More Movie Props Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Wizard of Oz

Dorothy Gale, her farmhouse and Toto are all carried to the Land of Oz during a Kansas cyclone; it seems that the farmhouse lands on the Wicked Witch of the East and kills her (this is for kids?). Anyway, while the witch's toes are curling up, Glinda, the Good Witch, removes the ruby slippers from her dead body (death and now theft). Glinda gives the shoes (silver in the book but red in the sometimes technicolor movie) to Dorothy instead of letting the Wicked Witch of the East's sister, the Wicked Witch of the West, have them. All sorts of things happen, (yada... yada) and Dorothy uses the ruby slippers to help her get home.

Answer: a Coke bottle

A bushman of the Kalahari desert named Xi encounters a Coke bottle on one of his journeys and brings it back to his people, the San tribe (I guess that makes them 'Sans of the Kalahari'). They are a happy tribe who live off the land and believe that God will provide for their needs.

As it happens, a coke bottle is thrown from an airplane and lands unbroken in the desert. This strange object is their first encounter with any kind of 'technology' and they think it is a 'present' from God for use as a tool, for music, etc... but there is only one bottle and this stirs up envy and anger.

They conclude the bottle is 'evil', and Xi must go to the 'edge of the world' to dispose of it.

Answer: Inception

Dom Cobb, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, uses the totem to determine whether or not he is awake, i.e. if he spins the top and it topples over, he is awake; but if the top continues to spin he is still dreaming. The premise of the film seems to question reality; the protagonist, Dom, is a thief who can get into other people's dreams, which enables him to steal secrets from their subconscious minds. Cobb is offered a chance to redeem himself from his life of crime - instead of stealing thoughts, he is asked to implant a thought (called 'inception') into the mind of a CEO who is the heir to an energy business empire which could control the world. Is the top still spinning?

Answer: Fargo

Poor Carl, he and his parts are soon parted! The Academy Award winning 1996 film "Fargo" is a strange film-noir/comedy by the Coen Brothers. It is set in Minnesota in the winter of 1987, and involves pregnant Police Chief Marge Gunderson trying to solve a series of murders.

At the same time, another resident, Jerry Lundegaard, is hiring two criminals, Showalter and Grimsrud, to kidnap his wife so he can get ransom from his father-in-law, but with these three, it's like dealing with two stooges and a psycho. To say the plan goes awry would be an understatement.

It is a wonderful movie and that wood chipper scene is unforgettable!

Answer: a volleyball

Who could forget Tom Hanks' best friend, Wilson the volleyball? In the film, released in 2000, Tom plays Chuck Noland, a Federal Express executive who crash lands on a deserted island and must learn to survive alone. He learns to create fire, remove a painful tooth, catch fish and paint a face on a volleyball for companionship.

Some interesting asides: his name is C. Noland, 'see no land'; the license plate on Chuck's car reads KAZ 2AY; a Superbowl ad from 2003 re-imagines the last scene of the movie, where Chuck returns a package to the sender and asks what was in it and the woman replies, "Just a satellite phone, GPS indicator, fishing rod, water purifier and some seeds. Just silly stuff."

Answer: Oddjob

All of the choices above are nemeses of James Bond (in one movie or another), but my favorite was Oddjob from the 1964 movie "Goldfinger". Oddjob was excellently portrayed by Harold Sakata as Auric Goldfinger's personal bodyguard and chauffeur. One of the first Korean villains, he is a black belt and uses karate and his deadly steel rimmed hat to fight his enemies.

He has no fear, is very strong and, when he tosses that hat, he is deadly. When Jill Masterson helps Bond catch Goldfinger cheating at cards, Oddjob kills her and paints her in gold paint from head to toe (an iconic image!).

He is ruthless and, like all good villains, has to die in the end.

Answer: Jurassic Park

You would find that modified Barbasol can (it was a Gillette can in the novel) in "Jurassic Park" (1993). The can is hollowed out and used to smuggle dinosaur embryos from the park by Dennis Nedry (played by Wayne Knight who was Newman on "Seinfeld").

However, as often happens, the plan goes awry when Nedry crashes his car into the Dilophosaurus pen and he is attacked and killed by a baby Dilophosaurus. Nedry drops the can which falls down and rolls into the mud, hidden from view, probably just waiting for the next "Jurassic Park" sequel.

Answer: Big

In "Big", a 1988 Penny Marshall comedy, after being turned away from a carnival ride for being too short, 12-year-old Josh Baskin puts a coin in a fortune teller machine and wishes to be 'big'. A card comes out saying "Your wish has been granted", but the machine is unplugged! The next day Josh (now played by Tom Hanks) wakes up to find he is a 30 year old man.

His mother is convinced that he is a kidnapper who stole her son, and Josh is forced to run away to a flophouse in New York City. He gets a job at a toy company as a data entry clerk, and happens to meet his boss at FAO Schwarz.

They play a duet on a giant piano, and the rest is history. Totally charming film.

Answer: A Christmas Story

Before the leg lamp appeared in "A Christmas Story", it appeared in a series of short stories by Jean Shepherd. In 1983, the story (set in the 1940s) was turned into a movie about Ralphie Parker and his wish to get a Red Ryder B.B. gun for Christmas. As it turns out, Old Man Parker (played by Darren McGavin) has won 'a major award' and, at Christmas time, a large box is delivered to his house.

The box is marked "HIS SIDE UP" [sic], and written across its side is the word 'FRAGILE' or as Parker said, "Fra-gee-lay.

It must be Italian!" In the box is a disembodied leg with a stocking which turns out to be a (hideous) lamp, and the talk of the town. But what about that B.B. gun?

Answer: Molly and Sam

The three incorrect choices are all characters from TV sitcoms. It is Sam Wheat and Molly Jensen who are working the wheel and making that pot sexier than we ever imagined. There's only one problem - Sam is soon murdered. In comes Oda Mae Brown (in an Academy Award winning role by Whoopi Goldberg) as a psychic who never realized her powers were real until Sam is able to communicate with her. Sam is played by Patrick Swayze, with Demi Moore as the endangered Molly.

This is a drama, a love story, a fantasy and, at times, a romantic comedy all rolled up into one. "Ghost" was released in 1990 and brought back the wonderful song "Unchained Melody".