Classic Films and their Stars Part Two Quiz

Answer: Gary Cooper

One of Gary Cooper's best performances. Made in 1935 and directed by Frank Capra.

Answer: James Stewart

Stewart is a Spy Magazine reporter assigned to cover the upcoming marriage of socialite Tracy Lord (Katherine Hepburn) only to fall in love with her. Stewart's win, many say, had more to do with the fact he was overlooked the year before in 1939's "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington". Stewart beat out his best friend Henry Fonda in "The Grapes of Wrath".

Answer: True

Sir Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine starred in Alfred Hitchcock's "Rebecca". It was Hitchcock's Hollywood directorial debut. The film won Oscars for Best Picture and Best Cinematography, but Hitchcock did not win for Best Director.

Answer: Bing Crosby

This film won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actor. Barry Fitzgerald (Best Supporting Actor) was the first and only actor to be nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for the same performance. This is no longer a voting rule in the Academy.

It was one of the most popular films of 1944 and inspired an immediate sequel in 1945's "The Bells of St. Mary's" with Crosby.

Answer: Joan Crawford

Joan Crawford took this part after it was turned down by Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck and Ann Sheridan. Her career was at a low ebb and she had been off the screen for two years trying to find a part that would bring her to the top. "Mildred Pierce" did just that by bringing her to the top and gave her an Academy Award.

Answer: Gregory Peck

Gregory Peck, along with Laurence Olivier, Larry Parks, and James Stewart, lost the award to Fredric March in "The Best Years of Our Lives". He gives a riveting performance and "The Yearling" was one of the best liked films of the year. It won Academy Awards for Color Cinematography and Color Art Direction and a special award to Claude Jarman Jr. for Outstanding Child Actor of 1946.

Answer: True

William Powell is best remembered as Nick Charles for his roles in "The Thin Man" films and Doc in "Mister Roberts", but he gives a wonderful performance in this film.

Answer: William Holden

One of the best films of 1950, "Sunset Boulevard" is definitely a classic with great performances. Holden was nominated, along with the other actors listed above. Jose Ferrer won for his performance in 'Cyrano de Bergerac".

Answer: Katharine Hepburn

"The African Queen" was one of the best films of 1951. Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart were both nominated for Best Actor and Actress, Bogart came away with the award. Hepburn was nominated a record 12 times for Best Actress. The film was nominated for Best Direction and Best Screenplay but didn't win either.

Answer: High Noon

Gary Cooper won the Best Actor award for this film (his second after 1941's Sergeant York). Cooper portrays a small town marshall struggling to round up a posse that might help him deal with four men arriving on the noon train to kill him. He is deserted by his friends and misunderstood by his new bride, so he is forced to fight the gunmen singlehandedly. One of the best films of 1952 and of all time.

Answer: False

Although Heston was in the film, James Stewart portrayed Buttons the Clown in Cecil B. DeMille's award-winning film. Along with Heston and Stewart, the film starred Cornel Wilde, Betty Hutton, Dorothy Lamour, and Gloria Grahame. The film won Best Picture and Best Motion Picture Story. James Stewart portrayed a doctor (dressed as a clown) running from the law for murdering his wife.

This was the first and only film where Stewart's face is not seen through the whole film. Cornel Wilde portrayed an aerialist who falls during a performance and dooms his career, and Charlton Heston as the circus manager struggling to keep the Big Top going.

Answer: John Wayne

Although John Wayne made over 200 films in his career, this is one of his best (and one of my favorites). The film was nominated for many Oscars including Best Picture, Best Screenplay, and Sound Recording winning for Best Direction (John Ford) and Best (Color) Cinematography.

Answer: Roman Holiday

"Roman Holiday" was made in 1953, directed by William Wyler and starring Hepburn, Gregory Peck and Eddie Albert. A great film about a Princess who sneaks away to investigate Rome incognito with a reporter (Peck) and a photographer (Albert). The film was nominated for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Direction, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Black and White Set Art Direction, Film Editing, and won for Best Actress, Motion Picture Story and Best Costume Design for Edith Head.

Answer: Grace Kelly

One of the many great films of 1954, "The Country Girl" starred Bing Crosby, William Holden, and Grace Kelly. Although Kelly was known for roles of Princesses and socialites, she changed her image for this role that won her an Oscar. She played the wife of an aging and alcoholic matinee idol (Bing Crosby) who also grieves over the death of her young son.

A year after "The Country Girl" she became Princess of Monaco. In 1954, Kelly also was seen in one of Alfred Hitchcock's best films, "Rear Window", co-starring James Stewart. Garland, Hepburn and Wyman were also nominated for Best Actress in 1954.

Answer: Yes

One of the best films of 1955, "Mister Roberts" is a definite classic with an all-star cast. Along with Lemmon, the film also starred Henry Fonda (as Mister Roberts), James Cagney, and William Powell. Henry Fonda had done "Mister Roberts" on the stage for a few years when it was finally taken to film.

The film was directed by John Ford and Mervyn Leroy and written by Joshua Logan (a good friend of Fonda) and Thomas Heggen. The film was also nominated for many Oscars including Best Picture.

Answer: West Side Story

"West Side Story" was the story of "Romeo and Juliet" put to music with the Capulet-Montague rivalry in Italy set into Puerto-Rican American gang rivalry in the streets of Manhattan's Upper West Side. Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer were the star-crossed lovers, and George Chakiris and Rita Moreno (both won Oscars) as the leader of the 'Sharks' and his girlfriend. Marni Nixon and Jim Bryant dubbed for Wood and Beymer but the film was a hit at the box office and won 10 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Directors (Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins), Supporting Actor and Actress, Color Cinematography, Color Art Direction, Color Costume Design, Sound, Scoring of a Musical, Editing, and a special award to Robbins for his choreography.

Answer: Peter O'Toole

This film won for Best Picture of 1962, O'Toole was nominated for Best Actor but lost to Gregory Peck for "To Kill A Mockingbird". The film co-starred Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins, Jose Ferrer, Omar Sharif, Claude Rains, Arthur Kennedy, Anthony Quayle and won seven Academy Awards.

Answer: True

"My Fair Lady" was a musical version of George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion" and had been the longest-running musical in American theater when Warner Bros. outbid competitors for the rights in 1962. Audrey Hepburn was chosen for Eliza Doolittle (dubbed by Marni Nixon) and Rex Harrison repeated his stage role as Professor Henry Higgins. "My Fair Lady" won eight Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Direction (George Cukor).

Answer: Elizabeth Taylor

Directed by Mike Nichols and starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" was lined with graphic profanities, and won five Oscars. It seemed like an unlikely casting for Elizabeth Taylor but it was one of her finest performances as an actress.

Answer: No

No, Tracy was nominated for this film, but did not win. Katharine Hepburn won for her portrayal of Tracy's wife in "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner", but Rod Steiger beat Tracy for his role in "In the Heat of the Night". The film was a huge step in civil rights.

Hepburn and Tracy play an older, liberal couple whose daughter comes home with a surprise: she wants to marry a prominent black scientist. The parents are shocked at first, but after meeting the scientist (portrayed in a riveting performance by Sidney Poitier), they come to realize that their daughter's love for the man is more important than the color of his skin.