Have You Thought About Changing The Title? Quiz / Test | Literature

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. "Die Hard" (1988) starred Bruce Willis as an NYPD cop and the wonderful Alan Rickman as a German terrorist conducting a Christmas heist. On which 1979 novel by Roderick Thorp was the movie based?

Answer: Nothing Lasts Forever

"Nothing Lasts Forever" featured retired NYPD detective Joe Leland visiting his daughter on Christmas Eve, and was a sequel to Thorp's 1966 novel "The Detective", which had also been made into a movie, starring Frank Sinatra as Leland. Of course, in the "Die Hard" movie, Joe Leland's name was changed to John McClane and it wasn't a sequel, otherwise we would have had Bruce Willis playing an older Frank Sinatra or something as equally bizarre. I know I said I would try to avoid spoilers, but if you have only seen the film, you really should read the book.

2. "A Cock And Bull Story" hit the silver screen in 2005, starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, and was based on "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman" by which author?

Answer: Laurence Sterne

I am quite sure that Sterne, while writing his novel, which was first published between 1759 and 1767, didn't have the cream of UK comedy 250 years in the future in mind, but that is who ended up starring in this film. Apart from Coogan and Brydon, the movie features Stephen Fry, David Walliams, Dylan Moran, Ashley Jensen and Ronni Ancona along with Gillian Anderson.

Whilst the novel was about a book within a book, the movie uses the same premise in the world of film and sees Coogan and Brydon playing themselves playing characters in a movie.

3. Stanley Kubrick's 1987 movie "Full Metal Jacket" was based on which book by Gustav Hasford, the title of which referred to how long a serviceman had left in a Vietnam tour of duty?

Answer: The Short-Timers

A short timer was classed as anyone with less than a year left of their tour in this book by Hasford, which is part novel and part autobiography. In 1990, former U.S. Marine Hasford published the second part of his trilogy, "The Phantom Blooper", but unfortunately died in 1993 before writing the final installment.

4. Science fiction horror movie "Village Of The Damned" (1960 and remade in 1995) is about telepathic children born to all the women in a village on the same day. From which John Wyndham novel was this adapted?

Answer: The Midwich Cuckoos

Wydham's novel from 1957 deals with many subjects, but specifically brood parasitism, as practised by cuckoos when they lay their eggs in the nests of others, and the rapid growth rate of the young, which forces the surrogate mother to abandon her own young in order to care for the impostor. "The Midwich Cuckoos" is considered a masterpiece by many contemporary science fiction writers and the 1995 movie remake is notable for being the final role of Christopher "Superman" Reeve before the accident which left him paralysed.

5. "Maybe Baby" was a 2000 movie starring Hugh Laurie and Joely Richardson, based on the 1999 novel "Inconceivable" by which author?

Answer: Ben Elton

Elton wrote the very successful book and then wrote the screenplay and directed the movie as well. Although the movie may not be worthy of an Oscar nomination, it does showcase the talents of Laurie, who is a talented musician and wrote the song "Sperm Test" for the movie, which he sings in a blues style to his basset hound.

6. Winner of three Oscars and nominated for four others, "The Killing Fields" (1984) can not fail to move anyone that watches it, but on which 1980 novel by Sydney Schanberg is it based?

Answer: The Death and Life of Dith Pran

David Puttnam's powerful movie about life and friendship under the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia is truly wonderful and deserving of all the accolades it has received. For me personally, however, the book is much more personal and much more moving, as Schanberg writes about his friend and the suffering he endures.

7. Cannibalistic serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter first appeared on our screens in "Manhunter" (1986). From which of Thomas Harris' novels was it adapted?

Answer: Red Dragon

In "Manhunter", Brian Cox played Lecter (spelled Lecktor), a full five years before Sir Anthony Hopkins would don one of the most famous anti-bite masks in movie history. The novel "Red Dragon", also from 1986, saw the first ever appearance of Dr. Lecter, who ends up in a hospital for the criminally insane as punishment for his crimes, before he is needed by the FBI to assist in tracking down a serial killer known as "The Tooth Fairy".

8. "Jack Reacher" (2012) sees Tom Cruise as Reacher helping a defence attorney clear the name of a man suspected of killing five people with a sniper rifle. The book on which the movie was based obviously stars Reacher, but what was it called?

Answer: One Shot

This was the first movie featuring Lee Child's character Jack Reacher, so what better way to introduce him to movie goers than use his name as the title? Keen readers, though, will know that "One Shot" (2005) is actually the ninth book in the Reacher series, and the follow up movie, "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back" (2016), is based on the novel, "Never Go Back" (2013) which is the 18th in the series.

9. "Cape Fear" has twice been the title of a movie telling the tale of a rapist taking his revenge on his accuser's family, but what was the title of the book on which the 1962 and 1991 films were based?

Answer: The Executioners

All of the possible answers are works by John D. MacDonald, but it is "The Executioners" from 1957 that served as the basis for the movies. "Cape Fear" was the title of both adaptations, one in 1962, starring Robert Mitchum and Gregory Peck, and one in 1991, starring Robert De Niro and Nick Nolte.

Although the Cape Fear River is central to the plot in both film adaptations, it is not mentioned in the novel at all.

10. A self published booklet from 1943 was turned into a book in 1944 and then in 1946 became the "go to" Christmas movie for many, "It's A Wonderful Life". What was the book by Philip Van Doren Stern called?

Answer: The Greatest Gift

It seems almost beyond belief that a movie which so many people have seen started life as a 21 page booklet that Stern gave to friends as a Christmas present, due to the fact he could not find a publisher interested in it. Stern was better known as a historian than a novelist, and has published books on a variety of subjects including the Model T Ford, prehistoric Europe and Edgar Allan Poe.

Source: Author 480154st

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
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Have You Thought About Changing The Title? Quiz

Many books are turned into movies often with the same title. Sometimes though, the plot is the same, but the movie title is nothing like the book title. I will try to avoid spoilers, but no promises.

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