Inspirational Eloquence in Film Quiz

Answer: Mr Smith Goes to Washington

This is the film that firmly established Jimmy Stewart as a leading actor, and is often featured in lists of the greatest films of all time. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, but lost out to Robert Donat ('Goodbye, Mr Chips'); his Oscar for 'The Philadelphia Story' the following year is often considered an acknowledgement of the magnificence of his losing 1939 performance. I first saw it on television, and was so mesmerized by this scene that I was late responding to the call to come to the table for Thanksgiving Day dinner; fortunately, my parents were sympathetic to the situation when it was explained.

The movie tells of Jeff Smith, an idealistic and naïve young man who believes that, as junior senator from his (unnamed) home state he is going to Washington to fight for democracy and the good of the individual. He is quickly made aware that life is not as straightforward as that. His bill proposing the establishment of a boys' camp on the same land that is part of a corrupt political deal involving the senior senator from his state leads to his being branded as corrupt, and he is about to leave in disgrace and despair when he is inspired, while visiting the Lincoln Memorial, to fight the motion to remove him from the senate. To delay the vote, he engages in a filibuster in which he explains all of his ideals, finally ending when he collapses after receiving a load of fake telegrams purporting to be from his constituents and telling him he doesn't have their support. His collapse spurs Senator Paine to admit that he is the guilty one, and that Smith is innocent.

Answer: Charlie Chaplin

'The Great Dictator' was Chaplin's first true "talkie" (although there had been some speech in 'Modern Times', often described as the last "silent" film). In it, he played a nameless Jewish barber who happened to bear an uncanny resemblance to Adenoid Hynkel, the dictator of Tomainia (also played by Chaplin). The movie is an attack on the regime of Hitler, with many of the characters and events only thinly disguised. Near the end, Hynkel and the Barber are mistaken for each other, and the Barber must assume leadership of his country, but immediately reverses his predecessor's policies. The Hannah to whom this speech is addressed at its end was a neighbour in the ghetto, who is seen reacting with joy to the message she has received.

Chaplin is perhaps best remembered for his character of the Tramp, with his swinging cane, mustache and bowler hat, who was featured in such silent classics as 'The Gold Rush'(1925), 'City Lights' (1931) and 'Modern Times' (1936). Chaplin did not make any talkies with this character, and insisted that the Barber in 'The Great Dictator' was not the same character, despite some similarities in appearance.

Answer: Ronald Reagan

Unless you're a fan of B movies, you are probably more familiar with Reagan's performance as a politician, including being the President of the United States from 1981 until 1989, than as an actor. He was also President of the Screen Actors' Guild for eight one-year terms and Governor of California (1967-1975).

'Knute Rockne - All American' was a film biography of the football coach known for his determination to win, his ability to make his players feel the need to make an extra effort for the sake of the team, and his support of the players not only in their athletic endeavours, but also in their personal lives. The Gipper speech was actually delivered at halftime in a 1928 game against Notre Dame's traditional (at the time) rivals, Army. Playing at Yankee Stadium on November 10, 1928, the team rallied from a halftime deficit to win the game, 12-6, and Rockne's speech became a part of the mythology of college football.

Answer: Henry V

The original speech, made by Henry V to his troops before the 1415 Battle of Agincourt, was (apparently) not nearly as dramatic as Shakespeare's version - he reminded them that he had a legitimate claim to the French throne, reminded them of the longstanding enmity between the French and the English (this was during the Hundred Years' War), and told them that the French had vowed to cut two fingers off the right hand of any captured archers (which would keep them from drawing a bow). Agincourt was an impressive victory for the English, led by the English and Welsh longbowmen.

Laurence Olivier delivered the St Crispin's Day speech from 'Henry V' in a radio program intended to boost British morale during World War II. Winston Churchill felt that it was so successful that a movie should be made to follow it up, and remind everyone of the possibility of victory in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds. Olivier was one of those responsible for adapting the play for film, which starts out as if it were to be just showing a stage production in the Globe Theatre. The film then changes to have sets with a medieval feel to them (including the Battle of Harfleur, with its famous exhortation, "Once more... unto the breach! Dear friends, once more!"); this is followed by a move to a real location for the events surrounding the Battle of Agincourt, before reversion to sets suggesting illuminated manuscripts as Henry courts his future wife, Princess Katherine; we finish back with the stage production, and an appreciative audience applauding the performance they have just witnessed.

Answer: It's a Wonderful Life

As a young man, George Bailey planned to see (and conquer) the world, but his father's death meant he had to stay in Bedford Falls and manage the family business, lest it be taken over by the rich and miserly Mr Potter, which would be disastrous for the "ordinary townsfolk" who needed a sympathetic lending agency in town.

The run on the bank that led to the speech in the question is resolved by using the money for his honeymoon to satisfy worried customers, and he never does manage to leave Bedford Falls. Years later, another financial crisis engineered by Potter has him on the verge of suicide, before an apprentice angel named Clarence makes him realise how important his life has been to all the town, not least his family.

The movie ends with all the townspeople contributing what they can to provide more than sufficient funds to resolve the crisis, and we all feel warm and fuzzy.

Answer: Willie Stark

Willie Stark starts out as an idealistic lawyer, who runs for governor on a platform to gain representation for "everyday folk", those whom he calls "hicks" in the speech used in the question. After the failure of that campaign, he continues to develop his charismatic speech style, and later becomes governor, and leader of a powerful political machine.

Broderick Crawford won the Academy Award for Best Actor, a victory which many attribute to this speech from early in the film. Robert Rossen adapted the screenplay from the Pulitzer Prize winning book by Robert Penn Warren, and changed the focus to be on Willie Stark rather than on Jack Burden (the reporter who chronicles his career) as it was in the book. The story about the loss of innocence as politics corrupts Stark into becoming one of those against whom he initially fought is thought to have been inspired by the real-life figure of Huey Long, Louisiana governor and senator who was assassinated in 1935.

Answer: Klaatu

Klaatu, accompanied by an eight-foot tall robot named Gort, arrives to warn Earth's world leaders that they need to mend their ways (this was at a time when the Cold War looked like hotting up), explaining that the citizens of other planets are concerned about the use of nuclear arms. Of course, he is almost immediately shot by frightened soldiers, but is healed before he escapes to live among the people and find out what they are like. As the search for him intensifies, he asks his companion to deliver the famous message "Klaatu barada nikto", a phrase whose meaning has never been definitely determined, but which seems to be a message calling for mercy towards Earth if anything should happen to him. She says this to Gort as the robot collects Klaatu's body, and takes it back to the spaceship where Klaatu is (temporarily) brought back to life so that he can deliver his final warning to the people of Earth. The entire speech is as follows.

"I am leaving soon, and you will forgive me if I speak bluntly. The universe grows smaller every day, and the threat of aggression by any group, anywhere, can no longer be tolerated. There must be security for all, or no one is secure. Now, this does not mean giving up any freedom, except the freedom to act irresponsibly. Your ancestors knew this when they made laws to govern themselves and hired policemen to enforce them. We, of the other planets, have long accepted this principle. We have an organization for the mutual protection of all planets and for the complete elimination of aggression. The test of any such higher authority is, of course, the police force that supports it. For our policemen, we created a race of robots. Their function is to patrol the planets in spaceships like this one and preserve the peace. In matters of aggression, we have given them absolute power over us. This power cannot be revoked. At the first sign of violence, they act automatically against the aggressor. The penalty for provoking their action is too terrible to risk. The result is, we live in peace, without arms or armies, secure in the knowledge that we are free from aggression and war, free to pursue more profitable enterprises. Now we do not pretend to have achieved perfection, but we do have a system, and it works. I came here to give you these facts. It is no concern of ours how you run your own planet. But if you threaten to extend your violence, this Earth of yours will be reduced to a burned-out cinder. Your choice is simple. Join us and live in peace, or pursue your present course and face obliteration. We shall be waiting for your answer. The decision rests with you."

Answer: Mark Antony

Mark Antony, one of Julius Caesar's friends and supporters, had accompanied him as he went to the senate on that fateful Ides of March. After the assassination, he cradled his friend's body in his arms, according to Shakespeare. Brutus (played by James Mason) and Cassius (played by John Gielgud) were among those who assassinated Caesar, fearing that he was becoming too powerful, and might abuse that power to the detriment of the state.

At least, that was the story used to convince Brutus, Caesar's friend, to join them. Following the assassination on the floor of the Senate, Brutus makes an impassioned speech to convince the people of Rome that it was for their benefit. If he hadn't been such a nice guy and let Mark Antony make a speech as well, things might have settled down.

As it was, the conspirators were forced to flee the city, and join battle against the forces led by Mark Antony, Octavian and Lepidus, leading to their defeat at Philippi, and subsequent deaths. While Mark Antony makes what is possibly the most famous speech in the movie, the central character is actually Brutus, and his struggle to reconcile the demands of friendship, honour and duty.

Answer: To Kill a Mockingbird

Based on the novel by Harper Lee, 'To Kill a Mockingbird' depicted life in a small southern town in the USA, focusing on events in the lives of Scout and Jem Finch, including their father's involvement as defense lawyer in a case in which a black man was accused of raping a white woman, with all the turbulence such a trial inevitably brought to the town.

The role of Atticus Finch was a tour-de-force for Gregory Peck, who won his first Best Actor Oscar for his fifth nomination. His oratory is best remembered for the closing of Tom Robinson's trial, where he (fruitlessly) asked the jury to ignore their prejudices and bring in a verdict based on the evidence that had clearly shown his client was innocent. Here is the closing portion of that inspirational speech:

"And so, a quiet, humble, respectable Negro, who has had the unmitigated temerity to feel sorry for a white woman, has had to put his word against two white peoples. The defendant is not guilty. But somebody in this courtroom is. Now gentlemen, in this country, our courts are the great levelers. In our courts, all men are created equal. I'm no idealist to believe firmly in the integrity of our courts and of our jury system. That's no ideal to me. That is a living, working reality. Now I am confident that you gentlemen will review - without passion - the evidence that you have heard, come to a decision, and restore this man to his family. In the name of God, do your duty. In the name of God, believe Tom Robinson."

The speech in the question came from a gentler moment, in which he explained his outlook, and expected that Scout and Jem would take the message to heart.

Answer: Standing on an empty stage in front of a huge American flag

The makers of this biographical movie used several written biographies as their source material, along with all of Patton's speeches for which they could find records. The opening monologue was assembled using his actual words in speeches to troops, with most of the profanity removed (or at least toned down). The film focuses on Patton's military career during World War II, starting in Africa in 1943, continuing through the invasion of Sicily, his non-participation in the D-Day landings, and his subsequent campaigning in Europe.

George C. Scott won the 1971 Academy Award for Best Actor, and became the first actor to refuse to accept the award, having previously warned the Academy that he would do so, and should not be nominated. According to an article published in 'Entertainment Weekly' on 16 April 1993, he did this because of "a dislike of the voting process and of the very idea of competition".