Sailing the Oceans Trivia Quiz

Somewhat surprisingly for a film made in 1925 in Russia, 'Battleship Potemkin' has become widely acclaimed. It is a silent film, so there are no issues with dialogue, taking its inspiration from a real life mutiny which took place in 1905. It was directed by Sergei Eisenstein whose innovative work also led to renown.

The film depicts an uprising on the ship of the title. Sailors who have protested against the poor food they are given are condemned to death, but the firing squad refuses to carry out the sentence. The officers are overwhelmed by weight of numbers and thrown overboard before the ship heads for the port of Odessa. This leads to the film's most memorable scene as protestors are ruthlessly shot by the Tsar's army. The battleship leaves to face a fleet sent by the Tsar, but the opposing sailors disobey orders to shoot their colleagues and the Potemkin escapes, a symbol of the revolution.

The real life mutiny on the ship named HMS Bounty has provided much inspiration for books and films. The one starring Clark Gable as Fletcher Christian dates from 1935, with Charles Laughton playing William Bligh, the captain of the ship. The film, despite several historical inaccuracies, was very successful and won the Oscar for Best Picture. Laughton, Gable and Franchot Tone, who played a midshipman, were all nominated for the Best Actor award but none of them won.

The story is based on a voyage made by HMS Bounty under the command of William Bligh, who is depicted as a merciless tyrant who treats the sailors poorly. Fletcher Christian is a much more sympathetic character, and he is constantly at odds with the captain. Eventually, Christian becomes involved in a mutiny, setting Bligh adrift with others in a boat but with the means to find safety, which they do. The mutineers spend time on Tahiti, before Fletcher Christian and some of his followers leave for Pitcairn.

'The Sea-Wolf' is novel by Jack London which was published in 1904. There are several adaptations, including some silent films, but the one on the list is the 1941 version with Edward G Robinson, Ida Lupino and John Garfield in the cast. Michael Curtiz was the director and was extremely successful at the time - 'Casablanca' was directed by him in 1942.

The film's plot involves two people who are rescued from a sinking ferry by a sealing ship captained by Wolf Larsen, played by Edward G Robinson. The two passengers from the ferry, an author (played by Alexander Knox) and an escaped convict (Ida Lupino) are forced to stay on their rescuers' boat. The captain is a cruel taskmaster, which eventually leads to a mutiny which fails. The characters played by Lupino and Garfield fall in love, but only two of the four main stars are destined for a happy ending.

Released in 1953, this British film was based on a novel written by Nicholas Montserrat depicting the work of the Merchant Navy and Royal Navy escorting the convoys in their perilous journeys across the Atlantic Ocean. Known as the Battle of the Atlantic, the ships were under constant threat from the German U-boats (submarines).

The film starred Jack Hawkins as the commander of a corvette with other officers played by Donald Sinden, Stanley Baker and Denholm Elliott. The film depicts the hardships endured by the crew, including the sinking of their original ship, and the strains put on their relationships with the women left to cope alone in the UK.

Rather different from the other films in the quiz, 'Carry on Cruising' is a 1962 comedy in the series of 'Carry on' films which were known for bawdy double entendres and a regular group of actors. Those who appeared in this film included Sid James, Kenneth Connor and Kenneth Williams.

Sid James plays the captain of a cruise liner who is given a replacement crew who are less than efficient. The passengers include two ladies, played by Liz Fraser and Dilys Laye, who are on the lookout for new husbands during the trip, which takes in places around the Mediterranean. The plot has the usual 'Carry on' mishaps, misunderstandings and farcical situations. It ends on a happy note as the captain, having been offered a promotion, decides to stay where he is.

Peter Benchley wrote the novel which inspired the film with the book coming out in 1974 and the film a year later. Steven Spielberg directed the film and it starred Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss. It became a blockbuster success, recouping the cost of its production within ten days.

This story of a man eating shark terrorising a beach resort in New England showed an initial battle between the mayor of the resort and its police chief (Scheider) about whether the beaches should remain open. The mayor's view prevails until further victims are killed. A professional shark hunter (played by Robert Shaw) is employed and, with the help of marine biologist Matt Hooper (Dreyfuss), the culprit, a great white shark, is eventually disposed of.

This Australian film dates from 1989 and was adapted from a 1963 novel by Charles Williams. It is notable for bringing Nicole Kidman to wider attention and had Billy Zane and Sam Neill as the only other cast members. It was filmed around Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

The plot focuses on a married couple, played by Neill and Kidman, who have lost their son and go to sea in their yacht as a means of coming to terms with the death. They rescue a man, Zane's character, from a damaged ship which sets in motion a series of dramatic events. Some of the scenes are genuinely scary and the film proved popular.

Based on the real life disaster of the sinking of RMS Titanic in 1912, this very successful 1997 film starred Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. It was written and directed by James Cameron, who created a fictional love story around some of the real people who were on the ship's doomed maiden voyage.

Kate Winslet plays Rose DeWitt Bukater, an upper class young woman engaged to an older man, played by Billy Zane (in his second appearance in the quiz). She doesn't love him but he is wealthy and her father's death has left her mother impoverished. She meets Jack Dawkins, a third class passenger who won his ticket in a card game, and the pair fall in love. The film does depict some of the real life passengers and the crew, including the captain, are given the names of the real life seamen. It's not a spoiler to reveal that the ship sinks and many of the characters do not survive.

This 2000 film is another to be based on a true life incident and the book written about it, by Sebastian Junger. The storm of the title hit North America in 1991 and the book was published in 1997. The fishing boat called 'Andrea Gail' was based in Gloucester, Massachusetts and was at sea when the storm hit.

The film stars George Clooney as Billy Tyne, the captain of the fishing boat with other members of the crew being depicted by Mark Wahlberg, John C Reilly and William Fichtner, among others. Diane Lane plays the girlfriend of one the crew while Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is the captain of another ship who tries to dissuade Billy from going to sea. The storm's ferocity damages the ship, but I won't add more just in case you haven't seen the film.

This 2013 film starred Tom Hanks as Captain Richard Phillips and is a dramatised version of a real life event which took place in 2009. The real life Phillips co-wrote a book about his experience, with Stephan Talty, which the film's makers adapted for the screen.

Phillips (Hanks) is in charge of a container vessel en route to Mombasa in Kenya, a voyage which takes them close to the region targeted by pirate gangs from Somalia. Despite taking precautions, the ship is boarded by pirates but not before the captain has sent most of his crew to the engine room for their own safety. The crew manage to capture the pirate leader (Barkhad Abdi) and negotiate his freedom in return for the pirates leaving the ship. They do so, but take Captain Phillips with them, leading to an eventual showdown between a rescue ship carrying special forces and the pirate gang.