The Connection Goes to the Movies Quiz

Answer: Michael Caine

"Zulu" gives a very authentic and meticulous story of the defense of Rorke's Drift, a lonely British outpost, by 105 men against a horde of 4,000 Zulu warriors. Michael Caine went on to star in many movies that were top box office hits, such as "Alfie" and "The Italian Job", and continues to play starring roles into his seventies.

Answer: Rita Hayworth

The novella is titled "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" and it was first published in 1982 in "Different Seasons", a collection of short stories by Stephen King. In "The Shawshank Redemption" (film, 1994) posters of Rita Hayworth, Marilyn Monroe and Raquel Welch can be seen on Andy's wall as time progresses. (The novella also has Andy putting up posters of Jayne Mansfield and Linda Ronstadt, before and after Raquel Welch, respectively.) "The Shawshank Redemption" was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actor in a Leading Role (Morgan Freeman), both of which were lost that year to "Forrest Gump" (Tom Hanks).

Answer: Sean Connery

"Zardoz" is a very bizarre, post-apocalyptic film, set in the far future, which depicts a society that comprises several sets of entities. Connery portrays the character of Zed, who is beset upon disrupting the status-quo. As it happens, Zed is merely a pawn of Arthur, who is the supreme being of the Zardoz realm. Ultimately, Zed accomplishes the task delivered to him from Arthur.

Sean Connery enjoyed an exquisite and diverse career. However, he will probably be most well remembered for his role as James Bond along with his very distinctive manner of speech.

This shaken yet unstirred question has been brought to you by christopherm.

Answer: The family she works for builds her a separate, outdoor toilet.

It is after the building of her own, separate, outside toilet (which she is expected to openly express gratitude for), that she quietly says to Skeeter that she will talk to her.
Being falsely accused of stealing silver is something that happens after the book is published and people realize that she contributed to the stories.
Among the many powerful performances, the movie starred Viola Davis as Aibileen, and Emma Stone as Skeeter.

"The Help" is a wonderful movie (based on a book of the same name) set in the time of Martin Luther King Jr., when civil rights were finally becoming an issue. It demonstrates the hurtful power of prejudice and the difference that two people, willing to take a risk, can make.

Unable to pick one all-time favourite movie, skunkee chose to write about her favourite movie of 2011.

Answer: The Third Man

For those who've never seen the movie, I will disclose no spoilers. However I'm obliged to clarify the snippet of dialogue from the movie that I've quoted. Calloway is the British Army man portrayed by Trevor Howard. Holly Martins, portrayed by Joseph Cotten, is the American writer and Harry is Harry Lime, Martins' friend who apparently was killed by a hit and run driver. Martins finds Lime's death suspicious and starts an unofficial investigation, despite Calloway's suggestion that he leave it alone. Martins' snooping has resulted in him being targeted by a couple of thugs and he narrowly escapes them. He then seeks the safety of Calloway's office when the quoted exchange takes place.

There are many things to like about this film. It was filmed entirely in post World War II Vienna and the devastation of the war is clearly evident. That sets the tone. Carol Reed was the director and he used very clever camera angles in shooting the film. In so doing, nothing seems straightforward, which parallels the plot. He also focuses on faces...not actor's faces but those of Viennese residents. They're curious or scared or paranoid but they're all expressive. Shadows, elongated and sinister, pervade the picture. A great chase scene in the sewer system adds suspense, as if the film needed more. And oh, the music. No other film that I know has ever used just one instrument, the zither, to greater effect in a film score. Utter magic! Then the final scene... wordless for at least five minutes, consists of one long shot of a woman walking. What will she do? Find the film, watch it and find out. If you've already seen the movie, you're probably with me on this as it consistently sits high on the list of the IMDB's best movies.

Answer: Spike Milligan

All of the above-named comedians were members of the "The Goon Show", which has been acknowledged on a number of occasions by the Monty Python team members as a major influence upon their own work. However, Spike Milligan's cameo in "Life of Brian" was not planned.

He happened to be visiting Tunisia while the movie was being filmed. When the Monty Python team were made aware of this, they included him in the scene that they were filming that day. Spike Milligan played a character called "Spike", a prophet ignored by his followers because they were too busy chasing Brian. MotherGoose reminds us of this classic, 1979 "Python" offering.

Answer: Nixon

"All the President's Men" was directed by Alan J. Pakula and starred Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman. This thrilling political drama tells the story of Woodward and Bernstein's investigation and reporting of the Watergate scandal, which ultimately lead to the downfall and resignation of U.S. President Richard Nixon in 1974.

The film garnered eight Academy Award nominations and won four, including Best Adapted Screenplay for William Goldman (who would go on to write "The Princess Bride", another personal favourite) and the first of two consecutive Best Supporting Actor awards for Jason Robards, who portrayed "Post" executive editor, Ben Bradlee.

Answer: Peter Sellers

Sellers portrayed Hrundi V. Bakshi, a bit part player who managed to destroy the entire movie set seconds before shooting was due to start. The furious director vowed that Hrundi would be placed on the 'black-list', but due to a mixup, he was added to the A-list, and invited to the hottest party in Hollywood, where he proceeded to unknowingly wreak havoc.

Funny fact- the nonsense expression 'Birdy num num' came from the scene where Hrundi was trying to feed a macaw.

Peter Sellers died in 1980, Michael Bentine died in 1996, Sir Harry Secombe left us in 2001 and Spike Milligan, (my personal favourite), died in 2002.

Answer: Sleepless in Seattle

Meg Ryan plays Annie Reed, a journalist who hears architect Sam Baldwin (Hanks) on a late night radio show on Christmas Eve. Sam is talking to an agony aunt about his loneliness since the death of his wife.

Annie and seemingly the rest of the female population in the USA find his phone call compelling, however Annie does have an edge. She uses her newspaper connections to track Sam down, but despite her flying from Baltimore to Seattle to meet him, they just never connect.

Things are brought to a head when Sam's son Jonah (Ross Malinger) decides Annie is just right for his dad. He reads her letter which she discarded but which was finally posted to Sam - unknown to her - by her friend. In it she recklessly suggests they meet on the top of the Empire State Building on Valentine's Day. When he can't persuade his dad to take any notice of Annie's letter, Jonah takes things into his own hands and flies to New York to meet her on top of the famous skyscraper.

Frantic, Sam follows his son across the country to New York and finally he and Annie meet after another near miss. They hold hands as the three of them head into the lift together.

Answer: Forrest Gump

"Forrest Gump", a drama released in 1994, starred Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump, Gary Sinise as Lt. Dan, and Robin Wright as Jenny Curran. Forrest Gump, a slow child from Greenbow, Alabama, lives in a world with prejudice, bullying, stereotypes, lying, and other moral vices. Despite his innocence, Forrest manages to grow up and take part in many occurrences of the late 20th century, and perhaps even manages to make his mark on some of them.

This film was a huge success, and won six Academy Awards, including, Best Director, Best Male Actor, and the coveted Best Picture. The film was based on a novel by Winston Groom of the same name. Following the huge success of the film, Groom wrote a sequel to "Forrest Gump" called "Gump and Co." where the story line was made to match with some of the changes that the movie plot deviated from the original novel.