Classic FilmsTrivia Questions & Answers
32 classic films trivia questions, each with the correct answer and a short explanation.
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Each question reveals the answer and a quick explanation below it.
1. Which actress played Evelyn Mulwray in Roman Polanski's 1974 neo-noir 'Chinatown'?
Answer: Faye Dunaway. Faye Dunaway played Evelyn Mulwray, the mysterious woman at the center of the conspiracy in Chinatown.
2. In 'The Godfather,' what business does Virgil Sollozzo want the Corleones to back?
Answer: Narcotics. Sollozzo approaches the Corleones specifically to finance and protect his drug trafficking operation.
3. What Kubrick film was banned in the UK for over 25 years at Kubrick's own request?
Answer: A Clockwork Orange. Kubrick withdrew 'A Clockwork Orange' from UK distribution in 1973 after alleged copycat violence; the ban lasted until after his death in 1999.
4. In Hitchcock's 'Vertigo,' what is the name of the real woman Scottie is unknowingly manipulated through?
Answer: Judy. Judy Barton is the real woman hired to impersonate the fictional 'Madeleine'; Scottie falls for the persona, not knowing Judy is the actual person.
5. Peter Sellers plays THREE roles in 'Dr. Strangelove.' Which of these characters is NOT one of them?
Answer: General Buck Turgidson. General Buck Turgidson was played by George C. Scott; Sellers played Muffley, Mandrake, and Dr. Strangelove.
6. Which film holds the record as the only X-rated movie to win the Academy Award for Best Picture?
Answer: Midnight Cowboy. 'Midnight Cowboy' (1969) won Best Picture while carrying an X rating, which was later downgraded to R without any cuts.
7. In 'Schindler's List,' what color is used on the little girl's coat in the otherwise black-and-white film?
Answer: Red. Spielberg used selective colorization to depict the little girl's coat in red, making her stand out as a symbol of innocence amid the Holocaust.
8. Which actress turned down the role of Mrs. Robinson in 'The Graduate' before Anne Bancroft accepted it?
Answer: Doris Day. Doris Day was originally offered the role of Mrs. Robinson but declined it, finding the material too scandalous.
9. What is the name of the fictional African nation in the 1988 comedy 'Coming to America'?
Answer: Zamunda. Eddie Murphy's character Prince Akeem is the heir to the throne of Zamunda, the fictional wealthy African kingdom in the film.
10. In 'Citizen Kane,' what is the name of the fictional newspaper that Kane takes over from Thatcher?
Answer: The New York Inquirer. Kane takes over the struggling New York Inquirer and turns it into a populist sensation in 'Citizen Kane' (1941).
11. In 'Casablanca,' Humphrey Bogart's Rick never actually says 'Play it again, Sam.' What does he say instead?
Answer: Play it, Sam. Rick says 'Play it, Sam' — the famous misquote 'Play it again, Sam' never appears in the actual film.
12. Which classic film ends with the line 'Nobody's perfect,' delivered as a punchline after a major character revelation?
Answer: Some Like It Hot. The final line of Billy Wilder's 'Some Like It Hot' (1959) is Osgood's iconic 'Nobody's perfect' after Jerry reveals he is a man.
13. Which director appears on screen as a corpse in 'Sunset Boulevard' (1950)?
Answer: Billy Wilder. Billy Wilder, the film's director, makes a brief cameo as one of the corpses floating in the pool at the film's opening.
14. Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey' is partly based on a short story by Arthur C. Clarke. What is that story's title?
Answer: The Sentinel. 'The Sentinel' (1951) by Clarke provided the central concept of a mysterious artifact on the Moon that Kubrick expanded into the film.
15. Which actress turned down the role of Clarice Starling in 'The Silence of the Lambs' before Jodie Foster was cast?
Answer: Michelle Pfeiffer. Michelle Pfeiffer was the studio's first choice but turned down the role, reportedly because she found the material too disturbing.
16. Cary Grant's character Roger Thornhill in 'North by Northwest' is chased by a crop duster near which U.S. state?
Answer: Nebraska. The iconic crop duster sequence was filmed near Bakersfield but set in the flat prairies of Indiana — though the script places Thornhill outside Prairie Stop in Indiana.
17. In Disney's 'Fantasia' (1940), which piece of classical music accompanies the 'Sorcerer's Apprentice' segment?
Answer: Dukas' L'apprenti sorcier. Paul Dukas composed 'L'apprenti sorcier' (The Sorcerer's Apprentice) in 1897, and it became the most celebrated segment of Fantasia.
18. In 'Chinatown' (1974), what is the last name of the character played by Faye Dunaway?
Answer: Mulwray. Faye Dunaway plays Evelyn Mulwray, the wife of Hollis Mulwray, whose murder drives the plot of Roman Polanski's neo-noir classic.
19. In which film did Katharine Hepburn win her third Academy Award for Best Actress, a record at the time?
Answer: The Lion in Winter. Hepburn won her third Oscar for 'The Lion in Winter' (1968), which was a record at the time; she tied with Barbra Streisand that year.
20. In 'The Godfather,' what item does Jack Woltz wake up next to in his bed as a warning from the Corleones?
Answer: A severed horse's head. Woltz wakes to find the severed head of his prized racehorse Khartoum in his bed, a scene iconic for its shocking imagery.
21. Which actor played the villain Hans Gruber in the original 'Die Hard' (1988)?
Answer: Alan Rickman. Alan Rickman made his Hollywood film debut as Hans Gruber, a role that cemented him as a definitive screen villain.
22. In 'Chinatown' (1974), what shocking revelation does Evelyn Mulwray make about the girl Jake Gittes has been trying to protect?
Answer: She is both Evelyn's sister and her daughter. Evelyn reveals the girl is her sister AND her daughter—both fathered by her own father Noah Cross—the film's devastating central twist.
23. Composer Ennio Morricone wrote the iconic whistling theme for which Sergio Leone film?
Answer: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Morricone's whistling motif is the central theme of 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' (1966), one of cinema's most recognizable scores.
24. In 'Chinatown' (1974), what is the actual name of the water scandal conspiracy at the center of the plot?
Answer: The San Fernando land grab. The conspiracy involves Noah Cross secretly buying up San Fernando Valley land before a public water diversion is announced, making the land enormously valuable.
25. In 'Casablanca,' what is the name of the nightclub owned by Humphrey Bogart's character Rick Blaine?
Answer: Rick's Café Américain. Rick runs Rick's Café Américain, the neutral gathering place in wartime Casablanca where much of the film's drama unfolds.
26. In 'Chinatown' (1974), director Roman Polanski himself appears on screen briefly. What does his character do to Jake Gittes?
Answer: Slashes his nostril with a knife. Polanski plays a thuggish hood who slices open Nicholson's nose with a switchblade, a scene that became one of noir cinema's most memorable.
27. The iconic shower scene in Hitchcock's 'Psycho' used which unconventional substance as a stand-in for blood in the black-and-white film?
Answer: Chocolate syrup. Chocolate syrup was used for blood in the shower scene because its consistency showed up well in black-and-white and flowed convincingly.
28. In 'Chinatown' (1974), what is the exact profession of Jake Gittes before he became a private detective?
Answer: Police officer in Chinatown. Jake Gittes was formerly a police officer who worked in Chinatown, a backstory central to the film's tragic irony and conclusion.
29. Which actress played both Marion Crane and a separate character in different Hitchcock films, making her unique among his leads?
Answer: Vera Miles. Vera Miles appeared in both Psycho (as Lila Crane) and The Wrong Man (1956), and was Hitchcock's intended star for Vertigo before pregnancy changed his plans.
30. What is the name of the fictional country ruled by the villain in the original 1968 'The Lion in Winter'?
Answer: The film is set in real medieval England and France. The Lion in Winter is a historical drama set in actual medieval England and France, depicting Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine — no fictional country is involved.
31. In 'Sunset Boulevard,' what does Norma Desmond incorrectly believe about her former director Cecil B. DeMille contacting her?
Answer: He wants her to star in a new epic film. Norma deludes herself that DeMille's call—actually about renting her vintage car—means he wants her to star in a spectacular new film comeback.
32. In 'Casablanca,' Rick says he came to Casablanca for the waters — but what is the actual punchline of the exchange?
Answer: He was misinformed. When Renault notes there are no waters in Casablanca (it's a desert), Rick replies 'I was misinformed' — a perfectly deadpan line revealing his world-weary wit.
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