American Film History Practice Exam
Course Introduction
American Film History explores the evolution of cinema in the United States from its origins in the late 19th century to the present day. The course examines key movements, influential filmmakers, technological advancements, and the social, cultural, and political forces that have shaped American film. Topics include the rise of Hollywood, the studio system, the impact of sound and color, the influence of independent and experimental filmmakers, and major genres such as film noir, westerns, musicals, and blockbusters. Students will analyze selected films and study their significance in reflecting and shaping American society and culture.
Recommended Textbook
Flashback A Brief Film History 6th Edition by Louis Giannetti
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21 Chapters
928 Verified Questions
928 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Beginnings
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Sample Questions
Q1) Vitascope ___
A)a machine that passed a continuous loop of film of a series of rollers and in front of a prefocused lens
B)uses images on cardboard which are mounted consecutively on a wheel: a flip-card device
C)shot and edited him movies as he did because it seemed the best way to tell a story
D)kept movies alive and evolving,but enslaved and cheapened them: movies were then called "chasers"
E)developed a machine that worked visually with Edison's phonograph
F)used fade outs,dissolves,double exposures,etc.in his tableaux fantastiques
G)solved the problem of film breaking by leaving slack in the film at the top and bottom of the film gate
H)a surreal production from the Edison studio using hand-held shots and double exposures,etc.
I)Armat's and Raff's prototype for the modern movie projector
J)desired a painting to be a living thing
Answer: I
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Chapter 2: Griffith and His Contemporaries: 19081920
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Q1) masking ___
A)Griffith one-reeler containing 68 scenes
B)Our Lady of Constant Sorrows to a generation of filmgoers
C)hailed as the director who made the breakthrough with mise en scene
D)purposely photographed action and characters at a faster-than-life speed
E)after Lillian Gish,Griffith's most expressive actor
F)film technique altering frame size used in Orphans of the Storm
G)Griffith used this device for ironic contrast between hungry workers and a bountiful banquet
H)Griffith's artistically first-rate films,but a political/sociological embarrassment
I)powerbroker/kingmaker
J)four stories linked by titles,a symbolic mother image,and cross cutting
Answer: F
Q2) Cecil B.De Mille's greatest gift was for getting actors to give wonderful performances.___
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 3: American Cinema in the 1920s
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Sample Questions
Q1) In a Charlie Chaplin comedy,which element is dominant: slapstick comedy or the psychological study of character?
Answer: In a Charlie Chaplin comedy, the dominant element is typically slapstick comedy. Chaplin was a master of visual humor and physical comedy, and his films are renowned for their comedic sequences involving exaggerated physical movements, humorous situations, and visual gags that elicit laughter. His iconic character, The Tramp, often finds himself in absurd and farcical scenarios that showcase Chaplin's skillful use of slapstick.While there are elements of character study in Chaplin's work, as he often infused his characters with depth and a range of emotions, the primary focus of his comedies was to entertain audiences through the use of slapstick. That said, Chaplin's films do often carry a psychological and emotional depth that adds to the richness of the characters and sometimes provides social commentary, but these aspects are generally secondary to the slapstick comedy that defines his style.
Q2) Erich von Stroheim,who increased the latitude for serious filmmakers,was responsible for shifting power from the creative to the business end of filmmaking.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 4: European Cinema in the 1920s
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Sample Questions
Q1) Explain Abel Gance's "Polyvision" as an example of his extravagant filmmaking.
Q2) Robert Wiene ___
A)The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari
B)Le Million
C)The Last Laugh
D)editing is the essence of cinema
E)L'Age d'Or
F)The Lodger
G)Lulu in Hollywood
H)Storm over Asia
I)Spies
J)Napoleon
Q3) Sergei Eisenstein's overriding principle was kineticism which meant which of these?
A)movement outside the frame
B)movement inside the frame
C)careful attention to movement of the camera
D)all of the above
Q4) What is the definition of the German term kammerspiel? Give an example of a movie embodying this quality.
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Chapter 5: The Hollywood Studio System: 1925-1955
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Q1) What were the benefits of the studio system to the film industry itself as well as movie goers? What were the limitations of the studio system?
Q2) Less realistic than slapstick comedy,screwball comedy's characters are never serious as they interact with one another.___
A)True
B)False
Q3) What happened to new actors/actresses ("neophytes")who entered the star system?
Q4) All the following were responsible for the practice of "vertical integration" except A)Thomas Ince.
B)William Fox.
C)Adolph Zukor.
D)Marcus Loew.
Q5) What were the advantages to studios like MGM and Paramount that they specialized in specific kinds of movies like spectaculars,screwball comedies etc.? What were the disadvantages?
Q6) Gangster films are often vehicles for exploring rebellion myths.___
A)True
B)False
Page 7
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Chapter 6: American Cinema in the 1930s
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Q1) In a Busby Berkeley movie the star was really the editor,not the actor and not the camera.___
A)True
B)False
Q2) What was it that Fred Astaire managed to achieve through his dance musicals in the 30s?
Q3) The Informer ___
A)Busby Berkeley's musical in which pianos move
B)Mae West puts Cary Grant in his place
C)William Wyler films starring Bette Davis
D)Marx Bothers' surrealistic assault on order and reason
E)starred James Cagney,bruised,without illusions
F)George Cukor film starring Greta Garbo and Robert Taylor
G)Frank Capra film starring James Stewart
H)director John Ford's first critical hit
I)gangster film written by Ben Hecht,directed by Howard Hawks
J)starred Fred Astaire,the musical's inventor
Q4) What did gangster movies generally have in common with the optimistic orientation of most American movies (that is,until the typical gangster movie reached its bloody conclusion)?
Page 8
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Chapter 7: European Cinema in the 1930s
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Sample Questions
Q1) Rules of the Game ___
A)Jean Renoir classic of study of French classes
B)angels wore black leather Orpheus
C)German actress turned director
D)star of Port of Shadows
E)The Blue Angel star
F)Liebelei
G)Fritz Lang's first talkie
H)Marcel Carné masterpiece
I)The Lady Vanishes
J)Alexander Korda
Q2) What film did Alfred Hitchcock make in Britain which proved the precursor of later films like North by Northwest?
A)Vertigo
B)The 39 Steps
C)Lifeboat
D)Number 17
Q3) Marcel Carné prefigures film noir.___
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 8: American Cinema in the 1940s
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Q1) Hollywood exempted itself from participation from World War II and made millions of dollars in the process.___
A)True
B)False
Q2) What makes film noir run counter to the American tradition of optimism?
Q3) Which of the following is true of a Disney-produced animated feature film?
A)sentimental
B)sugary
C)supported stability and family
D)all of the above
Q4) What quality(ies)make Walt Disney's animated movies such as Pinocchio work as well as they do?
A)emotional directness
B)wonderful film music
C)mischievous humor
D)all of the above
Q5) Whom in Hollywood did the investigations of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)affect?
Q6) What could,like Ben Hecht,Billy Wilder do almost instinctively and why?
Q7) In what ways did Hollywood do "itself proud during World War II"?
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Chapter 9: European Cinema in the 1940s
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Q1) By what means did British filmmakers finally and successfully crash the American film market during the war?
Q2) The vast majority of Soviet film technicians and artists managed to escape and survive the horrors visited upon their country in World War II.___
A)True
B)False
Q3) Carol Reed's The Third Man uses many dramatic high-contrast and low-key lighting effects as well as baroque compositions and bizarre tilt shots.___
A)True
B)False
Q4) Like other countries,Great Britain's movie industry produced one war movie after another during the war.___
A)True
B)False
Q5) What was the condition of the French movie making culture in the years following World War II?
Q6) What happened to Germany's film industry before,during,and after (until the 1960s)World War II?
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Chapter 10: American Cinema in the 1950s
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Q1) The Band Wagon ___
A)starred that muscular dancer,Gene Kelly
B)early 3D movie
C)filmmakers assume reformist perspective on story
D)revisionist western
E)made the Production Code blue
F)made for television movie won Oscars
G)director who relied heavily on storyboarding
H)Marilyn Monroe stars,Billy Wilder directs
I)writer blacklisted as a result of refusing HUAC
J)musical spoof on "hard boiled" fiction
Q2) Cinemascope made which of the following cinema techniques difficult if not impossible?
A)close ups
B)deep focus
C)wide depth of field
D)all of the above
Q3) What were some of the ways Alfred Hitchcock promoted himself to make sure that the public knew who he was and to further guarantee his success?
Q4) What were some of the short comings of Cinerama?
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Chapter 11: International Cinema in the 1950s
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Q1) Was Federico Fellini a realist or formalist/ fabulist in his movies of the 50s?
Q2) Who of the following is considered the most Western of Japanese filmmakers?
A)Akira Kurosawa
B)Kenji Mizoguchi
C)Yasuiru Ozu
D)none of the above
Q3) Jaques Tati worked austerely as did Bresson,but was a more cheerful artist as can be seen in Jour d' Fête.___
A)True
B)False
Q4) Which of the following is not a Bergman film centering on women?
A)Wild Strawberries
B)Persona
C)Autumn Sonata
D)The Silence
Q5) The most commercial French director of the period probably was
A)Francois Truffaut
B)Rene Clement
C)Jean Luc Goddard
D)Eric Rohmer
13
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Chapter 12: American Cinema in the 1960s
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Q1) The top male box office star of the 60s was
A)John Wayne
B)Burt Lancaster
C)Dustin Hoffman
D)Paul Newman
Q2) The Graduate ___ class materialism
A)George Roy Hill western
B)music and lyrics by Rogers and Hammerstein
C)Lumet NY City drama using radical editing
D)Mike Nichols film of sterile,middle-class materialism
E)won Best Picture Oscar with an x rating
F)more than a biker film by Dennis Hopper
G)John Cassevetes,urban horror movie
H)in the final shootout,virtually a whole Mexican village is destroyed
I)English film financed with American money
J)John Frankenheimer imprisonment movie
Q3) Because they came from a different background,new directors had no sense of movie-making style.___
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 13: International Cinema in the 1960s
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Q1) Richard Lester ___
A)Hiroshima,Mon Amour
B)Le Voleur (The Thief)
C)The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
D)Shoot the Piano Player
E)A Hard Day's Night
F)Cleo from 5 to 7
G)Ashes and Diamonds
H)L'Avventura
I)Breathless
J)If
Q2) New Wave directors took advantage of which of the following technological developments in the 1960s?
A)fast film stocks
B)zoom lenses
C)light,hand-held cameras
D)all of the above
Q3) The 1960s gave rise to the "spaghetti western" popularized by Sergio Leone.___
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 14: American Cinema in the 1970s
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Q1) George Lucas stuck to classical narrative conventions in American Graffiti,which ensured the movies impressive success for a young director.___
A)True
B)False
Q2) Scorsese boxing movie ___
A)Nashville
B)The Heartbreak Kid
C)Blume in Love
D)Raging Bull
E)Apocalypse Now
F)Manhattan
G)Sugarland Express
H)Rocky
I)The French Connection
J)One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Q3) Francis Ford Coppola believed in the 1970s that exercising caution is the key to making good art and good show business.___
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 15: International Cinema in the 1970s
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Q1) Which of the following is a true about Dian Kurys?
A)not rigidly feminist
B)worked in America
C)made Get Out Your Handkerchiefs
D)all of the above
Q2) What Marxist qualities can be seen in the Italian films of the 70s?
Q3) Gillian Armstrong ___
A)The Tin Drum
B)Every Man for Himself and God Against All
C)Peppermint Soda
D)Swept Away
E)My Brilliant Career
F)Xala
G)Solaris
H)Tommy
I)The Marriage of Maria Braun
J)The Man Who Fell to Earth
Q4) With what other medium was German cinema of the 70s linked and in what ways?
Q5) What thematic traits did Italian directors Bernardo Bertolucci and Lena Wertmuller share?
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Chapter 16: American Cinema in the 1980s
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Q1) Disney's Touchstone studio is an example of the re-emergence of the studio system (though this new system lacked the power of the old system)in Hollywood.___
A)True
B)False
Q2) Packaging and marketing often turned an okay movie like Stakeout into a blockbuster.___
A)True
B)False
Q3) Tim Burton likes fable-like narratives,the grotesque and the bizarre,black comedy and campy wit,as well as youth and childhood fears.___
A)True
B)False
Q4) The use of widescreen processes increased in the 1980s to accommodate audiences' renewed interest in the big-screen experience.___
A)True
B)False
Q5) What generally became of women actors and women's pictures in the 80s?
Q6) Why was the Disney studio successful in the 80s?
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Chapter 17: International Cinema in the 1980s
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Q1) Stephen Frears's movie making career was going nowhere until he teamed up with writer
A)Ruth Prawar Jhabvala
B)Hanif Kureshi
C)Neil Jordan
D)Chris Bernard
Q2) Which of the following comedic films was made in that most unlikely of countries West Germany in the 80s?
A)Sugarbaby
B)Men
C)neither of the above
D)both of the above
Q3) All of the following are true of Scottish director Bill Forsyth's movies except A)concocts rambling tales
B)uses non-actorish Scots
C)follows the grand British tradition
D)makes minimalist comedies
Q4) In what way(s)was the division/ tension between the Masterpiece Theatre-like filmmakers and the Kitchen Sink-like filmmakers beneficial or problematic?
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Chapter 18: American Cinema in the 1990s
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Q1) Part of the appeal of movies has always been movement for movement's sake,the principal domain of action films.___
A)True
B)False
Q2) Foreign films of the 90s differed from American films in A)tone
B)content
C)style
D)none of the above
Q3) Disney animated films - the good ones - make pop poetry out of the bond between humans and animals.___
A)True
B)False
Q4) Foreign directors are often not as intellectual as American directors and so are assigned to direct standard,run-of-the-mill movies.___
A)True
B)False
Q5) Did independent filmmakers of the 90s usually stay independent? Explain briefly.
Q6) How were gays and lesbians depicted in movies like The Birdcage in the 90s?
Page 20
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Chapter 19: International Cinema in the 1990s
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Q1) All of the following are true about a typical Mike Leigh film except A)realistic settings
B)strict adherence to script
C)often very unlikable characters
D)plain visual style
Q2) Australia and New Zealand produce very different movies despite their geographical proximity because they have very different cultures.___
A)True
B)False
Q3) A character's tears dry and thus provide salt for the family - an example of magical realism - is a scene from what popular Mexican movie?
A)Like Water for Chocolate
B)Alley of Miracles
C)Bravo
D)My Finance
Q4) Since Bill Forsyth's Gregory's Girl in 1981,more than 40 movies have been made in Scotland.___
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 20: American Cinema Since 2000
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Q1) Are the directors of the 2000s realists,classicists,or formalists generally?
Q2) What theater screen format gives promise that the horizon of movies contains more than just a transition to digital?
A)Netflix
B)direct downloads
C)IMAX
D)all of the above
Q3) What characteristics shape the ethos of the movie business today according to director Sydney Pollack?
A)geared to a demographic that provides repeat business
B)grab attention fast and furiously
C)experience is shaped by what happens at home with DVDs
D)all of the above
Q4) Alexander Payne's film career could best be described with the term
A)humane
B)prolific
C)sardonic
D)serious
Q5) Why are Pixar movies so successful?
Q6) What medium and in what ways do movies often seem to ape in the 2000s?
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Chapter 21: International Cinema Since 2000
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Q1) The conflict between the powerful Hollywood and struggling cinemas of smaller countries has ceased in the 2000s.___
A)True
B)False
Q2) How does Yuen Wo Ping,choreographer of The Matrix Trilogy,achieve his "action as dance" effect?
Q3) Has filmmaking been an aid or a hindrance to women internationally in the 2000s?
Q4) What has been Islamic filmmakers' response to their harassment for making movies sympathetic to women?
Q5) Mexican directors like Guillermo del Toro generally make more money in Mexico than in the U.S.___
A)True
B)False
Q6) All of the following are true of Zhang Yimou's Curse of the Golden Flower except
A)made in the tradition of Hong Kong action movies
B)created voluptuous visual lyricism
C)box office champ in China
D)set in contemporary China
Q7) Why is the journey motif an effective story-telling device in movies?
Page 23
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