Can You Picture the Picture? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Citizen Kane

Orson Welles co-wrote, directed and produced "Citizen Kane" (1941). Oh, and he also starred in it. It was the story of a wealthy newspaper publisher who had everything he could want, except perhaps the elusive "Rosebud". It was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won for Best Writing (Original Screenplay). Welles's first film venture, it is considered one of the best films ever made.

Answer: Metropolis

Fritz Lang and his wife wrote "Metropolis" about a future world in which workers lived underground and operated the machines to give the plutocracy its rich lifestyle. The film was immediately controversial from its 1927 debut; it was cut and edited several times over the years and some of it has been lost. Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels thought the film was a great work; Lang later expressed dissatisfaction with it and there is some thought that his dislike came because of the Nazis' attraction to it.

Answer: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Humphrey Bogart, Tim Holt and Walter Huston starred in this 1948 movie about three Americans prospecting for gold in Mexico and trying to avoid local bandits. Upon finding gold, Bogart, as Fred C. Dobbs, became distrustful and paranoid (a character-type he would echo in "The Caine Mutiny").

A confrontation between the miners and some bandits trying to pose as Mexican federal police resulted in the bandit leader uttering the classic line "We don't need any stinking badges"!

Answer: Chinatown

A murder mystery with great touches of film noir, "Chinatown" was the last picture Polanski directed in America. It featured Nicholson as a private investigator, hired to see if a husband was committing adultery. The husband was head of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

When he was found dead it set off a chain of events, some of which involved the city of Los Angeles' attempts to procure water rights from the Owens Valley. In 1991 the U.S. Library of Congress judged it significant enough to be preserved in the National Film Registry.

Answer: The Apartment

Jack Lemmon just wanted to get promoted so he let his supervisors use his New York apartment for their trysts in "The Apartment" (1960). Then he found a woman he liked a lot, some of the supervisors' wives found out what the apartment was used for and well, things got dicey. Shirley MacLaine and Fred MacMurray also starred in the movie.

Answer: Monty Python and the Holy Grail

"First thou pullest the Holy Pin. Then thou must count to three. Three shall be the number of the counting and the number of the counting shall be three." Those are some of the instructions from the Book of Armaments on how to use the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.

It was part of the Killer Rabbit scene in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" (1975) in which King Arthur and his knights bumble around the countryside looking for the priceless Grail. It was the Monty Python troupe's second movie, but considered their first 'real' movie since the first "And Now for Something Completely Different" was a collection of skits from their TV show.

Answer: Singin' in the Rain

Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) was a silent film star in "Singin' in the Rain" (1952) whose motto was "Dignity. Always dignity". The film was a comedic take at some characters trying to go from silent movies to talking films. Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor co-starred.

Answer: Pulp Fiction

"Pulp Fiction" was the story of big-time hoods and small-time crooks in Los Angeles. The film was presented out of chronological sequence and large amounts of time were given to character conversations. Travolta played a mob hit man and Thurman a mob boss' wife. Credited with revitalizing Travolta's career, the film was nominated for seven Oscars.

Answer: From Russia With Love

Sean Connery starred as James Bond for the second time in the 1963 movie based on an Ian Fleming novel. Among murder and mayhem, Bond recovered the device. The original Bond picture, "Dr. No' (1962) was so successful that United Artists doubled the budget for "From Russia with Love"; a smart move since the Bond franchise produced decades of hit movies.

Answer: Vertigo

James Stewart played John "Scottie" Ferguson in Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo" (1958). Suffering from acrophobia, Ferguson left his position in the San Francisco Police Department. A friend asked him to observe the friend's wife (Kim Novak) who he believes to be possessed.

The woman committed suicide, or did she? There are many of Hitchcock's trademark twists and turns until the plot resolves itself.