To Die or Not to Die Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Third Man

It was post-war Vienna, and Harry Lime (Orson Welles) was under investigation for black marketeering, when he was hit by a car while crossing a street. His friend, Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten), found a witness who saw a third man at the scene, which conflicted with the official account of the accident, so he searched for the third man and found Harry Lime had staged his death and was still alive - well, at least for a little while longer. With a screenplay written by Graham Greene, the film won the BAFTA for best film and the Cannes Grand Prix for director Carol Reed.

Answer: The Sting

Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman) teamed up with small time conman Johnny Hooker (Robert Redford) to avenge the death of their mutual friend who was killed after he and Hooker pulled a scam on an employee of crime boss Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw). Gondorff and Hooker pulled off an elaborate con on Lonnegan which ended when the FBI raided the gambling salon they had set up.

It appeared that Hooker was working with the FBI and when Agent Polk told Hooker he could leave, Gondorff pulled a gun and shot Hooker in the back. Polk then killed Gondorff.

After confirming that Hooker was dead, Polk told a police officer to get Lonnegan out of there, but once the two were gone, Hooker and Gondorff came back to life. It turned out that everyone except the officer and Lonnegan were in on the con. "The Sting" won seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director for George Roy Hill and Best Screenplay for David S. Ward.

Answer: Hopscotch

Field agent Miles Kendig (Walter Matthau) became disenchanted with his job after his boss assigned him to a desk job, so he took leave and headed to Austria where he met up with former spy and love interest, Isobel von Schonenberg (Glenda Jackson). While there, he wrote the first chapter of his memoirs, detailing CIA activities and had Schonenberg mail copies to the heads of the world's main spy agencies.

He then headed off to stay one step ahead of the CIA who wanted him dead. A young Sam Waterston played his colleague and friend Joe Cutter, who upon watching Kendig's plane blow up, stated "[he] better stay dead".

But of course, he wasn't. The plane was flying via remote control, and Kendig was the one who blew it up. "Hopscotch" was moderately successful at the box office, and Walter Matthau received a Golden Globe nomination for his work.

Answer: Double Jeopardy

Libby (Ashley Judd) was sentenced for the murder of her husband, Nick (Bruce Greenwood) after she was found covered in blood and holding a bloody knife on the boat that they had been sailing. While in jail, she came to realize that her husband wasn't really dead, and after an early release for good behavior, she set out to find him, with her parole officer, Travis Lehman (Tommy Lee Jones) in pursuit. Lehman had come to believe Libby's story, and when they finally cornered Nick, Nick had the choice of surrendering or getting shot by his wife, who didn't believe she could be tried again for his death due to double jeopardy. Nick ended up trying to shoot his way out of the situation, and Libby shot him in self defense.

The film received mixed reviews but did well at the box office. Attorney Alan Dershowitz criticized the premise of the film, maintaining that the double jeopardy clause wouldn't apply because there were two separate crimes involved.

Answer: Dave

American President Bill Mitchell (Kevin Kline) had suffered a stroke and was in a coma, but his staff decided to keep the news from the public by hiring a lookalike, Dave Kovic (Kevin Kline) to impersonate him. Dave came to enjoy the job by promoting his personal agenda and by fostering a relationship with the estranged first lady (Sigourney Weaver).

A scandal involving Mitchell eventually forced Dave to leave the role, and he did so by faking a stroke after admitting his (Mitchell's) part in the scandal.

The real Mitchell then died several months later, allowing his widow to renew her acquaintance with Dave, who had decided to get into politics by running for city council. The film was well-received by critics, and the screenplay earned an Academy Award nomination for Gary Ross.

Answer: Sleeping with the Enemy

Laura Burney (Julia Roberts) was married to the controlling and sadistic Martin Burney (Patrick Bergin), and he wouldn't let her leave him so she decided to escape by staging her death. She secretly learned to swim and then while on a sailing trip one stormy night, she fell overboard and swam to shore.

She assumed a new identity and moved to Iowa to be near her mother's nursing home. Her husband realized she wasn't dead after receiving a call from one of her swimming lesson friends and finding her wedding ring in the toilet.

He tracked her down and tried to kill her and her new boyfriend, but she ended up killing him after calling the police to report his death. The film didn't score well with the critics but was a commercial success. This was the film that knocked "Home Alone" from its 11-week run at number one in the U.S. box office.

Answer: Mission: Impossible III

In the third "Mission: Impossible" film, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) was no longer a field agent but was brought back to rescue a team member who was being held hostage by arms dealer Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman). After being captured, Davian threatened to go after Hunt and his family, and when he escaped, he did just that, capturing Julia Hunt (Michelle Monaghan) and using her as bait to get Hunt to steal an object for him.

When Hunt delivered the object, Davian shot Julia in front of him. But it turned out that it was actually Davian's head of security who was killed for allowing him to be captured; she was just disguised as Julia. Hunt rescued Julia, but now had another problem: Davian had implanted an explosive in his head. Hunt needed Julia to electrocute him to disable the explosive, and then she needed to bring him back from the dead through CPR.

The film received mostly positive reviews and did well at the box office, but not as well as the two earlier "Mission: Impossible" films, possibly due to a boycott that was initiated after it was leaked that Tom Cruise had prevented the re-airing of the "Trapped in the Closet" episode of the television show "Southpark".

Answer: Clue

Based on the "Clue"/"Cluedo" board game, the film featured an all-star cast and three possible endings; in the initial theatrical run, the ending varied depending on where you saw the film. Six guests arrived for a dinner party: Professor Plum (Christopher Lloyd), Mrs. Peacock (Eileen Brennan), Mrs. White (Madeline Kahn), Miss Scarlet (Lesley Ann Warren), Colonel Mustard (Martin Mull) and Mr. Green (Michael McKean), and they were met by butler Wadsworth (Tim Curry) who informed them that they had been invited because they were all being blackmailed by Mr. Boddy (Lee Ving), who arrived later. Wadsworth was also being blackmailed and wanted the group to confront Mr. Boddy. Mr. Boddy, however, offered the group weapons and told them they could kill Wadsworth to keep their secrets safe. Mr. Boddy turned out the lights, a shot was heard and Mr. Boddy was apparently dead but with no gunshot wound, although Mr. Boddy's body soon disappeared. Later Mr. Boddy was found truly dead, and depending on the ending, he was either killed by call girl Yvette (Colleen Camp), who was working with Miss Scarlet, or Mrs. Peacock or Professor Plum. Wadsworth then revealed that HE was the real Mr. Boddy and that it was his butler who was killed.

The film received mixed reviews and didn't do well at the box office but has since become a cult classic. The film was the inspiration for the "100 Clues" episode of the television show "Psych", which also featured appearances by Martin Mull, Christopher Lloyd and Lesley Ann Warren.

Answer: You Only Live Twice

In the fifth film installment of the "James Bond" series, the wrapped body of James Bond (Sean Connery) was slid into the ocean during a naval funeral and was then rescued from the ocean floor by two scuba divers who took him to a British submarine. On board, he was unwrapped and revealed to be wearing a respirator. "Request permission to come aboard, sir", was his comment after the respirator was removed.

The mission was to investigate the hijacking of an American spacecraft that had landed in the sea near Japan.

It turned out to be an operation of Ernst Blofeld (Donald Pleasence) and SPECTRE, and although Bond managed to prevent a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union, Blofeld escaped. The film received criticism for diverging from the book on which it was based, but it did well at the box office. Feigning death can be convenient for a spy; Bond (Daniel Craig) did it again in 2012's "Skyfall".

Answer: The Dark Knight

In the second installment of Christopher Nolan's "Batman" trilogy, the Joker (Heath Ledger) was wreaking havoc on Gotham, having killed the police commissioner, a judge and attempting to kill District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart). Anticipating that the Joker would strike at the commissioner's funeral, Gordon (Gary Oldman) wore a bullet-proof vest, and after he took a bullet for Mayor Garcia (Nestor Carbonell), he decided to stay dead to protect his family and to be able to work undercover to apprehend the Joker. Even Batman (Christian Bale) wasn't aware that Gordon was still alive.

Helping catch the Joker, Gordon reemerged and was promoted to commissioner, but the Joker had kidnapped Dent and Dent's girlfriend Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal), and while Batman and the police were trying to rescue them, the Joker escaped.

The danger to Gordon's family ended up coming from Dent, who was badly disfigured in a fire triggered by the Joker and was tormented by the death of Dawes. Dent kidnapped Gordon's family; Batman saved them and killed Dent and then sacrificed his reputation to protect that of Dent.

The film was a critical and box office success and was nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning for sound editing, and with Heath Ledger winning posthumously for Best Supporting Actor.