Ten Degrees of Maggie Smith Trivia Quiz

Answer: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's (Sorcerer's) Stone

'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' (known as 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' in some countries, including the US) was the first in J.K. Rowling's series of seven novels about the "Boy Who Lived" and his life at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The film adaptation appeared in 2001 and told the story of Harry's first year at Hogwarts, including his discovery of the wizarding world, his encounters with a three-headed dog named Fluffy and his heroic (and ultimately successful) actions which prevented the evil Lord Voldemort from obtaining the philosopher's stone.

The film featured a large ensemble cast that included some of Britain's most revered actors (such as Maggie Smith and Richard Harris) appearing alongside a whole bunch of child actors who had just received their first foothold in the film industry. Maggie Smith portrayed Minerva McGonagall, Hogwarts' Deputy Headmistress who had the ability to turn herself into a tabby cat. Richard Harris played the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, in both this film and its direct sequel, 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets', before his death in 2002 at the age of 72.

The incorrect options are all films based on novels set (or partially set) in schools. Maggie Smith won a Best Actress Oscar for her eponymous role in 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie' (1969), but Richard Harris did not appear in that film. Neither of them appeared in any of the various film adaptations of 'Tom Brown's Schooldays' or 'Jane Eyre'.

Answer: Gladiator

Richard Harris's appearance in 'Gladiator' was relatively brief as his character, Emperor Marcus Aurelius, was killed by his son Commodus when the latter found out about his father's plans to bar him from the succession and appoint an army general named Maximus (Russell Crowe) as regent instead. The price paid by Maximus for receiving the old emperor's favour was huge though - his home was destroyed, his wife and children were murdered and he was captured by slavers and sold into the brutal and harsh life of a gladiator.

'Centurion', 'The Last Legion' and 'The Eagle' are films set during the time of the Roman Empire that were all released several years after the death of Richard Harris; Russell Crowe doesn't appear in any of them either.

Answer: Man of Steel

The superhero in question is none other than Superman (a.k.a. Clark Kent), who was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in 1933 and still remained popular enough 80 years later for movie bosses to release yet another film adaptation of his story in 'Man of Steel'. It starred Henry Cavill in the title role while Russell Crowe played his Kryptonian father Jor-El and Kevin Costner played his adoptive father Jonathan Kent, a farmer from Kansas. However, neither man was around for much of his son's life - Jor-El was murdered by the evil General Zod when Clark was still a baby and Jonathan Kent was killed by a tornado while he was still a young adult. Crowe did get a slightly larger role than his character's initial fate suggested though as Jor-El's consciousness got to return in the form of a hologram (it is science fiction after all!).

The film tells the story of Clark's attempts to come to terms with his alien origins and the fantastic powers granted to him by his heritage. Along the way he meets and gains the support and friendship of Lois Lane and together they help to scupper General Zod's malevolent plan to terraform the Earth to create a new Krypton (which would've killed off the human race in the process).

The incorrect options are all other films featuring comic book superheroes.

Answer: 3000 Miles to Graceland

'3000 Miles to Graceland' is a 2001 film about a gang of thieves who robbed a casino during an Elvis impersonators' convention (so clearly the best way for the gang to get in and out unnoticed was for them to obtain a selection of Elvis costumes). The film then went on to prove the old adage about there being "no honour among thieves" when one of the gang members, Thomas Murphy (Kevin Costner), shot his so called partners in crime in order to get a bigger share of the loot. Courteney Cox played the girlfriend of another thief, Michael Zane, who survived Murphy's murderous spree thanks to a bulletproof vest. The plot then took a bizarre final twist when Costner's character was taken down by a disgruntled scorpion. The somewhat unlikely sequence of events might go some way to explaining why both Costner and Cox received Golden Raspberry award nominations for their roles.

'Memphis Belle' is a 1990 film about a Second World War bomber plane while both 'Jailhouse Rock' (1957) and 'Viva Las Vegas' (1964) are films starring Elvis Presley.

Answer: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

The comedy film 'Ace Ventura: Pet Detective' was released in 1994. The title role was taken by Jim Carrey who also co-wrote the screenplay. It was Carrey's breakthrough role and paved the way for the success of his later appearances in various (somewhat similar) comedy roles such as Stanley Ipkiss in 'The Mask', Lloyd Christmas in 'Dumb and Dumber' and Bruce Nolan in 'Bruce Almighty'. His character of Ace Ventura also resurfaced in the 1995 sequel 'Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls' and an animated TV spin off show.

Although Courteney Cox is best known for her ten year stint as Monica Geller on the hit TV show 'Friends', she has also appeared in a range of films including a recurring role in the 'Scream' series. In 'Ace Ventura: Pet Detective' she portrayed Melissa Robinson, a publicist for an American football team, whose job depended on successfully locating the team's missing mascot - Snowflake the dolphin. She hired Ace Ventura (a pet detective being the obvious person to call in for such a case) and he soon followed the clues to discover that the culprit was a disgruntled and insane former player who wanted to sabotage the team. With Snowflake safely rescued, Ace set his sights on his next pay cheque - an escapee pigeon...

Answer: Mr Popper's Penguins

In 'Mr Popper's Penguins' Jim Carrey played the title character, a real estate businessman who unexpectedly found himself in ownership of a small waddle of penguins following the death of his father on an Antarctic expedition. Angela Lansbury played the role of an elderly restaurant owner, Selma Van Gundy, who refused to sell up to him since she disapproved of his focus on his career and neglect of his family. Although Popper's first thought was to get rid of his unwanted feathery pets, they quickly became a bridge between him, his children and his estranged wife as his growing attachment to them (and the fate of their newly laid eggs) forced him to re-evaluate his life and spend more time with his family. Ironically this also helped improve Selma's opinion of him too...

The majority of the penguin scenes in the film were created using real penguin actors (of the gentoo species), although some had to be recreated in CGI.

The incorrect options are all films about penguins, either animated ('Penguins of Madagascar' and 'Happy Feet') or a wildlife documentary ('March of the Penguins').

Answer: Nanny McPhee

The screenplay for 'Nanny McPhee' was written by the Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson, who also played the title character. The 'Nurse Matilda' stories it was based on were written by the British author Christianna Brand during the 1960s and 1970s and the use of the term 'nurse' relates to a children's nursemaid or nanny rather than a medical professional.

Best known for her starring role in the American TV series 'Murder She Wrote', in this film Angela Lansbury played the bad guy. Her role was that of cruel Great-Aunt Adelaide who forced her nephew-in-law (Colin Firth) to remarry against his will - to the horror of his seven children (the eldest of whom was portrayed by Thomas Sangster). Against this family backdrop, Nanny McPhee (an extremely ugly woman) employed a bit of magic to improve the children's behaviour and make their lives happier. As her work progressed she also steadily became less and less ugly.

The incorrect options are all films featuring nannies - Robin Williams' character played nanny to his own children in 'Mrs Doubtfire'; Mary Poppins was a magical, umbrella-flying nanny in the film and musical of the same name; and the Addams Family employed a serial killer as a nanny in 'Addams Family Values'.

Answer: Love Actually

'Love Actually', a 2003 film written and directed by Richard Curtis, featured numerous different plots and storylines tenuously linked together by connections in the character's lives, their experiences one Christmas-time and the theme of love. Keira Knightley's bride (who received a happy ending despite the tragic Shakespearean connection to her name) was the target of unrequited love; Colin Firth's character (one of the wedding guests) overcame the pain of his girlfriend cheating on him with his brother, to find love with a Portuguese woman living in France who didn't speak any English; and Thomas Sangster played a young boy pining after an American girl who was going home for Christmas.

Additional stories included the Prime Minister (Hugh Grant) falling in love with his assistant (Martine McCutcheon), his sister (Emma Thompson) discovering her husband (Alan Rickman) was having an affair and her friend (Liam Neeson) attempting to overcome the pain of losing his wife (the mother of Thomas Sangster's character). Perhaps most memorably, Bill Nighy also portrayed an ageing rock star attempting to make a comeback in the music business with a cover version of The Troggs' song 'Love is All Around' cunningly named 'Christmas Is All Around'. (The song, performed by Nighy, reached number 26 on the UK Singles Chart in December 2003.)

The incorrect options are all other films set at Christmas time.

Answer: The Duchess

Keira Knightley portrayed the title character in 'The Duchess' - a biographical film which told the story of Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, who lived from 1757 to 1806. She was a famous figure in London society in the 18th century, being a noted leader of fashion and an important political campaigner (in an age when women were not entitled to vote and had little to do with political matters). Unfortunately she was also known for her gambling problems and her unorthodox marital life - Georgiana, her husband (the 5th Duke of Devonshire) and his mistress all lived together along with their various legitimate and illegitimate children.

The duchess was the daughter of the 1st Earl Spencer and was born at the Spencer family estate, Althorp. Her father was also the four times great-grandfather of Diana, Princess of Wales, whose final resting place is located on the Althorp estate.

The incorrect options are films about queens - 'The Queen' is about Queen Elizabeth II and set around the time of Diana's death; 'The Young Victoria' tells the story of the early years of the life of Queen Victoria and her marriage to Prince Albert; and 'Mrs Brown' is about Victoria's later years and her relationship with her Scottish servant, John Brown.

Answer: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

The final battle of the 'Harry Potter' series (which unsurprisingly took place in the final instalment of the eight-film series, 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2') saw Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters attack the school with the intention of capturing and killing the protagonist, Harry Potter. Fortunately Harry had plenty of allies on his side, including his former Transfiguration teacher, Professor Minerva McGonagall. In the absence of the school's headmaster (Severus Snape - who had fled by leaping out of a window), McGonagall arranged for the younger students to be sent to safety and organised the defence of the castle.

After much death and destruction Harry and Voldemort finally faced off against each other (albeit in far more dramatic fashion than described in J. K. Rowling's book). Harry emerged victorious and the wizarding world was left to begin the more peaceful future shown in the film's final scenes where Harry, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger appear nineteen years later at King's Cross railway station to see their own children off for magical adventures at Hogwarts.

The incorrect options are earlier films in the 'Harry Potter' series. Only 'Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince' involved a battle on the grounds of Hogwarts, but this event did not directly feature Lord Voldemort.