Spielberg's Amazing Characters Quiz

Answer: Catch Me If You Can

In "Catch Me If You Can" Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks) chases con artist Frank Abagnale, Jr., (Leonardo DiCaprio) in this biographical comedy-drama from 2002. The real-life Abagnale, who pulled off cons worth millions of dollars before he was 19, met DiCaprio, and liked the film.

Answer: Close Encounters of the Third Kind

UFO-obsessed Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) may have been played by Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman or Al Pacino. Even Jack Nicholson was offered the part. But Dreyfuss fought for the role in this 1977 movie nominated for nine Academy Awards.

A close encounter of the third kind is one where human beings actually see aliens. In 2007 this film was preserved in the National Film Registry.

Answer: Schindler's List

German Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) saves the lives of over one thousand Jews while Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley) plays his accountant and Helen Hirsch (Embeth Davidtz) is trapped in the sick ardour of an SS officer (played by Ralph Fiennes). This 1993 film directed by Spielberg won seven Academy Awards.

Answer: Empire of the Sun

Jamie Graham (Christian Bale) is a British boy who becomes a prisoner of war in Japan. Bale was just 12 when he was cast, recommended by Spielberg's then-wife Amy Irving. Basie (John Malkovich) is a ship steward and Mrs. Victor (Miranda Richardson) plays a British woman. Spielberg directed this 1987 "loss of innocence" film.

Answer: The Color Purple

"The Color Purple", a 1985 debut for Whoopi Goldberg (Celie Harris), earned her an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe win. "The Color Purple" was filmed in North Carolina and set in the early 1900s. Celie bears two children by her father, and is forced to marry a cruel husband (Danny Glover). With the help of her husband's mistress Shug (Margaret Avery), Celie's sister (Akosua Busia), and an abused but spirited woman named Sofia (Oprah Winfrey), Celie successfully stands up to her abuser.

The film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, though it took away none, one of the few times in award history that this occurred. The novel, by Alice Walker, won a Pulitzer Prize.

Answer: World War I

"War Horse" is based on a 1982 children's novel by British author Michael Morpurgo, set in WWI. Murpurgo met a handful of WWI veterans, who told of the salient role their horses held, and of the million horses who died on the British side alone. Murpurgo estimated that in total 10 million horses died.

In Spielberg's movie, a single horse serves not only war efforts, but a range of human hearts the horse encounters. Filmed in Dartmoor, England, Spielberg used 14 different horses to play the lead horse character. Lead actor Jeremy Irvine starred in his first film role.

Answer: He's the last surviving brother.

Spielberg won a Best Director Academy Award for this 1998 movie, and Tom Hanks (US Army Captain John H. Miller) was nominated Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance leading seven men in a dangerous search for paratrooper Private First Class Jim Ryan (Matt Damon). Ryan is the only surviving brother of four. Written by Robert Rodat (who was nominated for Best Original Screenplay), the film is based loosely on four Niland brothers who served in WWII.

The "Sole Survivor Policy" that drives the plot was enacted in the US military after five Sullivan brothers were killed in WWII.

The policy was later extended to include daughters, and was used during the Iraq war. In 2007, after two of three brothers died, the third was sent home.

Answer: Jaws

"Jaws" is the only Spielberg film listed. The mechanical shark kept malfunctioning, which caused director Steven Spielberg to rely on other methods to indicate its presence, such as a two-note motif by long-time associate John Towner Williams. This theme was so effective, it became a worldwide theme for impending danger.

Answer: 1941

"1941" has a plot, but I'm hard pressed to describe the silliness and seduction. John Wayne was offered a part, but turned it down, urging Spielberg not to produce this "unpatriotic" film. It is also one of the few US films to feature the popular Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune. John Landis, Dianne Kay, Slim Pickens and Mickey Rourke also had roles.

The film garnered a cult following, and is loosely based on real incidents in Los Angeles, connected to the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Answer: To collect a musician's autograph

In "The Terminal" Tom Hanks (Viktor Navorsk) flies to America from his home land Krakozhia, to collect an autograph from Benny Golson. Viktor is denied entry into the US, and can't go home, so he must live in the airport. Spielberg bought the rights to a true story about Iranian Mehran Karimi Nasseri, whose papers were stolen. Nasseri lived in the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris from 1988 until 2006. Spielberg had to build the entire airport set, as no airport in the world would allow him access to film.