Great Movie Exchanges 26 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Private Benjamin

In this scene dismayed new Private Judy Benjamin (Goldie Hawn) has just seen the bunk beds in the barracks she has been assigned to and is explaining to Captain Doreen Lewis (Eileen Brennan) that there must be a mistake. Benjamin explains with line one and Captain Lewis cracks up. Benjamin is a sheltered high-society young woman who has never been independent in her entire life. When her new husband dies on their wedding night, she falls to pieces. In an attempt to turn her life around, she decides to join the US Army, with hilarious results. In the end, she decides she does like the new feeling of self-reliance the Army has instilled in her.

In the 1981 Academy Awards Goldie Hawn was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role (but lost the Oscar to Sissy Spacek in "Coal Miner's Daughter". Eileen Brennan was nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (but lost the Oscar to Mary Steenburgen in "Melvin and Howard").

Answer: Witness

In this wonderful scene, Philadelphia, PA police detective John Book, dressed as an Amish farmer (played by Harrison Ford), is going into town in an Amish buggy driven by Eli Lapp (Jan Rubes). A group of local bullies, who have learned from experience the local Amish will not fight back, starts to harass the group. One bully smears some ice cream on the face of Amish farmer Daniel Hochleitner (Alexander Godunov) and dares him to fight. When Book starts to get up, Lapp says, "It's not our way." Book replies, "But it's my way," and proceeds to confront the bully. After getting his hat knocked off, Book hits the bully in the stomach and face, bloodying his nose. An amazed elderly townsman says lines one and three, and Hochleitner explains with line two. Book is investigating a drug dealer murder, and eyewitness Samuel Lapp (a young Amish boy) identifies a senior officer in the police department as the murderer. Book realizes both he and the boy are in danger of being assassinated, and moves temporarily to the Amish farm to protect both of them.

In the 1986 Academy Awards, "Witness" won two Oscars and was nominated in six other categories, including Best Picture (but that Oscar went to "Out of Africa"). Harrison Ford was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role (but that Oscar went to William Hurt in "Kiss of the Spider Woman"). Peter Weir was nominated for Best Director (but that Oscar went to Sydney Pollack for "Out of Africa").

Answer: The Blind Side

In this scene wealthy Leigh Anne Touhy (Sandra Bullock) has decided to invite homeless student Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) to stay in her home and is showing him the bedroom he will have. Michael says lines one and three and Leigh Anne says line two. This movie tells the mostly-true story of how well-to-do Leigh Anne and her husband Sean (Tim McGraw) and their two children took a homeless African-American teenager with little formal education and few skills under their wing and guided him during his high school and college years. After a successful college career at Ole Miss (University of Mississippi), Oher was the first-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens in the 2009 NFL (National Football League) draft of college players.

In the 2010 Academy Awards "The Blind Side" was nominated for Best Picture (but the Oscar went to "The Hurt Locker"). Sandra Bullock won Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for her portrayal of Leigh Anne Touhy. It was the first Oscar she had won. When Michael enrolled at Briarcrest Christian High School, the movie depicted him as a passive, unskilled big guy who was only barely acquainted with football (American style). The real Michael Oher was not too pleased at this, since by then he was an experienced football player. Fans of US college football undoubtedly enjoyed seeing real-life coaches make cameo appearances in the movie playing themselves during the college recruiting scenes.

Answer: The King's Speech

In this scene England's King George VI (Colin Firth) is meeting Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), an Australian-born speech therapist, in the hope Logue can improve the King's tendency to stammer. The king starts to light a cigarette and Logue says lines one, three and five (he says line five sarcastically). The King says lines two and four. This movie tells the true story of how George VI was thrust into being the King of England when his brother Edward VIII abdicated the throne in order to marry his mistress, Wallis Simpson. George VI had a bad stammer and dreaded public speaking, but he overcame that liability with the help of speech therapist Lionel Logue.

In the 2011 Academy Awards "The King's Speech" won four Oscars, including Best Picture, Colin Firth for Best Actor in a Leading Role and Tom Hooper for Best Director. Geoffrey Rush was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role but the Oscar was won by Christian Bale in "The Fighter". Helena Bonham Carter (she played Queen Elizabeth, the King's wife) was nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, but the Oscar was won by Melissa Leo in "The Fighter".

Historical note:
The bad stammer that George VI had is often attributed to the upbringing by his stern and autocratic father, King George V (Michael Gambon). Princess Elizabeth got the nickname "Lilibet" as a very young child when she couldn't pronounce her own name. She grew up to be Queen Elizabeth II, who became the queen of England on 6 February 1952 after the death of her father, King George VI. Her coronation took place more than a year later (on 2 June 1953) at Westminster Abbey because of the tradition that holding such a festival is inappropriate during the period of mourning that follows the death of a monarch and also on account of the need to make preparations for the ceremony.

Answer: The Imitation Game

In this scene Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) has a "Eureka!" moment on how to decode Enigma-coded radio messages the Germans sent in World War II. Turing and fellow British codebreaker Gordon Welchman had designed and built a "bombe" machine (named for the ticking sound it made) to speed up decoding Enigma messages. Although it worked, the bombe had to run through 159 million million million [that is NOT a typo!] possible combinations in less than 24 hours before the code key changed. The Bletchley Park codebreaking team was taking a break at a local pub when radio message interceptor Helen Stewart (Tuppence Middleton) mentioned she thought the German operator she listened to had a girlfriend named Cilly. Alan was intrigued and wanted to know why she thought that. Helen says lines one and three, Turning says lines two and five, and fellow code breaker Hugh Alexander (Matthew Goode) says line four. Turing realizes the bombe machine only needs to cycle through predictable elements of intercepted radio messages. The team settles on a 6:00 am weather report each day that always has the three words "weather," "Heil," and "Hitler." It works! The British can then read Enigma messages, which gives them a big edge and undoubtedly shortened the war.

In the 2015 Academy Awards "The Imitation Game" won one Oscar and was nominated (but didn't win) in seven other categories. Nominations included Best Picture (but that Oscar was won by "Birdman"), Benedict Cumberbatch for Best Actor in a Leading Role (but that Oscar was won by Eddie Redmayne in "The Theory of Everything"), Keira Knightley for Best Supporting Actress (but that Oscar was won by Patricia Arquette in "Boyhood"), and Morten Tyldum for Best Director (but that Oscar was won by Alejandro González Iñárritu in "Birdman").

Historical note:
This movie is mostly true to historical facts, but certain elements are made up or rearranged. For example, the movie shows John Cairncross (Allen Leech) as one of Alan's fellow codebreakers. In actuality, they worked in different huts and probably didn't even know each other. In another break from historical fact, Stewart Menzies, Chief of MI6, British Secret Intelligence Service (Mark Strong) is shown knowing about and tolerating John Cairncross' spying for the Soviet Union. That isn't supported by the historical record.

Answer: The Patriot

In this scene South Carolina militia soldiers Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson) and John Billings (Leon Rippy) are having a little fun with fellow soldier Reverend Oliver (Rene Auberjonois). The militia has just captured a British wagon containing the wine, correspondence and diary of British General Lord Cornwallis and his two pet Great Dane dogs, and are deciding what to do with them. Billings says line one, an alarmed Reverend Oliver says lines two and four, and Martin (with a straight face) says line three. [The dogs are safely returned to Cornwallis.] This movie is loosely based on actual historical events in the Revolutionary War between England and her American colonies. "The Patriot" tells the story of how South Carolina colonist Benjamin Martin is transformed from pacifist to fighter and is loosely based on the life of American General Francis Marion, who became known as "The Swamp Fox."

In the 2001 Academy Awards, "The Patriot" was nominated for Oscars in three categories but did not win any. The scene where Martin's young daughter Susan (Skye McCole Bartusiak) finally breaks years of silence (since her mother died) and speaks is a real tearjerker. As Martin starts to ride off to war, she runs after him and cries, "Papa! Papa! Please don't go. I'll say anything. Just tell me what you want me to say and I'll say it."

Historical note:
The climatic battle in the movie (just before Yorktown) is based on the actual battle of Cowpens, South Carolina (although the American General in that battle was Brigadier-General Daniel Morgan). The clever American strategy and unique landscape of the area gave the Americans a decisive victory. Lord Cornwallis was not present at this battle.

Answer: Out of Africa

In this scene Baroness Karen Blixen (Meryl Streep) is starting to make up a story for her house guests, adventurer Denys Finch-Hatton (Robert Redford) and Berkeley Cole (Michael Kitchen). Denys loved to hear stories and requested Karen tell them one. She replied, "When I tell stories to my nieces at home, one of them always provides the first sentence." Berkeley asks, "Anything?" and Karen replies, "Absolutely anything." Denys says line one, thinking he has stumped her. Karen picks up with line two without missing a beat, and Denys is surprised and impressed! When Denys and Berkeley are leaving the next morning, he tries to give her a pen as payment, saying, "We pay our storytellers here." Karen protests, saying, "It's lovely. But my stories are free and your present's much too dear." This movie tells the mostly-true story of Karen (who wrote under the pseudonym of Isak Dinesen). She had gone to British East Africa (now called Kenya) in 1913 to be married to her Swedish friend Bror (Klaus Maria Brandauer), but it was a marriage of convenience and she grew to love Denys.

In the 1986 Academy Awards, "Out of Africa" won seven Oscars, including Best Picture and Sydney Pollack for Best Director. The majestic John Barry music won the Oscar for Best Music, Original Score (the wonderful main theme is one of my all-time favorites). Meryl Streep was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role (but Geraldine Page won the Oscar for "The Trip to Bountiful"). Klaus Maria Brandauer was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (but Don Ameche won the Oscar for "Cocoon"). This is one of those movies that should be seen on a wide screen with a good sound system to be fully appreciated.

Historical note:
The international trade in ivory was banned in 1990. "Out of Africa" was set in approximately 1913-20, so Denys hunting for elephant tusks would have been legal at the time.

Answer: Patton

In this scene Gen. Omar Bradley (Karl Malden) frowns as aides to General George S. Patton, Jr. (George C. Scott) pin one more star on each of Patton's shirt lapels, signifying his promotion to three-star general. Patton says lines one and three and Bradly says line two. This movie follows extremely talented but very complex American General George S. Patton, Jr. through his World War II days. He was a brilliant tank tactician at the leading edge of tank strategy but identified with the ancient past ("God, how I hate the twentieth century"). He was very religious but swore a blue streak. In his younger days (at age 26) Patton represented the US at the 1912 Olympic games in Stockholm by competing in the Modern Pentathlon (he finished fifth).

In the 1971 Academy Awards "Patton" won seven Oscars, including Best Picture and Franklin J. Schaffner for Best Director. George C. Scott won the Oscar for Best Actor but refused to accept it, calling the competition a "meat parade" and stating that competition between actors was unfair. Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H. North won an Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced. (Coppola later achieved fame by directing all three "The Godfather" movies.) Scott initially turned down the role of Patton but then reconsidered when he realized it would be a great acting challenge. Nearly half the film's budget was spent on renting soldiers and equipment from the Spanish army.

Filming note:
In the opening scene in the movie, General Patton (standing in front of a huge US flag) is shown addressing some raw American troops, giving them some ground rules of what he expects from them in battle. This movie speech is actually a screenwriter's blending together of several different speeches Patton actually gave. Even though it appears in the opening of the movie, it was filmed last since George C. Scott thought it would be a "tough act to follow." So, director Franklin Schaffner filmed the scene last but misled Scott as to where the scene would appear in the finished film.

Answer: Enemy of the State

In this scene conservationist Daniel Zavitz (Jason Lee) is informing newsman Lenny Bloom (Grant Heslov) that a videotape he thought showed just migratory waterfowl also showed an assassination. The tape had been made automatically by a camera activated by a motion detector. Current news stories are reporting the death of US Congressman Phillip Hammersley (Jason Robards) as a heart attack, but Zavitz's videotape shows it was actually a murder staged to appear as a heart attack. At first Zavitz is elated to have such important evidence, but quickly changes his tune when he starts being chased by the gang controlled by treacherous National Security Administration executive Thomas Reynolds (Jon Voight). They did the assassination and want the tape. When he starts being chased, he realizes the tape is causing him big trouble and he slips it surreptitiously to labor lawyer Robert Clayton Dean (Will Smith). This sets up the exciting plot that follows!

"Enemy of the State" was not nominated for any Academy Awards in the 1999 ceremony, but it did win several minor awards that year. This fast-paced action thriller is one my favorite movies.

Answer: My Cousin Vinny

In this scene, newly-minted lawyer Vincent "Vinny" Gambini (Joe Pesci) from Brooklyn, NY is arguing his first murder case before Mississippi Judge Chamberlain Haller (Fred Gwynne), and is questioning witness Sam Tipton (Maury Chaykin). Vinny asks line one and Tipton replies with line two. Vinny is on a roll now and continues, "Are we to believe that boiling water soaks into a grit faster in your kitchen than any place on the face of the earth?" Mr. Tipton meekly replies, "I don't know." Vinny continues, "Perhaps the laws of physics cease to exist on your stove. Were these magic grits? Did you buy them from the same guy who sold Jack his beanstalk beans?" In the events leading up to this trial scene, two young men from New York are driving across Alabama when they are stopped and jailed on suspicion of the murder of a Sac-O-Suds convenience store clerk. The lawyer they choose to represent them is Vinny, a cousin of one of them, but he has very little judicial experience and none on murder cases.

In the 1993 Academy Awards Marisa Tomei won for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her portrayal of Vinny's girlfriend, Mona Lisa Vito. This was the first Oscar she won. Two of the scenes in this movie were inspired by events that actually happened during filming. The "two yutes" scene between Vinny and Judge Haller was inspired by a conversation that actually did take place between actor Joe Pesci and director Jonathan Lynn, who felt it was funny enough to be added to the movie's script. The scene where Vinny accidentally knocks over the judge's chessboard actually happened during filming, and the director thought it was so funny he left it in the final cut.