The Various, Versatile Roles of John Vernon Quiz

Answer: Point Blank

After the robbery in "Point Blank", Vernon's character turned against Marvin and left him for dead. As a final insult he also took off with Marvin's character's wife, played by Sharon Acker. The remainder of the film centered on Marvin's character's recovery and revenge. "Point Blank" was primarily filmed around the LA area, but was the first movie to have segments shot on location at Alcatraz after the 1963 closing of the prison. Actors who appeared in the film who would go on to star in a television series were Angie Dickinson, Carroll O'Connor and James B. Sikking. "The Ambushers" was a 1967 Matt Helm film starring Dean Martin and Senta Berger. "Who's Minding the Mint?" was a 1967 comedy with Jim Hutton and Dorothy Provine. Rex Harrison, Susan Hayward and Cliff Robertson starred in "The Honeypot" in 1967.

Answer: Topaz

Frederick Stafford, Dany Robin, John Forsythe and Claude Jade headed the cast of "Topaz", a spy thriller set during the cold war. In a memorable scene Vernon's character shot Juanita, played by Karin Dor, to save her from being tortured to death. Topaz was the code name for the leader of the spy ring. Hitchcock made his usual cameo portraying a man in a wheelchair at an airport.
"Torn Curtain" (1966) featured Paul Newman and Julie Andrews. "Frenzy" was a 1972 Hitchcock thriller. Henry Fonda and Vera Miles starred in the 1956 Hitchcock release, "The Wrong Man".

Answer: The Mayor

John Vernon was cast as the mayor of San Francisco in the first "Dirty Harry" film. Initially the chief and the mayor assigned Eastwood's character to the Scorpio killer case. As the movie progressed the mayor became increasingly frustrated at Eastwood's character's tactics.

When a girl was kidnapped and buried alive the mayor relented to the kidnapper's demands and assigned Harry (Eastwood) to deliver the ransom. After various encounters the killer and Harry Callahan (Eastwood) ended up in an altercation where Callahan delivered the "Do you feel lucky punk" line before killing him. Harry Guardino played Lieutenant Al Bressler.

The Chief was played by John Larch and John Mitchum was cast as Inspector Frank DiGiorgio.

Answer: The Outlaw Josey Wales

John Vernon played Eastwood's character's Confederate Missouri guerrilla captain in "The Outlaw Josey Wales". The pair refused to surrender to a cavalry regiment. After they escaped the ambush disguised as a surrender, a bounty of $5,000 was placed on Eastwood's character's head by the local Senator. Vernon's character was loosely based on one of Quantrill's Raiders named Captain Poole. Along with Eastwood and Vernon the film featured Chief Dan George, Sondra Locke and
Bill McKinney.
"Pale Rider" was released in 1985. "Hang 'Em High" was a 1968 Clint Eastwood Western. "High Plains Drifter" (1973) featured Eastwood with Verna Bloom, Marianna Hill and Billy Curtis.

Answer: Charley Varrick

"Charley Varrick" was set in New Mexico but actually principally filmed in two towns in Nevada. Walter Matthau played the title role of Charley Varrick, a crop duster who also robbed banks. When he and his cohorts robbed a small bank they netted over $750,000 and deduced that it was mob money.

The bank manager only reported $2,000 missing to cover up the fact the money was laundered and the chase was on. Near the finale Vernon's character was run down by Joe Don Baker's character as they were both trying to apprehend Varrick and the stolen cash. "Charley and the Angel" was a 1973 Walt Disney movie starring Fred MacMurray in one of his last film roles. "The Seven-Ups" was a 1973 Roy Scheider Crime Drama set in New York. "Thieves Like Us" was a 1974 film starring Keith Carradine and Shelley Duval.

Answer: Animal House

John Vernon played Faber College head Dean Vernon Wormer. Dean Wormer's wife, Marion, (Verne Bloom) had a fling with one of the Delta boys in "Animal House" after arriving at the fraternity half drunk. She soon left town for an extended vacation. Vernon's character put all the Delta fraternity members on "double secret probation" and charged Omega House fraternity member Doug Neidermeyer, played by Mark Metcalf, with the task to find a way to get the Delta gang expelled. "In Praise of Older Women" (1978) paired Tom Berenger and Karen Black. Brooke Shields and Keith Carradine appeared in the 1978 film "Pretty Baby" and "The Silent Partner" starred Elliott Gould, Christopher Plummer and Susannah York the same year.

Answer: Herbie Goes Bananas

In "Herbie Goes Bananas" the car was entered in the Brazil Grand Primeo. Paco stowed away in the car to escape being captured by prior victims of his larceny. A lot of the antics took place on board the ship en route to Rio De Janiero. Harvey Korman played the captain . Korman's character threw Herbie into the ocean but Herbie was saved by Paco, though rusty from the experience.

In an effort to disguise Herbie he was indeed later covered in bananas. "Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo" was released in 1977 and preceded "Herbie Goes Bananas". "Herbie Rides Again" was the second in the series, released in 1974 and "The Love Bug" was a 1997 release.

Answer: Fraternity Vacation

"Fraternity Vacation" was set in Palm Springs and involved a group of Theta Pi Gamma fraternity members squaring off against rival fraternity members for the attention of co-eds. John Vernon was cast as the police chief and foil for the party crew. Stephen Geoffreys, Sheree J. Wilson and Leigh McCloskey shared billing.
"Revenge of the Nerds" was a 1984 release. National Lampoon's "Van Wilder" was 2002 frat movie starring Ryan Reynolds as Vance "Van" Wilder Jr. "Going Greek" was a 2001 release about a high school football star wanting to join a fraternity.

Answer: Ernest Goes to Camp

"Ernest Goes to Camp" was the second film to feature the character of Ernest P. Worrell, as played by Jim Varney. While Ernest was trying to get promoted from a maintenance man to a counselor at the camp, John Vernon's character was trying to get the ore that was under the camp property by any means possible. Vernon's character tried to get the owner to sign a sales agreement masked as a conservation petition.

When that failed, Ernest got involved in a showdown with Vernon's character, even putting his finger in his gun barrel and punching him out.

This was the only Ernest movie in the series to cast John Vernon. Southern character actor Gailard Sartain made his first appearance in an Ernest movie in this film laying a chef. He went on to appear in the following two Ernest films.

Answer: I'm Gonna Git You Sucka

"I'm Gonna Git You Sucka" could be described as a "mockumentary" genre film dealing with black actors and their Hollywood history. In the film Wayans' character sought revenge on Vernon's character because he believed he was responsible for putting gold chains on the streets after his brother died of a "gold overdose".

He solicited several noted black actors in his quest such as Isaac Hayes, Jim Brown, Bernie Casey and Antonio Fargas. "Hollywood Shuffle" was released in 1987. "The Glimmer Man" was a 1996 film starring Steven Seagal, Keenan Ivory Wayans and Bob Gunton. "A Low Down Dirty Shame" was a 1994 film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans who costarred with Charles S. Dutton and Jada Pinkett.