Friends For Hire Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Searchers

"The Searchers" (1956) featured John "Duke" Wayne as returned war veteran Ethan Edwards. Around 1868 his young niece Debbie (Lana Wood) is abducted by Comanche Natives. Ethan spends five years searching, spurred on by his hatred of the Comanches, only to discover she has become a married member of the Comanches (the niece is now played by Natalie Wood). Enraged that she is an "Indian", he tries to kill her, but then sees her home. This movie made the respective "greatest and best movies of all time" lists of France, Britain and the US.

The gruff John Ford first hired tough man John Wayne for the film "Stagecoach" in 1939. They worked together on more than 20 other films.

Answer: Alice in Wonderland

Award winning actress Helena Bonham Carter played the Red Queen in Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" (2010). She's a jealous, odd and delightfully dangerous monarch who only wants to be loved. Bonham Carter's head was digitally increased to three times normal size, and her tiny waist was also a trick of the camera. Bonham Carter is director Tim Burton's domestic partner and the mother of their children. Burton hired her to star in more than 7 of his films since their first movie together, "Planet of the Apes" (2001).

As Burton also favors Johnny Depp, Depp and Helena star together in several Burton movies.

Answer: Rope

Alfred Hitchcock and Sidney Bernstein directed "Rope" (1948) starring Jimmy Stewart. Technicolor, in real time and using innovative long takes, this film portrays two former students of housemaster Rupert Cadell (Stewart) after they kill a man and invite dinner guests over, including Cadell, thinking to impress them with the artful murder. Hitchcock hired Stewart for four of his best films, including "Rear Window" and "Vertigo".

But it was Cary Grant, also the star of 4 of his films, that Hitchcock called "The only actor I've ever loved in my whole life". Of course, Hitchcock gave himself a cameo in each of his movies, so perhaps his preferred actor was himself.

Answer: Seven Samurai

"Seven Samurai" won several awards and is on the top of many lists for best film in the world. When a village of farmers tire of bandits stealing their crops, they hire leaderless samurai (ronin) to protect them. This was the first film to feature a team of heroes coming together to accomplish a task.

In 1960 John Sturges adapted the movie to the Old West, calling it "The Magnificent Seven". Akira Kurosawa hired charismatic actor Toshiro Mifune as the star in no less than 16 of his films, beginning with "Drunken Angel" (1948) and ending in 1965 with "Red Beard", after which they had a falling out. Most Mifune roles were samurai stories, such as "The Hidden Fortress" and "Yojimbo", but there were also drama and thrillers.

The influential Kurosawa directed 30 movies.

Answer: A Bill of Divorcement

"A Bill of Divorcement" (1932) was the screen debut of the great Katharine Hepburn. She played daughter Sydney Fairfield. Based on a British play and a silent film, a new law allows a woman to divorce her husband on the grounds of insanity. The young Hepburn's audition was rejected by producer David Selznick as he didn't like her looks. Cukor cast her nonetheless, the film made a good profit, and Cukor hired Hepburn for seven more of his films, such as "The Philadelphia Story". Cukor directed two of the films pairing Hepburn and her longtime love Spencer Tracy.

Answer: Denzel Washington

Denzel Washington stars as Detective Keith Frazier, attempting to make sense of a bewildering bank heist in Spike Lee's "Inside Man" (2006). Lee was the third hired director for this movie but his creative camera work and the stellar cast made it Denzel's highest grossing film thus far in his career.

A sequel with the same cast was planned but Lee failed to get funding. This was the 4th Lee/Washington collaboration, after which they took separate paths. Spike Lee appears in a number of his own films and documentaries. Washington did five films with director Tony Scott, who died in 2014.

Answer: La Dolce Vita

In the 1960 "La Dolce Vita" ("the sweet life") Italian Federico Fellini directs his pet actor Marcello Mastroianni in this funny, dramatic film. Playing Marcello Rubini, a gossip journalist, Mastroianni portrays fleeting and failed attempts at romance and meaningful life.

This film was banned in Spain and condemned by the Vatican, but was nominated for four Academy Awards, and appears on many "best films of the world" lists. Other Fellini and Mastroianni collaborations include "8 1/2" (1963), "City of Women" (1980) and "Ginger and Fred" (1986). Fellini did seven movies directing leading lady Giulietta Masina (e.g. "La Strada" "Ginger and Fred").

Answer: The King of Comedy

"The King of Comedy" (1983) finds ambitious wanna-be comedian Rupert Pupkin (De Niro) obsessed and delusional about the successful Jerry Langford (Lewis), believing Langford will be his "big break" in show biz. Many critics and later cult followers loved this film, but it did poorly at the box office. Scorsese had asked De Niro to take the lead in "The Last Temptation of Christ", but De Niro chose "The King of Comedy" instead.

While Scorsese and De Niro did at least 8 films together, Scorsese named "The King of Comedy" his favorite of their works.

Answer: Changeling

Angelina Jolie starred in Clint Eastwood's 2008 "Changeling" as Christine Collins, a mother whose missing 9-year old son is returned by police. When Christine insists this boy is not her son, police claim she is hysterical and insane. Based on a true story, "Changeling" won Angelina Jolie several awards.

This beautiful actress and humanitarian was directed by dozens of different directors throughout her career, rarely working for the same director twice. But when she became a director and producer she hired presumably her favorite actor of all time, the father of her children, Brad Pitt ("By the Sea".

Their eldest son Maddox Jolie-Pitt worked on set).

Answer: Queen

"The African Queen" (1951) was the 5th collaboration between director John Huston and the great Humphrey Bogart. Co-starring with Katharine Hepburn, Bogart won his only Oscar (Best Actor) for his role as Charlie Allnut, the no-count captain of the boat the "African Queen" which Rose Sayer (Hepburn) talks him into using to sink a WWI enemy ship.

Hepburn was ill during production, as conditions in Uganda and the Congo were so rough. She and Huston, as well as screenplay writer James Agee, were nominated for Oscar awards.

This film was adapted from a C.S. Forester novel. Huston and Bogart worked together first in 1941 ("The Maltese Falcon"), ending with their 6th movie together in 1953 ("Beat the Devil"). Bogart died in 1957 at age 57.