Do You Remember This Film? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Spartacus

Based on the novel by Howard Fast and set in the Roman Empire, "Spartacus" tells the story of the leader of a slave revolt.

Kirk Douglas played the title character in an all-star cast that included Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Charles Laughton and Tony Curtis. Peter Ustinov earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance as Lentulus Batiatus, the owner of a gladiatorial school near Mount Vesuvius.

Somewhat surprisingly, the film was not even nominated in either the Best Picture or Best Director category at that year's Oscars, both of which were won by Billy wilder's "The Apartment".

Answer: Cat Ballou

The 20 top-grossing films of 1965 included not only "The Sound of Music", but also "Doctor Zhivago", "Thunderball", "Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines", "What's New Pussycat?", "Von Ryan's Express", "For a Few Dollars More" and "Help!".

Our film, "Cat Ballou" starring Lee Marvin and Jane Fonda, ranked number seven on that list. The film tells the story of a woman who hires a legendary gunfighter to protect her father and his farm from a hired killer. Marvin, who played the dual roles of both gunfighters, of Kid Shelleen and Tim Strawn, not only won the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance, but also the BAFTA and Golden Globe in that same category.

Answer: Tora! Tora! Tora!

'Tora' literally means "tiger" but, in this case, it was an acronym of 'totsugeki raigeki' ("lightning attack"), and was used by the Japanese attackers to confirm that the American defenders were unaware of the impending attack.

Unusually, "Tora! Tora! Tora!" was co-directed by Richard Fleischer, Toshio Masuda and Kinji Fukasaku, creating a film that portrayed the events of one of the century's most historic days from both sides. Three years of preparation and eight months of filming produced an epic that, although the Academy did not particularly like it - it won only one Oscar (for Special Effects) from its five nominations, and was not even nominated in any of the major categories - has gone down as one of the classic WWII films.

Answer: The Rocky Horror Picture Show

A tongue-in-cheek nod to every 'B' movie and science-fiction ever made, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" was based on the 1973 stage musical written by Richard O'Brien, who played the handyman Riff Raff in the movie. Fittingly, it was filmed at Oakley Court, a Gothic Victorian estate in Berkshire that had previously been the home of Hammer Film Productions, whose props and stages were used in making the film.

Tim Curry and Barry Bostwick co-starred with Susan Sarandon in a cast that also included a pre-"Bat Out of Hell" Meat Loaf.

Answer: Private Benjamin

Goldie Hawn had won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar and Golden Globe for one of her very first movies, "Cactus Flower" (1969), and was nominated for Golden Globes in the Best Actress category four times during the 1970s. It was "Private Benjamin" (1980), though, that she earned her first Best Actress Oscar nomination.

The film begins with Judy Benjamin getting married, only for her husband to die during consummation on their wedding night. Her reaction is to join the Army and the film follows her hilarious efforts to make it through boot camp. Eileen Brennan, Armand Assante, Sam Wanamaker, Harry Dean Stanton and Craig T. Nelson all feature in an excellent cast, but this movie is all about Goldie Hawn at her very best.

A must-see if you missed it the first time around.

Answer: Cocoon

Filmed in and around one of America's biggest retirement communities in Saint Petersburg, Florida, "Cocoon" tells the story of a group of people in their latter years who are rejuvenated by aliens from the planet Antarea.

The 77-year old Don Ameche won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Like the year's highest-grossing movie, "Back to the Future", "Cocoon" was not nominated for Best Picture, which was won by "Out of Africa".

If you like 'feel good movies' be sure to see "Cocoon" if you missed it the first time around.

Answer: Ghost

"Ghost" was voted into the top 20 in the American Film Institute's poll of "100 Years... 100 Passions", the greatest love stories ever filmed. This is a real tear-jerker as Molly Jensen (Demi Moore), assisted by fake psychic Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg), is reunited at the pottery wheel with her murdered lover (Patrick Swayze).

Goldberg won that year's Best Supporting Actress Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe for her performance. The film also won in the Best Original Screenplay category at the Oscars. In the Best Picture category, "Ghost" lost out to another film equally well worth seeing, Kevin Costner's "Dances with Wolves".

Answer: Jumanji

With special effects by Industrial Light & Magic and Robin Williams starring as his crazy self, "Jumanji" was always likely to be worth seeing. A 12-year old gets trapped inside a board game. When a couple of kids find the game 26 years later and start playing, they find the now adult Alan Parrish (Williams). Between them they have to find a way to finish the game so that they can all escape.

Although the Academy didn't notice it, the public did and it was one of 1990's top ten highest-grossing movies. By contrast, that year's Best Picture Oscar winner, "Braveheart" did not resonate with the public at the box office. For my money, though, the best movie of the year was "Apollo 13", a true gem in amongst all of the sequels, like "Die Hard with a Vengeance", "Batman Forever" and the return of James Bond with a new star (Pierce Brosnan) in the role, in "Goldeneye".

Answer: Cast Away

Stranded on an uninhabited island after his plane crashes, Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks) must survive using whatever he can salvage from the plane's cargo. His most important find, as it turns out, is a volleyball. He names it Wilson and, as time passes, it becomes his friend and confidant.

This was a wonderful performance by Hanks, who earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination, although the Academy preferred Russell Crowe in "Gladiator" (which also won Best Picture).

At the box office, "Cast Away" was the third highest-grossing movie of the year, after "Mission: Impossible II" and "Gladiator".

Answer: Mr and Mrs Smith

2005 was the year of the blockbuster, with "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" and "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" leading the way at the box office. "Mr and Mrs Smith" made it into the year's top ten, though, as Pitt and Jolie play a bored married couple who discover that they are both assassins and that each has been hired by a different contractor to kill the other.

Curiously, not one of the five films nominated for Best Picture in 2005 made it into the top ten list of that year's highest-grossing films. The Oscar went to "Crash", with "Capote" and "Brokeback Mountain" amongst the nominees.