Take Our Movie Pop Quiz

Witty & Wise

Illustration of a red and white popcorn container that says MOVIE POP QUIZ

With Movies for Grownups and Oscar season upon us, take our screen test!

ILLUSTRATIONS BY SAM ISLAND

1. When writer Peter Benchley was stuck on a title for what would become Jaws, his father came up with an idea. What was it?

A) Fins

B) What’s That Noshin’ on Ma Leg?

C) Red Tide

Illustration of a piece of popcorn with a speech bubble saying HA HA

2. What movie was marketed in Sweden as “The film that’s so funny, it was banned in Norway”?

A) Borat

B) Porky’s

C) Life of Brian

3. Which actress is so out of this world that she’s appeared in all of these sci-fi franchises: Avatar, Star Trek and Guardians of the Galaxy?

A) Zoe Saldana

B) Elizabeth Banks

C) Sandra Bullock

Illustration of a birthday cupcake with a candle on top

4. To land the part of a Navy patrol boat crewman in Apocalypse Now, Laurence Fishburne convinced director Francis Ford Coppola that he was 18 years old. How old was he?

A) 14

B) 16

C) 30

5. Renée Zellweger’s accent in Bridget Jones’s Diary was so convincing that costar Hugh Grant thought she was British. In fact, Zellweger is from which country?

A) Canada

B) United States

C) Liechtenstein

6. Director Robert Zemeckis was able to film an entire movie (What Lies Beneath) during a long break between shoots for which other feature?

A) Who Framed Roger Rabbit

B) Forrest Gump

C) Cast Away

7. Which sitcom star played a police officer at the end of Psycho?

A) Don Knotts

B) Ted Knight

C) Bob Newhart

8. Who was originally envisioned to star in the movie that became Die Hard?

A) Paul Newman

B) Frank Sinatra

C) John Belushi

9. Last year, Ariana DeBose won the best-supporting-actress Oscar for her portrayal of Anita in the West Side Story remake. Another actress won the same award for the same role in the original 1961 film. Who was it?

A) Natalie Wood

B) Rita Moreno

C) Raquel Welch

10. West Side Story was originally called:

A) East Side Story

B) The Urban Battleground

C) Tony & Maria: A Love Story

11. The actor for which famous voice role was nearly mute for years as a child?

A) Woody (Tom Hanks)

B) Shrek (Mike Myers)

C) Darth Vader (James Earl Jones)

Illustration of Nemo the fish from the movie Finding Nemo

12. Albert Brooks was not the original choice to voice Nemo’s father in Finding Nemo. Which more dramatic actor was cast, then released?

A) Sean Penn

B) William H. Macy

C) Daniel Day Lewis

13. Little Rascals actor Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer appears as a high school student in which famous drama?

A) It’s a Wonderful Life

B) Our Town

C) A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

14. In the first draft of Toy Story, instead of being a cowboy toy, Woody was what?

A) A toy soldier

B) A Ken doll

C) A ventriloquist’s dummy

15. What song was almost cut from the movie that made it famous?

A) “Stayin’ Alive”

B) “Live and Let Die” from the James Bond movie

C) “Over the Rainbow”

16. Titanic, released in 1997, cost about $200 million to film. About how much did it cost to build the actual Titanic ship, which took its ill-fated voyage in 1912?

A) $7.5 million

B) $200 million

C) $500 million

17. What actor has portrayed Elvis Presley (in a TV movie) and also appeared in a movie with the King?

A) James Dean

B) Jeff Bridges

C) Kurt Russell

18. Who was originally cast as Indiana Jones for Raiders of the Lost Ark but couldn’t get out of his TV series contract?

A) Don Johnson

B) Tom Selleck

C) Ted Danson

Illustration of a a pile of Reese's Pieces candies

19. Reese’s Pieces weren’t the first choice for the alien’s treat in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. What was?

A) M&M’s

B) Tang

C) Wax lips

Illustration of a black hat and black sunglasses

20. What famous director made a cameo as a clerk at the Cook County Assessor’s Office in The Blues Brothers?

A) Steven Spielberg

B) Quentin Tarantino

C) Ron Howard

21. The carpet in the bad neighbor kid’s house in Toy Story is an homage to the set of what horror film?

A) Psycho

B) The Shining

C) The Last House on the Left

Illustration of an alien on top of a piece of popcorn

22. Which actress was the first pick for the lead role in Alien (which eventually went to Sigourney Weaver)?

A) Jane Fonda

B) Meryl Streep

C) Goldie Hawn

MOVIES FOR GROWNUPS

The 21st annual AARP Movies For Grownups Awards show, hosted by Alan Cumming, is available to stream at pbs.org/moviesforgrownups and on the PBS Video app through April 18.

QUIZ ANSWERS

1. B, 2. C, 3. A, 4. A, 5. B, 6. C, 7. B, 8. B, 9. B, 10. A, 11. C, 12. B, 13. A, 14. C, 15. C, 16. A, 17. C, 18. B, 19. A, 20. A, 21. B, 22. B.

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