Quotes from "Best Picture" Movies, 8 Quiz

Answer: Titanic

In this scene well-heeled American industrialist and philanthropist Benjamin Guggenheim (played by Michael Ensign) has realized that there are only half the number of lifeboats on RMS Titanic needed for all passengers, and that he is faced with almost certain death.

He and his valet change into formal evening attire, and he says this quote when a steward offers them life jackets. "Titanic" tells the true story of the luxurious White Star ocean liner, RMS Titanic, that sank in 1912 on its maiden voyage, through the lives of both fictional and real life characters. "Titanic" won 11 Oscars in the 1998 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Original Song for "My Heart Will Go On".

The only other movies to win 11 Oscars (as of March 2006) were "Ben-Hur" in the 1960 Academy Awards and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" in the 2004 Academy Awards. Both Gloria Stuart (old Rose Bukater) and Kate Winslet (young Rose Bukater) were nominated for Oscars, but neither won.

Answer: The English Patient

In this scene Count Almásy (played by Ralph Fiennes) plays a record of a Hungarian folk song for his lover Katharine Clifton (played by Kristin Scott Thomas), and she says, "It's beautiful. What's it about?" Then Almásy starts with the explanation in this quote.

When he gets to the part about "harpy" and "sews her clothes," she realizes he is kidding her and says, "... I believed you! You should be my slave!" "The English Patient" tells the story of Hungarian-born mapmaker, Count Laszlo de Almásy, in the waning days of World War II, who is badly burned in an airplane crash. Through a series of flashbacks while he is recovering, he remembers his prior life and an affair he had with Katharine Clifton.

In the 1997 Academy Awards, "The English Patient" won nine Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Juliette Binoche. Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas were nominated for awards, but did not win.

Answer: Forrest Gump

In the events leading up to this scene, Forrest Gump (played as an adult by Tom Hanks) has graduated from the University of Alabama. A U.S. Army recruiter approaches him and his mother and says "Congratulations, son. Have you given any thought to your future?" Forrest signs up with the Army and starts out at boot camp.

In this scene he assembles a rifle very quickly (while all the other recruits are still working on theirs). The Drill Sergeant (played by Afemo Omilami) looks at his stopwatch in amazement and says this quote.

The movie follows the life of low-I.Q. Forrest as he interacts with some of the most important people and events in America, from the late 1950s through the 1970s, and his encounters with lifelong girlfriend, Jenny (played by Robin Wright). "Forrest Gump" won six Oscars in the 1995 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Tom Hanks won Best Actor in a Leading Role for his portrayal of the adult Forrest Gump.

Answer: Dances with Wolves

In the events leading up to this scene, John Dunbar (known to the Indians as Dances with Wolves, and played by Kevin Costner) prepares to leave the Indian camp, but realizes he will be taking his wife, Stands With A Fist (played by Mary McDonnell), away from the people she grew up with.

But in this scene, she sees his sadness and says this quote. "Dances with Wolves" tells the story of U.S. Civil War veteran Lt. John Dunbar, who is stationed at a remote western U.S. army outpost and makes friends with some local Sioux Indians.

In the 1991 Academy Awards "Dances with Wolves" won seven Oscars, including Best Picture. Graham Greene and Mary McDonnell were also nominated for awards but did not win.

Answer: The Godfather

In the events leading up to this quote, the Godfather (played by Marlon Brando) had given Luca Brasi (played by Lenny Montana) an assignment to investigate rival mobster Sollozzo (played by Al Lettieri) with the instructions, "Go to the Tattaglias and ah, make them think that you're not too happy with our family and find out what you can." At Luca's meeting in Tattaglia's bar he is gruesomely killed (his arm is held, then his hand is pinned to the bar with a knife stab, then a third goon strangles him from behind). Later, a fish inside Luca's bulletproof vest is delivered to the Corleone compound.

When Sonny (James Caan) unwraps the package he is puzzled by what that means and Clemenza explains with this quote. "The Godfather" follows the lives of a fictional American crime family, but many of the incidents in the story are based on incidents from real life. "The Godfather" won three Oscars in the 1973 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Marlon Brando won Best Actor in a Leading Role, but refused to accept the award. Al Pacino, James Caan, and Robert Duvall were all nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, but none of them won the Oscar.

Answer: Tom Jones

In the events leading up to this scene, Tom Jones' benefactor, Squire Allworthy (played by George Devine), has suffered a serious carriage accident and is not expected to live. He has announced bequests from his (supposed) deathbed, and in this scene they are all sitting around downstairs while drinking wine.

The narrator says this quote (spoken by Micheál MacLiammóir), describing their reactions to Squire Allworthy's bequests. This wonderfully entertaining movie tells the story of Tom Jones, a child of unknown parentage who is raised as a gentleman in 18th century England. Jones (played as an adult by Albert Finney) is both charming and likeable, but seems unable to resist the advances of any attractive lady he meets.

In the 1964 Academy Awards, "Tom Jones" won four Oscars, including Best Picture. Albert Finney, Hugh Griffith, Diane Cilento, and Edith Evans all were nominated for awards but did not win. "Tom Jones" is one of my all-time favorites (the version with Albert Finney, Susannah York, and Hugh Griffith).

Answer: The Sound of Music

In the events leading up to this scene, former nun Maria (played by Julie Andrews) has left life at the abbey in Salzburg, Austria and is starting a job as a governess to the seven motherless children of stern Captain Georg von Trapp (played by Christopher Plummer).

In this scene he has just explained to her how he uses different whistle blasts to call his children, and assigns a code to her. She protests to answering to a whistle. He responds with this quote and she replies, "Oh, much more, sir." In the 1966 Academy Awards, "The Sound of Music" won five Oscars, including Best Picture. Julie Andrews was nominated (but did not win) for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her portrayal of the nun Maria. "The Sound of Music" tells the true story of the nun Maria, set during the time when World War II is about to erupt.

She becomes a governess in the home of Captain von Trapp and organizes his seven children into a singing group. The real life Maria emigrated to the U.S. and lived in Stowe, Vermont until her death in 1987.

Answer: The Silence of the Lambs

In the events leading up to this scene, FBI supervisor Jack Crawford (played by Scott Glenn) has asked FBI trainee Clarice Starling (played by Jodie Foster) if she will interview imprisoned cannibal Dr. Hannibal Lecter (played menacingly by Anthony Hopkins).

He hopes she can gain some insight into the thinking of a psychopath that will help the FBI catch a killer currently on the loose. In the scene of their first meeting she is escorted to Lecter's jail cell. In a scary start to her interview, he asks to see her credentials and says, "Closer, please... clo-ser?." Later in the movie, Lecter asks, "And how do we begin to covet, Clarice? Do we seek out things to covet?" and then this quote. "The Silence of the Lambs" was only the third movie to win all five major Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay (as of March 2011).

The others were Frank Capra's "It Happened One Night" in 1934 and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" in 1975.

Answer: My Fair Lady

Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle (played by Audrey Hepburn) says this quote several times in the movie--here is one memorable scene. In the events leading up to this scene, Eliza has gone to the home of linguistics professor Henry Higgins (played by Rex Harrison) seeking lessons to improve her diction (she had previously encountered him in the street when she was selling flowers).

She wants to be a lady in a flower shop but "...they won't take me unless I can talk more genteel." His colleague Colonel Hugh Pickering (played by Wilfrid Hyde-White) bets him he couldn't pass her off as a duchess at the Embassy ball.

He says, "I'll say you're the greatest teacher alive if you can make that good. I'll bet you all the expenses of the experiment that you can't do it." In this scene Higgins accepts the challenge and instructs his housekeeper Mrs. Pearce (played by Mona Washbourn) "Take all her clothes off and burn them, and ring up and order some new ones. Just wrap her in brown paper 'til they come." Eliza is aghast and says "You're no gentleman, you're not, to talk of such things," and adds this quote.

In the end, she successfully attends the Embassy Ball and says, "I won your bet for you, haven't I?" Professor Higgins is enraged by that comment and says, "You won my bet? Why you presumptuous little insect, *I* won it." In the 1965 Academy Awards, "My Fair Lady" won eight Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor in a Leading Role for Rex Harrison. Other actors considered for the role of Professor Higgins included Cary Grant, Noel Coward, Michael Redgrave and George Sanders.

Answer: Gone with the Wind

"Gone with the Wind" tells the story of a fictional, well-off, southern United States family, set against the true backdrop of the American Civil War and Reconstruction. The story starts with pre-war life at the plantation Tara, and then progresses through the horrors of war and the struggle in post-war Reconstruction.

In this final scene in the movie, Rhett Butler (played by Clark Gable) is finally disgusted with Scarlett O'Hara (played by Vivien Leigh) and leaves. She pleads with him to stay with her and says, "Rhett, if you go, where shall I go? What shall I do?" He replies with the famous quote, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." As Scarlett watches him leave, she says, "Tara! Home. I'll go home. And I'll think of some way to get him back," and then this quote (which is the last line in the movie).

In the 1940 Academy Awards, "Gone with the Wind" won nine Oscars, including Best Picture, Vivien Leigh for Best Actress in a Leading Role, and Hattie McDaniel for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Clark Gable and Olivia de Havilland were nominated for Oscars but did not win.