A Film By Any Other Name Trivia Quiz

Answer: Vertigo

Alfred Hitchcock feuded with executives at Paramount Studios, who felt that the one-word title "Vertigo" would only confuse prospective moviegoers. As usual, Hitch was right, and the even more vague "Fear and Trembling" was scrapped.

Answer: Scream

Not to be confused with the actual title of a later spoof on slasher films, the preliminary project title rightly depicts the characters' discussions of what NOT to do if being pursued by a mysterious killer.

Answer: Pulp Fiction

The early title was taken from the name of a 1920s crime fiction magazine. In its heyday, "Black Mask" featured stories by such writers as Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler.

Answer: Pretty Woman

"3,000"? Shouldn't that be the title to a bigger, better sequel to "300"?

Well, in this case the working title was based on the rate that Vivian Ward (Julia Roberts, in the role that propelled her to stardom) is offered by Edward Lewis (Richard Gere) if she'll agree to be his escort for a week.

Answer: Close Encounters of the Third Kind

The working title for this Spielberg masterpiece actually came from the closing lines of the 1950s sci-fi/horror classic, "The Thing from Another World". In that film's final scene reporter Ned Scott prepares to describe how, at a remote military base near the North Pole, a small group of soldiers and civilians barely withstood an attack by a malevolent creature from another planet.

As he prepares to describe the conflict, he implores, "Every one of you listening to my voice, tell the world, tell this to everybody wherever they are. Watch the skies. Everywhere. Keep looking. Keep watching the skies."

Answer: Rocky

A great film from 1976 that continues to spawn sequels, four decades later. Rocky Balboa became everyone's favorite underdog, and the actor/writer/director Stallone became one of Hollywood's most popular stars.

Answer: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Another alternative title was "Stalking Leatherface". The house in which the movie was filmed was partially dismantled and moved to Kingsland, Texas, where it's now a restaurant. I'm not sure I'd want to see the menu.

Answer: Some Like It Hot

The 1959 Billy Wilder classic starring Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe is considered one of the greatest comedies of all time. The working title, while making a direct reference to the alias employed by Curtis's character in the film, apparently derives from a centuries-old unflattering remark directed at Napoleon Bonaparte.

Answer: Casablanca

"Everybody Comes to Rick's" is the name of a then-unproduced play from which the classic 1942 film was derived, and served as the initial project title.

Answer: Halloween

John Carpenter's chilling classic of the 1970s was likened by many critics and moviegoers to the Alfred Hitchcock classic "Psycho". In addition to other similarities, the movie starred Jamie Lee Curtis, daughter of "Psycho"'s Janet Leigh.