53 Dancing in Movies Trivia Questions & Answers

Answer: Tango Bar

"Tango Bar" (1935) tells the story of a young man who travels from Buenos Aires to Barcelona with a dream of opening a tango club. Carlos Gardel sings "Por Una Cabeza" on the boat trip across the Atlantic. The song itself compares gambling on horses with falling in love, and suggests that both tend to be losing propositions. "Tango Bar" was filmed in early 1935 and was actually released after Gardel's death.

Carlos Gardel was born in Toulose, France in 1890 and moved to Argentina as a toddler. He grew up to become one of South America's most prominent composers and musicians as well as a popular film actor. Gardel had an immense impact on both Latin American culture and 20th century music.

Tragically, Gardel died in a plane crash in Medellin, Colombia in June 1935. He was 45 years old. Alfredo Le Pera, his collaborator on many popular songs, also died in the crash.

Answer: Save the Last Dance

"Save the Last Dance" (2001) stars Julia Stiles as Sara and Sean Patrick Thomas as Derek.
Sara is a girl from the midwest who moves to a tough neighbourhood in Chicago where she meets Derek, a Chicago native who is working to change his life. She has given up on ballet after the death of her mother. Derek encourages her to take it up again and audition for Juilliard. He helps her with her contemporary dance requirement by teaching her some hip-hop moves and they fall in love, but Derek's past may catch up with them.
Julia Stiles was cast for the role of Sara after the director, Thomas Carter, saw her dancing in an earlier movie "10 Things I Hate About You", and she performed all of the moves seen in "Save the Last Dance".

Answer: Scent Of A Woman

"Scent Of A Woman" (1992) tells the story of Charlie Simmons, a student (played by Chris O'Donnell), who gets a job as a personal assistant to Colonel Frank Slade (Al Pacino). He learns that the Colonel intends to kill himself - but not until he has eaten at an expensive restaurant, stayed at a luxury hotel, made love to a beautiful woman and visited his brother.

Whilst in the restaurant, the Colonel dances a tango with a beautiful young girl called Donna. The music they dance to is called "Tango (Por Una Cabeza)". It was arranged by John Williams and the violin part was played by Itzhak Perlman. "Whoo-ah".

Answer: Fame

'Fame' features a first-class soundtrack, headlined by Irene Cara's Oscar-winning song 'Fame', written by Michael Gore and Dean Pitchford. Michael Gore also won an Oscar for Best Original Score for this film. Irene Cara not only sang the title track, she starred in the film as Coco Hernandez.

Answer: Gene Kelly

Gene Kelly stars with Debbie Reynolds in this all-time classic song and dance film. When Kelly danced his now-immortal number to the song 'Singin' in the Rain', he had a fever of over 100 degrees.

Answer: Gabrielle Anwar

Part of the reason the tango scene in "Scent of a Woman" (1992) was so memorable was that Pacino's character, Frank Slade, was blind. Yet he dances with incredible grace. A 20 year old Gabrielle Anwar, in one of her first big movie roles, was his partner.

"Scent of a Woman" is about Slade, a bitter military vet who is suicidal after being blinded in an accident. He hires a student, Charlie Simms (Chris O'Donnell), to help him with some errands before he checks out. Slade teaches Charlie several life lessons, while Charlie helps Slade see that life is still worth living.

As to the three wrong choices, each was born in 1970, like Gabrielle Anwar.

Answer: Cole Porter

"The Gay Divorcee" was based on the stage musical "Gay Divorce", written by Dwight Taylor with songs by Cole Porter, which had opened on Broadway in 1932 starring Fred Astaire and Claire Luce. Following the success of "Flying Down To Rio", Pandro S. Berman, the head of production at RKO, purchased the rights to "Gay Divorce" as a starring vehicle for Astaire and Rogers. The title of the film was altered to "The Gay Divorcee" on advice from the Hays Office, on the grounds that "while a divorcee might be gay or lighthearted, it was 'unseemly' for a divorce itself to be so labelled". Although the film was based on the show, the majority of the songs Cole Porter had written were replaced. The only one of Porter's songs to be retained was "Night and Day", which was used in Astaire and Rogers' first paired dance sequence in the film, which was taken directly from the stage show. This was in spite of Astaire initially requesting that it not be used, as the song had become a massive hit, with the star worried that its use would lead to it becoming overexposed.

Answer: Bring It On

"Bring It On" (2000) starred Kirsten Dunst and Eliza Dushku as cheerleaders on the Rancho Carne Toros. The Toros discovered that their routines were stolen from another team, the East Compton Clovers. The Clovers knew about the theft and challenged the Toros to come up with an original routine. The movie culminated with both teams meeting at the National Cheerleading Championships to battle for the title.
Both Kirsten Dunst and Gabrielle Union, who played the part of Isis, the Clovers' team captain, were cheerleaders when they were in high school.

Answer: Golden Years

"A Knight's Tale" is loosely based on Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales" and includes a character named Chaucer (played by Paul Bettany). It combines a medieval story of knights taking part in a jousting competition with modern rock and themes of celebrity.

In the dance scene, which is shot in the style of a music video, Heath Ledger's character is asked to demonstrate a dance from his country. The music segues from a medieval tune to David Bowie's "Golden Years". "Golden Years" was a top ten hit single for David Bowie in both the UK and US in 1975. A longer version appeared on his "Station to Station" album, released the following year.

Answer: Patrick Swayze

This film won an Oscar for Original Song with '(I've Had) The Time of My Life', a monster hit for Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes. In addition, Patrick Swayze scored a hit with the song 'She's Like the Wind', also from the soundtrack. Swayze sizzles as Johnny Castle, dance teacher at the holiday camp attended by Frances 'Baby' Houseman (Grey) and her family.

Answer: Saturday

'Saturday Night Fever' featured John Travolta as a disaffected youth taken in by the disco dancing craze. With the white polyester suit, the soundtrack by the Bee Gees and Travolta's famous moves on the dance floor, this movie included more than its fair share of pop culture icons.

Answer: Juno Skinner

"Por Una Cabeza" plays a major role at the start of "True Lies" (1992) when Schwarzenegger's Harry Tasker sweeps Juno Skinner off her feet. Tasker is a secret agent who has broken into the home of a major arms dealer seeking information on his buyers.

"True Lies" (1992) stars Schwarzenegger as a spy who has kept his professional identity hidden from his wife (Jamie Lee Curtis) for 17 years. The rest of the plot involves terrorists trying to nuke Miami. Tia Carrere plays Juno Skinner, an amoral art dealer who doubles as an arms dealer for terrorists.

"Por Una Cabzeza" also shows up at the end of "True Lies" when Schwarzenegger tangos with Jamie Lee Curtis.

Tia Carerre was Cassandra in the "Waynes World" films, Jessica Jamison in "Treacherous" (1993) and Diane Norwood in "Hollow Point" (1996).

Answer: Indiana

"Roberta" was based on a Broadway show of the same name by Jerome Kern and Otto Harbach. In the show, the character of Scharwenka is a real countess, and was played by Polish-born actress Lyda Roberti. However, in the film the character is reworked to play a more prominent role - instead of being a genuine aristocrat, she is in fact Lizzie Gatz from Wabash, Indiana, and is the old girlfriend of Huck Haines, played by Astaire. The rights to the stage version of "Roberta" had been originally been purchased by Pandro S. Berman for RKO as a starring vehicle for actress Irene Dunne. However, the success of "The Gay Divorcee" led to the studio ordering that "Roberta" be reworked to include Astaire and Rogers in significant roles. Despite the success of their previous movie, Astaire and Rogers were given the second and third billing behind Dunne, who at the time was still the bigger name.

Answer: Flashdance

"Flashdance" (1983) tells the story of Alexandra Owens a hardworking welder who dreams of getting into a performing arts school, and Nick Hurley, her wealthy boss.
The role of Nick Hurley was particularly difficult to cast. Robert De Niro, Mel Gibson, John Travolta, Richard Gere, Tom Hanks and Pierce Brosnan were all considered for the part after Gene Simmons, the lead singer of KISS turned it down. The role was eventually given to Michael Nouri.
Jennifer Beals played the part of Alexandra Owens, beating Demi Moore who was also considered for it.

Answer: Saturday Night Fever

"Airplane!" is primarily a spoof of airborne disaster movies but it also looked elsewhere for inspiration. For example, the opening title scene, parodies "Jaws".

One of the many flashbacks takes us to the Magumba Bar off the Barbary Coast, where Ted Striker (played by Robert Hayes) was stationed in the navy. In this scene, Striker first meets Elaine (played by Julie Hagerty) in a seedy bar. Taking off his white navy jacket to reveal a suit similar to the one worn by John Travolta in "Saturday Night Fever", he dances with Elaine as girl scouts fight in the background.

The song "Stayin' Alive" was written by The Bee Gees and used behind the opening scenes of the film "Saturday Night Fever". The Bee Gees gave permission for the track to be speeded up for "Airplane!".

Answer: Pennies from Heaven

'Pennies from Heaven' is one of the most underrated dance films of all time. Starring Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters and Jessica Harper, it features stunning dance numbers by Vernel Bagneris, Steve Martin and Christopher Walken (yes, I said Christopher Walken). Directed by Herbert Ross, this is a movie that must be seen to be believed.

Answer: John Waters

'Hairspray' features a typical John Waters cast, with Divine, Ricki Lake, Deborah Harry and Sonny Bono. Oh yes, let's not forget additional cast members Ric Ocasek and Pia Zadora as proto-beatniks. Ricki Lake had to endure both intensive dance lessons and a rigorous eating schedule (so she could stay 'plump').

Answer: Jennifer Jones

"Carrie" (1952) is a film version of the Theodore Dreiser novel "Sister Carrie" with Jennifer Jones in the title role. The film is set in Chicago around 1900. "Por Una Cabeza" is used during a montage showing the relationship between Olivier and Jones. Miriam Hopkins played Olivier's wife.

Oliver was married to Vivien Leigh in real life in 1952. Joan Fontaine was Olivier's leading lady in "Rebecca" (1940), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1941. Olivier was one of the most acclaimed actors of his generation, on both stage and screen, and Britain's most prestigious acting awards are named after him.

Jennifer Jones was one the bigger film stars of the 1940s and 1950s, and won an Academy Award for "Song of Bernadette" (1943). Jones retired in the mid-1960s and spent much of her life focused on mental health. She died in 1990 at the age of 90.

Answer: Strictly Ballroom

"Strictly Ballroom" (1992) was co-written and directed by Australian Baz Luhrman. The movie was originally written as a stage play, and was Luhrman's first foray into film - prior to that his focus was in theatre.
The title of the movie comes from the overall storyline. The character of Scott Hastings is a ballroom dancer who wants to incorporate his personal style into traditional ballroom dancing, but his steps are not strictly ballroom dancing steps.
This causes conflict with his partner and she leaves him to find another partner who will dance more formally. Scott then takes on a novice ballroom dancer as partner, whose Spanish origins influence her dance style. As they practice, a relationship develops, but outside influences threaten their new partnership.

Answer: Gregory Hines

Gregory Hines and Mikhail Baryshnikov create good chemistry on screen, and their dance moves sizzle. Like several other popular dance films from the 1980s, this one won a Best Song Oscar for Lionel Richie, with the tune 'Say You, Say Me'. Helen Mirren, Geraldine Page and Isabella Rossellini also all appear in this film...what a cast!

Answer: The Red Shoes

Moira Shearer is Victoria Page, the young ballerina who will stop at nothing to gain the notice of ballet impresario Boris Lermontov (Anton Walbrook). Her obsession gains her entrance into his ballet company, but at what price?

Answer: Penelope Cruz

"A Matador's Mistress" is the US title of the 2008 bio-pic "Manolete". It tells the story of legendary bullfighter Manuel Laureano Rodríguez, with Adrien Brody as the title character. "Por Una Cabeza" is used as background music to the romance between Manolete and Antonita, Penelope Cruz's character.

Penelope Cruz is the foremost Spanish actress of her generation. She won an Academy Award for her performance in the Woody Allen comedy "Vicky Christina Barcelona" (2008) and has several other Oscar nominations. She is the first Spanish actress to win an Oscar and the first with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Other notable performances include "Volver" (2007), "Nine" (2010) and "Parallel Mothers" (2021).

Answer: Randolph Scott

Randolph Scott had begun his film career in 1927, working as an extra and bit-player, before moving to stage work at the Pasadena Playhouse in an effort to gain experience. By 1932, he was established enough to have been given a contract by Paramount. At Paramount, he established a reputation as a leading man in Westerns, before he was loaned to RKO, where he made his first appearance alongside Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in "Roberta". The studio retained Scott to appear in three further films; "Village Tale", "She" and "Follow the Fleet". His success in these, as well as his subsequent appearance in "The Last of the Mohicans" for independent producer Edward Small, led Paramount to exclusively utilise Scott as a leading man in their 'A' pictures for the remainder of his time with the studio.

Answer: Step Up

In "Step Up" (2006), a street dancer and petty criminal, Tyler Gage, gets caught damaging a performing arts school and has to complete 200 hours of community service there to make amends.
While there he meets Nora, who sees him dancing and convinces him to help her with her final performance. Their relationship develops but Tyler is torn between his old life and the new possibilities that dancing offers.
Channing Tatum, who played the part of Tyler, and Jenna Dewan, who played the part of Nora got married in 2009 after meeting on the set of "Step Up".

Answer: Tom Cruise

"Risky Business" is a teen drama/comedy film. First choice for the lead part of Joel was Timothy Hutton. Tom Hanks and Nicholas Cage also auditioned, but the part went to Tom Cruise.

"Risky Business" is regarded as the movie which launched Tom Cruise's career, giving him his first leading role. He is now a film producer as well as an actor and in 2006 was ranked the world's most powerful celebrity by "Forbes" magazine.

The iconic dance sequence in "Risky Business" was improvised and in order to carry out the famous slide at the start of the scene, Cruise wore socks and waxed the floor.