The Directors: Mike Nichols Trivia Quiz

Answer: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" (1966) was nominated in every Academy Award category in which the film was eligible. All four main actors were nominated for awards - Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal, and Sandy Dennis - as well as Nichols for directing. Taylor, who was 35 at that time, gained 30 pounds to play the frumpy 50-ish Martha and won as Best Actress. Sandy Dennis, a relative newcomer to film, won for Best Supporting Actress as the mousy Honey.

The big production issue was the language of the original play. The Catholic Legion of Decency had forewarned that the film would be banned without substantial changes. As it turned out there were only minor change and that decision was supported by Jack Valenti, president of the MPAA in 1966 who had abolished the old Production Code.

Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 95% freshness rating based on 40 reviews. It was an astonishing debut for Nichols as a film director.

Answer: Dustin Hoffman

Dustin Hoffman had a break-through role in "The Graduate" (1967). At his graduation party Benjamin is pulled aside by his father's business friend who whispers in his ear "plastics" as a career choice. He has an affair with an older woman but falls in love with her daughter.

Hoffman as an actor has been drawn to vulnerable characters such as Braddock, Raymond in "Rainman" (1989), Ratzo in "Midnight Cowboy"(1969), and Louis in "Papillon" (1973). He won two Academy Awards and had an additional five nominations.

The film had nominations at the Academy Awards for Hoffman, Ross, Bancroft, Buck Henry's screenplay, Cinematography, and Best Picture. It has an 89% freshness rating from Rotten Tomatoes.

Answer: Catch 22

A catch 22 is a "dilemma or difficult circumstance from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting or dependent conditions".

At an airbase somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea, World War Two lives out its psychosis. The cast is an ensemble but most plot lines lead back to John Yossarian (Alan Arkin), an Air Force bombardier. Yossarian acts crazy to be sent home; crazy people are crazy and act crazy and are sent home. Catch 22.

Major Major Major (Bob Newhart) does not see people and crawls out the window if someone enters his office.

Lt. Milo Minderbinder (Jon Voight) is in the black market with his German counterparts that requires him to do strange things such as bomb and strafe his own airfield.

An airman with a fear of cats dies of suffocation when a cat goes to sleep on his face.

"Catch 22" was considered at the time a failure. First, it reflected the horror people were seeing everyday on television on the Vietnam War and the antiwar riots; second, it was released about the same time as "M.A.S.H." that audiences found more palatable; third, perhaps the average moviegoer did not grasp the bitter satire. However, the passage of time has allowed re-evaluation and critics have given it an 86% rating via Rotten Tomatoes. The film did not receive any major award nominations.

Answer: Art Garfunkel

Art Garfunkel was a surprise choice to play Sandy opposite Jack Nicholson's Jonathan. The story is told like a triptych, the left frame being their college days, the center a depiction of adult life, and on the right bordering middle age. As the title implies the central topic is always sex. The female cast includes Candice Bergen, Ann-Margret, Rita Moreno, Carol Kane and Cynthia O'Neal.

Even by 1971 films depicting sex were still "pushing the envelope". This led to some distribution problems, outright banning in some areas, and an obscenity case that ended up in the US Supreme Court that ruled in part "Our own viewing of the film satisfies us that 'Carnal Knowledge' could not be found... to depict sexual conduct in a patently offensive way. Nothing in the movie falls within... material which may constitutionally be found... 'patently offensive'".

Ann-Margaret received an Academy Award nomination for her supporting role and Nicholson and Garfunkel had Golden Globe nominations. Humorist and cartoonist Jules Feiffer wrote the script. The film retains an 89% freshness rating from Rotten Tomatoes.

Art Garfunkel and Paul Simon supplied the background music for "The Graduate". "Carnal Knowledge" was the peak of his acting career as he had only minor roles after that. Many of his later appearances were as himself. Garfunkel suffered from depression ans was inactive for a number of years.

Answer: Silkwood

Karen Silkwood (Meryl Streep) was a worker at the Kerr-McGee plutonium plant. She handled radioactive materials and as a union activist became concerned with safety precautions. She was accumulating evidence and traveled to Washington, D.C. to testify before the Atomic Energy Commission about her concerns. Much of the film is background regarding her relationships with boyfriend played by Kurt Russell and roommate Cher. Her death in a car accident is the climax. You are left with the impression that Kerr-McGee engineered her death.

In real life Karen Silkwood's autopsy revealed she had 40 times the normal
amount of radiation in her body. Her family sued and were awarded 10 million dollars by the court but were only able to collect 1.3 million.

The film earned five Academy Award nominations including Nichols as director, Streep and Cher for acting, Nora Ephron for screenplay, and editing for Sam O'Steen. None were winners. Rotten Tomatoes gave it 75%.

Answer: Working Girl

Katharine Parker (Sigourney Weaver) breaks her leg skiing and lets her secretary Tess McGill (Melanie Griffith) handle routine operations. But Tess has ambitions of her own and begins to engage in the delicate intricacies of the mergers and acquisitions department. Identifying herself as Parker, she makes an appointment with Jack Trainer (Harrison Ford), a company executive, but instead meets him anonymously and they spend the night together. In the end past misunderstandings are cleared, Parker is fired for stealing ideas from Tess but Tess gets another job at another company as an account executive.

"Working Girl" was nominated for six Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director - Nichols, Lead Actress - Griffith, Supporting Actress both Sigourney Weaver and Joan Cusack, and Best Song - Carly Simon for "Let the River Run", but only Simon won. Rotten Tomatoes - 84%. Quick eyes might spot Kevin Spacey as a bad date and Alec Baldwin as an abusive boy friend.

"Working Girls" was released a few months before "Working Girl". Lizzie Bordon directed this portrait of a Manhattan bordello.

Answer: Shirley MacLaine

Suzanne Vale (Meryl Streep) has been a successful actress on her own but her career has plateaued due to alcohol and drugs, and her show business career is under the shadow of her highly talented mother Doris Mann (Shirley MacLaine). The scene that illustrates this best is at a party when Suzanne does a very good singing number and the guests applaud enthusiastically but Doris does a number from her old night club act and enraptures the room and Suzanne is forgotten.

MacLaine is an American film, television and theater actress and has written books about the New Age movement.

There is little doubt that Suzanne is much like Carrie Fisher, who wrote the novel and screenplay, and that Doris is a version of her mother, Debbie Reynolds. In the film they are able to resolve their differences. Both Fisher and Reynolds died within days of each other. Mike Nichols rejected Debbie Reynolds for the part of Doris as she was 'not the type'.

The film earned a 90% freshness from Rotten Tomatoes and two Academy Award nominations for Streep as Best Actress and Shel Silverstein for Best Song for "I'm Checkin' Out", with neither winning.

Answer: La Cage aux Folles

Robin Williams is Armand Goldman, the owner of a night club in Miami called "The Birdcage", and his lover Starina is the flamboyant drag queen of the floor show, played by Nathan Lane. Starina an extremely effeminate and sensitive. They learn that their son Val Goldman (Dan Futterman) has become engaged to the daughter of an important US Senator (Gene Hackman) known for his high moral standards. Before the wedding, under a cloud of some bad press, it seems like a good time to visit Val's parents. There is panic at The Birdcage but Armand contacts Val's biological mother (Christine Baranski) who agrees to assist in the charade. Starina is a loose cannon and spoils the plot. Meanwhile aggressive reporters have spotted the senator but he escapes detection by leaving wearing a drag queen costume.

Critics thought that there were a lot of laughs but questioned the need for a remake. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 79%. The only Oscar nomination was for Art Decoration but a number of less prestigious film societies were more generous. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) praised the film for "going beyond the stereotypes to see the character's depth and humanity".

Answer: Primary Colors

Joe Klein was a "Newsweek" reporter who followed the Clinton campaign for president in 1992. His novel "Primary Colors" was printed in 1996 anonymously but was later revealed to be authored by Klein. Critics say that it was a marketing ploy but some believe it may have been for fear of reprisal. Nonetheless, Nichols purchased the film rights for a reported million dollars and asked his old partner Elaine May to do the screenplay.

The charismatic candidate Jack Stanton (John Tavolta) is obviously modeled after Bill Clinton. Much of the film is taken up with his staff trying to cover up or discredit Stanton's past indiscretions, particularly his womanizing. Tapes are produced that seem to lend credence to an extra-marital affair. An underage babysitter says he is the father of her unborn child. Staff go on the aggressive and use the past of his opponents against them. We last see him dancing with his wife at the inaugural ball.

Elaine May was nominated for her screenplay and Kathy Bates for her supporting role. Rotten Tomatoes awarded an 80% freshness rating but the film lost money at the box office. Perhaps the public was weary of the Clinton affairs.

Answer: Charlie Wilson's War

Charlie Wilson was a congressman from east Texas who took a lighthearted approach to his office until he took leadership in defining the role of the United States in the Soviet/Afghanistan War. Tom Hanks, who was to star in the film, was also the producer and wanted Mike Nichols to direct.

After visiting Afghanistan, Wilson becomes convinced that the Afghans need more US support. Wilson works with the CIA and the Reagan administration both on policy and funding on a program eventually called the Reagan Doctrine. In the end he fears that he may have been duped by the Afghans.

This was to be Nichols last Hollywood film although he was active in the theater and in television for another seven years. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film 82% and Philip Seymour Hoffman got an Oscar nomination for his supporting role.