I Want to Break Free Trivia Quiz

Answer: In a sack

As a result of betrayal, Edmond Dantes spent ten years in gaol in the Chateau d'If where he met and was befriended by a fellow prisoner, Abbe Faria, who passes on his knowledge and the location of hidden treasure. When the Abbe dies, Dantes hides himself in the burial sack which is thrown into the river. From there he is able to get away, find the treasure and reinvent himself as the Count of Monte Cristo, seeking revenge on those who had him incarcerated.

Answer: Cyrus Grissom

The role of Cyrus "the Virus" Grissom was played by John Malkovitch. The plot revolves around the transfer of dangerous prisoners to a new maximum security prison by plane. Also along for the ride is Cameron Poe (Nicholas Cage) a former US Army Ranger about to be released following a gaol term for manslaughter. Vince Larkin (John Cusack) was the US Marshall responsible for the transfer arrangements and Willie Sims (Jose Zuniga) was an undercover agent planted on board the flight.

Answer: Raincoats

The 1979 film "Escape from Alcatraz" starred Clint Eastwood as Frank Morris, a career criminal determined to be the first to break out of the supposedly escape-proof prison on the island of Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay. He escaped with the Anglin brothers, the three of them fashioning dummies from soap and wax and using their and other prisoners' raincoats to make a boat. Based on a true story, the film left their fate a mystery but no bodies were ever found and the manhunt still continues, decades after the escape in 1962.

Answer: Tom, Dick and Harry

"The Great Escape" (1963) was a highly fictionalized retelling of the story of a mass escape by prisoners of war from the German Stalag Luft III during World War II. Seeing it as their duty to escape, the prisoners worked together on the three tunnels which were to be the escape route for 250 inmates. Everyone was involved, whether they were digging the tunnels, singing to drown out the noise of digging or carrying away the spoil in their trousers and surreptitiously releasing it in the gardens.

In the film, 76 prisoners make it out of the prison but only three reach safety. In the event on which the film was based, 50 escapees were shot by the Gestapo to deter others and the film is dedicated to these men.

Answer: William Holden

The 1953 film "Stalag 17" revolves around Sefton who has made his life in the prisoner-of-war camp very comfortable by his dealings with his captors. When two prisoners are killed during an escape attempt, it is widely believed that they were betrayed by Sefton. Sefton's life is made very uncomfortable by the others and he resolves to find out the real traitor. He tricks the traitor into revealing himself.
Kirk Douglas and Charlton Heston were considered for the role of Sefton and Peter Graves played the real traitor. Holden's Oscar was for "Best Actor in a Leading Role".

Answer: The President

The 1981 film "Escape from New York" was set in the future when the island of Manhattan has been turned into a maximum security prison. The US President's plane is downed as it flies over and he is captured. A convicted bank robber and former war hero "Snake" Plissken is offered a deal if he can rescue the President (and a highly sensitive tape). To ensure his compliance, Plissken is injected with explosives which will detonate in 24 hours.

The climax of the film takes place on the mined 69th Street Bridge and "Snake" succeeds in his mission to get the President out but with great loss of life.

Answer: The "box"

Luke, played by Paul Newman, will not buckle under either to the prison authorities or their charges and he endears himself to fellow inmates by his antics such as challenging the prisoner's "leader" Dragline, a tremendous bluff in a poker game and eating fifty hard-boiled eggs in one go.

He makes two unsuccessful escape attempts when his mother dies and he is returned to the prison. On his final attempt, he and Dragline find themselves in a church with the police outside. He is shot in the neck and dies.

Answer: Dustin Hoffman

After several failed escape attempts from the prison on Devil's Island, Papillon makes a successful bid for freedom by riding the seventh wave, clinging to a home-made float. He had made one for Louis Dega who had been his friend from when he protected him on the journey to the prison and during their stay there but Louis was settled and chose not to go. "Papillon" was made in 1973 and was based on the possibly autobiographical book by Henri Charriere.

Answer: Raquel Welch

Andy (Tim Robbins), in Shawshank Prison after being found guilty of the murder of his wife and her lover, teams up with the prison "fixer" Red (Morgan Freeman) who obtains a rock hammer and a large picture of Rita Hayworth for him. A former banker, Andy makes himself useful to the warden helping him to salt away money dishonestly obtained by hiring out the prisoners as cheap labour. Over the years, Rita Hayworth's picture is replaced by those of Marilyn Monroe and Raquel Welch but all of them were used to hide the tunnel Andy had dug out. Once on the outside, he sets the wheels in motion for his revenge on Warden Norton. Red is paroled, follows instructions left by Andy and pair meet up again in Mexico.

Answer: Drug possession

Billy's original four year sentence for drug possession was increased to thirty years when he appealed against it and he spent five years in the most brutal and violent conditions. He ended up in the prison's insane asylum where he tried to bribe a guard who later tortured him.

In a bizarre accident, the guard was killed and Billy (Brad Davis) was able to escape to Greece and eventually his home in the USA. The film was based on a true story.