Q.1
How many short films did D.W. Griffith direct between 1908 and 1913?
*
Over 100
Over 150
Over 250
Over 400
Over 550
Q.2
What was Charley Chase's real name?
*
Hank Sotherby
Floyd Thursby
Kenny Diamond
Louis Delmonico
Charles Parrott
Q.3
For the first part of his career, John Ford was stuck making short films. How did he manage to convince Universal to let him direct "Straight Shooting", his first feature film?
*
He hired an extra to act as a big out-of-town backer who promised to fund the project.
He lied about his film falling into a creek and used the original and replacement film to shoot his feature.
He discovered compromising letters written by Carl Laemmle and used them to blackmail him.
He sold his ranch and used the money as collateral in case the picture failed.
Q.4
Lon Chaney was still a bit player when he received encouragement and acting tips from which big star?
*
William S. Hart
Mary Pickford
Sessue Hayakawa
Mae Murray
Q.5
Which color method was popular in French films of the silent era?
*
Their own brand of color film, which could only be used at night
Film dyed with a secret ink process that gave it a purple hue
Hand-cut stencils used to paint in details.
Patterned lace overlays on the film itself.
Q.6
The 1925 version of "Ben-Hur" was an infamously troubled production. Midway through shooting, the film's leading man was fired and replaced with Ramon Novarro. Who was the original leading man?
*
John Gilbert
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
Ricardo Cortez
Robert Warwick
George Walsh
Q.7
The 1924 version of "The Sea Hawk" had to be reassembled from various prints when it was restored in 1993-1994. Why was this film incomplete?
*
It had been stored in the director's attic and one of the reels had decayed before it could be preserved in 1953.
In the 1930s, Warner Brothers snipped out the lavish combat scenes for future use in sound films.
The film was one of many to burn in the infamous vault fire of 1931.
Star Milton Sills hated the film and asked for it to be destroyed when it finished its theatrical run.
Q.8
Which 1920s icon made her movie debut first?
*
Colleen Moore
Clara Bow
Louise Brooks
Josephine Baker
Q.9
Which famous director did NOT start his movie career as an actor?
*
D.W. Griffith
Frank Borzage
Ernst Lubitsch
Lewis Milestone
Fritz Lang
Q.10
Which of these quotes is from New York Times film critic Mordaunt Hall's review of "The Wind"?
*
For the life of me, I cannot imagine why Mr. Seastrom thought the audience would be interested in watching Lillian Gish's hysterics for reels on end.
I fell asleep during the screening of this picture and I am not ashamed to confess it. I can now see why M-G-M held back this film for so long.
And instead of getting along with the story, Mr. Seastrom makes his production very tedious by constantly calling attention to the result of the wind.
Q.11
Speaking of "The Wind", the movie was completed but then the cast was sent back to the desert to re-shoot the ending. Why was the ending redone?
*
MGM executives hated the artsy, tragic original ending. Lillian Gish had died too often on camera and so MGM made Gish & co. film something happier.
After viewing the footage, Victor Seastrom and Lillian Gish realized that there was a klieg light visible throughout the entire climax.
The orginal ending featured a comedy relief character and MGM felt that it made things too silly. It was reshot, sans comedy but otherwise unchanged.
The original novel's author had died during filming and her estate had revoked filming rights. The ending had to be changed in order to avoid a lawsuit.
Q.12
Leading man Francis X. Bushman's career took a hit when his marriage to co-star Beverly Bayne was made public. Why was this union so scandalous?
*
Bushman was revealed to have two other wives, one living in Mexico and the other in Hawaii, and he had not properly divorced either one.
The public was shocked by revelations that Bushman, presented with ambiguous marital status, was a married father of five and had left his first wife to pursue Bayne.
Audiences were not used to the idea of their idols being married men and the revelation that Bushman was "off the market" made them feel betrayed.
Beverly Bayne had previously been employed by infamous hostess Texas Guinan and she had been a known companion to Al Capone, among others.
Q.13
In order to keep salaries low, early motion picture studios refused to give their stars billing or release their names to the public. How did fans learn about their favorites?
*
They didn't. They had to wait for the star system to be perfected.
Fan magazines began to use spies and contacts to determine the identities of popular players and published these revelations.
Film stars combated the tactic by publishing a directory of movie actors entitled "The New York and New Jersey Guide to Popular Players in the Moving Pictures"
This is a trick question. Studios always used star names in order to sell tickets.
Q.14
Which famous figure did NOT appear in a silent motion picture?
*
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Babe Ruth
Houdini
Buffalo Bill Cody
George M. Cohan
Albert Einstein
Q.15
The original 1923 version of "The Ten Commandments" has a modern sequence with Richard Dix in the lead. He was cast after Paramount executives objected to director Cecil B. DeMille's first choice. They thought that this future cowboy star had a weak face. Who was the rejected actor?
*
John Wayne
Tom Tyler
William Boyd
Gary Cooper
Roy Rogers
Q.16
What was the major difference between "Son of the Sheik" and the novel upon which it was based?
*
There was no novel. Valentino contracted Elinor Glyn to come up with a story that continued the plot of "The Sheik"
In the book, there were two sons of the sheik, twins, who fight over the Vilma Banky character.
In spite of its title, the novel was actually set in the past and covered the lives of the sheik's ancestors.
The book opens with the original sheik's funeral, while the film shows him alive and well.
Q.17
What was significant about Maurice Tourneur's 1915 gangster film "Alias Jimmy Valentine"?
*
It was filmed in Sing Sing with the cooperation of the warden.
It was the first film to use a linear wipe to indicate scene changes.
Its cast was entirely comprised of real life gangsters, who terrified the film crew but gave good performances.
It is the only surviving silent film based on the novels of J.M. Barrie.
Q.18
Which actress was described by director Edward S. Sloman as woefully untalented?
*
Mary Philbin
Laura La Plante
Margarita Fischer
Mary Miles Minter
Mary Nolan
Q.19
Which is actual advice found in the silent era acting manual "Screen Acting: Its Requirements and Rewards"?
*
There must be length from the upper lip to the nose; if this distance is too short, you will not screen well.
Always remember to visualize yourself as a little bird as you enter the scene.
We would be remiss if we did not advise our young charges to arrange their dressing rooms to be very far removed from those of a certain actor.
If you cannot swim, ride a horse or shoot a gun, you cannot expect to make a career in the motion pictures.
Q.20
What is a Photoplayer?
*
A term for someone who claims to have acted in motion pictures but has no film credits
A user-friendly projector designed for home use
An automatic mechanical orchestra
A rude word for a film actor as stage performers did not care to be associated with their screen counterparts