Transportation in Entertainment Trivia

1. In the 1933 short story 'Death on the Nile', what detective investigates the poisoning of Lady Grayle while on a Nile cruise?

From Quiz Murder in Motion

Answer: Parker Pyne

I know, this is not the answer you expected when you read the question, as the adaptations of the novel starring Hercule Poirot have made that story familiar to a wider audience. These are some of her sleuths who will be familiar to avid readers, but maybe not to those who know her work via other media. A retired civil servant, Parker Pyne undertook a new career via a newspaper classified ad that read, "Are you happy? If not consult Mr Parker Pyne, 17 Richmond Street." He acted more as a counsellor than as an investigator in most stories. In 'Death on the Nile', he is happily cruising down the Nile when a fellow passenger confides her fear that she is being poisoned. Following her death shortly afterwards, he manages to determine who was responsible for it all.

From Quiz Bicycles at Large

Answer: Vittorio De Sica

He was a very successful actor with more than 150 appearances to his credit. His first attempt at directing came in 1940 with "Rose Scarlatte". "Bicycle Thieves" was his ninth and his very last one "The Voyage" was released in 1974. Carlo Ponti was a film produce but not an actor. Michael Cimino and Francis Ford Coppola are both American.

From Quiz Trains Can Be Interesting!

Answer: World War II

The film starred Frank Sinatra as Colonel John Ryan, who led a group of war prisoners escaping captivity by hijacking a train. The group, who include Trevor Howard as a British prisoner, have to fight their way through Italy to Switzerland, while being chased by the SS. The film was based on the novel of the same name, written by David Westheimer. (Question by Rockette: rossian)

From Quiz On The Right Track

Answer: The Titfield Thunderbolt

The villagers of Titfield successfully fought the closure of their rural branch line despite the scheming of the local bus company. The cast included John Gregson, Stanley Holloway and Sid James.

From Quiz Fly, Baby, Fly

Answer: Top Gun

This 1986 film starred Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis. It went on to be the top grossing film of the year with the song "Take My Breath Away" winning an Oscar for Best Original Song. Tony Scott, director of the original film, was commissioned to make a sequel involving Tom Cruise. This was shelved following Tony Scott's death in 2012.

From Quiz Trucks and Trams, Ships and Skiffs

Answer: Cash Cab

Airing on Discovery Channel beginning in 2005, "Cash Cab" originally aired in the U.K. The American version has been filmed in New York City and Las Vegas. Contestants didn't know they were entering a game until they were getting into the cab.

From Quiz Hop On The Bus, Gus

Answer: Train

The band Train formed in 1994 in the city of San Francisco. They had their big breakthrough with the 2001 single "Drops of Jupiter". This song deals with the issue of a man wondering if he still has a place in the life of the woman he loves, now that she has gone off on a journey to find herself. In 2006 the band went on a break for three years, but they went back to recording together in 2009, coming back strongly with the single "Hey, Soul Sister". This song was produced by the Norwegian team of producers called Espionage. Train have released songs with a transport theme. In 2005 they released a song called "Cab". It featured on their album "For Me". In 2012 they charted with a song called "Drive By" off their album "California 37".

From Quiz Murder in Motion

Answer: Albert Finney

David Suchet featured in the 2010 movie-length episode of the television series 'Agatha Christie's Poirot'; Kenneth Branagh undertook the role in the 2017 movie; a 2001 made-for-television version, seriously modernised, starred Alfred Molina. A 1992 radio play starred John Moffatt, and a 2017 audio book used the voice of Tom Conti. In 2017, a stage adaptation featured Allan Corduner. The plot involves one of Christie's best-known twists: Whodunnit? They all did.

From Quiz Bicycles at Large

Answer: Colombia

The seven cyclists were taking part in a Christmas show in Stuttgart, Germany. They had formed a pyramid on a seven-meter-high wire when for some unknown reason the pyramid collapsed. Fortunately, only a couple of the group suffered slight injuries. Panama, Guatemala and Belize are in Central America.

From Quiz Trains Can Be Interesting!

Answer: Hell on Wheels

'Hell on Wheels' was a TV western series which aired from 2011 and ran for 57 episodes. Cullen Bohannon, an ex soldier, and Thomas "Doc" Durant, a businessman, were played by Anson Mount and the rapper, Common. The show told of the exploits of a team of workers on a mobile camp as they constructed the First Transcontinental Railroad in America. (Question by Rockette: Plodd)

From Quiz On The Right Track

Answer: Signalman

"The Signal-Man" involved a signalman seeing a ghost on several occasions while working at a lonely signal box near a tunnel. Each occurrence preceded a tragedy. Charles Dickens wrote "The Signal-Man" shortly after being involved in a serious railway accident.

From Quiz Fly, Baby, Fly

Answer: The B-52s

The B-52s (formed in 1976 and known as The B-52's prior to 2008) are said to take their name from a particular beehive-like hairstyle, which is known as a B-52 after the shape of the nose cone on the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bomber. They are an American band known for hits like "Rock Lobster" and "Love Shack'. The Vulcan name was shared between a British aircraft active from 1956 to 1984 and a British cult band from the 1980s. Vengeance is a Dutch band from the 1980s as well as being an American World War II bomber (the Vultee A-31 Vengeance). U2 is both the name of a well-known Irish band and an American spy plane (the Lockheed U-2) in service since 1957, although the band does not appear to have been named after the aircraft.

From Quiz Trucks and Trams, Ships and Skiffs

Answer: Beatles

Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, "Drive my Car" was released in 1965 on the Beatles album "Rubber Soul". The McCoys covered the song (1966) as well as Bobby McFerrin and others.

From Quiz Murder in Motion

Answer: Tourist bus

The plot details and characters differ dramatically in the adaptations, but they all start with Miss Marple receiving a bequest from a man she had met in the Caribbean who had subsequently died. The bequest was contingent on her solving an (unspecified) old mystery, and achieving justice - hence the reference to the Greek goddess of revenge and retribution. A bus trip to visit stately homes and gardens brings together all the relevant characters.

From Quiz Bicycles at Large

Answer: Piper at the Gates of Dawn

"Piper at the Gates of Dawn" was the last Pink Floyd album featuring Syd Barrett. He left soon after the album was released. "Meddle" by Pink Floyd was released in 1971. "Troglodynamite" and "Hip Hip Hooray" were albums by the Troggs.

From Quiz Trains Can Be Interesting!

Answer: Midnight Train to Georgia

Written by Jim Weatherly and originally named 'Midnight Plane to Houston', the song was reworked with a train theme about a man leaving Los Angeles to return to his home in Georgia and the simpler pace of life that it offered. The song went to number one on the Billboard 100 in October 1973. It also won Gladys Knight and the Pips a Grammy Award in 1974 and has featured on the soundtrack of various films, including 'The Deer Hunter'. (Question by Rockette: Fifiona81)

From Quiz On The Right Track

Answer: Chattanooga

Glenn Miller and his orchestra recorded "Chattanooga Choo Choo" in 1941. The song featured in the film "Sun Valley Serenade".

From Quiz Trucks and Trams, Ships and Skiffs

Answer: Mark Hamill

Hamill's character worked on the corvette in his high school shop class. When it was stolen he took off to recover it and ended up in Las Vegas. Annie Potts co-stars in the film and was nominated for a Golden Globe for her role.

From Quiz Hop On The Bus, Gus

Answer: Taxi

In 1978, the American sitcom "Taxi" made its debut. It followed the lives of a group of taxi drivers in New York and their dispatcher. The characters had very different backgrounds. The cast included a receptionist at a gallery, an unsuccessful boxer, an actor trying to make it big and a lovable mechanic from a foreign country. The cast features actors such as Tony Danza, Marilu Henner, Andy Kaufman, Jeff Conaway and Judd Hirsch. The show would run until 1983 for a total of five seasons. Jeff Conaway carried the transport theme into the name of the character he played on "Taxi". His name on the show was Bobby Wheeler. Conaway would portray a taxi driver again in the 1989 movie "Tale of Two Sisters".

From Quiz Murder in Motion

Answer: Paris

The first US edition altered the title to 'Death in the Air'. While Poirot is returning from a trip to Paris (flying to avoid a Channel crossing, due to his much-noted tendency to seasickness), one of the passengers is killed with a poisoned dart. Since a blowpipe is found in Poirot's seat, he must find the real killer to clear his name. This is one of the Christie works in which it is a crucial fact that people tend to overlook anyone dressed in a uniform (especially that of a servant) and behaving appropriately for that role. The television series 'Agatha Christie's Poirot' adapted the story for a 1992 episode.

From Quiz Bicycles at Large

Answer: Pacific Blue

Jim Davison, Darlene Vogel and Paula Tricky starred in this show that was filmed in various Santa Monica beaches. The show aired from 1996 until 2000 and used TREK bikes. "CHiPS" involved motorcycles.

From Quiz Trains Can Be Interesting!

Answer: Johnny Cash

The tune was written by Ervin T. Rouse, and was particularly associated with bluegrass players. Johnny Cash did a vocal version on his album, which also included the Irish ballad 'Danny Boy' and a version of Bob Dylan's 'It Ain't Me Babe'. (Question by Rockette: rossian)

From Quiz On The Right Track

Answer: Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie's "Murder on the Orient Express" was published in 1934 and featured her Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. The 1974 film version had a star-studded cast including Albert Finney, Ingrid Bergman, Lauren Bacall, John Gielgud and Vanessa Redgrave.

From Quiz Trucks and Trams, Ships and Skiffs

Answer: Throw Momma from the Train

Billy Crystal's character wants his ex-wife to be killed while Danny DeVito desires his overbearing mother to be done away with. Danny DeVito directed the film. Anne Ramsey, who played his mother, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance.

From Quiz Murder in Motion

Answer: Ocean liner

As Poirot demonstrates, they were actually stolen before the liner left, so the packet that disappeared en route from London to New York was just to make it appear as if they must have been stolen by the clerk carrying them. In the 1924 story, the liner is the Olympia, and a key plot point is that it is slower than another liner, the Gigantic. In the 1991 television adaptation, the bonds are supposedly being carried aboard the Queen Mary's maiden voyage, allowing the producers to insert archival footage of that event.

From Quiz Bicycles at Large

Answer: Etta Place

Etta Place was a friend of the Kid and she did travel with the two outlaws in South America. She was placed on the wanted list together with the other two. Katharine Ross was Elaine Robinson in "The Graduate", Mira Hauser in "Voyage of the Damned" and Joanna Eberhart in "The Stepford Wives".

From Quiz Trains Can Be Interesting!

Answer: Edith

Edith Nesbit wrote several books for children, including 'The Story of the Treasure Seekers' about the Bastable family. Her books are credited with inspiring other authors, such as C. S. Lewis and Michael Moorcock, both of whom refer to the Bastables in their own works. 'The Railway Children' is probably the best known of her books, having been adapted for film and television on several occasions. (Question by Rockette: rossian)

From Quiz On The Right Track

Answer: Oh, Doctor Beeching!

"Oh, Doctor Beeching!" was set at Hatley station on a (fictional) branch line threatened with closure. The cast included Jeffrey Holland, Paul Shane and Su Pollard from "Hi-de-Hi!".

From Quiz Trucks and Trams, Ships and Skiffs

Answer: sitcom

The program concerned a group of cabbies and their rude dispatcher. It started on ABC but for the last year was aired on NBC. It won numerous Emmy Awards during its run.

From Quiz Murder in Motion

Answer: 4:50 From Paddington

The movie differed significantly from the original story. In the movie, it is Miss Marple who witnesses the apparent killing of a woman on a passing train, and she who goes to stay at the hall where she believes the body was dumped. The original story has her friend Elspeth McGillicuddy witness the event, and her young friend Lucy Eyelesbarrow on the site to investigate. While the guilty party remained the same, the manner in which he was tricked into revealing himself was changed. The three incorrect options are the names of the other three films in which Margaret Rutherford portrayed Miss Marple.

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