They Wanted to Speak... Trivia Quiz

Answer: Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey

There was a silent rendition of Shakespeare? Somewhat unusual, perhaps, but listings for more than thirty such feature films can be found online, including this one, for which the Bard shared writing credits with three others! Bushman not only played Romeo, but co-directed with John W. Noble.

Zeffirelli chose to use virtual unknowns to play the doomed lovers, whose families had been engaged in deadly feuding for decades. Hussey's subsequent career has been more prolific than Whiting's, including roles in "Death on the Nile" (1978), "Social Suicide" (2015) and many in between. Whiting also appeared in "Social Suicide", based loosely on the same Shakespeare tale discussed here, but in only a handful of other films since the late 'sixties.

The incorrect choices have all appeared in versions of the story, but not together. Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer were the stars of the 1936 version directed by George Cukor. DiCaprio and Danes appeared in "Romeo + Juliet"(1996) in which Baz Luhrmann updated the setting to modern times. McAvoy and Blunt voiced (literally) "Gnomeo and Juliet" (2011) which turned all of the principle characters into garden gnomes!

Answer: Elmo Lincoln

Lincoln, who had appeared in movies since 1913, played Tarzan in three movies between 1918 and 1921, and had small roles in two "Tarzan" movies in the 1940s, with other actors playing the title role. Later still he appeared on a television program and recreated his version of the "yell", which was less impressive than the better known one.

Whether or not the trademarked "Tarzan yell" was the product entirely of Weissmuller's voice has long been debated, though Johnny himself claimed that it was.

The incorrect choices have all appeared as the ape man in sound versions based on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Answer: Conrad Veidt

The original involved a carnival, a fortune-telling sleepwalker who might also have been a murderer (Cesare) and some young people who ran afoul of Caligari and Cesare. The remake involved a young woman (Glynis Johns) who was held prisoner in Caligari's (Dan O'Herlihy) estate after her car broke down nearby.

Conrad Veidt began his acting career in 1916, initially in German films and later in England and Hollywood, where he died in 1943, aged only 50. Only a year earlier he had played Major Strasser in "Casablanca".

Werner Krauss appeared in the 1920 "Caligari" in the title role. Werner Klemperer, best known as Colonel Klink of TV's "Hogan's Heroes" was born the same year that movie was released. Waltz, an Austrian, played a Nazi in "Inglourious Basterds" (2009).

Answer: Glenn Ford

Valentino and Ford both took on the role of Julio Desnoyers, described as a playboy and artist, and who had an affair with a married woman.

Glenn Ford was born in a small town in the province of Quebec, Canada in 1916 and started his acting career in the late 1930s. His credits included "Gilda" (1946), ""The Blackboard Jungle" (1955) and "The Gazebo" (1959) amongst many others. He passed away in 2006, aged 90.

The three incorrect choices were all born in Canada, but not until some years after 1962.

Answer: Cecil B. de Mille

The silent version starred Theodore Roberts as Moses and featured a 'modern' section starring Richard Dix and Rod La Rocque in which the practical application of the commandments was examined. When he made the sound remake, de Mille stuck to the Biblical story of Moses (Charlton Heston this time) leading the Israelites out of Egypt to the promised land. The parting of the Red Sea featured in both movies.

De Mille's directing credits ranged from "The Squaw Man" in 1914 to the 1956 version of "The Ten Commandments". His "The Greatest Show on Earth" (1952) won the Best Picture Oscar, and he received Best Director nominations for both "Greatest Show" and the sound version of "The Ten Commandments".

The incorrect choices all directed remakes of films they had already made, but all were in the sound era. Capra remade "Lady for a Day" (1933) as "Pocketful of Miracles" in 1961. Hitchcock made versions of "The Man Who Knew Too Much" in 1934 and 1956, the latter starring James Stewart and Doris Day. Hawks remade the comedy "Ball of Fire" (1941) as the musical "A Song is Born" (1948).

Answer: Quasimodo

"The Hunchback of Notre Dame" by Victor Hugo has been filmed on many occasions, but Chaney and Laughton have provided the standard for portrayals of the bell-ringer Quasimodo. The 1923 version featured Patsy Ruth Miller as Esmerelda, while Maureen O'Hara took that role in 1939. The animated film utilised the voice of Demi Moore as the gypsy dancer.

Other notable portrayals of the hunchback have been by Anthony Quinn in 1956 and Anthony Hopkins in a 1982 made for TV movie.

Answer: Francis X. Bushman and Stephen Boyd

Childhood friends despite one being Roman (Messala) and the other an Israelite (Judah Ben-Hur), their friendship ended in Messala's betrayal of Ben-Hur, which led to years of slavery for the latter. Both movies featured exciting chariot race sequences in which the two faced off against each other.

The talkie version walked away with a then-record 11 Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director (William Wyler) and Best Actor (Heston). In an interesting side note, Wyler had been an uncredited assistant director for the silent version, the full title of which was "Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ".

The incorrect choices all appeared in the movies, in similar roles. Currier and Hawkins were (Quintus) Arrius; de Brulier and Jaffe played Simonides and Lewis and Griffith were Sheik Ilderim, with the 1925 cast members listed first.

Answer: Gerard Butler

Variously portrayed as a composer, musician or other musical genius, the Phantom had been disfigured and taken to lurking in the shadows of the opera house, where others perceived him to be a menace. In most versions he fell in love with a young singer named Christine and the action proceeded from there.

Lon Chaney was a master of disguise (known as the Man of 1000 Faces) and devised his own makeup for this movie. His expressive hand gestures, in this and other silent movies, were attributed to his having grown up the child of deaf-mute parents, using sign language to communicate with them.

The incorrect choices have all portrayed a version of the Phantom in sound films between 1925 and 2004. Rains appeared in 1943, Lom in 1962 and Schell in a 1983 TV movie.

Answer: WWI

Despite the fact that a second global conflict had taken place, the 1952 remake starring James Cagney as Captain Flagg and Dan Dailey as 1st Sgt. Quirt, stuck with the original's WWI setting.

Much of the music used in the sound version would have been familiar to First World War soldiers ("Tipperary" and "There's a Long, Long Trail" for example). Victor McLaglen and Edmund Lowe played Flagg and Quirt in 1926. Both films showed the pair as romantic rivals and less than exemplary marines, until war forced them to shape up.

Answer: Accused of jewel theft

In both films, suspicion fell on Michael "Beau" Geste when a valuable family heirloom disappeared, so he went off and joined the French Foreign Legion. His brothers John and Digby later joined him on service in North Africa and they underwent a number of adventures together, including suffering under the command of a sadistic superior. The title role was played by Ronald Colman in 1926 and Gary Cooper in 1939.

Although all the brothers were described as English, only two of the six actors involved were born in England - Colman and Ralph Forbes, who played John in 1926. Ray Milland, who played John in 1939 was born in Wales. The others were all Americans, with Cooper born in Montana and the two who played Digby, Neil Hamilton (1926) and Robert Preston (1939) born in Massachusetts.