Shakespeare at the Movies Trivia Quiz

Answer: King John

This 1899 silent short presents King John's death scene. A British film, it stars the great Herbert Beerbohm Tree in the title role.

Answer: Olivia de Havilland

Born in Tokyo to British parents, two-time Oscar winner Olivia de Havilland is most famous for her role as Melanie Hamilton in "Gone with the Wind". The sister of actor Joan Fontaine, she plays Hermia in "Midsummer", which also features James Cagney, Mickey Rooney, Joe E. Brown, and Victor Jory.

Answer: True

Leslie Howard as Romeo was 43, Norma Shearer (Juliet) 34, Basil Rathbone (Tybalt) 44, Reginald Denny (Benvolio) 45, and John Barrymore played Mercutio at the ripe age of 54! It was the last film produced by Shearer's husband, wunderkind Irving Thalberg, before his untimely death. Believe it or not, it was the only time that the great stage Shakespearean actor Barrymore (grandfather of Drew) played in a full Shakespeare film.

Answer: Julius Caesar

Zeffirelli (born Gianfranco Corsi) directed Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in 1967's "The Taming of the Shrew". His "Romeo and Juliet" (1968) was the first major film version of the play to use leads who were close to the correct ages. His most recent big-screen Shakespeare was 1990's "Hamlet", starring Mel Gibson.

The Italian director is a great believer in doing Shakespeare in the "traditional" style (no period updates).

Answer: Chimes at Midnight

Welles made Sir John Falstaff into a starring role for him. Alternately entitled "Falstaff", the film co-stars Sir John Gielgud as Henry IV and Sir Ralph Richardson as the narrator who quotes from Raphael Holinshed's "Chronicles", which was used as a supplementary text source.

Answer: Playboy

This was the very first film production for Playboy. Obviously, the movie contains nudity. It was also the first movie future-Oscar winner Polanski ("Chinatown", "The Pianist") completed following the murder of wife Sharon Tate by the Manson family.

Answer: King Lear

This film, the story of which was based on samurai legends as well as Shakespeare, revolves around Hidetora Ichimonji, an aging warlord who abdicates as ruler in favor of his three sons, whom he expects to stay loyal to him. But one of the sons, Saburo, forces Hidetora to face the truth about how he attained power, and the warlord banishes him. Hidetora's other two sons turn against him, driving him mad and causing him to wander in the wilderness. Eventually, Saburo, who is still loyal, is reunited with his father.

But Saburo is killed, and Hidetora dies of grief. This production was not a great time for Kurosawa. His eyesight was so bad that assistants had to set up the camera shots, and his wife of 39 years died during filming.

Answer: A movie studio

This was Branagh's cinematic directorial debut, and he earned an Academy Award nomination for it. The opening speech is delivered by Derek Jacobi as he strolls across a movie set and opens the big doors onto the actual film.

Answer: Prospero's Books

Prospero was one of Gielgud's favorite stage roles, and he had tried to get a movie version made for decades. He attempted to involve Orson Welles, Akira Kurosawa, and Ingmar Bergman as director before finally convincing Peter Greenaway.

Answer: He commits suicide.

When Richard (played by star-screenwriter Ian McKellen) sees Richmond (Dominic West) coming toward him, he jumps to his death, smiling as he falls. Richmond fires his gun at Richard, then looks at the camera and smiles. McKellen, who apparently missed an Oscar nomination for his role by two votes, invited Robert Downey, Jr, to play the part of Rivers, expecting him to turn it down as too small. Downey immediately accepted. Would that happen today?

Answer: Helen Mirren

Heston played the Player King (the leading actor of the traveling company), Winslet played Ophelia, and Williams played the foppish Osric near the end of the film. Jack Lemmon, another Oscar winner who appeared in the film, said that he would have fetched coffee for Kenneth Branagh.

The movie also features Julie Christie, Sir John Gielgud, and Dame Judi Dench, who have (or had) golden statues of their own.

Answer: Sydney White

"Sydney White" was a modern version of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" starring Amanda Bynes. Bynes also starred with Channing Tatum in "She's the Man", an updated take on "Twelfth Night", "Deliver Us From Eva", with LL Cool J and Gabrielle Union, adapted "The Taming of the Shrew" while "Forbidden Planet" was a sci-fi version of "The Tempest".

Answer: Nick Bottom's wife

Kevin Kline wanted to play the role of Oberon, King of the Fairies, but Hoffman convinced him to take on Bottom by beefing up the part into a virtual leading role. The brief inclusion of Bottom's spouse silently implies marital problems.

Answer: Japanese

Branagh moved the events of the story to nineteenth-century Japan, when many English traders lived there, which is why the cast is largely British and American. Duke Senior admires Japanese culture, and both he and his usurping brother wear Japanese clothes.

The British ladies use fans to cover their faces and wear traditional Japanese hairstyles. Ninja warriors invade Duke Senior's court while he and his family watch a Kabuki theater performance, and Orlando fights a sumo wrestler. Interestingly, British critics gave resoundingly negative notices while American reviewers looked favorably on the film.

Answer: True

The first scene of the film is a silent one in which Benedick (Alexis Denisof) is walking out on Beatrice (Amy Acker), who is naked in bed. Whedon directed this movie - a low-budget flick shot with friends and colleagues at his house - shortly after finishing the mega-hit "The Avengers".