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Quiz about Captains Courageous IV World War II Movies
Quiz about Captains Courageous IV World War II Movies

Captains Courageous IV: World War II Movies Quiz


How well do you recognize the roles in World War II movies pertaining to people with the rank of captain? Here's another of my quizzes about captains in entertainment. Have fun!

A multiple-choice quiz by shvdotr. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
shvdotr
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
386,202
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
8 / 10
Plays
456
Awards
Top 35% Quiz
Last 3 plays: Guest 31 (8/10), Guest 175 (2/10), Guest 209 (8/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. The first war film in which John Wayne had a starring role was a 1942 Republic Studios release about pilots of the American Volunteer Group (AVG), who fought against the Japanese in China before America entered the war. Wayne played Captain Jim Gordon, the AVG leader, who has his hands full with Woody Jason (played by John Carroll), an old friend who had just joined the group, but who insists on being a loose cannon. Name this movie portraying American free-lance fighter pilots at the outbreak of World War II. Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. "The Enemy Below" was a 1957 release telling the story of two captains. One was Lieutenant Commander Murrell, captain of the destroyer escort USS Haynes. The other was U-boat Kapitän von Stolberg. The American actor was known early in his acting career for his film noir roles, while the other was German-born, but became an Austrian citizen after the war. Can you name them? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. One captain who was definitely NOT courageous was Captain Erskine Cooney in Robert Aldrich's 1956 anti-war classic, "Attack!" Which World War II veteran, who won a Bronze Star at the Battle of Tarawa in 1943, played the cowardly Cooney? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Although it contained no clashing armies, "Casablanca" was set during World War II in December of 1941. The oft-misquoted last line of the film was when Bogart, as Rick Blaine, says, "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." Louis is Captain Louis Renault, Vichy France's prefect of police in "Casablanca." But the role was played by an Englishman, actually. Who was he? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Matthew Modine played Captain Dennis Dearborn in a 1990 Warner Brothers film about a famous World War II bomber. What was the name of this B-17 Flying Fortress and the film? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. "Midway" was a 1976 blockbuster with an all-star cast. One of the two captains in the film is a senior officer involved with much of the planning and operation of the battle for Midway, but whose son is a pilot in love with an American-born Japanese girl who is interned with her parents. Can you name this captain, who is played by an Oscar winner who will eventually retire with more than 100 films under his belt? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. The 2001 release of "Pearl Harbor" tells the story of two Tennessee childhood friends and pilots who are promoted to captain following their heroic acts during the attack on Pearl Harbor. They then take part in the famous Doolittle Raid, the bombing of Tokyo from aircraft carriers in 1942. Which pair of actors played the parts of Rafe McCawley and Danny Walker? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. Who will ever forget Captain Virgil "the Cooler King" Hilts jumping a barbed wire fence on a motorcycle in "The Great Escape"? Who was this charismatic actor who was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in "The Sand Pebbles" and also starred in such films as "Nevada Smith", "Bullitt", and "The Cincinnati Kid"? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. "The Guns of Navarone" was a 1961 movie about a group of commandos assigned to destroy the huge German guns of the title. Playing key figures of the team were Anthony Quinn, David Niven, James Darren and Anthony Quayle. Captain Keith Mallory was played by an actor who would win a Best Actor Oscar in his role of Atticus Finch a year later. Who was he? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. "Objective, Burma!" was a 1945 war film loosely based on a British raid in the Burma Campaign. The film told the story of commandos led by the heroic Captain Nelson and how those who survived accomplished their mission and returned. Who was the flamboyant Australian-born actor who played Captain Nelson? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. The first war film in which John Wayne had a starring role was a 1942 Republic Studios release about pilots of the American Volunteer Group (AVG), who fought against the Japanese in China before America entered the war. Wayne played Captain Jim Gordon, the AVG leader, who has his hands full with Woody Jason (played by John Carroll), an old friend who had just joined the group, but who insists on being a loose cannon. Name this movie portraying American free-lance fighter pilots at the outbreak of World War II.

Answer: Flying Tigers

"Flying Tigers" was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Special Effects, Best Music, and Best Sound Editing. The film went into production while the AVG was still in production. Two former members of the AVG served as technical advisers.

John Wayne did star in "Flying Leathernecks," but as a major named Dan Kirby, not a captain. "Flying Leathernecks" was a 1951 production of RKO Radio Pictures.

Both "Wings" and "Aces High" were set in World War I. "Wings," released in 1927, was the first winner of the Best Picture Oscar and the only silent movie to win one. "Aces High" was an Anglo-French war film released in 1976.
2. "The Enemy Below" was a 1957 release telling the story of two captains. One was Lieutenant Commander Murrell, captain of the destroyer escort USS Haynes. The other was U-boat Kapitän von Stolberg. The American actor was known early in his acting career for his film noir roles, while the other was German-born, but became an Austrian citizen after the war. Can you name them?

Answer: Robert Mitchum and Curt Jürgens

Jürgens was born in Munich in 1915. His name is more properly written as Curd, but was known as Curt in the States. His full name was Curd Gustav Andreas Gottlieb Franz Jürgens. Similar to von Stolberg in the film, Jürgens was critical of the Nazi regime. "The Enemy Below" was his first Hollywood film, but he appeared in over 100 movies internationally during his career, including "The Longest Day", in which Mitchum also appeared, and "The Spy Who Loved Me."

In the film, after being damaged by a torpedo from the U-boat, Murrell uses a ruse to bring the sub to the surface to bring it under attack from his guns, and both ships are subsequently destroyed.

The American Film Institute listed Mitchum at number 23 of the greatest male stars of classic Hollywood.
3. One captain who was definitely NOT courageous was Captain Erskine Cooney in Robert Aldrich's 1956 anti-war classic, "Attack!" Which World War II veteran, who won a Bronze Star at the Battle of Tarawa in 1943, played the cowardly Cooney?

Answer: Eddie Albert

In 1951 Albert and his wife Margo were both blacklisted by Hollywood for suspected communist leanings, in spite of Albert's war record. Furthermore, in addition to his war record, prior to the war he had toured Mexico as a clown and high-wire artist in a circus, but was secretly working for Army Intelligence by photographing German U-boats in Mexican harbors.

Albert was twice nominated for Best Supporting Oscars.

Jack Palance and Lee Marvin, also starring in "Attack!", were also World War II veterans.

Because of its portrayal of Albert's character as a coward, the US Army refused to grant production assistance, meaning the Army would not allow the use of its equipment or film footage. As a result, for a key scene in the film, Aldrich had to buy a tank for $1000 and rent another from Twentieth-Century Fox.
4. Although it contained no clashing armies, "Casablanca" was set during World War II in December of 1941. The oft-misquoted last line of the film was when Bogart, as Rick Blaine, says, "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." Louis is Captain Louis Renault, Vichy France's prefect of police in "Casablanca." But the role was played by an Englishman, actually. Who was he?

Answer: Claude Rains

Born in London, Rains was nominated four times for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, but never won. He was, according to the "All-Movie Guide", "at his best when playing cultured villains." In addition to "Casablanca," his nominations came in "Notorious", "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington", and "Mr. Skeffington."

Greenstreet was born in Sandwich, Kent, and played Signor Ferrari. Peter Lorre was born in Austria-Hungary and played Signor Ugarte. Paul Henreid, who played Victor Laszlo, was born in Trieste, Italy, to Viennese parents. When he was born, Trieste was also part of Austria-Hungary.
5. Matthew Modine played Captain Dennis Dearborn in a 1990 Warner Brothers film about a famous World War II bomber. What was the name of this B-17 Flying Fortress and the film?

Answer: Memphis Belle

"Memphis Belle" was a joint British-American production about World War II's most famous bomber and its 25th, and last, mission. Forced to lead the mission after the loss of two other bombers to German planes, the Belle completes the bombing of an aircraft assembly plant before limping home to England while under damaging attacks of more German fighters.

Besides using the name of the Memphis Belle, the film is actually just a composite of bombing missions in Europe during the war and does not use actual crewmen names or other details of Memphis Belle missions.

Only eight surviving B-17s were still airworthy at the time the film was being made, and five of them were used in the production. One of them, The Pink Lady, was found in France. It is a B-17G, and while having seen action in World War II, it was only retired in 2010.

My Gal Sal was forced to land in Greenland during the war and has since been restored and is one of only three intact B-17E's in existence.

The Enola Gay, which is actually a B-29 Superfortress, is famous for having dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
6. "Midway" was a 1976 blockbuster with an all-star cast. One of the two captains in the film is a senior officer involved with much of the planning and operation of the battle for Midway, but whose son is a pilot in love with an American-born Japanese girl who is interned with her parents. Can you name this captain, who is played by an Oscar winner who will eventually retire with more than 100 films under his belt?

Answer: Captain Matthew Garth, played by Charlton Heston

Edward Albert played Ensign Thomas Garth, who gets wounded in the battle. Both Garths are fictional characters.

Born John Charles Carter, Heston won the Oscar for Best Actor for the title role in 1959's "Ben-Hur." He served in World War II as a staff sergeant with the 77th Bombardment Squadron. Besides having served as president of the Screen Actors Guild and the National Rifle Association, Heston was inducted into the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum's Hall of Great Western Performers.
7. The 2001 release of "Pearl Harbor" tells the story of two Tennessee childhood friends and pilots who are promoted to captain following their heroic acts during the attack on Pearl Harbor. They then take part in the famous Doolittle Raid, the bombing of Tokyo from aircraft carriers in 1942. Which pair of actors played the parts of Rafe McCawley and Danny Walker?

Answer: Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett

"Pearl Harbor" was the first film to win an Academy Award while also being nominated for Worst Picture in the Golden Raspberry Awards. Among four nominations, its Oscar came in the category of Best Sound Editing.

Wikipedia describes the film as an "epic historical romantic war film." Critics gave both the romance and historical aspects low marks, although the movie did well at the box office.

One laudable sequence was the portrayal of the heroic actions of Dorie Miller during the Japanese attack. A messman third class aboard the USS West Virginia, he first manned an anti-aircraft gun before helping to move wounded personnel to safety, saving the lives of several. He was the first African American to be awarded the Navy Cross.
8. Who will ever forget Captain Virgil "the Cooler King" Hilts jumping a barbed wire fence on a motorcycle in "The Great Escape"? Who was this charismatic actor who was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in "The Sand Pebbles" and also starred in such films as "Nevada Smith", "Bullitt", and "The Cincinnati Kid"?

Answer: Steve McQueen

McQueen attained the status of being the world's highest-paid movie star in 1974 following such films as "The Getaway" in 1972, "Papillon" in 1973, and "The Towering Inferno" in 1974. He competed in off-road motorcycle racing and has been inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame. Ever popular as an actor, even after dying of cardiac arrest due to several cancers in 1980, in 2007 his estate entered the top ten of highest-earning dead celebrities.
9. "The Guns of Navarone" was a 1961 movie about a group of commandos assigned to destroy the huge German guns of the title. Playing key figures of the team were Anthony Quinn, David Niven, James Darren and Anthony Quayle. Captain Keith Mallory was played by an actor who would win a Best Actor Oscar in his role of Atticus Finch a year later. Who was he?

Answer: Gregory Peck

Peck was nominated for a total of five Academy Awards. In 1969 President Lyndon Johnson presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 1983 he was also named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame. In '89 the American Film Institute awarded him with the AFI Life Achievement Award.

In 2000 the National University of Ireland made him a Doctor of Letters, in part because Peck was a founding patron of the University College Dublin School of Film.
10. "Objective, Burma!" was a 1945 war film loosely based on a British raid in the Burma Campaign. The film told the story of commandos led by the heroic Captain Nelson and how those who survived accomplished their mission and returned. Who was the flamboyant Australian-born actor who played Captain Nelson?

Answer: Errol Flynn

Known for his flamboyant roles as such characters as Captain Blood, Robin Hood, Don Juan, George Custer, and William Tell, Flynn was born in Tasmania in 1909 and became an American citizen in 1942. Although he tried to enlist in American forces during World War II, health problems prevented it. An autobiography, "My Wicked, Wicked Ways," was published immediately after his sudden death in 1959 and has enjoyed great popularity, selling over a million copies and never having been out of print.

"Objective, Burma!" was filmed immediately after the raid it was based on, and even included actual combat footage from the China-Burma-India theater and New Guinea. It was made with authentic US Army equipment, including aircraft and gliders, due to their availability. One controversy revolved around the film when it was released in the UK, as Winston Churchill was infuriated by Hollywood making hay with an entirely British, Indian, and Commonwealth campaign. An apology accompanied the showing of the film in the UK on its release there in 1952.
Source: Author shvdotr

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor spanishliz before going online.
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Related Quizzes
This quiz is part of series Captains Courageous:

This is a series of quizzes about famous and/or infamous captains in history, literature, and entertainment.

  1. Captains Courageous I Easier
  2. Captains Courageous II: Match Quiz Easier
  3. Captains Courageous III: TV Captains Easier
  4. Captains Courageous IV: World War II Movies Average
  5. Captains Courageous V: More War in Movies Average
  6. Captains Courageous VI: Off the Wall Average
  7. Captains Courageous VII: Big Names Very Easy

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