Entertaining Red Trivia Quiz

Answer: Red October

"The Hunt for Red October" was based on the novel by Tom Clancy and starred Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin. Connery plays Soviet submarine captain Marko Ramius who leaves Russia with a plan to defect to the west, while Baldwin is CIA Agent Jack Ryan who guesses his intent and rushes to intercede the submarine before the US Navy is ordered to blow it up.

The part of Captain Ramius was originally played by Klaus Brandauer but he quit the role only two weeks into filming and Connery accepted and began the role with only one day's rehearsal.

Filming of the movie began in April 1989 and was due for release in February 1990 - just as the Soviet government made the announcement that the Communist Party was no longer in control which effectively ended the Cold War and the movies relevancy. A caption was added at the beginning of the movie stating that it was set in 1984 at the height of the Cold War.

Answer: Where the Red Fern Grows

"Where the Red Fern Grows" is a 1961 novel by Wilson Rawls. It was originally published as "The Hounds of Youth" in a newspaper serialisation in the "Saturday Evening Post".

The novel tells the story of ten year old Billy Coleman who comes from a poor family in the Ozarks. All he wants is a pair of Redbone Coonhounds but his family can't afford them so he works for two years and manages to save the money to buy a pair himself. The rest of the novel follows the story of his training of the dogs and the competitions that he enters them in and their wins.

The dogs end up in a fight with a mountain lion at the end of the book and Old Dan is killed. Billy buries him and then finds Little Ann dead on his grave a few days later. Billy is heartbroken but at least the dogs have earned the family enough money so that they can now move to town. On the last day Billy goes to the gravesites to say goodbye and finds a large red fern between them. This makes him feel much happier as, according to Indian legend, only an angel can plant a red fern.

Answer: Red Dwarf

"Red Dwarf" began life as a sketch on a BBC Radio 4 comedy show and extended into a ten series TV show, four novels, a radio show and magazines. The original TV series began in 1988 and ended in 1999.

The series begins on the mining spaceship Red Dwarf in the 22nd century. A radiation leak kills everyone on board except for Dave Lister (who is in suspended animation) and his pregnant cat Frankenstein who is safe in the storage hold. The ships computer Holly keeps Dave in suspension until the radiation levels decrease - this takes three million years so when Dave awakes he is the only human left alive in the universe.

Holly resurrects Dave's old bunkmate, Arnold Rimmer, as a hologram so he has someone to keep him company; unfortunately the pair have always disliked each other! There is also a character called Cat. Cat is the last descendant of Frankenstein's kittens who have evolved into a species called Felis Sapiens, a race of humanoid felines.

Answer: Kelly LeBrock

"The Woman in Red" was a romantic comedy released in 1984. Gene Wilder starred in, directed and wrote the script for the movie. He plays Teddy Pierce, an advertising executive, who becomes obsessed with a woman, played by Kelly Le Brock, whose red dress is caught in a gust of wind while walking over a grate (a la Marilyn Monroe's famous scene).

Kelly Le Brock began modelling at sixteen; she was signed to the Eileen Ford Agency and appeared on thousands of magazine covers. She was also the Pantene girl who immortalised the line "Don't hate me because I'm Beautiful".

Le Brock followed up this 'fantasy woman' movie role with another in 1985s "Weird Science" where she is created by two teenage male nerds as the perfect woman.

Rebecca DeMornay's breakthrough film role came in 1983 when she played Lana in "Risky Business".

Kim Basinger's theatrical debut was in 1979 with "Hard Country".

Heather Locklear's first movie part was in "Firestarter" in 1984.

Answer: Red Alert

"Command and Conquer" is a video franchise produced by Westwood studios. Its original game (later to be named Tiberium) was released in 1995. "Command and Conquer: Red Alert" was released in 1996 and is a prequel to the original series.

The game is set in a parallel universe created by Albert Einstein in 1946 when he travels back in time to 1924 Germany. Einstein meets the young Adolf Hitler and, by shaking his hand, wipes out his existence. Upon his return Einstein finds that without Nazi Germany to stand in his way Stalin has led the USSR to a super power who is invading Europe in a totally different version of WW2.

"Command and Conquer: Red Alert" was followed by "Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2" in 2000 and "Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3" in 2008.

Answer: 99

"Nena" was a New German Wave band formed in 1981 in West Berlin. They released their first single "Nur Geträumt" in 1982 which became an immediate hit throughout Germany.

"99 Luftballons", an anti-nuclear protest song, was released the next year with huge success in Europe. They then released an English version the year after with the title "99 Red Balloons." The songs have the same melody but are not a direct translation of each other. A Luftballon is a toy balloon filled with helium - not an 'air balloon' as it is often translated to. The use of the word 'red' in the English version is used as it fits the musical metre of 'luft'.

Although "99 Red Balloons" became a huge hit outside of Europe, topping the charts in the UK, Ireland and Canada, both Australia and the USA preferred the German version.

Answer: Red Symons

Redmond Symons is an all round Australian entertainer; he is a writer, actor, radio host and musician. He was born in England in 1949 and emigrated to Australia at age 9.

Symons first came to fame as a guitarist in the hit band "Skyhooks" which was formed in Melbourne in 1973. Symons left the band in 1977 and then spent 19 years on Australia's longest running variety show "Hey, Hey, It's Saturday" where he became well known as the sarcastic, mean judge on the shows talent segment known as "Red Faces".

Since this time he has worked as a musical director for many theatres, he has a permanent newspaper column and a breakfast radio show.

Red Buttons (Aaron Chwatt), Richard 'Red' Skelton and Redd Foxx (John Elroy Sanford) are/were all American comedians and actors.

Answer: Red Windmill

The Moulin Rouge is a famous cabaret in Paris, France that was founded in 1889. It was named after the red windmill on the building's roof. It is best known as the birthplace of the can-can dance which is still performed there today as a major tourist attraction.

The movie is set in 1899 and stars Nicole Kidman as Satine, a cabaret dancer and courtesan at the famous nightclub who falls in love with Christian, a young English writer, played by Ewan McGregor.

Christian returns the feeling but Satine is not only promised to another she is also terminally ill with TB to which she eventually succumbs.

The movie was nominated for eight Oscars and won two for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.

Answer: UB40

Neil Diamond's 1968 recording reached number 62 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Jimmy James and The Vagabonds covered the song the same year in the UK where it reached number 36. It was covered by many other people in the following years, the most significant possibly being by Tony Tribe, a Jamaican singer who recorded a reggae version in 1969, as this was the only version that UB40 had heard.

UB40 are a British reggae band formed in Birmingham, England in 1978. They have sold over 70 million records and have had over 50 singles placing in the UK charts. Their upbeat version of "Red, Red Wine" was released and made it to number one in 1983. A 1988 US release also saw it top the charts there.

Neil Diamond paid tribute to the group when he later sung the song on tour and added an extra verse:

"Red Red Wine make me feel so good
Even if the words aren't understood
Everybody get to have some fun
With UB40 - We Be Number One!"

UB40 are the only English band mentioned: U2 are an Irish rock band, the B52s are an American New Wave band and M2M was a Norwegian pop duo.

Answer: A Study in Scarlet

"A Study in Scarlet" is Doyle's first novel featuring Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson and was published in 1887. The book was one of only four ever written about the famous detective and his offsider. The others include "The Sign of the Four" (1890), "The Hound of the Baskervilles" (1901) and "The Valley of Fear" (1914). Doyle also wrote 56 short stories about Holmes and these were later publisher into five anthologies.

The title of the book comes from a quote made by Holmes to Watson in chapter four of the novel: "There's the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life, and our duty is to unravel it, and isolate it, and expose every inch of it."

"The Scarlet Letter" is a historical romance by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Baroness Emmuska Orczy wrote "The Scarlet Pimpernel", an adventure novel set during the French Revolution.

"The Scarlet Ibis" is a short story written by novelist James Hurst that has been published in many anthologies.