Dissecting the Director Trivia Quiz

Answer: Francis Ford Coppola

"Apocalypse Now" is the brilliant movie that updates Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" by moving the story from the jungles of Africa to the horrors of the Vietnam War. The film starred Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, just to name a few of the powerful cast. Nominated for eight Oscars, the film managed to win only two for sound and cinematography, losing both the Best Picture and Best Director awards to "Kramer vs. Kramer". However the story of how the film ever got made and the human toll the movie took on its director, Francis Ford Coppola, is almost as compelling as the movie itself.

"Apocalypse Now", like many movies, faced delays and rewrites in the pre-production process; unlike most movies the delays in production were more extensive. The initial location development started in the Philippines in early 1976. Harvey Keitel was originally cast as the lead character - a disenchanted army sniper (assassin) named Capt. Willard. Principal photography began in March 1976, but was stopped soon after when Coppola decided to replace Keitel with Martin Sheen.

In May 1976 Typhoon Olga hit the Philippines, destroying some of the movie sets, further delaying filming and creating cost overruns. When Brando arrived on the set he was vastly overweight, had neither read the script nor Conrad's book and demanded that his part be rewritten to avoid displaying his gathering girth. Things got worse when star Martin Sheen had a heart attack in March 1977. The heart attack was the culmination of Sheen's relentless drinking and poor overall health. A famous scene early in the movie shows a mentally unbalanced Willard fly into an alcohol-fueled rage and wreck his hotel room. The scene was unscripted and Sheen was actually drunk during filming, hitting a real mirror breaking the glass. Sheen alternated between crying and trying to attack Coppola directing the scene off camera. Despite concern from on-lookers, Coppola kept the cameras going and the scene is a highlight of the finished movie. Sheen needed further time off to recover, further requiring weeks of additional delays. The film was not released until the summer of 1979, almost two years after the initial expected date. Despite these issues the finished product is a masterpiece considered an essential American classic and ranks 30th on the American Film Institute's 100 Years 100 Movies 10th Anniversary list (2007).

"Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmakers Apocalypse" was made using footage taken by Coppola's wife, Eleanor, during the movies filming. The documentary is a raw and often harsh look at her husband, the movie's crew and its stars (Brando in particular). Released in 1991, the documentary opened at the Cannes Film Festival and was shown on both US television (where it won best a Best Documentary Emmy) and in theaters around the world.

Answer: Citizen Kane

"RKO 281" was the generic name given "Citizen Kane" at the studio. This became the title of the Ridley Scott produced 1998 docudrama directed by Benjamin Ross about the making of "Citizen Kane". "Kane" was the first movie made by young actor and director Orson Welles, who until that point had been most famous for his 1938 radio adaptation of H.G. Wells "War of the Worlds", where the news bulletin style broadcast caused panic among many listeners, who believed the news reports of a Martian invasion. RKO Pictures signed Welles to a two-picture deal, where based on his success in radio and theater, they ceded "final cut" control to the untried Welles. "Citizen Kane" was the first picture Welles did for RKO. Welles co-wrote the script (with Herman Mankiewicz), produced, directed, and performed the lead role in the movie.

Citizen Kane is essentially the story of a media tycoon Charles Foster Kane (Welles), whose life is told in a series of flashbacks centering around his disaffected childhood, ruthless rise to power and tempestuous affair and marriage to Susan Alexander (played by Dorothy Comingore). Kane dies with the word "Rosebud" on his lips and only the film-goers know that the cryptic message is about a child's sled that is the lost memory of a happy period in the otherwise bitter Kane's life.

The story bordered on being a biography, in that many believed the plot to be inspired by William Randolph Hearst. Welles denied that the film was about Hearst but most people, including Hearst, did not accept this. Hearst used the power of his considerable publishing empire to denounce both the film and Welles. Though nominated for nine Academy Awards and considered a lock for Best Picture, the movie won only two minor awards, losing to the forgettable "How Green Was My Valley". In the decades since its premiere in 1941, the movie has only gained in respect. "Citizen Kane" was named the top film in the American Film Institutes (AFI)100 Years... 100 Movies list for both 1997 and the 10 year revisited edition in 2007, and was named as the top film in the annual UK magazine "Sight and Sound" every year from 1962-2012.

"RKO 281" is the fact-based but fictionalized story of the difficulties Orson Welles had in making "Citizen Kane". The film details the battles Welles had with his studio, Hearst and Hearst's newspapers, his own crew and the toll the production took on Welles himself. Welles is played convincingly by Liev Schreiber and Hearst is played with savage malice by James Cromwell. "RKO 281" was released theatrically in most of the world and on HBO in the United States. The film was nominated for 13 US Emmy Awards, winning three.

Answer: Charlie Chaplin

"Chaplin" was the 1992 docudrama about the life of UK-born director and comedian Charlie Chaplin. "Chaplin" was directed by Sir Richard Attenborough and starred Robert Downey Jr. as Chaplin. Interestingly, Geraldine Chaplin (Chaplin's real-life daughter) played the role of her own grandmother, Hannah Chaplin. Downey Jr. received praise for his portrayal of Chaplin and was nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award (he lost to Al Pacino for "Scent of a Woman"). The movie was a critical success but a box office flop, earning less than $10 million in US receipts.

Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin was born in a poor area of London in 1889. Chaplin began making movies in 1914 as both actor and director in the film industry's infancy. By the end of the 1910s, Chaplin and his alter ego, the Tramp, were world famous. Chaplin was a pioneer of artist-controlled movies and along with Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith co-founded the studio United Artists. When sound became popular he continued to use the silent format and produced masterpieces like "City Lights" (1931) and "Modern Times" (1936) without dialogue. Perhaps Chaplin's most impressive film is 1940's "The Great Dictator", in which Chaplin satirized Adolf Hitler. In later life, Chaplin was accused of communist sympathies and came under increasing pressure for his frequent liaison's with barely adult girls. Chaplin left the United States in 1952 and moved to Switzerland. He did not return to the US until 1972 when he was given an honorary Oscar that moved the assembled stars to a 12 minute standing ovation. Chaplin died in 1977.

Answer: Psycho

By 1960 Alfred Hitchcock was already considered one of the greatest movie directors in film history. During the 1940s-1950s, Hitchcock directed a string of Academy Award nominees, including the 1940 Best Picture Winner "Rebecca". Iconic films like "Spellbound" (1945), "Lifeboat" (1943), "Rear Window" (1954) and "Vertigo" (1958) had earned Hitchcock Best Director nominations. In 1959, Hitchcock decided to take a chance and direct a graphic (for the time period) horror movie. Against both his studio's and friends' advice, he and wife Alma financed the production of "Psycho" with their own money. "Psycho" was the lurid story based on a book written by Robert Bloch and inspired by the real serial killer Ed Gein.

In addition to graphic violence, the movie killed the lead female star (Janet Leigh) in the first 30 minutes and offered an almost sympathetic view of the demented killer, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). The difficulties and personal investment incurred by the Hitchcocks took a physical and psychological toll on Alfred and his wife. "Psycho" when released received mixed reviews but was hugely successful at the box office. Academy voters rewarded Hitchcock with another Best Director nomination and awarded actress Janet Leigh a Best Actress nomination despite her early death in the film. "Psycho" represents Hitchcock at the apex of his storytelling powers and was rated the 14th best film of all time by the AFI in its 100 Years... 100 Best Movies 10th Anniversary (2007).

"Hitchcock", the 2012 bio-picture that details the struggle to make "Psycho", starred Academy Award Winner Anthony Hopkins as the director, Academy Award Winner Helen Mirren as Alma Reville Hitchcock and Scarlett Johansson as Janet Leigh. While the actors, in particular Ms. Mirren as the under appreciated Alma, were hailed for their performances, the movie was critically and financially unsuccessful.

Answer: Ed Wood

1994's "Ed Wood" starred Johnny Depp as camp filmmaker Ed Wood. "Ed Wood" was directed by frequent Depp collaborator Tim Burton. The film details the desire by Ed Wood to write and direct movies in the Hollywood of the 1950s. Wood's early films are chronicled in the movie, including his rather bizarre relationship with the famed horror movie actor Bela Lugosi, here played by Martin Landau. "Ed Wood" was a critical success but a box office failure. Johnny Depp gave a stellar performance as the sexually confused, talentless Wood, but it was Landau's Lugosi that is remembered from the film. Unlike Lugosi, Martin Landau was already a highly respected movie and television actor who earned Academy Award nominations for "Tucker; The Man and His Dreams" (1988) and "Crimes and Misdemeanors" (1989).

Ed Wood himself was a fascinating man. He was a World War II Marine veteran who admitted to dressing in women's undergarments in battle. Wood was shot in the leg and lost several teeth during the war. After his discharge, Wood first worked in a carnival freak show, where he "honed" his acting ability. Wood got his big break in 1953 when he convinced a broke and depressed Bela Lugosi to narrate his feature film "Glen or Glenda", which was loosely based on early transsexual Christine Jorgenson. The movie was both a financial and critical debacle. Undeterred, Wood, now openly transvestite, quickly made in succession some of Hollywood's truly horrible movies including "Plan 9 From Outer Space" and "Bride of the Monster", both starring Lugosi. Eventually, Wood could find no money or assistance to make his movies. Wood continued writing and turned out tens of sexploitation books with titles like "Death of a Transvestite" and "Take it out in Trade" until his death in 1978.

Ironically, Wood garnered more exposure and fame of a sort after his death. During the 1980s the film satire show "Mystery Science Theatre 3000" exposed new audiences to the snarky fun of watching a bad movie as unintentional comedy. Today, colleges and film schools hold Ed Wood Film Festivals and teach classes on the how not to be the next Ed Wood. Wood's lasting legacy can be summed in that there is a debate between movie critics over whether "Plan 9 From Outer Space" (Golden Turkey Awards) or "Glen or Glenda" (Leonard Maltin amongst others) is the worst movie ever made.

Answer: Fitzcarraldo

"Fitzcarraldo" is famed German director Werner Herzog's best known film in the US and UK. It tells the story of Brian Sweeney "Fitzcarraldo" Fitzgerald, played by frequent Herzog muse Klaus Kinski, an European living in Peru in the early 20th century. A large-scale dreamer, Fitzgerald has already lost a fortune trying, but failing, to build a Trans-Andean Railway and now wants to bring an elaborate opera house to the Peruvian jungle by portaging a giant boat between two rivers. "Fitzcarraldo" is the story of the plan, the obsession and sacrifices Fitzgerald makes and forces others to make in pursuit of his dream. In the end he fails to build his opera house, but does get Enrico Caruso to perform an opera in the small Peruvian town.

Herzog's labor to make "Fitzcarraldo" is documented in "Burden of Dreams" and is no less a product of an obsessed man than Fitzgerald's. To begin, the original star of the movie, Jason Robards, had to be replaced by Kinski during filming after Robards became ill from dysentery. Mick Jagger, who was cast in a large supporting role, had to drop out of production at the same time to participate in a prior contractual deal to tour with some band called The Rolling Stones. In a "life imitating art" moment, Herzog had to move a 320-ton steamship over a hill without the use of special effects. Further, despite being frequent collaborators, Kinski and Herzog (and everyone else) clashed violently on the set of "Fitzcarraldo", further creating dissension and delays.

"Fitzcarraldo" was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival and Herzog was named Best Director. "Burden of Dreams" was named 1983's Best Documentary by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). Personally, my favorite Herzog movie is "Grizzly Man" (2005), the story of lost footage of grizzly bear expert Tim Treadwell who was eaten by a grizzly bear in 2003.

Answer: Mario Van Peebles

"Baadasssss!" stars Mario Van Peebles playing his father, Melvin Van Peebles, and tells the story of the efforts and trials Melvin went through to produce, write and direct the 1971 independent film "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song". In case you are not confused enough, "Sweet Sweetback" starred Mario Van Peebles playing the title character as a young man and Melvin Van Peebles as the adult character. "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song" is considered a seminal film in the development of African-American film making and was amongst the first financially successful films told from the viewpoint of the African-American. While some scholars call the movie the first example of blaxploitation (appealing to a black ethnic audience as a profit sub-genre), most do not, citing the movie's success as a prime factor in the large studios decision to green-light genre films during the 1970s.

Melvin Van Peebles directed television episodes and the successful "Watermelon Man", a film where Godfrey Cambridge reversed the white man in black face gag to tell the story of an overt racist's tribulations when he wakes up one morning as a black man. Offered a three picture directing deal by Columbia Pictures, Melvin Van Peebles declined and sought to raise independent money for his script for "Sweet Sweetback". Melvin received funding from, amongst others, Bill Cosby, who had hired Van Peebles to direct episodes of Cosby's eponymous 1960-1970s show. Van Peebles saved money by starring, performing the stunts and directing the movie; the soundtrack however was provided by a young group of musicians called Earth Wind and Fire. The film's sexual explicitness and violence earned the film an "X" rating. What set the film apart, however, was the fact that the plot of "Sweet Sweetback" showed an African-American hero unfairly treated by white police officers, fighting back and escaping at the end. Politically, the movie tapped into the racial tension in the US of the late 1960s and was even hailed as revolutionary by groups such as the Black Panther Party.

Mario Van Peebles at first expected to be an economist and received his degree from Columbia University in 1978. He worked in New York City Mayor Ed Koch's administration and did not return to acting until the early 1980s. After a successful decade of television and movies roles, Van Peebles starred and directed 1991's "New Jack City". Also an independent film, the younger Van Peebles directorial debut was a huge critical and financial success and helped launch the movie careers of rapper Ice-T and comedian Chris Rock.

Answer: Howard Hughes

Born to a wealthy Texas family in 1905, Howard Hughes's father made a fortune licensing his invention of a oil rotary drill bit. Both of Hughes's parents died before he reached 20 years old and he took control of his family's fortune. Hughes moved to Hollywood with a desire to make movies and a passion for airplanes and speed. Hughes produced such movies as "Two Arabian Knights", "Scarface" and "The Front Page". In 1930, Hughes went behind the camera and directed the acclaimed film "Hell's Angels". The film is notable for starting as a silent movie but was re-shot with a new female lead, Jean Harlow in her first role, after the introduction of sound in 1929. "Hell's Angels" was a huge success at the box office. Hughes directed only one other film - 1943's "The Outlaw" starring Jane Russell. "The Outlaws" is remembered as being one of the most risqué pictures released during the Hays Code censorship time period, and featured Miss Russell in revealing cleavage enhanced scenes.

While making movies, Hughes also continued his passion for airplanes and flying. He was a record breaking aviator and performed many of the aerial stunts during the filming of "Hell's Angels". Hughes went on to own TWA and created Hughes Aircraft Co, later Hughes Aerospace. Hughes was known to "date" many of the world's most beautiful actresses and had relationships with Jean Harlow, Jane Russell, Ava Gardner and Katharine Hepburn, to name but a few. In later years, Hughes purchased several Las Vegas Hotels and turned into a bizarre recluse. Hughes died in 1976.

"The Aviator" stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Hughes and roughly covers Hughes's Hollywood period from 1927 to 1946. The movie depicts Hughes's obsessive attention to detail in directing "Hell's Angels", his relationship with Hepburn, played by Cate Blanchett, and his deepening battle with OCD and other mental illnesses. The film enthusiastically earned over $200 million in world wide box office and was nominated for 11 Academy Awards including Best Actor, Best Director and Best Picture. At the 2005 Oscars, "The Aviator" garnered five Oscars including Best Supporting Actress for Cate Blanchett. "The Aviator" also won the Best Picture BAFTA and AFI Best Film of the Year Award.

Answer: Gods and Monsters

James Whale was a legendary British director of such classics as "Frankenstein" (1931), "The Invisible Man" (1933), "Bride of Frankenstein" (1935) and "The Man in the Iron Mask" (1939). "Frankenstein", starring Boris Karloff, was named to the AFI 100 Years... 100 Movies list as number 56. Whale was one of the few openly homosexual filmmakers of the early 20th century. Whale's tremendous success during the 1930s did not last into the 1940s. Whale essentially retired from films in 1941 and turned his attention to stage direction and painting. During the 1950s, Whale suffered a stroke, grew depressed and committed suicide in 1957.

Speculation has long surrounded the impact that Whale's openly homosexual lifestyle might have had on the premature end of Whale's Hollywood career. Whale himself and other close associates dismissed any claim of blacklisting or sexual prejudice. They contend that blame is more properly placed on the disagreements Whale had with Universal Studios, initially caused by the studio's decision in 1937 to succumb to pressures from Nazi Germany to alter one of Whale's most ambitious projects, "The Road Back", Romarque's anti-war sequel to "All's Quiet on the Western Front". Revisionist historians such as Vito Russo in the 1987 "The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies" claim that both the Frankenstein Monster and the Bride are homosexual icons viewed as unnatural beings and serve as surrogate antisocial figures for gay people. Personally, I side with scholars who think Whale, reflecting a broader sense of purpose and staying true to Mary Shelley's vision, meant the monsters to reflect all social inhumanity including but not limited to sexual orientation.

"Gods and Monsters" (the title is taken from a line in "Bride of Frankenstein") explores Whale's complex life in flashbacks and focuses on the last months of Whale's life. The movie is a mix of fact based movie history and a fictionalized relationship with a gardener/model played by Brendan Fraser. Sir Ian McKellen (also openly homosexual) is brilliant as Whale and received a well deserved Oscar nomination in 1998. Bill Condon, the director of "Gods and Monsters" received an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Answer: Intervista

"Intervista" is perhaps the ultimate "film within a film" and probably could not have been written or directed by anybody other than the incomparable Italian director Federico Fellini. "Intervista" is in one sense an ode to Cinecitta, Italy's premiere movie studio near Rome. The movie shows Fellini being interviewed by a fake Japanese TV crew about the real films he has made at Cinecitta over the years. Fellini is at Cinecitta to begin production on his latest film, a fake film, based on Franz Kafka's "Amerika". An actor playing the young Fellini recreates the first first time he went to Cinecitta to interview a female star. Later, Fellini's frequent actor, Marcello Mastroianni, dressed as "Mandrake the Magician", floats by a window and Fellini (along with the Japanese television crew) visits Anita Ekberg's villa where Ekberg and Mastroianni watch a magical screen and view their famous scene at the Trevi fountain from "La Dolce Vita". Finally, clearly staged rain falls and the fake movie "Amerika" production collapses with an attack by "American Indians" on horseback wielding television antennae as spears.

"Intervista" is, like most Fellini films, filled with allegory and innuendo. Fellini seems to suggest that the sum of his life has been his movies. Further, he also seems to have a pessimistic view on the future of movies because of the "watering down" of the art by the intrusion of television. "Intervista" was awarded the 40th Anniversary Prize at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival but otherwise received mixed reviews from critics and indifference from audiences.

Fellini directed only one other film after "Intervista", 1990's The Voice of the Moon", which starred Roberto Benigni. No list of the greatest movie directors would exclude Fellini; his films won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film for "La Strada" (1954), "Nights of Cabiria" (1958), "8 1/2" (1963) and "Amarcord" (1974). Fellini was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Screenwriter or Director 10 times. His films won four awards at the Cannes Film Festival and dozens of awards from around the globe.