A molecular biologist from Madurai, our quizmaster enjoys trivia and music and is working on a rock ballad called ‘Coffee is a Drink, Kaapi is an Emotion’. @bertyashley
Quiz | Easy Like Sunday Morning: Cinematic Firsts!
A poster of the 1927 movie The Jazz Singer, which was based on a 1925 play of the same title by Samson Raphaelson.
1 / 10 |
On October 6, 1927, The Jazz Singer was screened for the first time at Warner Bros.’ flagship theatre in New York. Half-way through the film about a young Jewish singer who rebels against his family to sing popular tunes, the character played by Al Jolson says, ‘Wait a minute, you ain’t heard nothing yet!’. After a moment of silence, it was followed by applause. What cinematic first was this?
2 / 10 |
Made in 1909, Wilbur Wright und seine Flugmaschine is a three-and-a-half-minute-long short film. It begins with a shot of Wilbur starting an engine and then proceeds to show the inside of his machine. It then moves on to shots of the ground and the curious onlookers. What record does this film have?
3 / 10 |
In Old California is a 1910 silent western film directed by DW Griffith. He had discovered a small village in California with beautiful scenery and decided to shoot there. What was the name of the village, and consequently the record because of its importance to the world of cinema?
4 / 10 |
With Our King and Queen Through India is a 1912 British documentary of the celebrations in India during the coronation of George V as Emperor of India. It shows the greenery of the brand new city of New Delhi, the ‘Presentation of Colours’, a polo match, and the Calcutta Pageant, among other things. Shot with Kinemacolor, what record does this film hold?
5 / 10 |
Moti Gidwani’s Kisan Kanya is a Hindi film made in 1937 about the plight of poor farmers. Producer Ardeshir Irani, after making India’s first talkie, Alam Ara, wanted another record and obtained the rights to a technology just introduced in the US called Cinecolor. What record does this film have?
6 / 10 |
The 1928 animated short film, Steamboat Willie, directed by Walt Disney, is the debut of Mickey Mouse onscreen. After having seen The Jazz Singer, he wanted a similar experience. What record does this movie have that one cannot imagine a modern Disney film without?
7 / 10 |
Dhoop Chaon is a 1935 film directed by Nitin Bose. Bose’s brother Mukul Bose was a sound recordist in New Theatres, who along with music director Raichand Boral decided to use a new technique in the movie. What first was this, which unlike previously did not need the actors to also be good singers?
8 / 10 |
Taking place on planet Altair IV, Forbidden Planet is a 1956 American science fiction film that is loosely based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest. The characters travel on a faster-than-light ship and are helped by a sentient robot called Robby. What first was this film, which is now very common in pop culture?
9 / 10 |
This 1960 horror film is iconic for many reasons. Highly influential, the scenes, the soundtrack and even a shot of chocolate syrup running into a bathtub have become historic. It has a very peculiar ‘first’ as it was the first film to show a toilet being flushed onscreen as the main frame. Which movie is this?
10 / 10 |
1942: A Love Story is R.D. Burman’s last film as a music composer. Fittingly, it was the first movie in India to be released in what sound format, which is even now found on our phones?
Published – October 03, 2024 09:00 am IST
