Washington in the Movies Trivia Quiz

Answer: Michael Douglas

Michael Douglas looks very dignified and authoritative in a tuxedo, which is a major qualification for a part like this. His character, a Democrat named Andrew Shepard, woos one Sydney Ellen Wade (Annette Bening) amidst various political battles in Congress. The course of true love never does run smooth, and it's even harder when you have to sneak past the Secret Service for your dates!

The other choices have also played the U.S. President. Morgan Freeman (1998's "Deep Impact") and Bill Pullman (1996's "Independence Day") both faced off threats from outer space. Martin Sheen, meanwhile, played Shepard's Chief of Staff in "The American President," and went on to sit behind the big desk himself in the popular TV series "The West Wing" (1999-2006).

Answer: The Day the Earth Stood Still

In this black-and-white film directed by Robert Wise, Klaatu (Michael Rennie) is memorably defended by a robot whose head is essentially a round ray gun. The various alien races of the galaxy, Klaatu reports, are deeply concerned by three facts about humans: our propensity for cataclysmic violence, our harnessing of atomic power, and our moves into outer space. (Note that this movie was released six years before Sputnik went into orbit around the Earth, and 18 years before men walked on the moon.)

"It is no concern of ours how you run your own planet," says Klaatu in a justly famous monologue. "But if you threaten to extend your violence, this Earth of yours will be reduced to a burned-out cinder. Your choice is simple: Join us and live in peace, or pursue your present course and face obliteration. We shall be waiting for your answer; the decision rests with you."

Answer: The Exorcist

Directed by William Friedkin, "The Exorcist" is based on the Roman Catholic doctrine of exorcism as a way of ending the demonic possession of a human being. Twelve-year-old Regan (Linda Blair) is suffering greatly under the influence of Pazuzu; her behavior has become distinctly disturbing, and all sorts of creepy and supernatural things are happening all around her. In the course of the movie, Father Damien (Jason Miller) deals with his own crisis of faith as he tries to fight the demon.

Most of the action takes place in Georgetown, a hilly neighborhood in northwestern Washington. The climactic scene centers on a set of steep, stone steps at M Street and 36th Street; these steps are now hugely popular among tourists looking for photo opportunities, and Georgetown University athletes looking for exercise.

Answer: Dave

President Bill Mitchell (Kline) is not a good man. He's alienated the First Lady (Sigourney Weaver) and the Vice President (Ben Kingsley); he's corrupt; and he's the classic example of caring only about what his country can do for him. Dave Kovic (Kline again) is a good man: he runs a temp agency in Georgetown (there's that neighborhood again) and moonlights as a presidential lookalike. When Mitchell has a stroke, his unscrupulous advisers call Dave in to impersonate the president, claiming that the vice president can't be trusted with the ship of state.

Dave has some very reasonable concerns about the Constitution, which the advisors -- anxious to be the "president"'s puppeteers -- brush over by explaining that it's okay to break traffic laws if your wife is in labor and you're driving her to the hospital. "Imagine that the entire United States of America is in the car," they say. Dave acquiesces, and the result is a charming and funny film with a serious core.

Answer: Minority Report

Based on a short story by Philip K. Dick, Steven Spielberg's "Minority Report" is set in the year 2054. It follows John Anderton (Cruise), a captain with Washington's pilot PreCrime police force. When the precogs predict that Anderton himself will commit a murder within the next two days, he goes on the run, slowly uncovering a complex conspiracy that implicates the entire PreCrime system.

At the beginning of the movie, Anderton and his fellow PreCrime officers prevent a murder, arresting a cuckolded husband moments before he kills his wife. The almost-murder occurs in -- where else? -- the neighborhood of Georgetown. Locals snickered in the movie theaters at the film's implausible vision of a Georgetown with ample street parking.

Answer: Afghanistan

This 2007 film, directed by Mike Nichols, is based on a George Crile book that is based in turn on a true story. Charlie Wilson, a representative from Texas in the 1980s, begins the movie mostly concerned with pretty young women, strong drink, and the occasional line of cocaine.

When he learns about the way the Afghan people are suffering under Soviet occupation, though, his heart gets the better of his addictions. Through various political maneuvers, he arranges for the CIA to arm and fund the mujahideen who are fighting for Afghanistan's freedom.

He gets them the weapons they need to expel the Soviets -- but he fails to find support in Congress for rebuilding the country after the occupation. History has shown it was a costly mistake.

Answer: Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn

In this film, the Secretary (Christopher Walken) has three daughters. One is getting married; the other two are pursued by Wilson and Vaughn, whose day jobs involve mediating divorces. Inevitably, they start to fall in love...

The whole movie is a very DC affair, with such luminaries as John McCain (a senator and 2008 presidential candidate) and James Carville (a political consultant) playing themselves as wedding guests. In one key scene, Wilson and Vaughn give each other a sunrise toast on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. In real life, the Park Police take a dim view of alcoholic beverages on the Mall, but I'll give the moviemakers half credit: those steps really are a great place for momentous conversations.

Answer: A Few Good Men

The murder at the heart of this Rob Reiner film is of a young Marine who hadn't been doing well on his evaluations in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Two Marines stand accused of killing him; their lawyers, Lieutenant j.g. Danny Kaffee (Cruise) and Lieutenant Commander Joanne Galloway (Demi Moore) believe that they were acting on illegal orders to punish him. Eventually, the commanding officer of the base -- a Colonel Nathan Jessup (Jack Nicholson) -- is implicated in the crime, and his outburst on the witness stand is one of the most famous scenes in modern cinema.

The film's lawyer heroes are based in Washington, which is where the court-martial takes place.

Answer: Dulles International Airport

Dulles is the largest airport serving Washington, DC; it's located in Virginia, about 26 miles (42 km) west of downtown. In "Die Hard 2," terrorists take over the airport, demanding a prisoner release and a jet (for use as an escape vehicle). McClane stops them in his trademark style.

While the film is set in the DC area, it's painfully obvious that it was filmed in California, with rather little location research. DC natives still chuckle about the scene in which McClane places a call from a Pacific Bell phone booth; the Pacific Ocean is only about 3000 miles away. (In real life, Bell Atlantic served the area's telephone needs at the time.) Then there's the question of just how the terrorists manage to hold the circling planes hostage, given that the area is served by two other major civilian airports, plus a number of Air Force bases. Of course, the main point of the movie is the gun fights, and those are fully satisfactory.

Answer: Jimmy Stewart

When a senator dies in office, the governor of his or her state is supposed to name a replacement. At the beginning of this movie, a governor in this position picks one Jefferson Smith, who leads the Boy Rangers and is popular with the kids. The governor hopes that the naive Mr. Smith will be easily manipulated into providing a wholesome facade for some very crooked politics.

When the political machine finds out that Smith can't be bent or bought, they try to break him, framing him in a political corruption scandal.

The dramatic scenes in which he tries to filibuster his way through the problem -- speaking for hours and thus holding up all other Senate business -- deserve credit for bringing a somewhat obscure procedural rule into the limelight.