Q 01/05

Which 1927 film was the first feature with synchronized music and lip-synced speech?

A) The Broadway Melody

B) 42nd Street

C) Show Boat

D) The Jazz Singer

Answer · why

D) The Jazz Singer

Al Jolson performed six songs and the silent era was effectively over.

Q 02/05

Which 1929 musical, advertised as 'All-Talking, All-Singing, All-Dancing', won Best Picture?

A) Gold Diggers of Broadway

B) The Broadway Melody

C) Sunny Side Up

D) The Love Parade

Answer · why

B) The Broadway Melody

Its show-biz plot has two sisters competing for the same song-and-dance man.

Q 03/05

Which song from The Wizard of Oz won the Oscar for Best Original Song?

A) We're Off to See the Wizard

B) Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead

C) If I Only Had a Brain

D) Over the Rainbow

Answer · why

D) Over the Rainbow

Judy Garland also received an Academy Juvenile Award, but the film lost money until its 1949 re-release.

Q 04/05

Which actor was originally cast as the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz before being replaced by Jack Haley?

A) Ray Bolger

B) Buddy Ebsen

C) Bert Lahr

D) Frank Morgan

Answer · why

B) Buddy Ebsen

He recorded all his songs and started filming before the aluminum makeup put him in hospital.

Q 05/05

The 1952 Gene Kelly classic set in Hollywood is about performers caught up in which change?

A) The arrival of Technicolor

B) The rise of television

C) The blacklist era

D) The switch from silents to talkies

Answer · why

D) The switch from silents to talkies

The plot was built around Arthur Freed's back catalogue of songs, many written during that very transition.