Classic British Movies Trivia Quiz

Answer: S.S Cabinet Minister

The film was, of course, 'Whisky Galore'. Written by Compton McKenzie, it was about the ship running aground with 24,000 cases of Scotch on board and the islanders attempts to hide it from the revenue men. The real ship that ran aground in 1941 was the S.S. Politician and it was indeed carrying whiskey.

It has also been revealed that it carried £145,000 in bank notes. Not all of the cash was recovered from the wreck. Some of the real whisky found its way onto the American market in 1991.

Answer: A Dutch Royal birth

During World War Two the Dutch royal family fled to Canada to escape the occupation. At the time Princess Juliana was pregnant. Dutch law stated that to succeed to the throne the heir must be born on Dutch soil. The Canadian Government passed a law making the apartment where they lived Dutch Territory.

Answer: The Devil Rides Out

'The Devil Rides Out' was originally written by Dennis Wheatley in 1934 but wasn't made until 1968 because of censorship rules regarding Satanism. The story revolved around four main characters and their attempts to defend themselves against a night of black magic forces. The scene with the horse was where the Angel of Death appeared in front of them. In an interview, Christopher Lee, the main star, has said it was his favourite of all his films and would like to see it remade using modern techniques.
All of the other named films were also Hammer productions.

Answer: Arnold Ridley

Arnold Ridley was better known to us as Private Godfrey in 'Dad's Army'. The play, and film, was 'The Ghost Train'. The legend, as told by the station master, was that the train contained the dead bodies of a train crash many years earlier and it meant death to anyone who saw it.

In reality it was a real train that was being used for smuggling and the story was made up to scare away strangers. Ridley was inspired to write it after he himself was stranded at an isolated station near Bristol.

Answer: Dirk Bogarde

The film was, of course, 'The Blue Lamp' and the spin off was 'Dixon of Dock Green'. In the film PC George Dixon (Jack Warner) was shot and killed by Tom Riley (Dirk Bogarde) during a robbery. The film went on to show the hunt for the killer who was eventually arrested by PC Andy Mitchell (Jimmy Hanley).
Although he died in the film, the character of George Dixon was revived five years later for the television series.
Stratford Johns appeared in a later police show, 'Z Cars' and then 'Softly Softly', Peter Cushing played so many roles it is impossible to really pick out just one and Bernard Lee, who played Inspector Cherry in the film, went on to become better known as 'M' in the James Bond films.

Answer: Dracula's Daughter

'Dracula's Daughter' was made by Universal Studios in 1936 as a sequel to their original 1931 film 'Dracula'. It was based on an unpublished chapter of Bram Stoker's original novel.
Hammer made, in total, nine Dracula movies including a Kung Fu version called 'Legend of The Seven Golden Vampires'. It was the Dracula movies that gave us the combination of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, although neither of them appeared in all nine films.

Answer: George Cole

Despite being synonymous with the role of the headmistress, Alistair Sim only appeared in the first two films as Miss Fritton, the headmistress was played by Irene Handl, as Miss Gale, in the third and by Dora Bryan as Miss Spottiswood in the fourth. Joyce Grenfell played the part of policewoman Ruby Gates (she was promoted to Sergeant in the second film) and Lloyd Lamble was Superintendent Samuel Kemp-Bird also in the first three. George Cole as 'Flash Harry' was the only one to have appeared in all four of the original films. George Cole put his successful career down to the mentoring he received from Alistair Sim in his early years.

Answer: Oh Mr Porter

The film was loosely based on Arnold Ridley's 'The Ghost Train'. There were many similarities between the two. Both films featured lonely railway stations, ghosts and smuggling guns. The main characters in 'Oh Mr Porter were Will Hay, in the title role, Moore Marriott as his elderly deputy and Graham Moffatt as an insolent, young and overweight porter.

The three worked together on several films of the era. The writer of 'Dad's Army', Jimmy Perry, was reported as saying that he came up with the idea of three central characters, Captain Mainwaring, Sergeant Wilson and Private Pike after watching 'Oh Mr Porter'.

Answer: A Matter of Life and Death

At the start we saw a young pilot lost over the Channel and an American girl on the other end of the radio trying to guide him home. The plane crashed and the pilot was feared dead. He was found however on a beach near to the American airwomen's base.

The rest of the film switched between Earth, in colour, and Heaven, in black and white. The Earthly scenes were concerned with the pilot's mental health and a brain operation, the Heavenly scenes were about a trial deciding on whether he should be dead or not.

Answer: Chariots of Fire

'Chariots of Fire' was based on the true story of two very different, but very similar men in the British Olympic squad of 1924. Eric Liddell was a devout Scot and Harold Abrahams was a Jewish Englishman. The film centered on the preparations for and the competing in the Paris Games. During the run up to the Games, Abrahams was a student at Cambridge, and Liddell was preparing himself for missionary work in China.
Harold Abrahams died, aged 78, in January 1978 and Eric Liddell died in a labour camp in 1945. The missionary, in China, where he worked was taken over during the war.