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For the past few years, you have enjoyed classic movies on Saturday nights through Cinema 15. Get ready for even more great nostalgic films with Cinema 15 Classics. We’ve added more than 130 classic films that will air on Thursdays at 9 p.m. starting Feb. 3. The films will also repeat on during WHRO Matinée on Fridays at 3:30 p.m.
While you wait, test your classic movie knowledge with the trivia questions below.
Test Your Movie Knowledge
Q: What’s the name of Charlie Chaplin’s most famous, recurring character?
A: “The Tramp” – In this 1915 short, Charlie stars as a tramp who finds the girl of his dreams as well as work on a family farm, but things don’t end the way he would like. According to charliechaplin.com, “The film’s sad ending—new to film comedy—incorporates Chaplin’s first use of the classic fade-out, in which the Tramp shuffles away alone into the distance, with his back to the camera.”
Q: What 1927 musical was the first “talkie”?
A: The Jazz Singer was the first feature-length movie with audible dialogue. Though the film is widely considered to be the first talking film, there was originally planned to be no spoken dialogue, only singing. Al Jolson improvised all of the dialogue in his the talking scenes, and Harry Warner made the call to leave these scenes in the film.
Although the first film to have synchronized audio and speech, much of the film is still presented using title cards, most likely due to sound disks lacking enough memory to show the entire film with sound. During the original release, many cinemas showed it as a fully silent film, due to not having the required sound equipment.
Q: What real-life on-again off-again Hollywood power couple starred in the film Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
A: Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The screenplay by Ernest Lehman is an adaptation of Edward Albee's 1962 play of the same name. Every credited member of the cast received an Academy Award nomination, and this was the last movie to win the Oscar for Black-and-White Cinematography. It was also the first movie to carry a warning from the M.P.A.A.: "No one under 18 will be admitted unless accompanied by his parent."
Q: Who played Juror Number 8 in 12 Angry Men?
A: Henry Fonda. At the end of the film, the actors are billed in order of their juror numbers; thus Henry Fonda, although the star of the film, appears eighth. The credits only credit the jurors. All other actors in the film (judge, bailiff, accused, etc.) go uncredited.
Q: In what 1950 drama does Bette Davis say, “Fasten your seatbelts; it’s going to be a bumpy night”?
A: All About Eve. Bette Davis fell in love with her co-star Gary Merrill during the shoot of this movie, and the two married in July 1950, a few weeks after filming was completed. They later divorced almost exactly 10 years to the day after their wedding. Davis was quoted as saying that they had married their characters from the movie, rather than the actual people.
Q: Marlon Brando “could have been a contender” in what iconic 1954 crime drama?
A: On the Waterfront. Many real longshoremen from Hoboken, NJ, where much of the film was shot, were used as extras. The leading characters were based on real people: Terry Malloy was based on longshoreman and whistle-blower Anthony De Vincenzo; Father Barry was based on waterfront priest John M. Corridan; Johnny Friendly was based on mobster Albert Anastasia. Shortly after the film's debut, The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) expelled the East Coast longshoremen's union because it was still run by the mob.
Q: Which 1948 Alfred Hitchcock movie starred James Stewart and was shot to look like one continuous take?
A: Rope. This was Hitchcock’s first color movie. This movie was shot in 10 takes, ranging from four and a half minutes to just over 10 minutes (the maximum amount of film that a camera magazine or projector reel could hold). At the end of the takes, the movie alternates between having the camera zoom into a dark object, totally blacking out the lens/screen, and making a conventional cut. Hitchcock later dismissed his experiment with 10-minute takes as being just a stunt.
Q: “Well, nobody’s perfect” is the final line (and punchline) from what classic 1959 comedy starring Marilyn Monroe?
A: Some Like it Hot. In 2008, a man in California was surprised to learn he owned a dress from the movie. He found a little black dress in his closet and appraisers for television series Antiques Roadshow determined it was the dress Monroe had been sewn into for the film. It was estimated to be worth $250,000.
Q: The stage play Everybody Comes to Rick’s was adapted for the screen to become what 1942 Best Picture winner?
A: Casablanca. Many of the actors who played the Nazis were in fact German Jews who had escaped from Nazi Germany.
The film is also highly quoted by fans. Six quotes from the movie ranked on the American Film Institute's list of top movie quotes, more than any other movie on the list. The quotes with their ranks are:
(5) Here's looking at you, kid.
(20) Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
(28) Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By.'
(32) Round up the usual suspects.
(43) We'll always have Paris.
(67) Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.
Q: Who played iconic femme fatale Phyllis Dietrichson in classic 1946 film noir Double Indemnity?
A: Barbara Stanwyck. The actress was the first choice to play Phyllis, but she was initially hesitant to commit when she learned the role was of a ruthless killer. The movie was based on a novella by James M. Cain. Cain based his story on the notorious 1920s trial of Ruth Snyder who persuaded her lover to kill her husband. While working as a journalist in New York, Cain had attended the infamous trial.
Q: What national monument does Cary Grant climb in the heart-pounding final moments of North by Northwest?
A: Mount Rushmore. The U.S. Interior Department banned filming on the actual monument, so actors had to work on a mockup of the iconic sculpture. Sir Alfred Hitchcock also repeatedly tried to get park officials to agree to a sequence in which Roger Thornhill hid in Abraham Lincoln's nose and had a sneezing fit. They refused. The filmmaker eventually relented, but jokingly called the film "The Man in Lincoln's Nose" as a "gag" working title. Though filming on the monument was not allowed, the gift shop at Mount Rushmore National Memorial does sell DVDs of the film since it features the famous sculpture.
Q: Which Oscar-winning blonde bombshell played James Stewart’s love interest Lisa Carol Fremont in Rear Window?
A: Grace Kelly. The actress turned down the role of Edie Doyle in On the Waterfront to make this film. She celebrated her 25th birthday (Nov. 12) on set. This is the only film in which the actress is seen holding a cigarette—but not smoking—on screen. Being a non-smoker, she refused to smoke in all her movies. She appeared in two other movies directed by Hitchcock: Dial M for Murder and To Catch a Thief.
Enjoy classic movies with some of the leading actors, actresses and directors from Hollywood’s golden age. The collection includes comedies, dramas, film noirs, mysteries, Westerns, late night horrors and more traditional holiday fare. Watch them on WHRO TV 15 or stream them online — commercial free.
Cinema 15 Classics will air on Thursdays at 9 p.m. starting Feb. 3.
