A Best Picture Well Worth a Read Quiz

Answer: Out of Africa (1985)

The Danish noblewoman is, of course, Baroness Karen Blixen, who wrote her autobiographical book "Out of Africa" (1937) under the pseudonym of Isak Dinesen. The 1985 film directed by Sydney Pollack, starring Meryl Streep, Robert Redford and Klaus Maria Brandauer, is loosely based on Blixen's memoir, leaving out some important episodes from the book, and taking some liberties with the love story between Karen and Denys Finch-Hatton. "Out of Africa" won seven out of the 11 categories in which it was nominated, including Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Answer: A Man for All Seasons (1966)

Robert Bolt's play "A Man for All Seasons" (premiered in 1960) is based on the life of Sir Thomas More, the Lord Chancellor of Henry VIII who paid for his refusal to bend to the will of his King with his life. Directed by Fred Zinneman, the 1966 film of the same title starred distinguished Shakespearean actor Paul Scofield as More, Robert Shaw as Henry VIII, Orson Welles as Cardinal Wolsey, and Leo McKern as Thomas Cromwell.

The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards, and won six - including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Scofield) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Bolt himself).

Answer: No Country for Old Men (2007)

Most of the works by American writer Cormac McCarthy have been adapted for the screen, but so far (2020) only "No Country for Old Men" (2005) has won a Best Picture Academy Award. Directed by Ethan and Joel Coen, the 2007 film - which blends element of Western and crime movies - is set in Texas in 1980, and stars Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin. Nominated for eight Academy Awards, it won four - including Best Supporting Actor for Javier Bardem's masterful turn as antagonist Anton Chigurh.

The title of both book and film comes from the opening line of William Butler Yeats' poem "Sailing to Byzantium".

Answer: Around the World in 80 Days (1956)

Jules Verne's novel "Le tour du monde en quatre-vingt jours" (1872) is a classic of adventure fiction, popular with both children and adults. Its 1956 film adaptation, directed by Michael Anderson, stars David Niven as protagonist Phileas Fogg, Mexican actor Cantinflas as his sidekick Passepartout, and Shirley MacLaine as love interest Princess Aouda.

A number of high-profile actors (such as Sir John Gielgud, Frank Sinatra, and Marlene Dietrich) appear in cameos. The film was produced by Mike Todd, Elizabeth Taylor's third husband. Nominated for eight Academy Awards, it won five of them, including Best Adapted Screenplay.

Answer: 12 Years a Slave (2013)

The most recent Best Picture winner featured in this quiz was adapted from the 1853 memoir of the same title by Solomon Northup, an African-American man from New York State who was kidnapped in 1841 and sold into slavery in the antebellum South. Directed by Steve McQueen, "12 Years a Slave" stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as Northup, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Brad Pitt and Lupita Nyong'o.

The film was nominated for nine Academy Awards, and won three - including Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress (Nyong'o).

Answer: Ben-Hur (1959)

In spite of his military and political career, Lew Wallace is known by most as the author of the historical novel "Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ" (1880), a bestseller that inspired the equally successful film directed by William Wyler in 1959. The story is set around the time of Jesus Christ's life and death. Charlton Heston stars in the title role, with Stephen Boyd as the antagonist Messala, and Israeli actress Haya Harareet as love interest Esther.

The film won an unprecedented 11 Academy Awards out of 12 nominations; the only one it did not win was Best Adapted Screenplay.

Answer: All Quiet on the Western Front (1929-1930)

German author Erich Maria Remarque's "All Quiet on the Western Front" (original title "Im Westen nichts Neues", 1929) details the experience of Paul Bäumer, a German soldier on the Western Front during WWI. The 1930 film, directed by Lewis Milestone and starring Lew Ayres in the main role, proved highly controversial in Germany because of its anti-war and perceived anti-German messages.

However, it won two Academy Awards at the 1929-30 ceremony - Best Director and Outstanding Production (which would later become Best Picture). "All Quiet on the Western Front" was also the first talkie war film to win Oscars.

Answer: All the King's Men (1949)

Published in 1946, Robert Penn Warren's classic novel "All the King's Men", portraying the political career of charismatic but cynical Willie Stark, won the Pulitzer Prize in the following year. The novel's 1949 adaptation, directed by Robert Rossen, stars Broderick Crawford as Stark; the role had been proposed to John Wayne, who indignantly refused because he found the script unpatriotic. Ironically, Crawford won the Best Actor Academy Award in 1949 beating Wayne, who had been nominated for "Sands of Iwo Jima". Mercedes McCambridge also won as Best Supporting Actress for her turn as Sadie Burke, Stark's campaign assistant.

Answer: Patton (1970)

The two works of non-fiction on which "Patton" is based are "Patton: Ordeal and Triumph", a biography of the WWII general by military historian Ladislas Farago (1963), and "A Soldier's Story" (1951), a memoir by General of the Army, Omar Bradley. Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, the 1970 film stars George C. Scott in the title role, with Karl Malden as Bradley and Michael Bates as General Montgomery. Scott's career-defining performance as Patton earned him a Best Actor Academy Award, which he famously refused. "Patton" won a total of seven Oscars, including that for Best Director.

Answer: The English Patient (1996)

Sri Lankan-born Canadian author Michael Ondatije is best known for his international bestseller, "The English Patient" (1992), a novel that details the stories of four people gathered in an abandoned villa during the last days of the Italian Campaign of WWII. Directed by Anthony Minghella, the 1996 film adaptation stars Ralph Fiennes as the titular character, Juliette Binoche, Kristin Scott-Thomas and Willem Dafoe. Nominated for 12 Academy Awards, "The English Patient" won nine of them, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actress (Binoche).