Movie Nostalgia Trivia Quiz

Answer: Boys Town

Father Flanagan (Spencer Tracey) delivered this concise summary of the philosophy behind his mission to provide a secure future for disadvantaged boys in this 1938 biographical drama. Mickey Rooney co-starred as one of his more troublesome charges, who ultimately comes to value the community, and is elected its new mayor (a far cry from his earlier campaign for the position, when he tried to convince the boys to vote for him with a slogan "Don't be a sucker").

Answer: Judge Roy Bean

In 1940, 'The Westerner' gave Walter Brennan had one of his best roles (one of the three that brought him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor) playing Judge Roy Bean, the corrupt antagonist to Gary Cooper's protagonist, Cole Harden, who ends Bean's tyrannical rule in a small Western town. The movie ends with Bean's death, dramatically shot by Harden - it makes better cinema than the death of the real Roy Bean, who died peacefully in his sleep.

1972's 'The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean' was even more loosely based on the actual events of Roy Bean's life. Paul Newman played the title character (although it did get the death right). It may be most memorable for being the film debut of Victoria Principal, who earned a Golden Globe nomination for New Star of the Year - Actress based on her portrayal of Maria, the mother of his daughter Rose.

Paul Newman portrayed Fast Eddie Felson in 'The Hustler' (1961) and 'The Color of Money' (1986), while 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid', co-starring Robert Redford, was released in 1969. Walter Brennan was Grandpa Amos on the television series 'The Real McCoys' between 1957 and 1963.

Answer: Humphrey Bogart

John Huston's directorial debut in 1941 has been hailed as a film noire classic. Humphrey Bogart portrays the private detective Sam Spade, who is hired by the requisite mysterious woman to locate a missing sister - a request that turns into a much more complex situation. Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre play the criminals whose shifting loyalties keep everyone on their toes as they search for the statuette of the title.

Answer: Peter and the Wolf

Prokofiev's 'symphonic tale for children', a story based on a Russian folk tale, has been adapted for film multiple times. Disney's version was released in 1946 as part of an anthology called 'Make Mine Music', then re-released in 1947 as a short film running before the also re-released 'Fantasia'.

As was his wont, Disney made a number of changes to the original, which included adding some names, one of which was Sonia for the duck. In this version, the duck does not get eaten by the wolf; she escaped by flying into a hollow tree, and the feathers which framed the wolf's mouth when he returned from chasing her were just a few that had come loose.

Answer: Homer

This acclaimed movie follows the difficulties experienced by three veterans in adjusting to civilian life again after their experiences in World War II. Homer Parrish (Harold Russell), a star athlete in high school before the war, had lost both his hands and, despite becoming dexterous in manipulating his prosthetic hands, was unsure about marrying his high school sweetheart due to his injury. Fred Perry was forced to return to his job as a soda jerk, his profligate wife having spent all his pay (which had been pretty substantial, as he was an officer in the Air Force) on partying. Al Stephenson may look to be better off, returning to his job as a bank executive, but he is abusing alcohol in the wake of the war.

The film won a number of awards, including an honorary Oscar awarded to Harold Russell which cited him as 'bringing aid and comfort to disabled veterans through the medium of motion pictures.' This was awarded because the Academy wanted to make sure he was recognised, and did not think the amateur actor was in the running for Best Supporting Actor - which he won. This was the first, and so far only, time when an actor received two awards for the same role in the same film at a single ceremony. Russell's only previous film experience had been an army documentary called 'Diary of a Sergeant' about rehabilitating injured veterans. When William Wyler saw that film, he knew he had found the man to portray Homer.

Answer: Elwood P. Dowd

No matter what you hear, Harvey was not a 6-foot tall invisible white rabbit, he was a pookah. The name of this figure from Celtic legend is also spelled púca (Irish), pwca (Welsh) and puck, among other forms. They are shape changers, so can assume a range of forms; this trait has led to them being associated with deception and trickiness, but they can be benevolent - and Harvey was definitely a good guy.

Elwood had a reputation for eccentricity, epitomised by his practice of introducing those he met to his best friend, Harvey - whom they couldn't see. Was he real? Was he a figment of a disordered mind? What he an alcoholic hallucination? At various points, those around him reach different conclusions, but by the end of the film they decided not to perform a procedure that would forever free him of the ostensible delusion, but to let him continue in the company of his best friend.

James Stewart played Jefferson Smith in 'Mr Smith Goes to Washington' (1939), George Bailey in 'It's a Wonderful Life' (1946) and 'Jeff' Jeffries in 'Rear Window (1954).

Answer: Grace Kelly

Here we have the quintessential Cary Grant - a suave sophisticate with a sense of humor who charms those around him. This time he is John Robie, a retired cat burglar who is forced to locate the person behind a string of burglaries on the French Riviera which are being conducted using his old trademarks. As part of the process, he strikes up an acquaintance with Frances Stevens (Grace Kelly), an American whose mother is at the top of the list of likely targets because of her impressive jewelry. It's a romantic comedy, so of course they fall in love and catch the real thief.

Katherine Hepburn was his co-star in 'Bringing Up Baby' (1938), Deborah Kerr in 'An Affair to Remember' (1957), and Eva Marie Saint in 'North by Northwest' (1959).

Answer: Jets and Sharks

Shakespeare had feuding families in Verona for 'Romeo and Juliet', the 1957 stage musical on which this film was based had youth gangs in the streets of New York. The Sharks were Puerto Ricans, while the Jets were Anglo, and the upper west side of Manhattan wasn't big enough for the both of them. When Maria, younger sister of the Sharks leader, fell in love with Tony, one of the founders of the Jets, tragedy was inevitable. This time, only one of the young lovers died.

The film won ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture, as well as a special award to Jerome Robbins for his choreography. Stephen Spielberg's 2021 version kept the names the same, along with most of the musical content from Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, but did not try to replicate the original choreography, as this was a more realistic production and Robbins's conscious staginess was not considered appropriate.

Answer: Frank Sinatra

This was Sinatra's first film role as a 'bad guy', a character type more identified with the incorrect answers. John Baron and his gang have been hired to assassinate the President of the USA when he arrives in the small California town of Suddenly for a stop on his way through.

They take over the Benson family home, holding the family hostage, and get themselves ready to carry out the deed from this sniper vantage point. He dies during the shootout that takes place as the president's train arrives - and keeps going straight through without stopping.

Answer: Seven

When Maria (Julie Andrews) arrived to become the latest in a string of governesses for the von Trapp family, she was met with varying degrees of resistance from the children - but of course she eventually won them over, followed inevitably by their father (played by Christopher Plummer).

The children, in order from oldest to youngest, were: Liesl (Charmian Carr), Friedrich (Nicholas Hammond), Louisa (Heather Menzies), Kurt (Duane Chase), Brigitta (Angela Cartwright), Marta Debbie Turner), and Gretl (Kym Karath).

The song 'So Long, farewell', performed by the children as they depart from a formal party in their home, gave each one a solo bit, provoding some insight into their different personalities.