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A Moviedom Trivia Quiz of the Funny, the Obscure, and the Strange


This movie trivia quiz is a bit different. The ques­tions are more intended to intrigue or amuse the reader than test knowledge. Most of these things are quite obscure, but hopefully interesting. We suspect only the most dedicated movie mavin will know more than one. Still, there are hints in the “movie” that opens the article. Run it again after you take the test and see if you can spot them.


Click the question to reveal answer. Click answer to close.

1. What is the Wilhelm Scream?

Even if you haven’t heard of it you’ve probably heard it. It’s a soundtrack snippet that has been used in some 225 movies and video games. It’s something of an inside joke in the film biz. They say George Lucas inserts it in most of his films. See: Wilhelm Scream

2. Alan Smithee has many more directing credits than movies he actually directed. Why?

Alan Smithee is fictitious, a Hollywood insider gag. When a director wants to disavow any connection to a film, perhaps due to someone else’s editing, it’s credited as “Directed by Alan Smithee.” See: Alan Smithee

3. While Citizen Kane often appears on all-time-best-movie lists, the basis of the movie, searching for the meaning of Kane’s last utterance, ”Rosebud,” makes no sense. Why?

Kane says it after falling down the stairs… but there wasn’t anyone around to hear him say it. Except the movie audience, that is.

4. Who was McGuffin?

OK, we cheated. It’s not a who, it’s a what question. The term was invented by Alfred Hitchcock, which he described as, “A device or plot element that catches the viewer’s attention or drives the plot. The McGuffin is essentially something that the entire story is built around and yet has no real relevance.” See: McGuffin
(A McGuffin would be the hunting for the meaning of Rosebud. On the other hand, Kane could have fallen and let out a Wilhelm Scream. Which seems more like an Alan Smithee movie.)

5. “He looked like he wore a diaper under his pants and had the face of a baby dope fiend.” What silent-era comic star was so colorfully described?

Harry Langdon, a sort of early Andy Kaufman of the silents.

6. “There but for the grace of God, goes God.” Who said it about whom?

Herman J. Mankiewicz speaking about Orson Welles.

7. Real or phony movies?
A. Movie shot where the actors walk and perform backwards while the camera runs in reverse so that when shown everything is forwards again
B. Movie wherein the lead actor appears live in the theater and conducts a dialogue with himself on screen
C. Movie made entirely of footage discarded from other movies that make up an entirely new, unscripted movie
D. Horror movie made in sign language for the deaf
E. Movie with two endings running simultaneously, one happy, one unhappy, that the viewer could choose to see by means of different colored glasses

A. “The Impossible Convicts” in 1905
B. “Sign of the Rose” in 1922
C. This is the phony, I made it up. The others were real.
D. “Deafula” in 1975
E. an unnamed Plasticon short in 1922.

8. Who was Cedric Gibbons and what likely unbeatable Hollywood record does he hold?

He was head art director at MGM and by contract was given credit for art direction on all films produced by the studio whether he actually worked on them or not. His name appears on over 1,500 films, by far the most personal film credits of all time.

9. Perhaps the most absurd film credit of all time is “Additional dialogue by Sam Taylor.” Why, for what film?

It was for the 1928 version of “The Taming of the Shrew.” A fellow named William Shakespeare wrote the rest.

10. What distinction do these movie characters share?
A. Lola Burns of “Bombshell”
B. Sandy Bates of “Stardust Memories”
C. Norma Desmond of “Sunset Boulevard”
D. Dino of “Kiss Me, Stupid”

They were characters in movies wherein stars played more or less versions of themselves.
A. Jean Harlow as a sexpot movie queen with dysfunctional relatives sponging off her.
B. Woody Allen as a director whose fans prefer his earlier, comic films.
C. Gloria Swanson as a faded, silent movie star.
D. Dean Martin as a boozing, womanizing crooner.

11. This movie, made by one of America’s most famous eccentrics, was so long in production it had to be entirely reshot because changes within the industry made it obsolete upon completion. In fact, its director shot over 2 million feet of film for a release print of 9,024 feet. Its Hollywood premiere was a huge sensation (an event which inspired “The Day of the Locust”) and propelled its leading lady, in her first major role, to instant stardom. What’s the movie, who was its maker, who was the star, and what caused them to reshoot it?

“Hell’s Angels” made by Howard Hughes and starring Jean Harlow. The advent of sound made them reshoot, as it was originally a silent. This movie was also partly in black and white and partly in the old 2-color Technicolor process with the only know color photography of Jean Harlow, but before she adopted her famed platinum blonde hair. It also contained the famous cliché, “Mind if I slip into something more comfortable?”

12. He’s most proud of the fact that every movie he’s ever made (and he’s made plenty) has shown a profit, or at least so he claims. Who?

Undisputed king of the low-budget B-movie, Roger Corman.


So, how’d you do? We’d offer a scoring rating, but to be honest if you got just one right you did pretty well. More than one you’re probably more movie trivia savvy than we are. After all, we asked the questions based on what we already knew, eh? Hardly worth giving ourselves any points for that.

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