Classic British Movies of the '50s Quiz

Answer: He won't allow officers to do manual work.

The movie is set in Burma during World War II as allied soldiers are forced to construct a railroad for their Japanese captors.

Colonel Nicholson is an obstinate British officer of the stiff upper lip variety, who is something of an enigma in that he can be viewed as both hero and villain. In the early stages of the story, he frustrates and upsets the Japanese by sticking rigidly to a point of principle, and is thrown into solitary in the hope that he will relent. He doesn't, and eventually wins the argument. Later in the story, we see him actively helping the Japanese to build a better, stronger bridge. He believes it will help the morale of his men - but is this the right action for a British officer to take?

Alec Guinness won the Academy Award for Best Actor for this role.

Answer: Violette Szabo

Violette Szabo was a member of the famed Special Operations Executive (SOE). She volunteered after her husband was killed in the battle of El Alamein (1942). In France in 1944, she was captured by the Germans after a lengthy gun battle, then sent by the Gestapo to Ravensbruck concentration camp. Violette was shot in 1945 and posthumously awarded the George Cross in 1946.

The wrong answers:

Virginia McKenna is the actress who plays Violette in the movie.

Edith Cavell was a British spy executed by the Germans in World War I (1915)

Rose O'Neal was a Confederate spy during the American Civil War

Answer: The Inn of the Sixth Happiness

"The Inn of the Sixth Happiness", set in the 1930s, is the heart-warming true story of a English woman who applies to become a missionary, but is rejected because she isn't qualified. Determined to do God's work, she travels independently to China and founds an orphanage. Later, the Japanese invade, forcing her and several dozen children to attempt an escape over the mountains. Stirring stuff, indeed - ensure you have the paper hankies ready at the end.

Answer: Ambulance

In this cracking adventure film, an assorted group of characters find themselves in an ambulance fleeing from the Germans. The "Alex" of the title refers to their destination, Alexandria (British army base in Egypt), and the "Ice-Cold" refers to the beer that the characters are looking forward to drinking once they get there.

In an advertising campaign in the 1980s, Holsten Pils lager "borrowed" the scene at the end of the movie in which the four surviving characters finally get to drink their beer. In this scene, the beer glasses are slowly filled, with each person waiting patiently until everyone has been served before finally quenching their thirst. A great idea for a beer advert!

Answer: Alec Guinness

Alec Guinness (1914-2000) had a long career in the movie business, playing a wide variety of roles. He was a versatile performer who moved easily between Shakespeare, drama, comedy, action films and sci-fi. Younger people may only remember Guinness from the "Star Wars" trilogy, in which he played Obi-Wan Kenobi

"Last Holiday" was remade in the U.S. in 2006 starring Queen Latifah in the Guinness role (personally, I'll stick with the original).

Answer: Assassin

Alistair Sim plays Harry Hawkins, a professional assassin, who is hired to kill a politician called Sir Gregory Upshott, who's staying at an hotel called The Green Man. Hawkins plants a bomb in a radio, timed to explode during a broadcast of Sir Gregory's speech, knowing that the politician is vain enough to be in the room at that time. Meanwhile, a vacuum cleaner salesman and a young lady discover a body in a piano - but the "body" isn't quite dead - and the trail leads them to The Green Man. This is a very droll black comedy, and Sim is simply marvellous as the polite, but devious, assassin.

Answer: The Dam Busters

"The Dam Busters" (1954) tells the World War II true story of Wing Commander Guy Gibson who leads the Lancaster bombers of 617 Squadron in their attack on the Ruhr dams, using the bouncing bombs invented by Barnes Wallis.

During the Second World War, Todd himself saw action both as an infantryman and as a member of the Parachute Regiment. He participated in the D-Day landings; indeed, he could boast to be one of the first British officers to land in Normandy as part of Operation Overlord, and was involved in the heavy skirmishes on Pegasus Bridge.

Answer: Union leader

The Boulting Brothers directed this gem of a story exploring that traditional battleground of bosses against the workers, capitalism against marxism. A factory owner tries to meet deadlines to complete an important contract, but keeps being thwarted when a union boss (Kite) calls the men out on strike for the flimsiest of reasons. He then finds one excuse after another for calling other strikes. Brilliantly played by Sellers, Fred Kite is a masterful comic creation, a buffoon suffering from serious self-delusion.

This movie can boast a great comic cast: Peter Sellers, Ian Carmichael, Dennis Price, Terry-Thomas, Margaret Rutherford and Irene Handl.

Answer: Canada

Well done if you picked Canada! After trying to escape fom the POW camp in England, a captured German pilot is sent to a new camp in Canada, but is able to escape from a train. He heads on foot to the USA which, at that time, was still neutral, and claims asylum. He then returns to Germany.

Hardy Kruger plays Oberleutnant Franz von Werra, a pilot shot down over England in September 1940. The movie ends after his amazing escape, so doesn't explore his arrival back in Germany in April 1941. What actually happened is he returned to his flying job then died in a plane crash just six months later.

Answer: She had assumed that he died during the war.

Based on the novel by Nevil Shute, the movie stars Virginia McKenna as Jean Paget and Peter Finch as Joe Harman.

Joe manages to smuggle food and medicine to the women's camp, but this act of kindness is discovered by the Japanese. Joe is beaten, then crucified on a tree. The women and children are forced to march out of the camp, past the (apparently) dying Joe, who is still nailed to the tree. However, against all the odds, Joe manages to survive his injuries. After the war, Jean revisits Malaya and is astonished to discover from the local villagers that Joe did survive, so she travels to Australia to find him. Meanwhile, Joe has travelled to London to find her! Eventually, there is a tearful reunion (tearful for them, and also for sentimental movie-goers like me!)