C'mon - Entertain Me! Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Sting

In the movie "The Sting", Newman and Redford play the roles of two "confidence men" who set up a mob boss using a complicated plot. Eventually, the two were successful, and the 'sting' nailed the mobster in the end.

$160 million dollars later, after all the box office receipts were in, and guess who got stung? (We did... Hee hee.)

Seriously, it WAS a great movie, and in case you haven't seen it, try to obtain a copy.

Answer: Alan Ruck

Alan Ruck is probably best remembered for his role of 17-year old Cameron Frye in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off". He was actually 29 years old when he played the part of Cameron. I didn't think he looked THAT old, did you?

He is also known for his acting roles in such varied works as Stuart Bondek on the ABC sitcom "Spin City", as well as acting in the movies "Speed" and "Twister", as well as playing other roles.

Answer: Gracie Allen

Gracie Allen's campaign for president was actually nothing more than a publicity stunt, orchestrated by her and her husband, George Burns. She "ran" on the Surprise Party ticket, and throughout her "campaign" she had a kangaroo as a mascot, using as her campaign motto the phrase, "It's in the bag."

Even though this was a stunt, she actually garnered 42,000 votes in the general election in November 1940!

Answer: it was a derogatory term for Italian-made Westerns

Sergio Leone, a master of cinematography, was an Italian director and producer whose works featured Clint Eastwood in some of his early movie roles. Initially intended to be insulting, the term "Spaghetti Western" soon became its own genre of Westerns, with other producers mimicking the cinematic style that usually consisted of a mixture of wide, panoramic views, coupled with extreme close-up shots which slowly panned out to envelope the entire person or scene.

The musical scores were also "different". Often a haunting melody, played by a single harmonica or a repeated theme, played in offset key provided a suspenseful and effective link to the cinematography.

Answer: Christopher Lloyd

Christopher Lloyd has enjoyed fame not only as this dysfunctional character on "Taxi", he also played the role of "Doc" Emmett Brown on the "Back To The Future" series of films, as well as the part of Uncle Fester on some of "The Addams Family" series of movies.

In spite of the comedic nature of the hit television program "Taxi", often poignant issues were addressed, including episodes that focused on such issues as gambling addictions, bisexuality, blindness and a host of other "sensitive" topics.

Answer: Romancing The Stone

It's so hard to define this movie. Action? Adventure? Romance? Comedy? All of the above?

Yeah, let's go with all of the above. This movie had it all, and somehow came across as completely credible, too! Much of the comic relief throughout the movie was due to the bumblings, the greed, and the antics of Ralph (played by Danny DeVito). He and his partner-in-crime wanna-be, Ira, were why Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner) had become involved in their scheme in the first place. Add touches of humor added by Michael Douglas, who played the role of Jack, and it's no wonder that this movie was SUCH a raging success!

Answer: Shenandoah

The play "Shenandoah" opened on Broadway on January 7, 1975, after playing at the Goodspeed Opera House the previous year. It ran for 1,050 performances.

It was nominated for six Tony Awards, and won two of those; one for Best Actor in a Musical, referring to actor John Cullum, (who played the role of Charlie Anderson), with the other award given for Best Book of a Musical.

Answer: Fibber McGee and Molly

This old long-running comedy radio program was initially sponsored by Johnson Wax; later by Pet Milk, and finally by Reynolds Aluminum. It consisted of many running-gag lines that recurred often in different episodes.

U.S. patriotism was never in short supply on the show, especially during the war years of WWII. In an episode that was broadcast just one week after the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor, Gale Gordon, who played Mayor LaTrivia, (a pun based on New York's mayor, Fiorello La Guardia), was conversing with Molly. He claimed to be searching for a globe, in order to keep up with current events of the day, and Molly told him to purchase one soon, as she put it "...while Japan is still on it...".

Two spin-off programs later enjoyed their own successes; "The Great Gildersleeve" and "Beulah".

Answer: a musician or poet

The ending lyrics to the song "Troubadour" are:

"I was a young troubadour, when I rode in on a song
And I'll be an old troubadour, when I'm gone
I'll be an old troubadour, when I'm gone."

Troubadours traced their beginnings back to the 1100's in the regions of southern France, northern Spain and portions of western Italy. They were essentially traveling minstrels whose specialties included composing and reciting or singing poetic tunes, often with bawdy lyrics and occasionally pertaining to love between members of royalty.

Troubadours sort of 'died out' during the era of the Bubonic Plague.
(Pun intended! After all, who wanted to go traveling around, risking contact with deathly ill people?)

Answer: Alfred Hitchcock

"Alfred Hitchcock Presents" was a mid-1950s television program that was devoted to bringing drama, murder, mayhem, mysteries and even light touches of humor to our TV sets.
Initially broadcast as a half-hour show, it was later expanded to a full hour.