In the Movies You Get Oranges Trivia Quiz

Answer: DeSimone

'Goodfellas' was a highly condensed version of the events recounted by former gangster, Henry Hill, in author Nicholas Pillegi's 1987 masterpiece 'Wiseguy'. Hill's close friend and fellow gangster, Tommy DeSimone, was among the principal characters whose last names were changed when the book was adapted to film. Jimmy 'The Gent' Conway (real name Burke, played by Robert DeNiro), and capo Paul Cicero (real name Vario, played by Paul Sorvino) were among others. Aside from the name change, Joe Pesci's diminutive stature defied the physical attributes of the real life DeSimone, who was much taller than Pesci. DeSimone's gung ho approach to mobster life was vividly recalled in the film, however, allowing Joe Pesci to win a much deserved Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

Answer: C.W. Moss

The character of Barrow gang member C.W. Moss, in Arthur Penn's crime classic 'Bonnie and Clyde', was actually a composite of two men. Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow's henchmen were several; far too many to include in the film. To simplify this, Penn and his screenwriters eliminated some of the real life characters, but decided to combine two of them to create the fictional Moss.

The two men chosen were William Daniel Jones and Henry Methvin. Jones, a known drug addict and alcoholic, was one in a string of Barrow associates who took exception to the film, eventually filing a lawsuit against Warner Brothers Films, citing defamation of character.

This lawsuit was dismissed.

Answer: Atlantic

The famous Titanic disaster has been brought to film several times. 1925's 'Atlantic' is considered the most fictionalized depiction of the wreck and the events that preceded it. Although this adaptation is held in little regard today, the film did boast some star power, in the form of British screen siren Madeleine Carroll, portraying a young woman who finds romance aboard the ship, a plotline mimicked (perhaps unintentionally) in director James Cameron's 1998 film.

Answer: Maybe Baby

Although Buddy Holly and his manager, Norman Petty, were the only credited songwriters on the single 'Maybe Baby', Holly's mother Ella was involved in the song's early writing proccess. Unlike what was seen in the film, Holly did not know how to formally compose music, and his talent rich parents often had a hand in their son's musical maturation. Holly never did learn how to read or write music, but nonetheless managed to become a prolific songwriter, often by humming the melodies produced in his head and transforming them into a tangible arrangement. 'The Buddy Holly Story's innacuracies have long been criticized by members of the rock and roll establishment, although such resentments have faded over the years, given the film's ability to turn new fans on to Holly's legendary music.

Answer: There were no such thing as kilts.

While filmgoers were captivated by Mel Gibson's vast epic 'Braveheart', historians viewed the film with gales of laughter and resentment. Of particular amusement to these intellectuals was the sight of Scottish kilts worn by men throughout the film. Not only was this a fashion flub, the filmmakers (perhaps inadvertently) used rather modern looking kilts, as opposed to earlier versions of the famous garb, which were quite drab.

Answer: John Wojtowicz

'Godfather' co-stars Al Pacino and John Cazale were reunited three years later in 'Dog Day Afternoon', which dramatized a very strange, real-life Brooklyn bank robbery. John Wojtowicz, a bisexual divorcee, was attempting to procure funds for his partner Ernest Aron's sex change operation (Aron, at the time, was a pre-operative transsexual living under the alias of Elizabeth Eden). Aron had attempted suicide on several occassions due to his/her inability to afford the operation. Wojtowicz was at the end of his rope on the day of August 22nd, 1972, when he and Sal Naturile walked into a branch of the Chase Manhattan Bank on the corner of East 3rd Street and Avenue P in Brooklyn, NY, and attempted to rob it.

The ensuing fourteen hour standoff, complete with hostages, turned the two would-be thieves into media celebrities. Wojtowicz finally contributed to Aron's operation with the money he made by selling the movie rights.

The casting of Pacino and Cazale was an interesting twist- Wojtowicz later claimed that his preparations for the robbery came from watching 'The Godfather'.

Answer: Helen Prejean counseled two death row inmates in real life. The film combined those two men into Matthew Poncelot.

In Sister Helen Prejean's autobiography 'Dead Man Walking', she recounted her experiences counseling death row inmates Elmo Patrick Sonnier and Robert Lee Willie, two convicted murderers who eventually died in the electric chair (the two men were not partners and their crimes were unrelated). For the film adaptation, an amalgam of the two men was created.

The result was Matthew Poncelot, played by Sean Penn in a performance that earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Lead Actor. Susan Sarandon was awarded the Oscar for Best Lead Actress for her portrayal of Sister Helen.

Answer: None of the male passengers removed their hats.

In Nazi Germany, it was unheard of for men to leave their hats on during a performance of the country's National Anthem. The film also failed to depict military personnel offering salutes during the song, another faux pas. 'The Hindenburg', directed and produced by Robert Wise and starring legendary actor George C. Scott, was noted for its accurate portrayal, despite several minor deviations.

This adherence to reality may have been the film's undoing. While audiences were unintentionally amused by this 'disaster epic', the film was extremely pedestrian and failed financially and critically.

Answer: His Carnegie Hall performance

Comedian Andy Kaufman delivered a legendary performance at New York City's Carnegie Hall in April of 1979, after which he famously invited the entire audience out for milk and cookies. In real life, the performance occured nearly four years prior to Kaufman being diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer. For the film, director Milos Foreman and screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski decided to show the performance as occuring sometime after Kaufman's diagnosis.

Answer: Armstrong recorded the song in 1967. 'Good Morning Vietnam' took place in 1965.

'Good Morning Vietnam' took place in 1965, the year the United States' involvement in the Vietnam conflict escalated to a full scale war. Louis Armstrong's recording of 'What a Wonderful World', written by George David Weiss and George Douglas, was not released until 1967. 'Vietnam' director Barry Levinson took inspiration for the scene from Stanley Kubrick's classic 'Dr. Strangelove', which featured a montage of nuclear explosions set to the 1939 Vera Lynn tune 'We'll Meet Again'. Levinson filmed a series of violent war images, which were shown during the song. Following 'Vietnam', this technique for creating irony quickly became a filmmaking cliche.

Answer: Shaw's parents threatened to remove him from their will.

Shortly after Captain Robert Gould Shaw rejected his appointment as commander of the 54th Massachusetts, his mother and father vowed to remove their son as an inheritor. This prompted Shaw to rethink his decision. He ultimately changed his mind and agreed to command the regiment.

The film skipped over most of this, offering only a momentary hesitance on Shaw's part before he accepted the position at the behest of boyhood friend Cabot Forbes (played by Cary Elwes).

Answer: The women played softball, not baseball.

Although the AAGPBL would eventually adopt rules similar to that of men's baseball, the league was originally a softball organization. Because it was a professional game played in baseball parks, several differences did exist between the AAGPBL product and regulation softball.

However, basic components were adhered to, such as shorter baselines, a bigger ball, and underarm pitches. The league's name itself was somewhat of a misnomer. Although history recognizes its official name as the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, the organization had several names throughout its history.

The league's original name in 1943, its first official year of operation as depicted in the film, was the All-American Girls Softball League.

Answer: A train station

In its transition from Maria Von Trapp's autobiography to the Broadway stage, and finally to the big screen, Rogers and Hammerstein's 'The Sound of Music' took many liberties with the Von Trapp family's actual life. Georg Von Trapp's struggles to resist serving in the German military in WWII were especially embellished, but the film's ending was perhaps it's most notable inaccuracy.

The Von Trapps escaped in real life by simply boarding a local train bound for Italy. From there, the family traveled to London before ultimately ending up in the United States.

The movie's intentional flub was also of geographical significance. The family's hometown of Salzburg was quite a walking distance from Switzerland. Had they simply hiked across the mountains as shown in the film, they would have ended up in Germany.

Answer: He was too tall.

The real life T.E. Lawrence was a mere 5'3", as opposed to his film counterpart, Peter O'Toole, who stood 6'2". This fact was of little consequence when compared to the personality traits given to Lawrence in the film. Many historians agree (although met with strong argument by some) that the real life T.E. Lawrence was not as egocentric as shown in the film.

Many point to his attempts at reclusion following WWI as the basis for this belief, as well as an unconfirmed story which stated that Lawrence always had to be tricked into having his photo taken.

Answer: Welles' real first name was George. In the film, his mother called him Orson.

'RKO 281', starring Liev Shreiber and John Malkovich, depicted the battle between Hollywood man-child Orson Welles and newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst. Hearst was convinced that RKO Pictures production no. 281, later to become known as 'Citizen Kane', was a veiled attack on his life, and attempted to have the film destroyed before it could be released. Aside from some minor peculiarities, the film was relatively accurate. One flub involved the filmmaker's name. Orson Welles' real first name was George, and Welles did not assume his middle name of Orson as his professional name until several years after the time depicted in the scene with his mother.