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The Man Who Wasn't There Trivia Quiz

A noir-style drama of a taciturn barber who tries to change the course of his life.

A multiple-choice quiz by gunstone. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
gunstone

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
89,926

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
15

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
9 / 15

Plays
296

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 15

1. Billy Bob Thornton stars as Ed Crane, the barber. It's the first time Thornton worked with the Coen brothers.

True

False

NEXT>

Question 2 of 15

2. Ed Crane becomes the "silent partner" of salesman Creighton Tolliver, who has told him of a business idea. What new concept is this idea about? Hint

Vacuum Cleaning

The Spray Can

Air Conditioning

Dry Cleaning

NEXT>

Question 3 of 15

3. Eccentric Creighton Tolliver is played by which actor? Hint

Brian Haley

Michael Badalucco

Jon Polito

James Gandolfini

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Question 4 of 15

4. What does Ed Crane say when Tolliver makes a pass at him? Hint

That's not the kind of business I'm talking about.

You're out of line, Mister.

I'm just the barber. Don't do this to me.

You have to stop doing that - right now.

NEXT>

Question 5 of 15

5. Taking refuge from a party, Ed Crane discovers Birdy playing the piano. What composer is she playing? Hint

Mozart

Beethoven

Schubert

Chopin

6. Fat men are everywhere in this movie. One of the last to appear is the French music educator who rather brutally dismisses Birdy's chances of a musical career ("She can be good - typist"). What's his name? Hint

Carcanogues

LeCassonnier

Lavalle

Kharkassian

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Question 7 of 15

7. Being "the best" (in Walter Abundas' words), Fredy Riedenschneider is engaged to defend Ed Crane. From which city is he "brought in"? Hint

San Francisco

San Diego

Sacramento

Los Angeles

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Question 8 of 15

8. Riedenschneider refers a few times to a German physicist who defined the uncertainty principle in quantum theory. What is his name? Hint

Max von Laue

Albert Einstein

Werner Heisenberg

Niels Bohr

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Question 9 of 15

9. "You know what you are?" Birdy asks Ed Crane. She answers the question herself. What does she say? Hint

An enthusiast

An art lover

A pervert

The silent type

NEXT>

Question 10 of 15

10. What is the cause of Ed Crane's car accident? Hint

A wheel falls off

Frank has sabotaged his car

He spots a flying saucer

Birdy tries to give him a blow job

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Question 11 of 15

11. No one in this movie is convicted for a murder they've actually committed.

True

False

NEXT>

Question 12 of 15

12. What's the name of the department store that Big Dave Brewster runs and that his wife owns? Hint

Nordlinger's

Nirdlinger's

Nickleby's

Nordlund's

NEXT>

Question 13 of 15

13. During the blackout that follows his car accident, Ed Crane recalls - or envisions - a scene of everyday life in which a salesman is spurned by Doris. What is he trying to sell? Hint

Lawnmower

Macadam

Carpet Cleaner

Tiles

NEXT>

Question 14 of 15

14. Who plays Doris Crane? Hint

Marcia Gay Harden

Frances McDormand

Holly Hunter

Jennifer Jason Leigh

NEXT>

Question 15 of 15

15. Creighton Tolliver is frequently referred to by which noun?

Answer: (One Word (concerns his homosexuality))

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Billy Bob Thornton stars as Ed Crane, the barber. It's the first time Thornton worked with the Coen brothers.

Answer: True

But apparently not the last, as he was cast for a part in their following movie, "Intolerable Cruelty".

2. Ed Crane becomes the "silent partner" of salesman Creighton Tolliver, who has told him of a business idea. What new concept is this idea about?

Answer: Dry Cleaning

"Chemicals!", exclaims Tolliver to lay bare the beauty of this new technique.

3. Eccentric Creighton Tolliver is played by which actor?

Answer: Jon Polito

Badalucco played Crane's brother-in-law Frank, Gandolfini his boss Big Dave, and Haley is Krebs, a cop. As for Polito, he's been in several other Coen movies, notably "Miller's Crossing" (as mafia boss Jimmy Caspar).

4. What does Ed Crane say when Tolliver makes a pass at him?

Answer: You're out of line, Mister.

It's a fantastic scene. Lying in his hotel bed, Tolliver's body language at first seems to signal that he's having a heart attack.

5. Taking refuge from a party, Ed Crane discovers Birdy playing the piano. What composer is she playing?

Answer: Beethoven

The music sooths his own social discomfort, but unfortunately Crane gets the wrong ideas about the performer's quality.

Answer: Carcanogues

Played by Adam Alexi-Malle, Jacques Carcanogues sports a prim arrogance that might remind of another Frenchman crafted abroad - Hercule Poirot.

7. Being "the best" (in Walter Abundas' words), Fredy Riedenschneider is engaged to defend Ed Crane. From which city is he "brought in"?

Answer: Sacramento

Sacramento seems to be as large as the world can get in the minds of our small town people - or beyond which it expands wildly into aliens in flying saucers.

8. Riedenschneider refers a few times to a German physicist who defined the uncertainty principle in quantum theory. What is his name?

Answer: Werner Heisenberg

Heisenberg had a leading role in German nuclear research during the war. From Heisenberg's uncertainty principle Riedenschneider derives his own device with which he makes the jury go dizzy: "The more you see the less you know."

9. "You know what you are?" Birdy asks Ed Crane. She answers the question herself. What does she say?

Answer: An enthusiast

Not too keen on a musical career herself, Birdy is nonetheless grateful to Mr. Crane for his commitment.

10. What is the cause of Ed Crane's car accident?

Answer: Birdy tries to give him a blow job

Expressing her gratitude by offering Crane what she believes he will like, Birdy causes him to steer off the road.

11. No one in this movie is convicted for a murder they've actually committed.

Answer: True

Doris Crane is convicted for the murder of Big Dave, whom her husband Ed killed. Ed is in his turn convicted for the murder of Creighton Tolliver, whom Big Dave - to all appearances - killed.

12. What's the name of the department store that Big Dave Brewster runs and that his wife owns?

Answer: Nirdlinger's

The intimidated Ann Nirdlinger is played by Katherine Borowitz.

13. During the blackout that follows his car accident, Ed Crane recalls - or envisions - a scene of everyday life in which a salesman is spurned by Doris. What is he trying to sell?

Answer: Macadam

A somewhat bizarre scene, dramaturgically speaking, though the look of deception on the salesman's face (which is Christopher McDonald's) is quite a prize.

14. Who plays Doris Crane?

Answer: Frances McDormand

Hunter stars in "Raising Arizona" and "O Brother Where Art Thou", Harden in "Miller's Crossing" and Leigh in "The Hudsucker Proxy". McDormand is married to Joel Coen and has been in several of the siblings' movies; she won an Academy Award for her role as a policewoman in "Fargo".

15. Creighton Tolliver is frequently referred to by which noun?

Answer: pansy

Apparently, the Coen brothers take as much pleasure in the crafting of vocabulary as in perfecting visual detail.

Source: Author gunstone

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor rj211 before going online.
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