Four Word Movie Titles Trivia Quiz

Answer: Fiddler on the Roof

One of the most well known songs from "Fiddler on the Roof" was "Tradition". This 1971 movie musical was based the 1964 Broadway musical of the same name which was based on the book "Tevye and his Daughters" (or "Tevye the Milkman and Other Tales") by Sholem Aleichem.

The movie was centered on Teyve (played by Topol) and his family in 1905 Tsarist Russia. He had five daughters whom he sought to marry off with the help of the village matchmaker but his daughters had different ideas.

Answer: The Thomas Crown Affair

"The Thomas Crown Affair" was originally released in 1968 and starred Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. In 1999 it was remade, starring Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo. In the original, McQueen played a wealthy businessman who orchestrated a bank robbery out of boredom and Dunaway played the insurance investigator hired to track him down. During the cat-and-mouse game the two played, they fell in love.

In the remake, Brosnan played a wealthy financier who orchestrated the heist of a Monet worth $100 million and Russo was the insurance investigator sent after him. Again the two fell in love during the cat-and-mouse game of the investigation.

Answer: Shaun of the Dead

Zombie comedy dates back to the '40s and movies such as "King of the Zombies" (1941) and "Zombies on Broadway" (1945). The "Return of the Living Dead" series (1985), "Evil Dead II" (1987), "Braindead" (1992), and "Bio Zombie" (1998) continued to build the genre. "Shaun of the Dead" (2004) furthered pushed the genre by adding romantic comedy to the zombie comedy and even some parody. The movie is a self-described romantic zombie comedy, a romzomcom if you will.

"Shaun of the Dead" was written by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg. Wright directed the movie while Pegg starred in it along with Nick Frost. The genesis of the movie came from the British TV show "Spaced" and an episode "Art" that was directed by Wright and starred Pegg. Being fans of George Romero's zombie trilogy that started with "Night of the Living Dead" (1968), the two set out to write a proper spoof of the zombie genre. The movie followed the story of Shaun (Pegg) and his slacker friend Ed (Frost) as they fought off a zombie invasion of their hometown. Throughout the movie references were made to other movies and TV shows, most notably Romero's trilogy.

Answer: Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Ben Stein appeared in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (1986) as Ferris' monotone economics teacher. The movie followed the exploits of Ferris (played by Matthew Broderick) and his friends as they skipped a day of school.

Stein's economics lecture was a completely unscripted moment where he relied on his undergraduate degree in economics to deliver it. Of the experience Stein said he thought the crew was applauding because they learned something from the lecture "but they were applauding because they thought I was boring... It was the best day of my life." His only scripted lines were where he takes attendance and said "Beuller... Beuller..." in his monotone voice. It was his first real acting job and led to many other similar type roles, including on the TV show "The Wonder Years".

He got the role through six degrees of separation. Stein had worked for Richard Nixon as a speechwriter and lawyer. Nixon introduced him to William Safire, who also worked for Nixon as a speechwriter. Safire introduced him to an executive at Warner Brothers who in turn introduced him to a casting director. The casting director then introduced him to John Hughes, who cast him in the role.

Answer: A Fistful of Dollars

Only "A Fistful of Dollars" meets all of the criteria of the question. "Play Misty for Me" was a psychological thriller, not a Western. "For a Few Dollars More" was a Spaghetti Western but it has too many words in the title, five not four. "The Outlaw Josey Wales" was a Revisionist Western and has four words in the title but it was not a Spaghetti Western. Sergio Leone was one of the first and still most recognizable directors of what came to be known as Spaghetti Westerns.

"A Fistful of Dollars" (1964) was the first of Sergio Leone's Spaghetti Westerns to feature Clint Eastwood as the Man with No Name. The other two were "For a Few Dollars More" (1965) and "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" (1966). "Fistful" followed the story of a stranger who inserted himself into the middle of a feud between two families in little Mexican border town. The stranger used the feud to make himself some money while working for both sides.

Answer: Night at the Museum

The Golden Tablet of Pharaoh Akhmenrah played a pivotal role in "Night at the Museum" (2006) starring Ben Stiller. The tablet was the artifact that brought the exhibits to life each night in the museum through its magical powers. The movie followed the story of Larry (Ben Stiller) as he became the night watchman at the museum.

The retiring night watchmen intended to steal the tablet but were thwarted by Larry and the exhibits. Akhmenrah was a made up name for a pharaoh although other exhibits did have real life counterparts. Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams), Sacagawea (Mizuo Peck), and Attila the Hun (Patrick Gallagher) were all historic figures in real life. Owen Wilson's cowboy Jedediah was fictional. Steve Coogan's Octavius may have been based on Caesar Augustus but it is unclear.

Answer: "Strangers on a Train" (1951) - D: Francis Ford Coppola W: John Grisham

"Strangers on a Train" was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and the original novel was written by Patricia Highsmith. The movie involved two strangers who met on a train and made a deal to each commit a murder for the other. Because they are strangers no one would be able to tie the murders back to the one who wanted it done in the first place and their problems would be solved.

The movie starred Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, and Robert Walker and featured Hitchcock's only daughter, Patricia. A publicity shot for the movie had Hitchcock strangling a bust of his daughter.

Answer: It Happened One Night

"It Happened One Night" told the story of a spoiled heiress (Colbert) and a down on your luck unemployed reporter (Gable) as they traveled cross-country together to reunite her with the man she just married only to have her father disapprove and get the marriage annulled. Neither intended to fall in love but they both did.

"It Happened One Night" (1934) is notable because it was the first film to win all five major Academy Awards. These were Best Picture, Best Director (Frank Capra), Best Actor (Clark Gable), Best Actress (Claudette Colbert), and Best Screenplay (Best Writing, Adaptation Robert Riskin). This feat was not duplicated until 1976 when "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" did it. In 1992, "Silence of the Lambs" was the third film to accomplish this coup. Colbert was convinced she would not win the Oscar so she planned to not attend and head cross-country on a train trip. When it was announced she won, the studio had her dragged off the train and taken to the ceremony.

Answer: An Affair to Remember

The insomniac in the Northwest refers to "Sleepless in Seattle" (1993) and the movie "An Affair to Remember" (1957) played a pivotal role in the plot of that movie. "Sleepless in Seattle" featured Tom Hanks as Sam, a grieving widower, and his son, Jonah (Ross Malinger). Jonah tried to fix his dad's broken heart by getting him to date again. Meanwhile, Annie Reed (Meg Ryan), a reporter, was on the other side of the country contemplating the meaning of love while watching "An Affair to Remember". Without giving away too much, through a series of events Jonah agreed for Sam to meet Annie in New York just like in the movie "An Affair to Remember".

The movie was co-written and directed by Nora Ephron.

Answer: Never Say Never Again

Sean Connery was the first James Bond and when he quit the series in 1971 he said he would never again play Bond. In 1983, he reprised the role in "Never Say Never Again", a play on his earlier statement. The movie was based on Ian Fleming's Bond novel "Thunderball", which had been made into a movie under that name in 1965 starring Connery. One of the original writers of the screenplay, Kevin McClory, had retained rights to the movie and finally won the ability to film it again in the '80s after a long legal battle dating back to the '60s. It was McClory's production company that produced the film.

Since Connery was almost 12 years older than when he last played Bond, the script was revised to feature an aging Bond brought back to deal with a crisis. Ernst Stavro Blofeld was the villain and recovering two nuclear warheads stolen by SPECTRE was the mission.