebigham. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
tjoebigham

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
43,683

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
20

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
11 / 20

Plays
667

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 20

1. Who was one of the co-founders of the studio? Hint

Jesse Lasky

Joseph P. Kennedy

Samuel Goldwyn

Harry Cohn

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Question 2 of 20

2. RKO got its name from the merger of RCA and what vaudeville theatre chain? Hint

Balaban and Katz

Keith-Albee-Orpheum

Ginsberg and O'Brien

Sheldrake and Schmidlapp

NEXT>

Question 3 of 20

3. Who produced and directed RKO's first 'monster' hit? Hint

Hecht and MacArthur

Cooper and Schoedsack

Panama and Frank

the Boulting brothers

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Question 4 of 20

4. Name the famed independent producer who worked at RKO for a while. Hint

David Selznick

Darryl Zanuck

Louis Mayer

Irving Thalberg

NEXT>

Question 5 of 20

5. Who directed the first musical that teamed Astaire and Rogers? Hint

Busby Berkeley

Ernst Lubitsch

Mark Sandrich

Thornton Freeland

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Question 6 of 20

6. And who directed Astaire and Rogers' last RKO film? Hint

H.C. Potter

George Cukor

Howard Hawks

George Stevens

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Question 7 of 20

7. Name the two films Howard Hawks did at RKO. Hint

'The Big Sleep', 'Air Force'

'Bringing Up Baby', 'The Big Sky'

'Red River', 'Rio Bravo'

'His Girl Friday', 'Ball of Fire'

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Question 8 of 20

8. Who was the producer of such RKO classics as 'Cat People' and 'I Walked With A Zombie'? Hint

Henry Blanke

Val Lewton

Jerry Wald

Carl Laemmle

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Question 9 of 20

9. What future directors edited 'Citizen Kane'? Hint

Hecht and MacArthur

Robson and Wise

Panama and Frank

Gilliat and Launder

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Question 10 of 20

10. How many films did Orson Welles make at RKO? Hint

Four

One

Three

five

NEXT>

Question 11 of 20

11. Name the film that doesn't belong here (for reasons other than where it was set). Hint

Annie Oakley

Gunga Din

Shane

I Remember Mama

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Question 12 of 20

12. Name the film noir that doesn't belong here. Hint

Out Of The Past

The Narrow Margin

The Window

The Killers

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Question 13 of 20

13. The majority of RKO films are black and white. Who directed the studio's first color film? Hint

Vincente Minelli

Frank Borzage

Stanley Donen

Michael Curtiz

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Question 14 of 20

14. What RKO film was Maureen O'Hara's American debut? Hint

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Gunga Din

Jamaica Inn

Bachelor Mother

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Question 15 of 20

15. How many did Nicholas Ray direct at RKO? Hint

Three

Four

One

Two

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Question 16 of 20

16. What star of 'The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre' made B-westerns at RKO? Hint

Alfonso Bedoya

Walter Huston

Tim Holt

Humphrey Bogart

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Question 17 of 20

17. What eccentric billionaire took over RKO in the 50s? Hint

Howard Hughes

Charles Foster Kane

William Randolph Hearst

Malcolm Forbes

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Question 18 of 20

18. What notorious western did the eccentric billionaire who took over RKO in the 50s make at RKO? Hint

Duel In The Sun

High Noon

Rancho Notorious

The Outlaw

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Question 19 of 20

19. Name the director who never worked at RKO. Hint

Raoul Walsh

Samuel Fuller

Billy Wilder

John Ford

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Question 20 of 20

20. What was RKO's trademark? Hint

a lion

a radio tower

bullseye target

mountain with stars

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Who was one of the co-founders of the studio?

Answer: Joseph P. Kennedy

JFK's father co-founded the studio with RCA honcho David Sarnoff. He also had an affair with Gloria Swanson.

2. RKO got its name from the merger of RCA and what vaudeville theatre chain?

Answer: Keith-Albee-Orpheum

Radio-Keith-Orpheum, that is.

3. Who produced and directed RKO's first 'monster' hit?

Answer: Cooper and Schoedsack

'King Kong', still the best of its kind! That's Cooper and Schoedsack in the plane that finally kills Kong. Hecht and MacArthur ('The Front Page') did some films in the mid-30's, Panama and Frank are best known for their 50s' work, 'The Court Jester', and the Boultings are British!

4. Name the famed independent producer who worked at RKO for a while.

Answer: David Selznick

Selznick's magnum opus, of course, was 'Gone With The Wind'.

5. Who directed the first musical that teamed Astaire and Rogers?

Answer: Thornton Freeland

Ironically, Fred made his movie bow in MGM's 'Dancing Lady'. His last teaming with Ginger would be in MGM's 'The Barkleys of Broadway'. His own last RKO film was 'The Sky's The Limit'.

6. And who directed Astaire and Rogers' last RKO film?

Answer: H.C. Potter

'The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle' was their swan song at RKO. Hawks and Cukor never directed them. Stevens did 'Swing Time' and later lensed Fred sans Ginger in 'A Damsel In Distress'.

7. Name the two films Howard Hawks did at RKO.

Answer: 'Bringing Up Baby', 'The Big Sky'

The other films he did at Warners, Goldwyn and Columbia. Trivia extra: Hawks also supposedly co-directed the 1951 sci-fi classic 'The Thing'.

8. Who was the producer of such RKO classics as 'Cat People' and 'I Walked With A Zombie'?

Answer: Val Lewton

The Russian-born Lewton became a cult figure for producing RKO's 40s string of thoughtful, literate B-horror films. Blanke and Wald were at Warners, while Laemmle was Universal's monster master.

9. What future directors edited 'Citizen Kane'?

Answer: Robson and Wise

Robson and Wise made their directorial debuts in the Lewton series. Robson went on to make the boxing classic 'Champion' while Wise made 'The Set-Up'(at RKO) and 'Somebody Up There Likes Me'.

10. How many films did Orson Welles make at RKO?

Answer: Three

'Citizen Kane', 'The Magnificent Ambersons' and 'Journey Into Fear', which he started to direct but was given to Norman Foster. He started a documentary on Brazil but that petered out and he was given the boot at the studio.

11. Name the film that doesn't belong here (for reasons other than where it was set).

Answer: Shane

Sure, George Stevens directed all of them, but he did 'Shane' at Paramount! "Gunga Din was set in 19th Century India!

12. Name the film noir that doesn't belong here.

Answer: The Killers

Robert Siodmak did 'Killers' at Universal, the rest are RKO's. Jacques Tourneur did 'Past', Ted Tetzlaff did 'Window' and Richard Fleischer did 'Margin'.

13. The majority of RKO films are black and white. Who directed the studio's first color film?

Answer: Frank Borzage

'The Spanish Main', starring Paul Heinreid and Maureen O'Hara, was the first RKO film in color.

14. What RKO film was Maureen O'Hara's American debut?

Answer: The Hunchback of Notre Dame

She played Esmerelda to Charles Laughton's Quasimodo. William Dieterle directed. She also made her film debut opposite Laughton in Hitchcock's 'Jamaica Inn'.

15. How many did Nicholas Ray direct at RKO?

Answer: Four

His debut, 'They Live By Night', 'On Dangerous Ground', 'Born To Be Bad' and 'The Lusty Men'.

16. What star of 'The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre' made B-westerns at RKO?

Answer: Tim Holt

He also starred in 'Ambersons'.

17. What eccentric billionaire took over RKO in the 50s?

Answer: Howard Hughes

His poor choice of material and mismanagement hastened the studio's end.

18. What notorious western did the eccentric billionaire who took over RKO in the 50s make at RKO?

Answer: The Outlaw

Surely you remember the hoopla aboout Jane Russell's cleavage! Howard Hawks, BTW, helped Hughes out.

19. Name the director who never worked at RKO.

Answer: Billy Wilder

Wilder worked exclusively at Paramount til the mid-50's. Fuller made 'Run of the Arrow' there, Walsh did 'The Naked and The Dead' and the studio distributed some of Ford and Cooper's Argosy Pictures.

20. What was RKO's trademark?

Answer: a radio tower

For years that tower on top of the Earth bleeped out the studio's name in Morse code.

Source: Author tjoebigham

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