Gary Cooper appeared in over one hundred movies. Among his best were "For Whom The Bell Tolls", "The Fountainhead", "The Westerner" and "Friendly Persuasion". Cooper won Academy Awards for his performances in the matching movies and received nominations for "Mr Deeds goes To Town, "Pride Of The Yankees and "For Whom The Bell Tolls".
His performance in "High Noon" always features in the top ten performances in the "Western" genre. Gary became the second person after Spencer Tracy in "Boys Town" to win an Oscar for playing a currently living, real life person when he portrayed World War 1 hero and Medal of Honor recipient, Alvin York in "Sergeant York".
2. The King and I
Answer: An Affair To Remember
Deborah Kerr was nominated for an Oscar five times in the 1950s and again in 1961. Sadly she never won. Her performance in "From Here To Eternity" was more than worthy of the award. "An Affair to Remember" is one of the top romance movies of all time. "The King and I" is often mentioned as the favourite Rodgers and Hammerstein musical after "The Sound Of Music".
3. Contact
Answer: Silence Of The Lambs
Jodie Foster has been a child star, and grown-up star, a box-office drawcard and a director. By the time Jodie started work on "Taxi Driver" at age 12, she had to her credit over 70 movie and television appearances. "Contact" is an engrossing tale concerning the search for extra terrestrial life in which she gives a very convincing performance. Jodie won an Oscar for playing rape victim, Sarah Tobias in "The Accused" which co starred Kelly McGillis as her attorney. Three years after her Oscar win she was nominated and won again, for her riveting performance as FBI agent Clarice Starling in "Silence of The Lambs".
The film also starred Anthony Hopkins in his Oscar winning role as serial killer, Dr Hannibal Lecter.
4. Wild In The Country
Answer: Speedway
Elvis Presley made 31 movies, not all them great pieces of art, but who cared, because Elvis was in them. "Jailhouse Rock", "King Creole" and "Viva Las Vegas" were among the best of his performances in movies. In "Wild In The Country" Elvis plays a troubled young man, Glen Tyler.
The movie also stars Hope Lange as his counsellor who recognises his writing talent, and, as Noreen Braxton Elvis's love interest, the eighteen year old Tuesday Weld. "Speedway" was another of his auto racing movies, this one centred around stock cars.
His co-star in this film was Nancy Sinatra.
5. Casino
Answer: The Godfather: Part II
Robert De Niro won Oscars for performances in "Raging Bull" and as the young Don Corleone in "The Godfather: Part II" and has received five other nominations for Oscars. Apart from his stellar performances in the movies mentioned, he shows great dramatic acting skills in "Awakenings", "Taxi Driver", "Goodfellas", "Deer Hunter" and "Mean Streets". De Niro has shown comedic skills in "Analyse This" and "Meet The Fockers".
In "Casino" he played a Jewish gambler, Sam Rothstein and the movie shows Las Vegas through the sixties to the nineties. Also starring in the film are Joe Pesci, Sharon Stone, Don Rickles and James Woods.
6. The Conversation
Answer: Hoosiers
Gene Hackman appeared in 80 feature films in a 45 year career. Apart from great performances in "Hoosiers", "Mississippi Burning" and "The Conversation" he won Oscars for his performances in "The French Connection" and "Unforgiven". Gene has not made a movie since 2004 and has effectively closed that part of his life and has intimated that he is retired from movies, but in showbiz, never say never. Since 2004 he has authored three historical novels. "The Conversation" deals with covert surveillance, in which Gene stars as an electronic surveillance expert.
In "Hoosiers" he stars as a basketball coach in mid 1950s Indiana.
7. Rio Bravo
Answer: The Quiet Man
John Wayne starred in over 150 movies, 90 of which were westerns. His best performances were in "The Quiet Man", "Sands of Iwo Jima", "The Searchers" and his last film appearance, "The Shootist". In many of his roles he played the same kind, or variations of the same persona. Notwithstanding any of that, he is my favourite all time movie star.
In "Rio Bravo" John Wayne stars as John T Chance a sheriff alone against a powerful rancher, whose brother Chance has locked up to await trial for murder. Wayne co-stars with Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Walter Brennan and Angie Dickinson. "The Quiet Man" is a wonderful panorama of Ireland, co-starring Maureen O'Hara, Ward Bond, Barry Fitzgerald and Victor McLaglen.
The story is of an Irish born American boxer, Sean Thornton, returning to Ireland, falling in love and having trouble with the customs of the time.
8. La Strada
Answer: Zorba The Greek
Anthony Quinn made many movies in Europe, and these two were among the best. "La Strada" is a classic of Italian film. Starring Quinn and Giulietta Masina (wife of the film's director, Federico Fellini) it follows a pair of street performers as they travel through townships in Italy.
The film won the first ever Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. "Zorba The Greek" is the story of a depressed writer, played by Alan Bates, who travels to Greece and encounters the free living Alexis Zorba. This meeting and subsequent events change his life forever.
After a few drinks, many a man at a party has fancied himself as Zorba and proceeded to copy Quinn by performing, Zorba's Dance. Anthony Quinn won two Oscars for playing real life figures: Paul Gauguin in "Lust For Life" and playing Marlon Brando's brother, Eufemio in "Viva Zapata".
9. Guess Who's Coming To Dinner
Answer: Boys Town
Spencer Tracy won two Oscars and received a further seven nominations. Playing Father Flanagan, the founder of, "Boys Town" and the fisherman, Manuel, in "Captains Courageous" earned Tracy consecutive Best Actor Oscars. Other great performances from Spencer Tracy are, "San Francisco", "Adam's Rib", "Father of The Bride", "Bad Day At Black Rock", "Inherit The Wind", "Judgement at Nuremburg" and his final movie "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner".
He was considered by his peers the finest screen actor of his time, and in 1999 the American Film Institute ranked him the ninth greatest male star of Classic Hollywood Cinema. "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner" starred Tracy, Katherine Hepburn, Sidney Poitier and dealt with inter-racial marriage.
10. Changeling
Answer: Girl, Interrupted
Angelina Jolie received her Oscar for her performance in "Girl, Interrupted", where she played a sociopathic inmate of a mental institution. The film deals with the reminiscences of an 18 year old girl who was institutionalised for eighteen months in the 1960s. Angelina played a desperate mother, accused by police of insanity in "Changeling" which earned her a nomination as best female actor. Angelina is the daughter of Oscar winning actor, Jon Voight.
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor spanishliz before going online.
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