A Guilden Movie Marathon Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

This enigmatic film, which saw Bogart's character succumb to the greed and paranoia characteristic of gold fever, following his and his companion's bountiful strike, was based on a novel by the equally enigmatic B. Traven. Very little is known about Traven, including his real name. He wrote in both German and English, and had a comprehensive command of Mexican culture; much of his work is often read as a polemic in favor of Mexican Indian rights. The most popular conjecture about his identity is that he was Hal Croves, a German émigré to Mexico who appeared as Traven's agent during the film's production. This is far from a consensus view, however.

Our fearless leader stuthehistoryguy chose the first movie and caused a minor rebellion in the ranks as this was the choice of more than one member.

Answer: The Outsiders

"The Outsiders" was the story of Ponyboy Curtis, an orphan who was a member of a lower-class Greasers gang in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The gang had an ongoing rivalry with an upper-class, Soc's gang, which eventually resulted in Johnny, a fellow greaser, killing a Soc to save Ponyboy's life.

Johnny and Ponyboy hid out in an abandoned church, during which time Ponyboy read from "Gone With the Wind" and Robert Frost's "Nothing Gold Can Stay", but admitted that he never understood the Frost poem.

They left the church with another Greaser for a while, but upon returning, found it on fire, with children trapped inside. They rescued the children, but Johnny had his back broken by a burning beam. While in the hospital, Johnny read and pondered the Frost poem, then wrote a final letter to Ponyboy before dying of his injuries. With his dying breaths, Johnny explained the meaning of the poem - to keep appreciating the things one finds wondrous in youth. He closed with "Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold."

eauhomme chose a slightly less main stream movie and many members of the audience were moved to tears in this poignant scene.

Answer: The Lavender Hill Mob

Made in 1951, 'The Lavender Hill Mob' was one of the most popular British movies of its time. Alec Guinness starred as a bank employee who concocted a plan to steal a consignment of gold bullion, melt the ingots down, recast them as miniature models of the Eiffel Tower and smuggle them from Britain to France. Stanley Holloway starred as a model maker who would do the work, while Sid James and Alfie Bass starred as the crooks who actually carried out the robbery.
The movie was one of the much-acclaimed Ealing Comedies so, of course, not everything went according to plan. The gang had to make new plans after their consignment of miniature Eiffel Towers, cast in gold, got mixed up with a real consignment of miniature Eiffel Towers.

darksplash knew there was nothing like a solid British comedy to move a marathon along and so he chose one of the finest comedy classics of the last century.

Answer: Nine To Five

In the 1980 workplace comedy "Nine To Five" Fonda joined forces with Dolly Parton and Lily Tomlin to play one of three secretaries. They decided to teach their sexist, arrogant, insensitive boss (Coleman) a lesson by kidnapping him and subjecting him to a series of indignities until he promised to reform. The film was a huge commercial success and provided yet another hit song for Parton, who penned and sang the title tune.

Ah - trust gretas to think outside the square. She started out on a gold focus but caught everyone out by using the golden motif as a segue. Nevertheless, a good time was had by all.

Answer: Elizabeth Swann

Played by Keira Knightley, Elizabeth Swann was the headstrong daughter of Governor Swann. Although she was in love with Will, who had become the blacksmith's apprentice, her father wished for her to make a more appropriate marriage, with Norrington; a marriage she resisted.
The piece of gold in her possession had been found around the neck of ship-wrecked Will Turner, who had been sent the gold by his father, Bootstrap Bill. When the young Elizabeth saw the gold piece she took it, to keep Will from being identified (and probably hanged) as a pirate, keeping it hidden for years. Drawn by the pull of the gold, the pirates from the Black Pearl attacked Port Royal and took Elizabeth, under protection of parlay, onto the ship. She surrendered the last piece of gold in exchange for their withdrawal from Port Royal, but forgot to bargain for her own release. Believing her to be the descendant of Bootstrap Bill, they thought they needed a drop of her blood as the final condition for breaking the curse and took her with them.

skunkee showed her true colours by choosing one of her favourite movies and this choice was loudly applauded by all Guild members.

Answer: City Slickers II

"City Slickers II: The Legend of Curley's Gold" returned Billy Crystal to the Arizona desert to discover a lost fortune left by Curly, aided by a conveniently misplaced treasure map. Too bad the script wasn't as well hidden as the gold. The sequel was nominated for a Razzie by the Golden Raspberry Foundation which recognizes substandard achievements in film. Luckily for Crystal, Kevin Costner's "Wyatt Earp" was even less arresting that year.

sidnobls looked to a modern Western for his marathon choice.

Answer: Local Hero

"Local Hero" starred Peter Riegert, Burt Lancaster, Fulton MacKay and Dennis Lawson (amongst others!) in a charming and brilliant story about a Texas billionaire attempting to buy a Scottish village for oil (black gold). The fabulous soundtrack by Mark Knopfler added to the enjoyment.

Quiz_Beagle entranced us all with this movie choice - especially the amazing soundtrack. Our American members were clearly gaining an appreciation of some wonderful movies from across the pond.

Answer: Her whole body was painted gold.

Jill Masterson (Shirley Eaton) had been employed by the evil Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe), an aptly named international gold smuggler. When she met James Bond (Sean Connery) she was helping Goldfinger cheat at cards - but she soon succumbed to the charms of Agent 007. After an afternoon of passion, Bond was knocked unconscious and Jill was murdered for her betrayal of her boss. The gold paint was said to have suffocated her: human beings, Bond averred, needed to "breathe" through their skin as frogs do.

Although the possibility of asphyxiation of the skin was a popular belief at the time, it is not actually medically possible. Nevertheless, the on-set makeup artists thoughtfully left much of the actress's belly unpainted, so as not to spoil her dramatic sprawl with an unplanned death scene. Contrary to persistent urban legends, Eaton survived her shiny star turn and even appeared on the TV show "Mythbusters" to prove her continued vitality - 39 years after the release of "Goldfinger"!

CellarDoor chose a golden classic and all agreed no guilden collection would be complete without this movie on the list.

Answer: Austin Powers in "Goldmember"

Austin Powers ended up getting his arch-rivals, Dr. Evil and Mini-Me, arrested in the beginning of the movie, for trying to get Goldmember (the Dutchman) into the future to try to cause global flooding and to live in a moon-base, (obviously on the moon). The two villains were separated, with Mini-Me in a standard prison and Dr. Evil in a maximum security facility. Dr. Evil was moved though, to Mini-Me's prison, after Dr. Evil and Austin made an agreement. The two, however, later escaped. Austin then traveled back in time to get an old friend, Foxxy Cleopatra, to come back to the future with him to help him. Goldmember also got back to the future, because of Dr. Evil. Austin's father was kidnapped in the beginning, but was safe, thanks to Austin. As Austin threatened to kill Dr. Evil, his father revealed that the two were brothers, separated at birth. As Dr. Evil became good his son, Scott, became mad about this, as he had become evil. He and Goldmember then proceeded with the plan, but Dr. Evil reversed the beam and killed Goldmember. They all escaped, except Scott, who stayed on the submarine.

brainiac62 chose an alternative gold offering and was pleased to see most Guild members having a quiet chuckle to themselves.

Answer: William Holden

William Holden grew up in Pasadena, California but, contrary to legend, never studied at the Pasadena Playhouse. He attended Pasadena Junior College, which was where the acting bug bit him. He was spotted by a Paramount talent scout when appearing in a play at the Playbox, a theatre owned by Pasadena Playhouse director Gilmor Brown. He made his film debut in 1938 in a movie called "Prison Farm" but it was "Golden Boy" that made him a star. His career languished during World War II when he was serving in the U.S. armed forces, but was revived big time when director Billy Wilder cast him as the down-on-his-luck screenwriter, Joe Gillis, in "Sunset Boulevard", for which he won his first best Actor Oscar nomination. He won his first Oscar for "Stalag 17". My favourite William Holden movie is "Born Yesterday" in which he played opposite the inimitable Judy Holliday.

Cymruambyth chose to focus on a star in a golden film. No-one complained as this brilliant actor can still thrill an audience.

Answer: The character's golden hair resembled a golden helmet.

Jacques Becker's film was not a success in France, but up and coming actress Simone Signoret received a BAFTA in the UK for her performance in this film. This film established her reputation abroad. The basic scenario revolved around a woman who fell in love with a carpenter and the rivalry between her gangster lover and the new man. It was a basic 'Ménage a trois' as only the French could produce. The French viewers were apparently disappointed in the love story because they were expecting a gangster picture.

Bruyere's choice was no surprise, given her love of France, and a foreign film was certainly a change of pace for the evening.

Answer: All of these

The court was suitably intrigued with Raleigh's offerings. He also attempted to present Elizabeth with Spanish gold, which that country's ambassadors claimed was the result of Raleigh's piracy on the high seas. Her Majesty elected to decline the gold.

Nannanut's interest in all things Tudor made this golden movie an obvious choice.

Answer: I'm Gonna Git You Sucka

"I'm Gonna Git You Sucka" was a spoof of the 1970's blaxploitation movies and shared many of its stars from that genre, such as Isaac Hayes and Antonio Fargas.

Keenen Ivory Wayans was Jack Spade, a man who escaped his neighbourhood by joining the army, but returned there after the death of his brother, Junebug - who had become hopelessly addicted to gold chains.

After discovering the cause of his brother's death, Spade vowed to bring down Mr. Big, played by John Vernon, who was the source of the surfeit of gold chains on the street.

Snowman contributed a spoof to the impressive lineup of golden movie offerings.

Answer: Charlton Heston

The film was based on the Jack London classic and involved a domestic German shepherd turned sled dog and his relationship with John Thornton (Heston) in the wilds of Alaska. According to IMDB, Charlton Heston picked his 1975 film "The Call of the Wild" as his own worst movie. (Mr. Heston picked the film "Will Penny" as his favorite.) Perhaps the fact that Mr. Heston's character began the film frozen to death in a river influenced his opinion.

uglybird chose the work of one of Hollywood's greats as his contribution to the evening's entertainment.

Answer: Alaska

"The Gold Rush" has been considered to be one of Chaplin's most memorable films during the silent era of film. In this silent film classic, Chaplin played the role of The Little Tramp and traveled to Alaska to take part in the infamous Alaskan Gold Rush. He lived with a prospector who eventually developed amnesia and needed The Little Tramp's assistance to strike gold. The film took a comedic turn when The Little Tramp fell in love with a girl he met at a local saloon. Humorously, she didn't love him back.

apathy100 had the good sense to choose a silent film to end our marathon viewing session. A good time was had by all, despite the occasional snore and the obligatory rolling of Jaffas down the aisle by an Aussie participant...