Scottish Movies Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Wicker Man

This is the story of an investigator (Woodward) looking for a missing girl on the Scottish island of Summerisle and finding an entire village who has never heard of her, including the girl's mother. As he delves further, he discovers the terrifying secret of the villagers. Christopher Lee, long known for his roles in 'Star Wars', 'The Lord of the Rings' and the Hammer 'Dracula' films, calls the character of Lord Summerisle one of his favorites roles.

Answer: The 39 Steps

One of the early masterpieces of Hitchcock, the 1935 film made a star of Robert Donat, four years before his Oscar win in 'Goodbye, Mr. Chips'. You can also see some great footage of Edinburgh and the highlands around Glencoe. There is a story that Hitchcock kept Donat and Carroll handcuffed during one day's filming for several hours, claiming he forgot where he placed the key.

Answer: Local Hero

Most of the principal shooting for this movie was filmed in the town of Pennan, on the East coast of Scotland. However, the beach scenes were filmed near Arisaig, on the west coast. A church was built out of posterboard and placed in camera range to make it appear the town is nearby.

Answer: Mrs. Brown

The actual relationship between Victoria and John Brown (not the famed abolitionist) following the death of Prince Albert, was a source of consternation among the political leaders of the day. To be fair, Victoria is rumored to have close friendships with many men during her reign.

The movie stars Billy Conolly and Dame Judi Dench. Also in the cast is Geoffrey Palmer, Judi's co-star in the long-running BBC series 'As Time Goes By'. When Victoria died in 1901, she was buried with a lock of Brown's hair, a photo and a ring worn by Brown's mother.

Answer: Rob Roy MacGregor

While 'Braveheart' won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director (Gibson), 'Rob Roy', filmed the same year, garnered only one Oscar nomination for Tim Roth as the delightfully evil Cunningham, opposite lead actors Liam Neeson and Jessica Lange. Even actor Brian Cox (Uncle Argyle Wallace in 'Braveheart') found the time to cross over and portray the character of Killearn in 'Rob Roy'. Equally, unlike 'Braveheart', where many scenes are shot in Ireland, 'Rob Roy' is filmed almost entirely in Scotland.

Answer: Trainspotting

Members of the 'Pack' include Ewan MacGregor, Kevin McKidd, Ewen Bremmer and Robert Carlyle. Screenwriter John Hodge was nominated for an Academy Award (although he didn't get it, he did win the BAFTA award for his screenplay). Even though the movie takes place in Edinburgh, most of the filming is done in Glasgow.

The movie earned some notoriety in the U.S. when U.S. presidential hopeful Bob Dole slammed it for its drug use, even though he later admitted never seeing the movie. He did the same thing - decrying violence - in the movie 'Natural Born Killers'.

Answer: The Da Vinci Code

Located in Roslin, Midlothian, Scotland, the chapel figures prominently in Dan Brown's book of the same name, although there is little to believe the chapel has anything to do with the book's plot. The chapel was built in the 15th Century, more than 150 years after the fall of the Knights Templar who are supposed to have used the chapel to hide the legendary 'Holy Grail', as Brown suggests.

However, the chapel does contain hundreds of intricate and mysterious carvings, many of which have yet to be deciphered by experts.

Answer: Brigadoon

It stands to reason that the mythical Scottish town that appears once every 100 years could only be found in the imagination of Hollywood. Vincent Minnelli (Liza's dad) directed the film, based on Alan Jay Lerner's musical, which starred Gene Kelly, Van Johnson and Cyd Charisse.

Answer: Highlander

An action-packed movie with an excellent soundtrack by Queen, 'Highlander' tells of MaCleod (Christopher Lambert), who discovers he is an immortal destined to fight to the last man for 'the prize'. The film also has a great supporting cast, including Sean Connery as the Spaniard Ramirez and Clancy Brown (the voice of 'SpongeBob SquarePants' Mr. Krabs) as the Kurgan.

Answer: Chariots of Fire

The beach is actually West Sands Beach at St. Andrews in Fife. In fact, many of the athletes racing in that famous scene are caddies from the nearby St. Andrews Golf Course, home of the British Open. The Oscar-winning movie (including Best Picture and Best Musical Score) about two men in the 1924 Olympic Games stars Nigel Havers, Nicholas Farrell, Ben Cross and Sir John Gielgud.