The Silver Screen Trivia Quiz

Answer: Geronimo

Geronimo fought against Mexico and the USA before eventually surrendering. He was held in captivity, and became something of a celebrity, before dying from an accident at the age of 79. He was portrayed in many western films depicting the era and is one of the best known native Americans. Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull were Sioux leaders and Tecumseh was from the Shawnee tribe.

Jay Silverheels was born on an Indian Reserve in Ontario, Canada, and was from the Mohawk tribe. He took various bit parts, in which he was usually credited just as 'Indian', under the name of Harry or Harold Smith. He adopted the name of 'Silverheels' which was his nickname from participation in sports. Silverheels played Geronimo (uncredited) in 'Broken Arrow' (1950), which starred James Stewart and again in 'Walk the Proud Land' (1956) with Audie Murphy. He played Tonto on television between 1949 and 1957, and in two cinema releases - 'The Lone Ranger' (1956) and 'The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold' (1958).

Answer: Charlton Heston

Bale, Reed and Lee are all British, and Heston was the only American in the cast. The film was made on location in Cornwall and Jamaica and at Pinewood Studios. Bale played Jim Hawkins, Reed was Billy Bones and Lee portrayed Blind Pew. The film was written, directed and produced by Fraser Clarke Heston, the son of Charlton. The musical score was provided by the Irish group, The Chieftans, and the film has acquired something of a cult status according to my research despite (or maybe because) it not being available on DVD. Among other actors to play the part of Long John Silver are Wallace Beery in a 1934 version and Orson Welles in 1972, all of whom have to thank author Robert Louis Stevenson for his creation.

Heston was one of the longest working actors in Hollywood with a career lasting from 1941 until the 21st century. Among his many films are 'The Ten Commandments' (1956), 'El Cid' (1961) and 'True Lies' (1994).

Answer: Jeremy Irons

The film was based on the book written by Alan Dershowitz, who was von Bülow's defence lawyer. Having been found guilty of administering an insulin overdose to his wife, leaving her in a coma, von Bülow hired Dershowitz who successfully had his client acquitted in the second trial. Ron Silver played the part of Dershowitz in the film and appeared in many others including 'Ali' (2001), 'Silkwood' (1983) and 'Jack' (2004). He also worked as a television actor with his credits including 'The West Wing' and 'American Tragedy' (2000) a 'made for television' film about the O. J. Simpson trial. He died in 2009 at the age of 62.

Irons won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in 'Reversal of Fortune' and has starred in many other successful films. Among them are 'The French Lieutenant's Woman' (1981), 'Die Hard With a Vengeance' (1995) and 'The Pink Panther 2' (2009).

Answer: George W. Bush

Chris Cooper played the part of Dicky Pilager, who is not noted for his intellectual qualities but is running for office as a member of a political family. You can perhaps see why Dubya comes to mind, although I've always thought that Bush is smarter than he appears.

The respected film critic, Roger Ebert, commented, at the time of the film's release, that he did not expect the film to impact on the 2004 election as 'America is familiar with the way Bush talks'. Pilager is running for governor of Colorado when he fishes up a body while making an advertisement for his campaign.

The film touches on themes of corruption in politics and business and how environmental issues are ignored in the interests of profit.

Answer: Carry On

The 'Carry On' film series began in 1958 with 'Carry on Sergeant', set in the army. The films were a mixture of farce and double entendres, with the emphasis on 'sauciness' rather than outright sexual references. Others in the series included 'Carry on Cleo' (1964) about Cleopatra and 'Carry on ... up the Khyber' (1968) which sends up the British rule in India.

'Follow that Camel', sometimes referred to as 'Carry on .... Follow that Camel' and 'Carry on in the Legion' was set in the French Foreign Legion. Silvers played the part of Sergeant Ernie Nocker, who had certain similarities to his most famous role of Bilko, particularly in work avoidance. He was brought into the series in an attempt to appeal to the American market. The film also featured the regular actors from the series, including Jim Dale, Kenneth Williams and Charles Hawtrey and was the fourteenth in the series.

Answer: Ioan Gruffudd

Gruffudd also played the role in 2005 in 'Fantastic Four', with his co-stars in both including Jessica Alba, Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis. The 'Silver Surfer' was the villain of the piece. Gruffudd's early work included the Welsh language soap opera 'Pobol y Cwm' ('People of the Valley') on television.

He portrayed the character of Horatio Hornblower in a series of adaptations made for television from the novels of C. S. Forester between 1998 and 2003. Among his other film credits are 'Titanic' (1997), 'Black Hawk Down' (2001) and 'King Arthur' (2004).

Answer: Neil Diamond

The plot involves his friends saving Darren Silverman (Jason Biggs) from marrying the wrong woman, by reuniting him with his first love who was planning to become a nun. The film was also titled 'Evil Woman' outside north America, which refers to the woman who wants to break up the friendship and the tribute band, called 'Diamonds in the Rough'. Neil Diamond made an appearance to delay the wedding by singing some of his songs, before everything worked out and the cast ended up singing 'Holly Holy', one of Diamond's many hits.

Diamond has only one actual acting credit to his name, having appeared in 'The Jazz Singer' in 1980, where his performance did not receive universal acclaim. Since then, he has made only cameo appearances as himself.

Answer: Doris Day

'By the Light of the Silvery Moon' was a sequel to the 1951 film 'On Moonlight Bay' with Doris's co-star in both films being Gordon MacRae. The films were adapted from a series of stories written by Booth Tarkington from the point of view of Wesley Winfield, the younger brother of Marjorie, played by Doris.

Doris Day had a successful film career, mainly in romantic comedies, beginning in 1948 and with co-stars including Rock Hudson and Cary Grant. Her films included 'Pillow Talk' (1959), 'Move Over Darling' (1963) and 'With Six You Get Eggroll' (1968), her last film. She also had recording success, often with songs from her films, including 'Que Sera, Sera' in 1956 and 'Secret Love' in 1953.

Answer: Paul Newman

Paul Newman played an artist commissioned to make the chalice of the title which was to hold the Holy Grail. Newman was embarrassed by his performance and took out an advertisement to apologise when he heard the film was to be shown on television in 1966.

Despite this poor beginning, Newman's career went from strength to strength, helped by his good looks and distinctive blue eyes. Among his major successes were 'Hud' (1963), 'Cool Hand Luke' (1967) and 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' (1969). All the actors named were born in 1925 and, sadly, are no longer with us.

Answer: There's Something About Mary

The options were all Cameron Diaz films, 'Shrek' being from 2001, 'My Best Friend's Wedding' from 1997 and 'Charlie's Angels' from 2000. 'There's Something About Mary' also starred Ben Stiller as Ted, who lost touch with Mary following high school, due to an unfortunate incident (look it up if you don't know the story!), and Matt Dillon as the detective hired to trace her.

The film also featured Brett Favre, a well known American football star, playing himself, as another of Mary's love interests.