Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Alec Guinness worked with director David Lean on several occasions during his career. The first time was in 1946, when he played Herbert Pocket in an adaptation of a novel by Charles Dickens. The film also starred John Mills in the leading role, as Pip. What is the name of this film?
2. In 1948, Alec Guinness was again directed by David Lean in an adaptation of a Dickens novel. This time he played an evil old criminal who trains the title character, a young orphan boy, to become one of his gang of pickpockets. What was the name of this film?
3. Some of the best loved British comedies were made during the 1940s and 50s at Ealing Studios, and a number of them starred Alec Guinness.
In which of them, dating from 1949, did he play an entire family, all of whom were murdered during the course of the film?
4. This 1951 Ealing comedy starred Guinness as a meek bank clerk who plans and executes the robbery of a shipment of gold bullion, and then has it made into models of the Eiffel Tower to be smuggled out of the country. Can you name this film?
5. Another of the great Ealing comedies, this film featured Alec Guinness as the leader of a gang of bank robbers who pose as a group of classical musicians. When their plans are discovered by a little old lady, they plan to kill her, but instead end up bumping each other off. What is the name of this black comedy?
6. In 1952, Alec Guinness starred in an adaptation of a novel by Arnold Bennett as an ambitious young man named Denry Machin, who uses his wits and intelligence to find ways - some honest, some not quite so - to raise his fortunes and social standing. Eventually, his ambitions are fulfilled when he becomes mayor of the town. Can you name this film?
7. In 1954, Alec Guinness played the role of a rather unusual detective in a film based on a short story by G.K. Chesterton. The title of the film is also the name of the central character. Who was he?
8. Alec Guinness' first American film, dating from 1956, was adapted from a play by Ferenc Molnar, and cast him as Prince Albert, whose marriage to Princess Alexandra, played by Grace Kelly, is being arranged by their families.
What is the name of this romantic comedy?
9. Alec Guinness won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson, a prisoner of the Japanese during World War II, in this 1957 film which reunited him with director David Lean. What was the name of this classic war drama?
10. In 1962, Sir Alec again worked with David Lean in an epic film based on the life of one of the greatest military heroes of World War I. Set in North Africa, it starred Peter O'Toole as the title character and Alec Guinness as Prince Feisal. Acknowledged today as one of the most influential films in the history of cinema, what is the name of this epic masterpiece?
11. In 1964, Sir Alec played the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, in an epic film directed by Anthony Mann. Although its reputation has improved considerably over time, the film was a massive box office failure, and led to the bankruptcy of its producer, Samuel Bronston. What is the name of this costly mistake?
12. Although he appears only in the beginning and end sequences of the film, nevertheless Alec Guinness was given star billing in David Lean's epic adaptation of Boris Pasternak's novel set during the Russian Revolution. One of the most popular and successful films of all time, what is the name of this epic romance, which dates from 1965?
13. Also from 1965 is a comedy in which Alec Guinness played a German who, during World War II, hides two American airmen who have been shot down over Germany from the authorities. Can you name this film?
14. In 1966, Sir Alec played a spymaster in West Berlin at the height of the Cold War. The film was adapted from a novel by Elleston Trevor, writing under the pseudonym Adam Hall. What is the name of this spy thriller?
15. The last time Sir Alec worked with David Lean was in the 1984 adaptation of a novel by E.M. Forster, in which he played an eccentric Indian professor. The film dealt with the tensions caused when a visiting English woman accuses a young Indian doctor of sexually assaulting her. Can you name this film?
Source: Author
Coriolanus
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spanishliz before going online.
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