Movie Pairs for Movie Buffs Trivia Quiz

Answer: "To Have and Have Not" and "The African Queen"

All listed movies are star vehicles for the man who became Hollywood's number one star, but the second movie in each incorrect pair does not feature Bogie on a boat.

"To Have and Have Not" (1944) has Bogie on the island of Martinique, which is part of occupied France during WWII. While operating a small charter fishing boat, he gets involved with helping the French resistance against the Germans, and has a hot romance with a sultry singer who is hanging around the local bar at loose ends. She is played by Lauren Bacall, making her film debut.

"The African Queen" (1951) is set in German occupied North Africa during World War One. Bogart plays a hard drinking steamboat captain who delivers supplies to a missionary village. When the Germans burn the village, Bogie helps the surviving female missionary (Kate Hepburn) to escape, and they go on a treacherous river journey trying to reach safety. They develop a tender relationship despite their opposite personalities. Bogart received his only Best Actor Oscar for this role.

Answer: "The Usual Suspects" and "The Sixth Sense"

The first of all these pairs includes a great surprise (although with "The Crying Game", it comes in the middle of the movie rather than at the end). "The Sixth Sense" is the only one of the second movies that qualifies. I will not spoil the endings of these films for you. "The Usual Suspects" (1995) is a suspenseful crime drama starring Kevin Spacey as the cripple Verbal Kint, who is being grilled by a police officer throughout the film, with the action occurring in flashback. "The Sixth Sense" (1999) is a supernatural thriller starring Bruce Willis as a psychologist and Haley Joel Osment as a young boy with the ability to see and speak to spirits.

Answer: "The Godfather" and "The Godfather Part II"

"Godfather II" is one of the few sequels that film critics generally agree measures up to the original. Accordingly, both films were recognized with the Best Picture Oscar, in 1973 and 1975 respectively. The "Godfather" film series consists of three movies about an Italian mafia crime family and its operation in America.

It's based on a book by Mario Puzo, and Francis Ford Coppola directs all three films. "The Godfather" features Marlon Brando as Don Corleone, the head of the family. The portrayal is truly one of filmdom's iconic performances. "Godfather II" is both a sequel and a prequel.

It details how the original don got to America and takes up the action after he dies and his son, played by Al Pacino, takes over the operation of the business. Of the other listed films, only "Rocky" won Best Picture, although "Star Wars" (1977 release) garnered ten Oscar nominations including Best Picture, and won in six categories.

Answer: "North Dallas Forty" and "Invincible"

"Invincible" (2006) chronicles the true story of Vince Papale, a South Philly kid who tried out for, and made, the Eagles team as a free agent in 1976. It stars Mark Wahlberg as Vince and Greg Kinnear as coach Dick Vermeil. "North Dallas Forty" is a fictionalized account of the Dallas Cowboys, who in the Sixties and early Seventies became the iconic franchise of the NFL, often referred to as "America's Team", much to the disgust and chagrin of their rivals in other cities.

The latter film stars Mac Davis and Nick Nolte, respectively, as the star quarterback and the iconoclastic receiver bucking the organization.

Answer: "10 Things I Hate About You" and "West Side Story"

"West Side Story" is the 1961 musical film dramatization of Shakespeare's most famous tragedy, "Romeo and Juliet". The feuding families of the play have been replaced by the Sharks and the Jets, two rival youth gangs. The film adopts a contemporary setting in a gritty, changing New York neighborhood where racial animosity and gang violence are becoming the norm for the kids who live there. The two lovers are an American boy and a Puerto Rican girl, and although the result of their doomed love is predictable, the drama is powerfully realized in the film.

"10 Things I Hate About You", the 1999 romantic comedy starring Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger, retells "The Taming of the Shrew". The movie's plot loosely follows the play. A new kid at a high school (Cameron) wants to date the hot girl (Bianca) he falls for, but is put off by an overprotective father, who insists she cannot date until her older sister (Kat) does first. In order to get what he wants, Cameron must convince someone else to date the "unattractive" older sister, whose sour attitude stems from earlier disappointment in love. Sneaky plots and payoffs abound as various people get involved in trying to "tame the shrew" i.e. get Kat to date. The movie almost matches the convoluted plot twists and misunderstandings which make the play one of the bard's most entertaining.

The other choices have a Shakespearean adaptation as the first movie and a film inspired by a different author's classic literary work listed second:
"My Fair Lady" - "Pygmalion" by George Bernard Shaw
"Apocalypse Now" - "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad
"O Brother Where Art Thou" - "Ulysses" by Homer

Answer: "Gilda" and "Mildred Pierce"

The second film in each wrong answer is a classic Western, in color, and therefore in no way "film noir". The other five films, including the two in the correct answer, are film noir. Film noir (literally "black cinema") is a term coined by French critics to describe the late 1930s and 1940s American crime dramas proliferating in Hollywood. These black and white movies generally have a dark look to them and use harsh, unadorned settings and lots of shadow to convey an uneasy or forbidding mood. Often the characters are involved with shady dealings and behavior of questionable morality.

"Gilda" (1946) is a tale of gambling, espionage and treachery set in Argentina. It stars Glen Ford as a small time con-man who becomes the assistant of a shady casino operator. The noir action gets really interesting when it turns out the owner's wife (played by Rita Hayworth) has a past connection with Ford's character, who is trying to go straight. This film is a tour de force for Hayworth, who was at the height of her popularity as a Hollywood sex symbol. It includes one of the most sizzling moments in classic cinema, when she sings "Put the Blame on Mame".

"Mildred Pierce" (1945) is a quintessential noir film, perhaps less well known by casual movie fans. It's key element is the relationship between Mildred, a business woman played with scary controlled anger by Joan Crawford, and her amoral, materialistic daughter. This is a great movie to notice how director Michael Curtiz uses light, shadow, sound and setting to create a dark, threatening mood which enhances the unsavory behavior of the protagonists, and heightens the suspense for the film viewer.

Answer: "Pleasantville" and "The Wizard of Oz"

The second film in each incorrect pair is a classically and purely black and white movie from the first half of the 20th century. All the other films do make use of both color and B/W modalities. "Pleasantville" and "The Wizard of Oz" are very different films, but the transitions between color and black and white are integral to both.

In "Pleasantville" (1998), the main characters are magically transported to an idealized 1950s black and white television world where everything seems perfect. As reality starts to intrude, the one dimensional characters start to develop flaws and they become colorized. Reese Witherspoon and Tobey Maguire are the central actors involved in this interesting concept movie. Here's a fun fact for those who like to scrutinize film errors. The basketball court in the fifties part of the movie has a three point line painted on it, which wasn't even thought of at that time.

A climactic and transformative scene takes place in "The Wizard of Oz" when Dorothy opens the farm house door onto the world of Oz. The dazzling, vibrant color scene contrasts totally with the drab, sepia tones from before, making a step into the fantasy world the beginning of an enchanting journey which has thrilled so many film viewers, young and old. Full disclosure: I never saw this movie as a child, and through my cynical 20s, considered it a badge of honor to have avoided it. Although I still don't consider it as one of the greatest films of all time, I've gotten past the corniness and do appreciate and enjoy it. For a detailed explanation of exactly how the transformation from black and white to color was realized by the filmmakers, see the "Birth.Movies.Death" website.

Answer: "Total Recall" (1990) and "War of the Worlds" (1953)

Five of the eight films in the answers have either action on Mars or actual Martians involved in their plots. "2001: A Space Odyssey", "The Day the Earth Stood Still", and "Alien" do not concern the red planet. The original "War of the Worlds" a 1898 novel by H.G. Wells, is the story of an alien invasion from Mars.

It broke new ground in science fiction and it has been reproduced in film and other media many times. The most fascinating incarnation is probably the infamous 1938 radio enactment created by Orson Welles, which was so realistic that it created the belief in some listeners that a real invasion from space was happening. Today, Welles would likely be prosecuted for perpetrating such a hoax.

In "Total Recall", Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as worker haunted by dreams of Mars and an unknown woman.

It is set in 2084 and uses the premise that human memory can be wiped clean and/or re-implanted. Eventually his character is compelled to travel to Mars and take on the insidious corporate forces which are mucking up the universe. Am I dreaming, or is this a movie about the nature of paranoia?

Answer: "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Doctor Zhivago"

Lean did direct the first of each pair of movies, all great classics. "Gandhi" was directed by Richard Attenborough, "Spartacus" was directed by Stanley Kubrick and "the King and I" was helmed by Walter Lang. "Lawrence Of Arabia" won the Best Picture Oscar in 1962.

A sweeping historical drama, it recounts the adventures of British officer T. E. Lawrence on the Arabian peninsula during World War One. "Doctor Zhivago" lost out to "Sound Of Music" for Best Picture in 1965, but won five other Oscars including Best Original Score and Best Cinematography.

It details the trials, tribulations, life and loves of a Russian doctor, who is also a great poet. It is set against the backdrop of the Russian revolution in the early 20th century, a massive cultural upheaval which intimately affects all the characters.

This is one of the great love stories of all time, and includes "Lara's Theme", the melody which accompanies Julie Christie's smoldering screen presence and still evokes images of the movie.

Answer: Kirk Douglas as van Gogh and Charlton Heston as Michelangelo

"The Agony and the Ecstasy" is the 1965 film based on Irving Stone's 1961 biographical novel about Michelangelo Buonarotti, the famous sculptor and artistic giant of renaissance Italy. Charlton Heston gives a commanding and powerful performance as the temperamental visionary genius who must drop his beloved sculpting and paint the Sistine Chapel at the "request" of the Pope.

Kirk Douglas is even more compelling as the tortured 19th century Dutch master Vincent van Gogh in "Lust For Life" (1956). van Gogh was unappreciated and misunderstood in his own time but is now in the pantheon of the greatest painters in history. Douglas uncannily resembles van Gogh and perfectly captures his dizzying swings between paralyzing depression and manic creativity. According to Douglas, he had never become so totally immersed in a role, and was deeply shaken and exhausted at the end of filming.

Hopefully, you immediately eliminated the "Chaplin as Renoir" and "Bogart as da Vinci" options. By the way, Anthony Quinn played Paul Gaugin, van Gogh's fellow artist, comrade, and sometime combatant in "Lust For Life".