Off the Beaten Soundtracks Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Third Man

"The Third Man", set in postwar Vienna, was directed by Carol Reed from a novella by Graham Greene. While Reed was in Vienna in 1948 looking for locations he went to a wine bar where he heard local musician Anton Karas playing the zither. It took some doing, but he finally persuaded Karas to write and perform the music for the film because, as he said, he thought that "Schmaltzy waltzes" wouldn't evoke the city he was set on portraying.

The theme was released as a single in 1950 and sat at number one on the Billboard charts for 11 weeks, the longest instrumental ever to have held that position. It also led to a significant boost in zither sales.

Answer: Bonnie and Clyde

When "Bonnie and Clyde" came out, Roger Ebert called it "a milestone in the history of American movies" and it won six Oscars. The soundtrack consisted of songs from the period, but every time Bonnie and Clyde got in a car they were accompanied by the bluegrass sounds of Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs and the movie made them household names. "Foggy Mountain Breakdown", their car chase song, made number 36 on Billboard and held that position for five weeks. It not only upgraded the status of Bluegrass in America, but many critics claim that it introduced the sound to the rest of the world.

Bluegrass success would be replicated in 1972 with "Duelling Banjos" in the movie "Deliverance".

Answer: The Sting

When director George Roy Hill decided that his movie would feature music by Scott ('the King of Ragtime') Joplin, the studio quibbled. Joplin had died in 1917, his music was largely forgotten and as they pointed out, nobody was listening to ragtime in 1936. Hill stuck to his guns and composer Marvin Hamlisch orchestrated a series of Joplin rags for the film. Hill's gamble paid off; the movie and the soundtrack were both megahits and in particular 'The Entertainer', the theme song, stayed in the top ten of multiple song charts for weeks.

It was a good year for Hamlisch. He won three Oscars in 1974; one for 'The Sting' and two for 'The Way We Were'.

Answer: American Graffiti

In 1973, kids were listening to Grand Funk and Lou Reed. When Lucas pitched "American Graffiti", a coming-of-age movie about kids in California in 1962 with a soundtrack of old rock 'n roll, the studio was wary. But they weren't going to turn down a movie with Lucas directing and Francis Ford Coppola producing, so "American Graffiti" got made and became a major hit. The soundtrack consisted of 41 songs from 1955-1962, and the album went triple platinum, docking in the top ten for weeks.

In the movie, the music is not 'background'. It comes out of the various car radios playing vintage stations WABC, WLS, and KFWB, and the characters hear what you're hearing. They're punctuated by introductions by Wolfman Jack, a California DJ popular at the time. He got paid a fraction of the profits from the movie and ended up set for life.`

Answer: 2001: A Space Odyssey

Stanley Kubrick pulled a fast one while editing his groundbreaking film "2001: A Space Odyssey". He decided to ditch the score written for the movie by composer Alex North and replace it with classical music from his record collection. North didn't find out about this until he attended the premier and heard the opening bars of "Also sprach Zarathustra", by Richard Strauss.

Kubrick also included two pieces by Hungarian Gyorgy Ligeti, but forgot to mention this to the composer, who was still alive. Ligeti was understandably annoyed by this, but what made him really mad was his music appeared in the same film as a waltz by Johann Strauss Jr. He cheered up when he realized that the phenomenal success of the movie and soundtrack would profit him in the long run. The album had a long run on Billboard, peaking in the 24th spot. Today, those opening bars of "Zarathustra" are among the most recognizable in the world.

Answer: Easy Rider

It seems hard to imagine today, but Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper originally wanted Crosby, Stills Nash and Young to write an original film score for their indie film, "Easy Rider". But while editor Donn Cambern went through the footage, he used songs from his own album collection to compliment the action. The result was way more effective. The pop and rock music that had been used in movies before had been specifically written for the film. But as Fonda explained, "All of those songs had been hits in their own genres and had been released. When we got it all together, we had to show it to all the different bands. Of course, they all gave us their permission. We gave everybody $1,000 for their cut. It was so cool showing it to Bob Dylan. I think he was the last one."

Their gamble paid off. The film cost about $400,000 and earned over $60 million. The album hit the top ten on Billboard and went gold. And even today, Steppenwolf's "Born to be Wild" means motorcycle!

Answer: Psycho

Paramount wasn't interested in Alfred Hitchcock's suggestion that he make a film version of Robert Bloch's 1959 novel "Psycho". It was only when he offered to finance the project himself that they agreed to distribute it. Because of severe budget constraints the movie was filmed in black and white and Bernard Herrmann, the composer, used a small string ensemble rather than a full orchestra, to perform the score.

The iconic shower scene took over a week to shoot and Hitchcock initially didn't want any music at all.

Herrmann, however, insisted on those sharp stabs of the violins amplified with mikes and in the end, the director agreed. Hitchcock would later say that "33% of the success of "Psycho" was due to the score".

Answer: Jaws

John Williams was already an established Hollywood film score composer with an Oscar under his belt in 1974. His collaboration with Spielberg began that year with "Sugarland Express" and "Jaws" would be their second. Those iconic 'dun duns' (played by tuba and double basses) have been quoted innumerable times on screen, on TV, and by your brother sneaking up on you. For Williams, "Jaws" jumpstarted his career and his collaboration with Spielberg meant movie budgets that could afford scores full of unforgettable themes played by a full symphony orchestra.

In all, they worked on almost 30 movies together. The soundtrack for "Jaws" remains number six on AFI's list of top 100 film scores.

Answer: Chariots of Fire

"Chariots of Fire" was an indie film that tells the story of two British runners at the 1924 Olympics. Hugh Hudson, the director, was an admirer of Greek composer Vangelis and asked him to write the score. As it was a very low-budget film, the composer created a score in his own studio with a Yamaha CS-80 synthesizer, piano and percussion, playing everything himself. He didn't start writing the music until he'd seen the finished film three times. As he said, " I tried to compose a score which was contemporary and still compatible with the time of the film." The theme reached number one on US Billboard charts and stayed in the top ten for weeks, the first piece by a Greek composer to do so.

Synthesizers had been used in movies for over ten years at the time, but their use was limited to sounds that created mood and nuance. In "Chariots of Fire", the it created the melody and landed the soundtrack on the Billboard top ten for 97 weeks. The movie won four Oscars, including one for Vangelis.

Answer: The Great Gatsby

Baz Luhrmann: "The question for me in approaching Gatsby was how to elicit from our audience the same level of excitement and pop cultural immediacy toward the world that Fitzgerald did for his audience? And in our age, the energy of jazz is caught in the energy of hip-hop."

Using an anachronistic soundtrack for a period film isn't new. Sofia Coppola used pretty much the same argument to justify her use of punk rock in "Marie Antoinette" (2006). Vangelis strove to find a contemporary sound that would compliment "Chariots of Fire", but he used a modern instrument to compose a timeless anthem. Luhrmann himself had used pop songs for his 2001 "Moulin Rouge". 'Gatsby's' music, produced by Jay Z and The Bullitts, featured today's artists, instantly recognizable to a younger audience. The only nod to the '20s was Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" (which didn't make the album). Some critics loved it, calling it "fresh", others saw it as pandering to a generation who'd rush out and buy the album.

And buy it they did. The album peaked at number one on the US Billboard charts, went gold and spawned three singles.