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Quiz about Classic British Movies
Quiz about Classic British Movies

Classic British Movies Trivia Quiz


There have been many British movies, from various studios, that could be called 'classics'. These questions will test your memory of just a few of them.

A multiple-choice quiz by romeomikegolf. Estimated time: 7 mins.
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Time
7 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
288,247
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Difficult
Avg Score
4 / 10
Plays
2985
Awards
Top 20% Quiz
Last 3 plays: pughmv (10/10), Guest 66 (4/10), Guest 173 (6/10).
Question 1 of 10
1. This movie was filmed and released in 1947 and was based on a real incident that happened six years earlier. It concerned the running aground of a ship in the Outer Hebrides. What was the name of the ship in the movie? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. The 1947 Ealing comedy film 'Passport to Pimlico' was inspired by a true story from World War Two. In the film, set just after the war, local residents discovered they were really part of Burgundy and so not subject to the strict rationing of the time. What was the real life incident that inspired the film? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. This 1968 film scared the life out of me when I first saw it. It was a film of the occult and Satanism and contained a scene with a large black horse rearing up snorting. Can you name this Hammer classic? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. This classic British movie was written as a stage play in 1923. It was remade as a film in 1941 and starred Arthur Askey and Richard Murdoch. It was about a group of passengers stranded at an isolated Cornish train station and a local legend told by the station master. The author of the play became better known for his, much later, television appearances. Who wrote the original play? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. This 1950s BAFTA (British Academy for Film and Television Arts) award winning film produced a television spin off, but with a different title, which ran for 21 years. The film starred Jack Warner and Jimmy Hanley as two policemen walking the beat. Who played the role of the villain? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. We cannot have a quiz about classic British movies without at least touching on the Hammer productions of Dracula movies. Which of the listed films was NOT made by Hammer? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. The year 1954 saw the first of a series of four films which many people regard as classics. For the first time we encountered the girls of St.Trinian's. Which of the following was the only person to appear in all four of the original films? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. This 1937 classic British comedy film was inspired by a play, and preceded the play's film version by four years. It was set in a rural railway station and featured a story about a local ghost. It was remade, with a naval theme, in 1958 as 'Up the Creek' and starred David Tomlinson and Peter Sellers. Can you remember the original film? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. This 1946 movie classic had the tag line 'Neither Heaven nor Earth could keep them apart'. It starred David Niven as a British pilot undergoing surgery and fighting for his life. The story revolved around the fact that he was dying before his time. Can you recall the name of this film? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. This classic British movie was made in 1981 and won four Oscars in 1982 and caused screenwriter Colin Welland to exclaim 'The British are Coming' at the end of his acceptance speech. It had a cast list that contained the very best of British talent at the time. Part of the film was set in Paris. Now, what was it called? Hint



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Most Recent Scores
Mar 11 2024 : pughmv: 10/10
Mar 11 2024 : Guest 66: 4/10
Mar 08 2024 : Guest 173: 6/10
Mar 03 2024 : Guest 109: 6/10
Feb 22 2024 : Hayes1953: 3/10
Feb 18 2024 : Guest 79: 4/10
Jan 29 2024 : Guest 81: 6/10

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. This movie was filmed and released in 1947 and was based on a real incident that happened six years earlier. It concerned the running aground of a ship in the Outer Hebrides. What was the name of the ship in the movie?

Answer: S.S Cabinet Minister

The film was, of course, 'Whisky Galore'. Written by Compton McKenzie, it was about the ship running aground with 24,000 cases of Scotch on board and the islanders attempts to hide it from the revenue men. The real ship that ran aground in 1941 was the S.S. Politician and it was indeed carrying whiskey.

It has also been revealed that it carried £145,000 in bank notes. Not all of the cash was recovered from the wreck. Some of the real whisky found its way onto the American market in 1991.
2. The 1947 Ealing comedy film 'Passport to Pimlico' was inspired by a true story from World War Two. In the film, set just after the war, local residents discovered they were really part of Burgundy and so not subject to the strict rationing of the time. What was the real life incident that inspired the film?

Answer: A Dutch Royal birth

During World War Two the Dutch royal family fled to Canada to escape the occupation. At the time Princess Juliana was pregnant. Dutch law stated that to succeed to the throne the heir must be born on Dutch soil. The Canadian Government passed a law making the apartment where they lived Dutch Territory.
3. This 1968 film scared the life out of me when I first saw it. It was a film of the occult and Satanism and contained a scene with a large black horse rearing up snorting. Can you name this Hammer classic?

Answer: The Devil Rides Out

'The Devil Rides Out' was originally written by Dennis Wheatley in 1934 but wasn't made until 1968 because of censorship rules regarding Satanism. The story revolved around four main characters and their attempts to defend themselves against a night of black magic forces. The scene with the horse was where the Angel of Death appeared in front of them. In an interview, Christopher Lee, the main star, has said it was his favourite of all his films and would like to see it remade using modern techniques.
All of the other named films were also Hammer productions.
4. This classic British movie was written as a stage play in 1923. It was remade as a film in 1941 and starred Arthur Askey and Richard Murdoch. It was about a group of passengers stranded at an isolated Cornish train station and a local legend told by the station master. The author of the play became better known for his, much later, television appearances. Who wrote the original play?

Answer: Arnold Ridley

Arnold Ridley was better known to us as Private Godfrey in 'Dad's Army'. The play, and film, was 'The Ghost Train'. The legend, as told by the station master, was that the train contained the dead bodies of a train crash many years earlier and it meant death to anyone who saw it.

In reality it was a real train that was being used for smuggling and the story was made up to scare away strangers. Ridley was inspired to write it after he himself was stranded at an isolated station near Bristol.
5. This 1950s BAFTA (British Academy for Film and Television Arts) award winning film produced a television spin off, but with a different title, which ran for 21 years. The film starred Jack Warner and Jimmy Hanley as two policemen walking the beat. Who played the role of the villain?

Answer: Dirk Bogarde

The film was, of course, 'The Blue Lamp' and the spin off was 'Dixon of Dock Green'. In the film PC George Dixon (Jack Warner) was shot and killed by Tom Riley (Dirk Bogarde) during a robbery. The film went on to show the hunt for the killer who was eventually arrested by PC Andy Mitchell (Jimmy Hanley).
Although he died in the film, the character of George Dixon was revived five years later for the television series.
Stratford Johns appeared in a later police show, 'Z Cars' and then 'Softly Softly', Peter Cushing played so many roles it is impossible to really pick out just one and Bernard Lee, who played Inspector Cherry in the film, went on to become better known as 'M' in the James Bond films.
6. We cannot have a quiz about classic British movies without at least touching on the Hammer productions of Dracula movies. Which of the listed films was NOT made by Hammer?

Answer: Dracula's Daughter

'Dracula's Daughter' was made by Universal Studios in 1936 as a sequel to their original 1931 film 'Dracula'. It was based on an unpublished chapter of Bram Stoker's original novel.
Hammer made, in total, nine Dracula movies including a Kung Fu version called 'Legend of The Seven Golden Vampires'. It was the Dracula movies that gave us the combination of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, although neither of them appeared in all nine films.
7. The year 1954 saw the first of a series of four films which many people regard as classics. For the first time we encountered the girls of St.Trinian's. Which of the following was the only person to appear in all four of the original films?

Answer: George Cole

Despite being synonymous with the role of the headmistress, Alistair Sim only appeared in the first two films as Miss Fritton, the headmistress was played by Irene Handl, as Miss Gale, in the third and by Dora Bryan as Miss Spottiswood in the fourth. Joyce Grenfell played the part of policewoman Ruby Gates (she was promoted to Sergeant in the second film) and Lloyd Lamble was Superintendent Samuel Kemp-Bird also in the first three. George Cole as 'Flash Harry' was the only one to have appeared in all four of the original films. George Cole put his successful career down to the mentoring he received from Alistair Sim in his early years.
8. This 1937 classic British comedy film was inspired by a play, and preceded the play's film version by four years. It was set in a rural railway station and featured a story about a local ghost. It was remade, with a naval theme, in 1958 as 'Up the Creek' and starred David Tomlinson and Peter Sellers. Can you remember the original film?

Answer: Oh Mr Porter

The film was loosely based on Arnold Ridley's 'The Ghost Train'. There were many similarities between the two. Both films featured lonely railway stations, ghosts and smuggling guns. The main characters in 'Oh Mr Porter were Will Hay, in the title role, Moore Marriott as his elderly deputy and Graham Moffatt as an insolent, young and overweight porter.

The three worked together on several films of the era. The writer of 'Dad's Army', Jimmy Perry, was reported as saying that he came up with the idea of three central characters, Captain Mainwaring, Sergeant Wilson and Private Pike after watching 'Oh Mr Porter'.
9. This 1946 movie classic had the tag line 'Neither Heaven nor Earth could keep them apart'. It starred David Niven as a British pilot undergoing surgery and fighting for his life. The story revolved around the fact that he was dying before his time. Can you recall the name of this film?

Answer: A Matter of Life and Death

At the start we saw a young pilot lost over the Channel and an American girl on the other end of the radio trying to guide him home. The plane crashed and the pilot was feared dead. He was found however on a beach near to the American airwomen's base.

The rest of the film switched between Earth, in colour, and Heaven, in black and white. The Earthly scenes were concerned with the pilot's mental health and a brain operation, the Heavenly scenes were about a trial deciding on whether he should be dead or not.
10. This classic British movie was made in 1981 and won four Oscars in 1982 and caused screenwriter Colin Welland to exclaim 'The British are Coming' at the end of his acceptance speech. It had a cast list that contained the very best of British talent at the time. Part of the film was set in Paris. Now, what was it called?

Answer: Chariots of Fire

'Chariots of Fire' was based on the true story of two very different, but very similar men in the British Olympic squad of 1924. Eric Liddell was a devout Scot and Harold Abrahams was a Jewish Englishman. The film centered on the preparations for and the competing in the Paris Games. During the run up to the Games, Abrahams was a student at Cambridge, and Liddell was preparing himself for missionary work in China.
Harold Abrahams died, aged 78, in January 1978 and Eric Liddell died in a labour camp in 1945. The missionary, in China, where he worked was taken over during the war.
Source: Author romeomikegolf

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