Warren Beatty : The Man and His Movies Quiz

Answer: Splendor in the Grass

"Splendor in the Grass" (1961) was a great boost for the careers of Beatty and Natalie Wood. Many reviewers feel that both actors gave their best performances in this film. Wood was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress. She plays a young woman who is pressured by her mother to save herself for marriage, and is then driven to madness by her desire for Bud Stamper (Beatty), and the knowledge that he has gone to another woman for sex. Elia Kazan directed, and author William Inge wrote the screenplay; he won an Oscar for it. The cast includes Pat Hingle, Barbara Loden and Zohra Lampert. Sandy Dennis and Phyllis Diller both made their film debut in this movie.

The title comes from a poem by William Wordsworth: "Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower, we will grieve not, rather find strength in what remains behind."

Answer: Faye Dunaway

Faye Dunaway had small parts in "Hurry Sundown" and "The Happening" in 1967, before making "Bonnie and Clyde". She became a big star after the film was released, and was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for her work. She went on to win the Oscar for the 1976 film "Network".
The film was directed by Arthur Penn. It was partly filmed in Texas, and some places that Bonnie and Clyde actually robbed or hid out in were used in the movie.

Answer: The Parallax View

"The Parallax View" recalls the Kennedy assassination and all the conspiracy theories that followed. As the reporter played by Beatty investigates, he finds finds the conspiracy to kill the Senator leads to Parallax, the mysterious organization. There is in fact a terrible conspiracy, something that reporter Frady realizes too late.

Answer: Robert Altman

McCabe & Mrs. Miller might be considered a Western movie, and it is certainly a unique one. The photography, the music and the performances are all terrific. Director Robert Altman is one of the all-time great directors. He made "Short Cuts" (1993), "The Player" (1992), "Nashville" (1975), "Thieves Like Us" (1974), "The Long Goodbye" (1973), "Brewster McCloud' (1970) and "MASH" (1970).

In 2006, Robert Altman received an honorary Academy Award, "For a career that has repeatedly reinvented the art form and inspired filmmakers and audiences alike." (The quote is from the Academy presentation.) Although he never won an Oscar for a particular film, he was nominated five times for Best Director, for "Gosford Park" (2001), "Short Cuts", "The Player", "Nashville" and "MASH".

Answer: Lee Grant

Lee Grant is an actress and director. In addition to the Supporting Actress Oscar she won for "Shampoo", she's been nominated for "Voyage of the Damned" (1976), "The Landlord (1970) and "Detective Story" (1951).
Beatty also produced and co-wrote "Shampoo" with Robert Towne. In the film, George Roundy wants to open his own styling salon. He wants to become a star. But since he has simultaneous affairs with the wife, daughter and mistress of his probable financial backer, played by Jack Warden, he may have a problem. His behavior also complicates matters with his girlfriend Goldie Hawn, who thinks she's his one and only. Life gets very hectic for George, who can't seem to keep his hands out of the cookie jar.
The character of George Roundy is said to have been based on the life of hairdresser Jay Sebring, one of the victims of the murderous Manson family. George may even bear some resemblance to Beatty himself, who had his own heavily populated love life.

Answer: Warren Beatty

Diane Keaton received an Academy Award nomination for her work in "Reds". Louise Bryant is a writer who meets John Reed at a lecture, and immediately falls for him. She leaves her husband to go live a bohemian life in New York with Reed. John Reed is preoccupied with world affairs, and neglects Louise.

She leaves him for a time for the playwright Eugene O'Neill, played by Jack Nicholson. Eventually she goes back to Reed and they head for Russia, where there's a revolution going on. "Reds" was filmed in the U.S., the U.K., Spain and Finland. Beatty chose to use interviews with real people in the film, people who actually knew Reed and Bryant, who witnessed the world-shaking events portrayed in the movie.

Their moving testimony is interspersed throughout the film. Such people as Will Durant, Rebecca West, Adela Rogers St. John, George Seldes and Henry Miller appear and tell of their experiences with John Reed and Louise Bryant.

Answer: Benjamin Siegel

Benjamin Siegel (1906 - 1947) was born in Brooklyn, New York. After starting to build the gambler's paradise that is today's Las Vegas, Siegel was eventually killed by a mob hit, supposedly ordered by Lucky Luciano. Meyer Lansky and Mickey Cohen were gangsters associated with Siegel. Moe Greene is a character in the 1972 and 1974 "Godfather" films that is based on Bugsy Siegel.
The movie was written by James Toback and directed by Barry Levinson. It won Oscars for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design. It also received nominations for Best Actor for Warren Beatty, Best Supporting Actor for Harvey Keitel and for Ben Kingsley, as well as for Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Music, Original Score, Best Picture and Best Writing.

Beatty's life would change drastically after he made "Bugsy" in 1991. After meeting on the set of the movie, Warren Beatty and Annette Bening fell in love and were married the following year. They have four children, Kathlyn, Benjamin, Isabel and Ella. The actress Shirley MacLaine is Beatty's sister.

Answer: Katharine Hepburn

Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003) won four Academy Awards in her lifetime, for "Morning Glory" (1933), "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" (1967), "The Lion in Winter" (1968) and "On Golden Pond" (1981).
"Love Affair" is a 1994 romantic film directed by Glenn Gordon Caron and produced by Warren Beatty. The cast includes Garry Shandling, Pierce Brosnan, Kate Capshaw, Paul Mazursky and Brenda Vaccaro. After meeting on a plane, ex-football star Mike, played by Beatty, and Terry McKay (Bening) plan a meeting in six months time, at the Empire State Building. Terry is injured on her way to the meeting, and Mike waits in vain, thinking she's forgotten him. The story is pretty familiar by now.

The Beatty film is actually the second remake of "Love Affair". In 1957 another version of the film, called "An Affair to Remember", was made starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr.

Answer: Halle Berry

Halle Berry would go on to win the Academy Award for Best Actress for the 2001 film "Monster's Ball". Bulworth is a U.S. Senator who hates his life, and has just lost a fortune in the stock market. He puts out a contract on himself, and he is suddenly filled with a sense of liberation, feeling he can finally speak the absolute truth.

He does so, and becomes a hero, a politician who says exactly what he really thinks, using the speech of hip-hop music and culture. Sean Astin, Don Cheadle, Jack Warden and Paul Sorvino are featured in the large cast. "Bulworth" was nominated for an Oscar for Best Screenplay, by Warren Beatty and Jeremy Pikser. Warren Beatty has been involved in Democratic politics for many years, and there have been frequent rumors that he's considering a run for the U.S. Senate or the Governorship of California.

Answer: Annette Bening

The following is a list of some of the women said to have had romances with Beatty: Isabelle Adjani, Candice Bergen, Leslie Caron, Julie Christie, Joan Collins, Catherine Deneuve, Janice Dickinson, Faye Dunaway, Britt Ekland, Jane Fonda, Melanie Griffith, Daryl Hannah, Goldie Hawn, Madonna, Margaux Hemingway, Barbara Hershey, Bianca Jagger, Diane Keaton, Elle Macpherson, Joni Mitchell, Michelle Phillips, Gilda Radner, Diana Ross, Jessica Savitch, Diane Sawyer, Stephanie Seymour, Carly Simon, Inger Stevens, Barbra Streisand, Liv Ullmann, Natalie Wood, and Susannah York. (List courtesy of Wikipedia)

More importantly, Beatty has made some really fine movies, as an actor, writer, director and producer. I recommend "Reds" and "McCabe and Mrs Miller" and "Bulworth" if you're a movie buff and haven't seen them yet.