The Guns of Navarone Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mountaineer

Not only was Mallory a mountaineer, he also spoke fluent German and Greek (although apparently Gregory Peck had trouble with his German lines, and they had to be dubbed). The guns were located on the side of a cliff on Navarone, and while most of the sides of the island were heavily guarded by Nazi troops, one side with a sheer cliff wasn't.

It was decided that the best chance to get on the island was to climb up that cliff, so Mallory was selected to lead the ascent. The team was led by Major Roy Franklin (Anthony Quayle), and the other members of the team were Corporal Miller (David Niven), Colonel Stavrou (Anthony Quinn), Private Spyro Pappadimos (James Darren), and Private "Butcher" Brown (Stanley Baker).

Answer: Kill him

The team used an old fishing boat to get to Navarone, and while on the ship, Mallory told Franklin that he had known Stavrou for a while. When Franklin told him he was lucky, Mallory informed him that Stavrou was planning to kill him (Mallory) when the war was over. Mallory said that a year earlier, he had let a Nazi patrol enter a village because they needed help for their wounded, but it was actually a ploy.

They were just looking to get Stavrou, and they blew up his house. He wasn't there at the time, but his wife and children were, and so Stavrou blamed Mallory for their deaths. Mallory said that Stavrou would kill Nazis during the war but that he said he would come for Mallory after the war was over.

Answer: He fell and broke his leg.

While on the boat, the team had run into rough weather. Franklin had been injured during the storm and wasn't in the best shape to make the climb up the cliff so naturally the team had him climb up last (only in movies...) He had managed to get past the worst of it and was near the top when he slipped and fell onto a ledge, breaking his leg and apparently knocking him unconscious. Mallory was able to rescue him, but his leg was badly damaged.

The team discussed options: Leave him there in the hopes that the Nazis would get him medical care, put him out of his misery, or carry him with them, which might impede their mission.

They decided on the latter and built a stretcher out of twigs.

Answer: Their mission was canceled; there would be an amphibious assault instead.

Franklin realized that he was a burden on the team, so when the rest of the members went outside to contact HQ via radio, Franklin dragged himself away and was about to shoot himself when he was stopped by Miller. Then Mallory asked to talk to Franklin by himself.

He told Franklin that the "mission had been scrubbed" and that instead there was going to be a massive amphibious landing on the other side of the island. He said that the team just needed to create a disturbance as a distraction. Mallory had two reasons for telling this to Franklin: He wanted to ease Franklin's mind so that he didn't attempt suicide again, and he wanted Franklin to truly think the plans had changed in case Franklin was captured by the Nazis. Mallory believed that the Nazis would use scopolamine, which would act like a truth serum, on Franklin, and he would tell them about their mission; this way, Franklin would tell them about the amphibious assault instead of the true mission.

Answer: Ancient ruins

The team had instructions to meet the resistance fighters at St. Alexis Ruins, and they arrived at the site before the resistance fighters arrived. Anna (Gia Scala) arrived first and was promptly knocked out by Pappadimos. Then Maria (Irene Papas) showed up and held them all at gunpoint until she was sure who they were. Maria turned out to be Pappadimos' sister, and she promptly smacked him for not writing to her.

While Anna was still unconscious, Maria told them her story. Anna had been captured and tortured by the Nazis. Maria said she had been whipped "until the white of the bone showed", and after she was released, she wouldn't speak anymore and wouldn't show anyone the scars.

But she claimed Anna was a good fighter, and they were "lucky to have her".

Incidentally, Navarone isn't a real island, but the ruins were real; the movie was filmed on Rhodes and the ruins were from the Doric Temple of Athena Lindia.

Answer: They were captured.

Mallory, Miller, and Spyro Pappadimos went to Anna's house while Stavrou, Brown, and Maria took Franklin to the doctor. The latter group was captured as they entered the doctor's office; the Nazis were waiting for them. The Nazis also showed up at Anna's house, but the team was able to escape to the rooftop and went to an outdoor restaurant in the town square where they attempted to blend in with the natives who were celebrating a wedding.

But the Nazis soon arrived and convinced the group to surrender or the villagers would suffer.

The team was reunited while they were being interrogated, but they were able to escape when Stavrou created a distraction by pretending to have a fit. They left Franklin with the Nazis, realizing that getting medical care was his only hope of survival.

Answer: His blasting equipment was missing or damaged.

Once the team reached Navarone, they hid out in an abandoned building near the Nazi fortress. It was there that Miller discovered that some of his equipment was missing and the rest was damaged. He said that he had checked his equipment before the team started their mission and at a few points along the way so he knew he had working equipment up until the time that it was in the back of the truck with Anna.

He pointed out that the Nazis always seemed to know where they were, and he thought this was because Anna had tipped them off. Anna's dress was then torn to display no scars on her back, contradicting the story Maria had told of her capture and torture by the Nazis. Anna then spoke, admitting that she had made up the story and that she had agreed to work with the Nazis because she was afraid of torture.

Answer: Maria (Papas)

Once again, there were three choices: Tie her up and leave her at the abandoned house, take her along with them, or shoot her. The first choice was too risky; she might escape or the Nazis might find her. The second option would slow them down, and she could possibly sabotage their mission. So the third option was selected, with Miller badgering Mallory to do the dirty work.

But as Mallory pointed the gun at Anna, Maria shot instead using a pistol with a silencer.

Answer: Hoist shaft

Miller was the comic relief in the film. After rigging the explosives, he placed a dead or stuffed rat underneath one of the guns, and when a Nazi soldier picked it up, it fizzled with a little poof. Miller correctly surmised that the Nazis would find the explosives on the gun, so he planted an insurance policy, as he explained to Mallory.

The explosives were attached to a post underneath the hoist that was used to move ammo. When the wheels of the hoist struck the explosives, the guns blew up. The filming of the scene required David Niven to stand in water underneath the hoist, and he reportedly became gravely ill as a result of the experience. According to the director, J. Lee Thompson, the film was nearly canceled because they weren't sure if Niven could finishing filming, but he recovered after a few weeks.

Answer: Franklin (Quayle)

Major Franklin had been left with the Nazis in the hopes that he'd receive medical care for his badly damaged leg. When the explosion went off, we saw the look of satisfaction on Franklin's face as he lay in a clinic or hospital bed. Spyro Pappadimos had been killed during a firefight with the Nazis while he and Stavrou had been creating a diversion to allow Mallory and Miller to plant the explosives. Stavrou was shot in the arm while trying to rescue Pappadimos but it was too late. Brown had been stabbed to death while stealing the boat that was used for the escape.

He was on the boat when the explosions went off, but he was already dead. Ralph the Llama didn't appear in this film. Maria (Papas) was also alive at the end of the film, but she hadn't been a member of the original team.