49th Academy Awards 1977 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Best Picture

"Rocky" (1976) is the story of Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), a small time club boxer who gets an opportunity to fight in the world heavy weight championships against the current champion, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). Whilst being trained for the championship fight by Mickey Goldmill (Burgess Meredith), Rocky develops a relationship with a pet store clerk, Adrian (Talia Shire). With only a small budget of just over one million dollars, "Rocky" became the highest grossing film of 1976 and launched the career of Sylvester Stallone.

As of 2016, "Rocky" has spawned six sequel films "Rocky II" (1979), "Rocky III" (1982), "Rocky IV" (1985), "Rocky V" (1990), "Rocky Balboa" (2006) and "Creed" (2015). As well as being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor, Sylvester Stallone was also nominated in the category of Best Original Screenplay for his screenplay for the film.

The three Academy Awards won for the film were: Best Picture, Best Director (John G. Avildsen) and Best Film Editing (Richard Halsey and Scott Conrad). Talia Shire, Burgess Meredith and Burt Young (who played Adrian's younger brother Paulie) all received Academy Award nominations for their performances in the movie.

Answer: Network

"Network" (1976) received ten nominations at the 49th Academy Awards winning four. The actors who were nominated were Peter Finch and William Holden for the Best Actor category (won by Peter Finch), Faye Dunaway was nominated and won the Best Actress category, and Beatrice Straight was nominated and won the Best Supporting Actress category. "Network" became the second film to win three of the four acting categories after "A Streetcar Named Desire" did it in 1951. Peter Finch died 77 days prior to the 49th Academy Award ceremony, thus becoming the first actor to win the Academy Award posthumously. "Network" is about a struggling television network, UBS, trying to increase its ratings. Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway) is the head of the programming department, who has an affair with Max Schumacher (William Holden), the news department president.

As the affair develops, Max leaves his wife Louise (Beatrice Straight). All this is happening as the Evening News anchorman, Howard Beale (Peter Finch) has increased the ratings of the network with his "angry man" approach to the news format.

When Beale is informed of a potential take-over by a Saudi Arabian company, he launches into an on-screen tirade calling for the people of America to protest foreign ownership of the television networks, thus putting the deal in jeopardy. The network executives, including Diana Christensen, decide to assassinate Beale on air, eliminating a network "problem".

Answer: Albert Brooks

Albert Lawrence Einstein (Albert Brooks) was born July 22, 1947 in Beverly Hills, California, U.S.A., and his grandfather, Charles Einstein, was a cousin of Albert Einstein. Albert Brooks made his screen debut as Tom in "Taxi Driver" (1976).
"Taxi Driver" is about ex-marine Travis Bickle (Robert DeNiro), who suffers from insomnia, and in an attempt to cope with the condition, becomes a taxi driver. Bickle becomes fascinated with a presidential campaign volunteer, Betsy (Cybill Shepherd), but his inability to understand the sordidness surrounding him, results in the relationship failing. Travis becomes more disgusted by the sleaze and prostitution that he witnesses throughout the city whilst driving his cab, which causes him to become depressed and violent. Bickle meets Iris "Easy" Steensma (Jodie Foster), a child prostitute who epitomizes the sleaze of New York society that Bickle perceives. As Bickle's relationship with Iris develops, he becomes more protective of her, and ultimately Bickle saves Iris from her lifestyle, which in turn saves Bickle from his suicidal depression.
Albert Brooks is also a writer and director but it was for his portrayal of Aaron Altman in the film "Broadcast News" (1986) that Brooks received an Academy award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Answer: Bugsy Malone

1976 was a big year for Jodie Foster, with all the four choice answers being films she appeared in, as well as "Taxi Driver". But it was "Bugsy Malone" that starred Scott Baio in his film debut, and "Bugsy Malone" was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Original Song Score for Paul Williams. "Bugsy Malone" is a musical film featuring only child performers portraying gangsters in the prohibition era of New York. Scott Baio played the title role Bugsy Malone, an Italian-Irish boxing scout, and Jodie Foster played Tallulah, the female companion of crime boss, Fat Sam (John Cassisi).

The film also introduced Bonnie Langford, who is best remembered for portraying Mel Bush, who was the companion of Doctor Who in the Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy era of the television series "Doctor Who".

Answer: The Hustler (1961)

Following the release of the film "The Hustler" (1961), Piper Laurie did not appear in another feature film until she portrayed Margaret White in the horror film "Carrie" (1976). In the movie "The Hustler", Piper Laurie plays Sarah Packard, the love interest of "Fast Eddie" Felson (Paul Newman) as he challenges "Minnesota Fats" (Jackie Gleason) to a high stakes game of pool. For her performance in "The Hustler" Piper Laurie was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.

In the movie "Carrie", based on the novel by Stephen King, Piper Laurie returns to the screen to portray the fanatically religious mother of Carrie White (Sissy Spacek), a teenage girl with the ability of telekinesis, and for this role Piper Laurie received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Answer: The Omen

"Ave Satani" translates to "Hail Satan" which was written by Jerry Goldsmith for the movie "The Omen" (1976). "The Omen" was directed by Richard Donner which was considered to be the launch of his film career. He followed up with movies such as "Superman" (1978) "The Goonies" (1985) and numerous Mel Gibson films including the "Lethal Weapon" franchise, "Maverick" (1994) and "Conspiracy Theory" (1997).
"The Omen" follows the life of Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck), his wife Katherine (Lee Remick) and their new born son Damien (Harvey Spencer Stephens), though this son was substituted for the couple's child who had died during childbirth. When Robert is appointed U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, mysterious events occur resulting in the deaths of Damien's nanny and Father Brennan (Patrick Troughton, remember him as the second "Doctor Who"). Thorn enlists the help Keith Jennings (David Warner) to try to uncover the truth behind Damien and his real mother. When Katherine is killed by Damien's new nanny, Mrs. Baylock (Billie Whitelaw), Thorn and Jennings locate Carl Bugenhagen (Leo McKern) who informs them that if Damien is the Antichrist, he will be marked with the number of the beast "666" and the only way to kill him is with the Megiddo mystical daggers. Robert locates the birth mark of "666" on Damien's scalp and decides to end the child's life, but Robert is killed by the police prior to this act being accomplished.
The Academy Award for Best Original Score was to be Jerry Goldsmith's only win in a long, distinguished career which resulted in 18 Academy Award nominations.

Answer: Jakob, der Lügner

"Jakob, der Lügner" ("Jacob, the Liar") was an East German film originally planned for production in 1966. Due to political criticism of the film industry in East Germany, the film was halted in its production leaving Jurek Becker with a completed script, but no movie, so he decided to publish the work as a novel in 1969.

The film was finally filmed and released in December 1974 as a television broadcast in East Germany. It was distributed to the cinemas in 1975, but due to the prior television broadcast, the film had poor attendance within the GDR.

In spite of this, "Jakob, der Lügner" was distributed worldwide and became a success. "Jakob, der Lügner" follows the life of Jakob Heym (Vlastimil Brodský) who accidentally overhears a radio broadcast regarding the progress of the Soviet Army towards German occupied Poland during WWII. Reporting to his community about this progress he makes up a lie about owning a radio to give credence to his story.

But this lie sees the Jewish community seeking Jakob for updates on the advance, perpetuating the lie as he gives the starving community hope. Ultimately the film ends with Jakob and his fellow community members being deported to the concentration camps.

The film was remade in 1999 as "Jakob, the Liar" with Robin Williams portraying Jakob Heym.

Answer: Marathon Man

"Marathon Man" (1976) is an American thriller, adapted from the 1974 novel by William Goldman, starring Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier and Roy Scheider. Laurence Olivier portrays Nazi war criminal Dr. Christian Szell who goes to New York to obtain a large number of diamonds taken from Jews killed at Auschwitz. Szell believes Henry "Doc" Levy (Roy Scheider) has knowledge of where the diamonds are located but kills him, and turns his attention to Doc's brother Thomas "Babe" Levy (Dustin Hoffman). Szell abducts Thomas and tortures him with dental drills constantly repeating the question "Is it safe?" to try and obtain the information. Unfortunately Thomas doesn't understand what is happening but manages to escape and thus begins the race around New York to find the cache of diamonds. For his performance as Dr. Szell, Laurence Olivier was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Supporting Actor.

Answer: Logan's Run

"Logan's Run" (1976) is a science fiction film starring Michael York, Jenny Agutter, Farrah Fawcett, and Peter Ustinov. Set in the future, in a world where turning 30 years of age resulted in vaporization, and those who attempted to flee the city to avoid this inevitable outcome (known as "runners") were pursued by an elite team known as "Sandmen". Logan 5 (Michael York) is a "Sandman" who meets Jessica 6 (Jenny Agutter, who also starred in "An American Werewolf in London"), a member of a group who assists the "runners" in locating a sanctuary outside the city to live out their lives. Logan 5 is given the assignment of finding and destroying this sanctuary, but when his own "life clock" starts to approach 30 he decides to become a runner himself, enlisting the aid of Jessica 6. Science Fiction films had fallen in their popularity in the early 1970s, but "Logan's Run" proved there was still interest in the genre.

In winning an Academy Award for visual effects in 1977, it got the genre knocking at the door for recognition. That door was blown off its hinges in 1977 by a film called "Star Wars" and along with "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (1977) the genre exploded in popularity and resulted in many films being produced in the late 1970s early 1980s, including the "Star Trek" franchise, the "Alien" franchise, the "Terminator" franchise and, of course, "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial".

Answer: King Kong

"King Kong" (1976) is a remake of the 1933 film of the same name. This remake stars Jeff Bridges, Charles Grodin, and introduced Jessica Lange as Dwan (no, it's not a spelling mistake) the aspiring actress who infatuates the giant ape. There were a few differences between this film and the original, the most obvious is that in the finale Kong climbs the World Trade Center instead of the Empire State Building, from where he falls after being shot by the military helicopters, not airplanes, to his death. Or is he dead? A sequel titled "King Kong Lives" was released in 1986. "King Kong" (1976) won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, and was also nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Sound.