Movies From the 1960s that I Like Quiz

Answer: Pollyanna

Pollyanna (Hayley Mills) comes to stay with her Aunt Polly (Jane Wyman). Pollyanna is very cheerful, and soon her cheerfulness spreads to the entire town except for Aunt Polly, who is angry that the town is holding a bazaar. She forbids Pollyanna to go, but Pollyanna sneaks out of her second-story window and goes against her aunt's wishes.
It was based on the 1913 novel of the same name by Eleanor H. Porter. Hayley Mills won the Academy Juvenile Award, which is informally called the Juvenile Oscar.

Answer: West Side Story

"West Side Story" was a musical with music by Leonard Bernstein. Stephen Sondheim wrote the lyrics. The original Broadway musical that the movie was adapted from came out in 1957. It is based on "Romeo and Juliet", but instead of their parents being against Tony and Maria, the Jets and Sharks are against it. The Jets are white Americans, and the Sharks are Puerto Rican Americans. Tony (Richard Beymer) meets Maria (Natalie Wood) at a school dance. The Jets challenge the Sharks to a rumble at the dance, and Tony is a Jet, while Maria's brother Bernardo (George Chakiris) is a Shark.

Answer: The Music Man

This was a challenging year to pick a movie from; many great ones came out this year. "The Music Man" was a musical by Meredith Willson. Harold Hill (Robert Preston) is a con artist who as the Charlie, the man on the train states "the fellow sells bands, boys' bands" but, according to Charlie (Harry Hickox), "he don't know one note from another!").

While in the fictional town of River City, Iowa pulling his scam on the town, he falls in love with the librarian, Marian (Shirley Jones), but when the town finds out he's a scam artist, they want to tar and feather him.

Answer: It Happened at the World's Fair

All the movies were made in 1963, but only "It Happened at the World's Fair" starred Elvis Presley. The World's Fair was held in Seattle in 1962 when the movie was made and where the film takes place. Elvis played Mike Edwards, a crop-dusting pilot. While hitchhiking with his partner Danny (Gary Lockwood), he meets Walter (Kam Tong) and Sue-Lin (Vicky Tiu).

They end up in Seattle in time for the World's fair. Mike meets Diane (Joan O'Brien), a nurse at the fair. He has a little boy (Kurt Russell - uncredited) kick him in the shin to give him a reason to go to the nurses' station.

It works briefly but not for long, and Diane doesn't want anything to do with Mike. Then Uncle Walter disappears, and Sue-Lin finds Mike, upset that she can't find her uncle.

He takes care of her while they search for Uncle Walter. Sue-Lin fakes being sick, so Diane will come to look at her and see Mike again, and of course, Diane and Mike fall in love.

Answer: Mary Poppins

"Mary Poppins" is a Disney musical starring Julie Andrews as the title character. The song quoted above was sung by Bert (Dick Van Dyke, who also played Mr. Dawes Sr at the bank).

Mary Poppins is a nanny who is "practically perfect in every way." She comes to the Banks' house in London to take care of Jane (Karen Dotrice) and Michael (Matthew Garber) when their last nanny quits. With the help of Bert, she helps the father understand the bank he works at shouldn't be his biggest priority because his family needs his love.

"My Fair Lady" came out the same year as "Mary Poppins". Julie Andrews had played the role of Eliza Dolittle in "My Fair Lady" on Broadway in 1956 and was turned down for the movie role, which went to Audrey Hepburn because they wanted someone who had done movies. It worked well for Andrews; she won the Oscar that year for Best Actress.

Answer: The Greatest Story Ever Told

"The Greatest Story Ever Told" is a movie about the life of Jesus from His birth to His ascension. Max von Sydow played Jesus. Von Sydow said that during the filming of the film, he was not allowed to smoke between takes, drink after work, or be affectionate with his wife on the set.

Initially, George Stevens (director) wanted Richard Burton to play the part of Jesus. Telly Savalas played Pontius Pilate and shaved his head for the role. He kept it bald for the rest of his life. Jamie Farr said he had prayed to St. Jude to get the part and was cast as Thaddeus, also known as Jude. Claude Rains, in his final film role, played Herod the Great.

Answer: Virginia Woolf

"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" starred Elizabeth Taylor as Martha and Richard Burton as her husband, George. It was Mike Nichols' directing debut. The movie was based on a play of the same name written by Edward Albee. Martha and George couldn't have any children and have created a child in their minds and act as though he really exists. Nick (George Segal) and Honey (Sandy Dennis) return to George and Martha's house after they have all been drinking at a party. Martha is constantly belittling George, and Nick and Honey have to watch the two verbally abusing each other. Honey learns that their "son" will be 16 the following day. George is angry that Martha told someone about their son. Soon George and Martha are at war with each other. Martha has an affair with Nick to get back at George. George decides to get back at Martha by telling everyone that he had received a telegram that their "son" was killed in an accident. Martha begs George not to kill him, and Nick realizes that the son never existed, to begin with.

Answer: The Producers

Mel Brooks directed all four movies. "Blazing Saddles" and "Young Frankenstein" also had Gene Wilder. However, only one had all three people in the question, and also, only one of these movies was done in 1967. Max Bialystock (Mostel) has a brilliant plan to produce a show for which he will get a lot of backing, but then it will be a flop.

He does this with his accountant Leo Bloom (Wilder). Unfortunately, while the idea was good on paper, it turns out their show is loved, and now the two are in a lot of trouble.

In 2001, "The Producers" also opened on Broadway. That was then turned into an updated musical movie in 2005. However, that was directed by Susan Stroman.

Answer: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" starred Dick Van Dyke as Caractacus Pott who is a widower inventor with two young children: Jeremy (Adrian Hall) and Jemima (Heather Ripley). Potts is somewhat eccentric, and when his children find a car that is about to be scrapped, they ask him to buy the car to keep it from being destroyed. Potts does and rebuilds it, naming it "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" after the sound the engine makes. Truly Scrumptious (Sally Ann Howes) was Potts' love interest, although they couldn't stand each other at first.

Answer: True Grit

Rooster Cogburn (John Wayne) is hired by Mattie (Kim Darby) to find Tom Chaney (Jeff Corey), who murdered her father. A bounty hunter named La Boeuf (Glen Campbell) joins Rooster because he's been looking for Chaney himself. Mattie (called "Baby Sister" by Rooster) insists on coming, and as hard as they try to get rid of her, she stays with them.