Rewritten Songs, Books and Movies Titles Quiz

Answer: Climbing Over Rocky Mountain

The 1879 "Pirates of Penzance" is a comic opera written by the great duo, Gilbert and Sullivan, who, incidentally, didn't get along well at all. The story centres around Frederic, a young pirate who has just completed his piratical apprenticeship. After meeting the daughters of a Major-General, and Mabel in particular, the young couple fall in love. Of course nothing goes smoothly for all concerned in this work, but we are treated to some fantastic songs over the course of events until this delightful tale eventually reaches its happy conclusion. "Climbing Over Rocky Mountain" is sung by the chorus of girls as they first come in sight of Frederick who has never set eyes on any other female in his life, apart from his rather dowdy ex-nursemaid.

He is astonished at such beauty, and with Mabel in particular.

Answer: The Grapes of Wrath

"The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck was published in 1939. Set in the Great Depression in the United States, the story is about a poor family of tenant farmers from Oklahoma who have been forced to leave their home. Deciding, like thousands of other people in similar circumstances, to head for California to find work, they are joined on their journey by family member Tom Joad, who has just been paroled from prison. Hard work, exploitation, poor wages, the formation of unions, violence and murder lay ahead in this extremely depressing and anger invoking work.

This is exactly the effect Steinbeck was after. He said he wanted to "rip a reader's nerves to rags" in order to bring shame to all those powerful people, who, by their overwhelming greed and selfishness, were responsible for the Great Depression. I detest this sort of didactic work.

Answer: Modern Family

"Modern Family" is an extremely amusing US sitcom with quite a large number of actors. With the storyline based around the extended family of Jay Pritchett, who all live near him, we are treated to the various happenings of Jay's beautiful young Colombian wife, Gloria (hilariously feisty), her son, Manny, by a previous relationship (perpetually worried), Jay's ex-wife DeDe (who pops in now and then), his gay son, Mitchell, whose partner is the hilarious Cameron (my favourite character), their adopted daughter Lily (wise beyond her years), Jay's daughter Claire (uptight and competitive), her laid back husband Phil (for whom things seldom go right), and their three children, Haley, Alex and Luke (who all come with assorted problems to add to the mirth).

This truly delightful series first went to air in 2009 and was still going strong in 2015. It makes you feel happy from the opening scene in every single episode.

Answer: Twelve Angry Men

The 1957 "Twelve Angry Men" gives us the story of a twelve man jury deliberating on the guilt or innocence of a young man accused of murdering his father. Eleven members of the jury quickly come to a verdict with hardly any discussion at all, and, thinking they'll be able to go home quickly, turn to the last member (Henry Fonda) for his vote. To their astonishment, and annoyance, he votes not guilty on the grounds that the jurors haven't discussed the case properly, and that the young's man life is in their hands.

The rest of the film centres around these enforced discussions, and the increasing anger of the jurors involved, as the vote slowly, agonisingly, changes to one of innocence.

Answer: Bridge Over Troubled Water

Performed by the famous duo, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, the 1970 song "Bridge Over Troubled Water" was the lead single on the album of the same name. This beautiful number is considered today to be their most famous - and rightly so. Ranked forty-eight on "Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", the Bridge quickly found itself at the top of the music charts, not only in the US, but also in the UK, France, Canada and New Zealand as well. Some of its glorious, soaring lyrics follow. These are from the song's final verse. It was written after Simon's then wife, Peggy, noticed her first grey hairs.

"Sail on silver girl
Sail on by
Your time has come to shine
All your dreams are on their way
See how they shine
If you need a friend
I'm sailing right behind
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind."

Answer: Little Women

Written by US author, Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888), "Little Women" was originally published in two volumes over two years (1868 and 1869). It relates the journey to adulthood of the four March sisters, one of whom, the gentle Beth, dies young. The girls and their mother are without their father and husband for much of this work, as he is away doing his bit during the American Civil War. They don't have much to live on, but the house is always filled with love, fun, laughter and various escapades. To a degree, "Little Women" is a very idealised portrait of girls and women in that era, and a fascinating historical glimpse into how females were expected to act at that time in history.

Meg, the eldest girl, is the epitome of these expectations and just a little bit boring. Jo, the second eldest, is the non-conformist, the reaction against society's gender stereotyping if you like. Beth, the girl who dies, represents all that is fine and sweet with girlhood, a lovely work of fairy tale fairy floss. Amy is the youngest, spoiled, selfish, vain and self-centred, and yet more true to life perhaps than her three older siblings. It's as though the author had taken four different aspects of the one person and developed each into a separate entity. Well, that's what I think as an adult. As a girl, however, I loved the book, thought it would be wonderful to live back then, and wished, ever so romantically, that Jo would have married Laurie, the boy next door.

Answer: One Foot in the Grave

Starring Richard Wilson as the perpetually moaning, accident prone Victor Meldrew who has been forced to take early retirement, and his long suffering wife, Margaret (Annette Crosbie), "One Foot in the Grave" ran from 1990 until 2000, with a five year break between 1995 and 2000. Victor is jinxed, there's no two ways about it, but he also brings a lot of his problems down on himself, with his irascible personality and chronically outraged indignation in the way he perceives the actions of others.

The story line is weirdly possible, touching, sad and absolutely hilarious all at the same time, and truly one of the funniest television series I've ever had the pleasure to see. It ends unhappily though. I wish they hadn't done that.

Answer: Groundhog Day

Made in 1993, the extremely funny romantic comedy "Groundhog Day" stars Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell. It tells of a less than desirable television meteorologist Phil Connors (Murray) who travels with a camera crew, which includes the lovely news producer Rita Hanson (MacDowell), to attend the annual Groundhog Day celebrations at Punxsutawney in Pennsylvania.

There, to his horror, he finds he is doomed to live the same day over and over again, with hilarious, sometimes tragic but ultimately rewarding consequences when the "spell" is finally broken by his love for Rita.

Answer: Shall We Gather at the River

The beautiful old hymn "Shall We Gather at the River", or "At the River" as it is sometimes known, was written in 1864 by composer Robert Lowry (1826-1899). The river in this number refers to the river of life that flows from the throne of God. Sung by a lyric soprano, this hymn is one of the loveliest I've ever heard. Some of its lyrics follow:

"Yes, we'll gather at the river
The beautiful, the beautiful river
Gather with the saints at the river
That flows by the throne of God".

Answer: Anne of Green Gables

My very favourite book from childhood, "Anne of Green Gables" (1908) was written by L.M. Montgomery. One of the most popular works of all time, it has sold over fifty million copies since it was first written, been translated into twenty different languages, and spawned a series of follow up books all featuring Anne. In addition to that, by 2015, this lovely work has seen the production of three films, seven television movies, six television series, and two musicals. I love it. We first meet Anne of Green Gables when she is sent out to Prince Edward Island to live with Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert - who are expected a boy to help Matthew out on the farm. Instead they are sent an eleven-year-old red-haired girl with a very vivid imagination, a lively temper, a generous nature, a constantly chattering tongue, and a heart that is longing to be loved and belong to somebody.

Over the years that follow in the series of six books dealing directly with Anne, we watch her find her permanent home - and love - at Green Gables with Marilla and Matthew, get into hilarious scrapes, go to college, fall in love, marry and have a large brood of children who grow to adulthood all before our entranced eyes. Two other books about Anne's children were also written, plus two on the various souls who inhabit the lovely village of Avonlea, with Anne, of course, appearing in all of them from time to time. The entire set are books of enchantment and joy and happiness. Even all this time later, I still have them all, and, yes, still read them now and then.