For Whom the Bell Tolls Trivia Quiz

Answer: A Bell for Adano - 1945

"A Bell for Adano" stars John Hodiak as a US Army major tasked with restoring order to a small Italian town which had been looted by the fascists. The crux of the story is the replacement/restoration of the town bell by which the townspeople go about their daily tasks.

The cast includes, Gene Tierney, William Bendix, Harry Morgan, Richard Conte and in an uncredited role, TV's "The Lawman", John Russell.

Answer: Bells of San Angelo - 1947

"Bells of San Angelo" is a unique western, in that it uses a color process that was usually, at the time, reserved for 'A' movies. Roy Rogers and Trigger, with the help of a Journalist, played by Dale Evans thwart a band of silver smugglers. This role for Dale Evans (Roy Rogers' real life wife) is probably her best role and shows that given some good material she could act.

The title is somewhat misleading as the town of San Angelo is prominent the bells are not.

Answer: The Bells Are Ringing - 1960

Dean Martin and Judy Holliday star in "The Bells Are Ringing". Recreating her Tony winning role from Broadway, Judy Holliday stars as Ella a switchboard operator at an answering service. She gets involved with her clients' personal lives, especially playwright Jeffery Moss, played by Dean Martin.

The movie was a little tame for 1960 as musicals of this type were past their use by date with the viewing public. As a relic from the past I love this movie.

Answer: The Bellboy - 1960

"The Bellboy" written, produced and directed by its star, Jerry Lewis, is a slapstick comedy in which Jerry Lewis plays the title character (he also appears as himself) as the hapless bellboy. Cited by Jerry Lewis as his favourite of all his films, it has more funny moments than most comedies.

Answer: Bell, Book and Candle - 1958

"Bell, Book and Candle" stars Kim Novak and James Stewart. The plot is quite simple Kim Novak, the witch, does not like James Stewart's girlfriend played by Janice Rule, so she casts a spell on Jimmy to make him love her instead. The cast is filled with great characters, Jack Lemon as Kim's brother Nicky, Ernie Kovacs, Hermione Gingold and Elsa Lanchester.

This movie along with "I Married a Witch" starring Veronica Lake, were the inspiration for the television comedy series "Bewitched".

Answer: Wedding Bell Blues - 1996

"Wedding Bell Blues" details the trials and tribulations of three New York singles who head to Las Vegas to find husbands. They not only try to find husbands but want to marry quickly, to alleviate, among other things, the pressure their respective families have placed on them to get hitched.

The three leads, Illeana Douglas, Julie Warner and Paulina Porizkova are excellent. A highly recommended movie.

Answer: The Story of Alexander Graham Bell - 1939

"The Story of Alexander Graham Bell" focusses on Bell, played by Don Ameche, and his attempts to make a working telephone. Loretta Young stars as Bell's fiancé who urges him to complete his experiments before they marry. Henry Fonda is his usual wonderful every man as Bell's assistant, Watson. Charles Coburn and Spring Byington play Loretta's parents.

The rest of the supporting cast is excellent. This movie is rarely mentioned as one of the greats because it came in what many expert cite as "Hollywood's Golden Year" of 1939 and was overshadowed by such movies as, "Gone With The Wind", "The Wizard of Oz", "Stagecoach", "Mr Smith Goes to Washington", "Of Mice and Men" etc.

Answer: The Miracle of The Bells - 1948

In "The Miracle of The Bells" Frank Sinatra appears as Father Paul in this delightful piece of Christmas fare. The premise is that a Hollywood press agent, played by Fred MacMurray, escorts the body of an actress to her hometown. The actress played by Alida Valli, had died after completing her first film.

As her movie had been about Joan of Arc the press agent persuades all the local churches to ring their bells for three days leading up to the actresses funeral. This of course gains national notoriety and gives the town a bit more publicity than it is accustomed to. Lee J Cobb also stars, as does Ray Teal in an uncredited role as a miner.

The movie is well worth watching.

Answer: The Bells of St. Mary's - 1945

"The Bells of St. Mary's" is a follow up to "Going My Way" and stars Bing Crosby as Father O'Malley, with Ingrid Bergman as Sister Benedict. She and Father O'Malley work in saving the rundown St Mary's school from being condemned. Bergman and Crosby are both excellent in their parts and both deservedly gained Oscar nominations for their roles. Bing Crosby's Nomination was the first time an actor had been nominated twice for playing the same character in different movies. This has been duplicated many times since.
Paul Newman as 'Fast' Eddie Felson in "Hud" and "The Color of Money",
Peter O'Toole as Henry II in "Becket" and "The Lion in Winter",
Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in "The Godfather" parts 1 and 2,
Sylvester Stallone for playing Rocky in "Rocky" and "Creed",
Cate Blanchett for her role as Queen Elizabeth in "Elizabeth" and "Elizabeth, The Golden Age".

Answer: For Whom The Bell Tolls - 1943

"For Whom The Bell Tolls" starred Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Akim Tamiroff and Katina Paxinou. Filmed in 1942 and released during 1943 with a script from a story by Ernest Hemingway. The story is a romance set amongst the chaos of the Spanish civil war in the 1930s.

Hemingway stated that he wrote the lead characters with Cooper and Bergman in mind. The movie was a huge success in the USA with a reported box office (by Paramount Pictures) of over $22,000,000, the Internet movie database shows the amount to be $17,800,000.

Although released in the USA the worldwide release did not occur till late 1944 onwards.