Off The Shelf - Part 6 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Rebecca

"Rebecca" was produced by David O. Selznick, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starred Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Judith Anderson and Florence Bates.
Joan Fontaine plays a young woman who works as a paid companion to a rich woman, played by Florence Bates. While holidaying on the French Riviera she meets and falls in love with Maxim De Winter (Olivier). After a whirlwind romance they marry and he takes her back to his ancestral home, Manderley. The housekeeper at Manderley (Judith Anderson) was obsessed with Maxim's late wife, Rebecca, and the new bride is made to feel an inadequate replacement for her. There is also a guilty secret surrounding Rebecca's death.
"Rebecca" was a considerable critical and commercial success and was nominated for eleven Academy Awards. However, it won in only two categories - Best Picture and Best Cinematography.
Although he is recognised as one of the greatest cinematic geniuses of all time, Alfred Hitchcock never won a Best Director Oscar. His films include "The 39 Steps", "The Lady Vanishes", "Shadow Of A Doubt", "Strangers On A Train", "Notorious", "Rear Window" and "Vertigo". In all, during his long career, he directed more than 50 films.

Answer: Ninotchka

"Ninotchka" was directed by the great Ernst Lubitsch, and also starred Melvyn Douglas, Ina Claire, Sig Ruman, Felix Bressart, Alexander Granach and, in a small role as a Soviet commissar, Bela Lugosi.
It was Garbo's first comedy role, and the film takes a satirical swipe at the Soviet way of life with such lines as "The last mass trials were a great success. There will be fewer but better Russians". Needless to say, the film was banned in the USSR.
Because of the huge success of this film, MGM decided to cast Garbo in another comedy. "Two Faced Woman" again teamed her with Melvyn Douglas, and was directed by George Cukor. This time, however, Garbo was badly miscast, and the film ran into trouble with the Hays Office. It was savaged by the critics and was a failure at the box office. Sadly, Greta Garbo never made another film.

Answer: Niagara

"Niagara" was directed by Henry Hathaway and, along with Marilyn Monroe, co-starred Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters and Casey Adams.
Polly and Ray Cutler (Peters and Adams) are honeymooning at Niagara Falls, and become acquainted with George and Rose Loomis (Cotten and Monroe), an unhappily married couple who are also holidaying there. Polly discovers that Rose has a lover, and it becomes apparent that the two of them are conspiring to murder George.
The film was generally well received by the critics, and was one of the year's biggest money makers for Twentieth Century Fox. The publicity was based largely on the star's sex appeal - "Marilyn Monroe and Niagara. A raging torrent of emotion that even nature can't control".

Answer: Red Dragon

"Red Dragon was directed by Brett Ratner from a script by Ted Tally, who had won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for "Silence Of The Lambs".
It starred Edward Norton, Ralph Feinnes, Emily Watson, Anthony Hopkins, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Mary Louise Parker.
Edward Norton plays the F.B.I. agent who was responsible for the capture of Hannibal Lecter, and who was almost killed by Lecter.
Years later, having retired from the bureau, he is brought back to investigate a serial killer - played by Ralph Feinnes - and enlists Lecter's help in identifying him.
The film received largely positive reviews, and was successful at the box office.

Answer: The Lincoln Lawyer

"The Lincoln Lawyer" was directed by Brad Furman, and also starred Ryan Phillippe, William H. Macy, Marisa Tomei, Josh Lucas and Frances Fisher.
Mickey Haller is hired to defend a wealthy playboy, played by Ryan Phillippe, on a charge of viciously beating a prostitute. As he investigates the circumstances of the case, Mickey comes to see that it has links to an earlier case where a client of his was sentenced to life for a murder which he has always denied that he is guilty of. Further investigation proves that his present client is not only guilty of the beating, but also of the previous murder.
The film is generally considered to be a welcome return to form for Matthew McConaughey, after a number of years spent appearing in lightweight romcoms.
Michael Connelly, the author of the original novel, stated that he was very pleased with the film.

Answer: Woman Of The Year

The story goes that on their first meeting Hepburn said to Tracy "I'm afraid I may be a little too tall for you, Mr. Tracy", to which he replied "Don't worry, Miss Hepburn, I'll cut you down to size".
They went on, of course, to have a relationship both on and off screen that lasted until Tracy's death in 1967. In all, they starred together in nine films over the course of 25 years.
In this one, Hepburn is one of the most feted women in America - a feminist icon, who is an intimate of some of the world's greatest leaders. Tracy is a sports writer who works on the same newspaper as Hepburn, but who moves in a very different social circle. They meet, fall in love and marry, and there the trouble starts.
One of the film's highlights is a hilarious scene in which Tracy is trying to explain the rules of baseball to Hepburn.

Answer: Safety Last

"Safety Last" was directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor, and starred Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, Bill Strother, Noah Young and Westcott Clarke.
Harold plays a young man from a small town, who moves to the big city in order to seek his fortune, and strike it rich so that he can marry the love of his life. He finds a position as a lowly clerk in a department store, but in order to impress her he writes his girl that he has become the store manager.
She decides to come to the city to pay him a surprise visit, and hilarious complications result in his climbing the outside of the building as a publicity stunt.
At the height of his popularity, Harold Lloyd's films outgrossed those of both Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. His successful career lasted through to the sound era, and he is recognised as one of the greatest of the silent comedians.
In Martin Scorsese's beautiful "Hugo", when Hugo and Isabelle sneak into a movie theatre, the film that they watch is "Safety Last".

Answer: Trouble In Paradise

"Trouble In Paradise" Starred Herbert Marshall, Miriam Hopkins, Kay Francis, Charles Ruggles and Edward Everett Horton.
Herbert Marshall and Miriam Hopkins are two thieves who meet up in Venice, fall in love, and decide to team up in order to con wealthy businesswoman Kay Francis out of her money.
Ernst Lubitsch began his career in Germany, but moved to America in the early 30s where he worked at Paramount Pictures, eventually becoming head of production. His films are notable for their wit and visual style - the legendary 'Lubitsch Touch' - and include "The Smiling Lieutenant", "One Hour With You", "Monte Carlo", "Design For Living", "Heaven Can Wait", "To Be Or Not To Be" and "Ninotchka".
The story goes that at his funeral Billy Wilder said to William Wyler "No more Lubitsch", to which Wyler replied "Worse than that. No more Lubitsch films."

Answer: I'm No Angel

"I'm No Angel" was directed by Wesley Ruggles from a screenplay by Mae West, and starred Mae West, Cary Grant, Gregory Ratoff and Edward Arnold.
Mae plays a singer in a tent show, who hits the big time and moves to New York where she becomes a star. She meets and falls in love with rich socialite Grant, who proposes marriage. Her crooked boss (Arnold), afraid that he's about to lose his number one meal ticket, arranges to make it look as though she is two timing Grant, who breaks off the engagement. She sues him for breach of promise, acting as her own lawyer during the court case.
Paramount was close to bankruptcy when Mae West's first two films were such huge box office successes that they literally saved the studio.

Answer: The Big Sleep

"The Big Sleep" was directed by Howard Hawks, and the screenplay was by William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett and Jules Furthman. Rumour has it that while adapting the novel the screenwriters were unable to work out who had committed one of the murders. When they wrote to the author asking him, his reply was that he didn't know, either.
However, audiences at the time didn't seem to care as the film was a considerable box office success, and remains one of most highly regarded examples of film noir, due in large measure to the wonderful on screen chemistry between the two stars, and to Howard Hawks' direction.
Philip Marlowe (Bogart) is hired by General Sternwood to resolve a number of gambling debts incurred by his wayward daughter, Carmen. In the course of his work he becomes involved with the general's older daughter (Bacall). She asks him to recover some compromising (i.e. pornographic) photographs of Carmen which are being used to blackmail the family.
Howard Hawks was one of Hollywood's most versatile directors, making some of the finest comedies of the 30s and 40s ("Twentieth Century", "His Girl Friday", "Bringing Up Baby"), film noir ("The Big Sleep", "To Have And Have Not") and Westerns ("Red River", "Rio Bravo").