Zooming in on Sean Connery Trivia Quiz

Answer: From Russia With Love

Sean Connery was the first man to bring James Bond to the big screen and, in many ways, set a high standard for his successors to follow. Numerous Bond followers and critics continue to express that Connery was the best of the Bonds. In "From Russia With Love" (1963) Bond is being set-up for a fall by the Russians as revenge for taking out their agent Dr No, the title character of the previous film, released in 1962. Tatiana Romanova, played by Daniela Bianchi, and a Lektor coding machine are the bait being used to lure Bond into the trap. Bond is armed with some gadgets but they are few and this allows Connery to act. He draws out sensitivities that are rare fodder in "Bond" films and doesn't miss a beat when he needs to revert to the brutal aspects of Bond's craft.

This question was created with love from Bunbury in Western Australia by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19.

Answer: Murder on the Orient Express

Sean Connery appeared as a part of a star-studded cast in the 1974 film version of "Murder on the Orient Express", one of Agatha Christie's classic novels featuring Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. In it, Poirot (Albert Finney) investigates the brutal murder of a American businessman named Ratchett (Richard Widmark) after a snowstorm brings the famous train to a halt somewhere in Yugoslavia. He soon discovers that Ratchett had a secret past that gave most of his fellow travellers a motive for murder. Connery's character Colonel John Arbuthnot was a suspect because of his close friendship with a man whose life had been ruined by Ratchett's actions. The other potential murderers included Arbuthnot's fiancée (Vanessa Redgrave), a Russian princess (Wendy Hiller), a widowed American (Lauren Bacall), a missionary (Ingrid Bergman) and - of course - the butler (John Gielgud).

Fifiona81 carefully considered all the details of the case when compiling this question in order to avoid giving any spoilers for this classic mystery.

Answer: The Man Who Would Be King

Sean Connery (Daniel Dravot) joins Michael Caine (Peachy Carnehan) in this Rudyard Kipling tale of two ex British soldiers who decide to travel to Kafiristan to overthrow the present king. Invoking the bond of Freemasonry with the journalist narrator, Mr Kipling himself (Christopher Plummer), they persuade him to help them in their plan.

The film, released in 1975, seems to have stood the test of time and is supposed to be one of Connery's favourite roles.

In order to not upset a local sheik during filming, Sean Connery was persuaded to eat a dish of sheep's eyes. Once accomplished, the sheik was revealed to be his old friend Eric Sykes.

smpdit reflects that Sir Sean Connery was one of her film heroes. "The Man Who Would Be King" was the film she chose to watch in tribute after the announcement of his death.

Answer: The Name of the Rose

Connery is Franciscan friar William of Baskerville, who turns into a Father Brown figure (or should that be Sherlock Holmes as he's from Baskerville) when he appears at a Northern Italian abbey for a debate on the poverty of Christ. Instead he's confronted with a murder and must call upon his powers of deduction to resolve the issue. As corpses continue to pile up, his search of the abbey uncovers fiendish friars and demented hunchbacks. Connery puts forward a cleverly understated and subtle performance, far removed from his brutal reveals as the alpha spy, James Bond.

This bud of a question was pruned and nurtured by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19.

Answer: Goldfinger

Goldfinger (1964) featured Sean Connery in his third "James Bond" film along with title character, and evil villain, Auric Goldfinger (played by Gert Frobe). In order to increase the value of his own personal gold stock pile (Goldfinger: "I conservatively estimate, ten times."), Goldfinger arranged to irradiate the US gold reserves (estimated today at 4600 metric tons) stored at Fort Knox, Kentucky, with a Chinese-supplied bomb (Goldfinger: "I prefer to call it an 'atomic device'. It's small, but particularly dirty.").

Of course, our hero gets caught, and while being threatened with death-by-laser, ("...which emits an extraordinary light not found in nature"), Bond says, "Do you expect me to talk?" to which Goldfinger responds, "No Mr. Bond. I expect you to die!"

The film featured, for the first time, the famous Aston Martin DB5 (with ejector seat), the second appearance of 'Q', (Desmond Llewelyn), John Barry's beautiful music and the first of two "Bond" appearances by stars from the long-running British TV series "The Avengers" playing the role of Bond's love interest - in this case Honor Blackman as "Pussy Galore" (and later, Diana Rigg, as Contessa Teresa, more poignantly in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" - 1969). Sadly, both ladies passed away in 2020.

In 2012, Blackman publicly criticized Connery for becoming a so-called "tax exile". She said "I disapprove of him strongly now. Because I don't think you should accept a title from a country and then pay absolutely no tax towards it. He wants it both ways. I don't think his principles are very high."

No thinly gold-plated fan of "James Bond" movies, Phoenix Rising's mike32768 is a 24-karat enthusiast.

Answer: The Untouchables

Sean Connery never got an Oscar nomination for any of his "James Bond"
movies but he won a Best Supporting Oscar for this role in 1987's "The Untouchables", where he provided the perfect foil for the more cerebral role played by Kevin Costner. Directed by Brian Palma, and therefore a very visual movie, there was no doubt that Mr Connery's role played a large part in the commercial and critical success of the movie.

This question was written in a speakeasy while the author 1nn1, a proud Phoenix Rising team member, was drinking bootleg liquor.

Answer: Finding Forrester

Sean Connery plays the part of reclusive one-time Pulitzer-prize winning author William Forrester (a nod to J. D. Salinger, author of "The Catcher in the Rye"). Jamal Wallace (portrayed by Rob Brown) is a talented young scholar-athlete. The pair form an unlikely friendship when the eccentric novelist recognizes the high school basketball player as a writing prodigy and accepts him as his protégé.

Alas, Phoenix Rising team member JCSon is no prodigy. Or perhaps he just needs a recluse with an eye for hidden talent to discover him?

Answer: The Rock

"The Rock", set on Alcatraz Island, was released in 1996 and became one of the highest grossing films of that year. Ed Harris leads a team of rogue US Marines, who have set up a stronghold on Alcatraz and are threatening to bomb San Francisco with a deadly nerve gas unless the government pays them a ransom of $100 million. A team of US Navy Seals is put together and have included a chemical weapons specialist (Nicholas Cage) in their team and John Mason (Connery) a Scottish National who had been imprisoned indefinitely without charge. Mason has been included in the mission because he is the only person alive, who had successfully escaped from Alcatraz.

This question was cobbled together by Phoenix Rising's jaknginger, who's only regret is that this is not a question about Sherlock Holmes so that she could say "It's sedimentary, my dear Watson".

Answer: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Dr Henry Jones is on a mission to prevent the Holy Grail from falling into the hands of Nazis, but disappears mysteriously. His son, Henry Jones, Jr., follows in his father's footsteps to find both the grail and his father. Spoiler alert, it all turns out okay in the end!

Released in 1989, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" was the third film in the "Indiana Jones" series. It was directed by Steven Spielberg and filmed on location in several US states including Colorado, Utah and Texas; but it also had scenes shot in the UK, Spain, Italy and Germany.

The iconic scene where Sean Connery, as Indy's father (Henry Walton Jones, Sr.) "suddenly remembered (my) Charlemagne" was filmed in Spain. He was nearly 60 when the film was released. Though it was offered to him, in 2008, he declined a part in "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" the fourth film in the "Indy" franchise.

This question is particularly special to Phoenix Rising's VegemiteKid who saw "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" in the cinema the night before her first child was born - must have been the excitement!

Answer: The Hunt for Red October

"The Hunt for Red October" (1990) is an action thriller where Captain Marko Ramius (Connery) defects to the US with the Soviet Union's newest nuclear submarine, "Red October". Based on Tom Clancy's 1984 novel, Ramius' goal is to prevent a nuclear war: "Well, there are those who believe that we should attack the United States first. Settle everything in one moment. Red October was built for that purpose."

Connery was able to draw on his own military experience for this role, having served in the Royal Navy between 1946 and 1949 before receiving a medical discharge.

Also starring Alec Baldwin, James Earl Jones and Sam Neill, the film was directed by John McTiernan. It was nominated for three Academy Awards, winning for Best Sound Effects Editing. The Rotten Tomatoes website (89% approval) described "The Hunt for Red October" as "Perfectly cast and packed with suspense."

When Phoenix Rising's psnz spied this question, he silently slid it into the quiz.