Connery, Sean Connery Trivia Quiz

Answer: Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

There were several adaptations of Agatha Christie's novel, all of which the author disliked. She was reluctant to sell the rights to this novel again but she was persuaded and was pleased with the final film. The plot was a fictionalised account of the aftermath of what appeared to be a thin veil for the Lindbergh kidnapping Albert Finney was Hercule Poirot and an ensemble of suspects included Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Sean Connery, John Gielgud, Vanessa Redgrave, Michael York, Jacqueline Bisset and Anthony Perkins. It received six nominations at the 47th Academy Awards with Ingrid Bergman winning for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar.

Director Lumet approached Sean Connery first, stating "If you get the biggest star, the rest will come along". Most of the cast eagerly accepted when approached. Even though Mr Connery was seen as the biggest star, it was a smallish part with such an large ensemble. Nevertheless he played the stuffy English Colonel Arbuthnot to perfection alongside Venessa Redgrave, the secretary with whom he shared a secret relationship.
A magnificent performance enhanced by a magnificent performance from all the cast, this was a commercially and critical success.

Answer: The Man Who Would be King (1975)

This romp was based on a novella of the same name by Rudyard Kipling in 1888. It was one of Director John Huston's favourite stories as a child and had been keen to make it into a movie for many years. The plot consists of a couple of English soldiers finding out about a local king's amassed fortune in deepest Kafiristan (now part of northern Afghanistan). Huston was set to cast Paul Newman and Robert Redford but Mr Newman advised British actors should play the roles. They subsequently went to Mr Connery and Mr Caine who clearly enjoyed their roles despite the tragic consequences of their nefarious plan.

The movie was a critical and commercial success, some considered the movie to be Huston's best film since 1951's "The African Queen".
Both Mr Connery and Mr Caine, in separate interviews considered the movie their favourite of all they had worked on.

Answer: A Bridge Too Far (1977)

Based on a 1974 non-fiction book of the same name by Cornelius Ryan, the all-star-cast included (alphabetically) Dirk Bogarde (who was considered as the first James Bond - Hah!), James Caan, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Edward Fox, Elliott Gould, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Hardy Krüger, Laurence Olivier, Ryan O'Neal, and Robert Redford. Mr Connery and Mr Caan were singled out for good performances about allies going behind enemy lines in WWII to secure bridges before the Germans could blow them up.

The film received a tepid response in the US but it was successful in Europe being nominated for eight British Academy Awards, winning four.

Answer: The Name of the Rose (1986)

"The Name of the Rose" (1986) is a European historical mystery drama directed by Frenchman Jean-Jacques Annaud, and is based on the novel of the same name written by Umberto. Monsieur Annaud spent four years researching the movie, traveling in the United States and Europe, casting for locations and actors. He rejected suggestions to cast Sean Connery as he thought he was typecast as "007". Eventually he was won over by Connery's reading of the role and his charm, but M. Eco was disappointed by the casting choice. Mr Connery starred as the Franciscan friar William of Baskerville, who is relied upon to solve a murder in a medieval abbey. A teenage Christian Slater is the friar's apprentice Adso of Melk.

Whilst the acting of the two leads was commendable, the movie did not do well in the USA but was a success in Europe. The changing of the ending in the movie to a happy one was felt to be one of he major reasons it did not do well in the US.

Answer: Entrapment (1999)

An interesting movie that polarised critics, the movie was a commercial success. Catherine Zeta-Jones is a private investigator for an insurance company and meets up with Mr Connery's Mac MacDougal to steal a heavily guarded mask from an art gallery. But is Mac being set up? The mask is stolen successfully which leads to a bigger job in Kuala Lumpur's Petronas Towers on New Years Eve of the new millennium.

But who is double-crossing who? This caper driven plot, replete with holes, is carried beautifully by the two leads and the high-end production values.

Some things never change. Whilst Mr Connery is nearly 70 in this movie, he seemed to have that Bond-like charm of always getting the girl.

Answer: The Presidio (1988)

The Presidio is an actual army base in San Francisco and a MP investigating a break in is shot dead within the base. The investigation is a joint responsibility between the Army provost-marshal Sean Connery as Lt. Col. Alan Caldwell, and a hard-nosed SFPD cop Jay Austin (Mark Harmon) who was the former partner of the MP shot dead.

The two clash as they did when Caldwell was Austin's superior when Austin was in the Army. However they are forced to work together as there is a shared jurisdiction. Complicating the matter is Donna (Meg Ryan), Caldwell's daughter, who may or may not like Austin and a person who delights in stirring up her father.

The two investigators solve the crime, Harmon not Connery gets the girl, this time, and it is all wrapped up rather neatly. The movie was stylish and well-directed but it did not rate well with critics though Peter Hyams of Reel Fil Reviews said, "There's little doubt, then, that the film benefits substantially from Connery's typically magnetic performance". Enough said.

Answer: The Hunt For Red October (1990)

The sixth highest grossing movie of 1990 was due in part to the acting capabilities of the two leads' Alec Baldwin as Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan (formerly played by Harrison Ford) and Sean Connery as the captain of a Russian Nuclear submarine who wants to defect to the US and take the submarine as collateral. An unexpected cause of mirth is that the submariners speak Russian initially (the movie was subtitled) and then they fade clearly into English, only Mr Connery has a thick Scottish accent.

The tension in the movie is provided by the uncertainty of whether the Russian captain is out to double-cross the Americans so the ending will not be disclosed here but is well worth watching, if for no other reason but to watch the two leads play cat-and-mouse with one another.

Answer: The Russia House (1990)

Is the "Russia House" a "James Bond" movie for grown-ups. It's based on John le Carré's novel of the same name (1989) and is only the second western movie shot in Moscow. It is directed by Fred Schepisi, with a screenplay by Tom Stoppard and Sean Connery is Bartholomew "Barley" Scott-Blair, the head of a British publishing company who travels to in Moscow on business. Of course he gets mixed up with a would-be defector who passes documents though an attractive Russian woman (A-ha!) called Katya Orlova (Michelle Pfeiffer). Of course these two are mere pawns in the US/British spy versus Russian spy scenario and Mr Connery's Barkey is a reluctant go-between carrying documents both sides want, but when Ms Orlova is in mortal danger (of course!), our protagonist, Barey, spurns both sides to get the girl which you knew he was going to get the moment Michelle Pfeiffer's name came on the credits.

She was nominated for an Golden Globe for her role while Mr Connery received milder plaudits; Vincent Canby of the "New York Times", said in his review, Mr. Connery "goes through the movie as if driving [his Aston Martin] in second gear."

Answer: The Rock (1996)

"The Rock" is a a serious romp with Ed Harris as Brigadier General Francis X. "Frank" Hummel, a disgruntled marine who wants $100 million for uncompensated families of marines who died in service. He and his men have taken 81 tourists hostage on San Francisco's Alcatraz Island. FBI operative Stanley Goodspeed (Nicolas Cage) is charged with rescuing the tourists and he has SAS Captain John Mason (Connery) to help him. Mason was the only prisoner to escape from The Rock and his expertise in getting back on the island undetected warrants a pardon for his (unspecified) crime, if he cooperates.

The two clash but Mason saves the day and the hostages. Of course Mr Connery steals the show and gets all the best lines. The movie was a blockbuster and a production budget of $75 million earned over $335 million making it the fourth highest-grossing film of 1996.

Answer: The Untouchables (1987)

This is Brian de Palma movie with a big budget. While Robert de Niro was the first choice for the role of Al Capone, Kevin Costner, ostensibly the star, was not the first choice for Eliot Ness. He got the role anyway. He was upstaged by Sean Connery playing Jimmy Malone, an honest Chicago street cop. The story tells of a fictionalised version of how Capone was brought to justice. The final scene was meant to be a shootout on a Chicago train but because of logistical issues, it took place in Union Station with a baby in a perambulator bouncing down a fight of stairs (in slow motion) whole the gun fight takes place around the baby (who is unarmed). This scene has become one of the iconic scenes in cinema history but it is actually a tribute to "Odessa Steps" footage in Sergei Eisenstein's 1925 silent movie "Battleship Potemkin".
The movie was a commercial and critical success and was nominated for four Oscars with Mr Connery winning one for Best Supporting Actor. It was his first Academy Award nomination and win and was richly deserved.

Sean Connery died on 31st October 2020 aged 90. Rest in Peace Mr Connery.