The Extremely Hard And Incredibly Obscure Film Trivia Quiz
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How hard is this quiz? Well, none of us at Independent Lens has gotten every question right, and we've got our share of scholars and cinema geeks. Go ahead, see if you can impress yourself and your friends.
- 1.This film was shot in three weeks, and the director gradually used longer and longer focal lengths to create a feeling of claustrophobia by the climax.
- A.
12 Angry Men
- B.
Citizen Kane
- C.
Halloween
- D.
Vertigo
- 2.This non-silent film includes 88 minutes that are completely dialogue-free.
- A.
The Deer Hunter
- B.
All Quiet on the Western Front
- C.
City Lights
- D.
2001: A Space Odyssey
- 3.The oldest film inducted into the Registry, this was shot on an experimental horizontal-feed kinetograph camera and viewer, using 3/4-inch wide film at Edison Laboratories in East Orange, New Jersey.
- A.
Roundhay Garden Scene
- B.
The Horse in Motion
- C.
Newark Athelete
- D.
Le Voyage dans la Lune
- 4.This gritty inductee released in 1967 includes a scene at a drive-in, where you can see another inductee playing on the screen. What are the two films?
- A.
The Graduate and Giant
- B.
Bonnie & Clyde and Gold Diggers of 1933
- C.
In Cold Blood and Treasure of the Sierra Madre
- D.
Cool Hand Luke and The Killers
- 5.This is the only case in which two films adapted from the same book were inducted into the National Film Registry.
- A.
12 Angry Men
- B.
Freaks
- C.
Frankenstein
- D.
Ben Hur
- 6.The score for this Registry inductee from the 1940s won the Pulitzer Prize for Composition, the only time film music has ever won a Pulitzer.
- A.
Louisiana Story
- B.
Jammin' the Blues
- C.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
- D.
The Ox-Bow Incident
- 7.The iconic footage of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse (also an inductee) appeared in this 1958 experimental film which was inducted in 1994.
- A.
Gun Crazy aka Deadly is the Female
- B.
Hospital
- C.
A Movie
- D.
Freaks
- 8.This is the earliest surviving film shot by a Native American, although it was produced by the French company Pathé.
- A.
Through Navajo Eyes
- B.
White Fawn's Devotion
- C.
Drums of Winter
- D.
Clash of the Wolves
- 9.Ronald Reagan beat out William Holden and John Wayne for a role in this Registry inductee.
- A.
Bedtime for Bonzo
- B.
Knute Rockne, All-American
- C.
Hellcats of the Navy
- D.
The Killers
- 10.The Prison Commission of the State of Georgia brought suit against the producers of this Registry inductee in order to stop filming, alleging that the content of the film was libelous of the state.
- A.
I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
- B.
Gone with the Wind
- C.
Deliverance
- D.
Sherman's March
- 11.This inductee is the shortest film ever to be nominated for a Academy Award for Best Picture.
- A.
She Done Him Wrong
- B.
To Be or Not to Be
- C.
Wings
- D.
Tabu
- 12.This Registry film portrays violence amid the narcotics trade along the U.S.-Mexico border.
- A.
Traffic
- B.
Touch of Evil
- C.
The Immigrant
- D.
Chulas Fronteras
- 13.Which of the following is not in the National Film Registry?
- A.
Quasi at the Quackadero
- B.
Porky in Wackyland
- C.
Yankee Doodle Daffy
- D.
What's Opera, Doc?
- 14.In creating the climactic scene in Raging Bull, Martin Scorsese borrowed an editing technique from which other Registry inductee?
- A.
Psycho
- B.
Bonnie & Clyde
- C.
Rear Window
- D.
The Conversation
- 15.Only one of the following films is an inductee. Which is it?
- A.
The Times of Harvey Milk
- B.
The Castro
- C.
Castro Street
- D.
Milk
- 16.Devil's Tower National Monument figures prominently in Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind and which other Registry film?
- A.
North by Northwest
- B.
My Darling Clementine
- C.
The Great Train Robbery
- D.
Once Upon a Time in the West
- 17.Which of the following adaptations of a Dr. Seuss story was inducted into the Registry?
- A.
Gerald McBoing Boing
- B.
The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins
- C.
The Grinch who Stole Christmas
- D.
Horton Hears a Who!
- 18.How many Godfather movies have been inducted?
- A.
0
- B.
1
- C.
2
- D.
3
- 19.Insult comedian Don Rickles has one film on the National Film Registry. Which of the following is his film?
- A.
Stranger than Paradise
- B.
The Producers
- C.
Airplane!
- D.
Toy Story
- 20.This Registry inductee held the title of the film with the greatest number of Academy Award nominations until Titanic tied it in 1998.
- A.
Gone with the Wind
- B.
Citizen Kane
- C.
Chariots of Fire
- D.
All About Eve
- 21.This inductee is thought to be the first American instance of a mockumentary.
- A.
David Holzman's Diary
- B.
The Rutles
- C.
Spinal Tap
- D.
Take the Money and Run
- 22.Don Johnson auditioned for the lead role, which ultimately went to Martin Sheen, in this film.
- A.
Kennedy
- B.
Apocalypse Now
- C.
Badlands
- D.
The Believers
- 23.This film was the first to be described as a "documentary."
- A.
In the Land of the Head Hunters
- B.
Kannapolis, N.C.
- C.
A Trip Down Market Street
- D.
Nanook of the North
- 24.Which of these films in the Registry was not officially "condemned" by the Catholic Legion of Decency?
- A.
Dawn of the Dead
- B.
Some Like it Hot
- C.
All That Jazz
- D.
Flesh and the Devil
- 25.David Letterman and Barry Manilow were originally considered for the protagonist role in this inductee.
- A.
Tootsie
- B.
National Lampoon's Animal House
- C.
Airplane!
- D.
Eraserhead
- 26.In nearly all of the shots in this film, the action moves left to right, an intentional framework the director used to evoke a sense of a journey.
- A.
It's a Wonderful Life
- B.
Lawrence of Arabia
- C.
Stagecoach
- D.
The African Queen
- 27.This inductee was rejected by the Academy for nomination in the Best Documentary category because portions of the film were scripted reenactments.
- A.
The Thin Blue Line
- B.
Hoop Dreams
- C.
Harlan County, U.S.A.
- D.
Why We Fight
- 28.This film won the Oscar for Best Picture, but was overshadowed by a streaker crossing the stage just as David Niven was introducing Elizabeth Taylor to present the award.
- A.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
- B.
The Godfather II
- C.
The Exorcist
- D.
The Sting
- 29.Which of these experimental films was made by a medical doctor?
- A.
Dog Star Man
- B.
The Fall of the House of Usher
- C.
Meshes of the Afternoon
- D.
The Lead Shoes
- 30.Which of these seminal African American films was directed by a woman?
- A.
Killer of Sheep
- B.
Within Our Gates
- C.
Daughters of the Dust
- D.
Malcolm X
- 31.Which film features a death by telephone?
- A.
Detour
- B.
D.O.A.
- C.
The Conversation
- D.
Goodfellas
- 32.This was the first film shown in the White House.
- A.
Civilization
- B.
Fatty's Tintype Tangle
- C.
Birth of a Nation
- D.
The Great Train Robbery
- 33.Which classic film is an allegory about the Hollywood blacklist and McCarthy's House Un-American Activities hearings?
- A.
Twelve O'Clock High
- B.
The Night of the Hunter
- C.
Shane
- D.
High Noon
- 34.This was the first film in major release to use the dolly zoom camera technique.
- A.
Rear Window
- B.
Vertigo
- C.
White Heat
- D.
Taxi Driver
- 35.Cecille B. DeMille, Hedda Hopper, and Buster Keaton all have cameos in this classic film.
- A.
The Thin Man
- B.
Sunset Boulevard
- C.
The Ten Commandments
- D.
Double Indemnity
- 36.This is the highest-grossing western of all time.
- A.
Unforgiven
- B.
The Searchers
- C.
The Man who Shot Liberty Valance
- D.
Dances with Wolves
- 37.Barry Fitzgerald won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in this wartime film.
- A.
The Bells of St. Mary's
- B.
Going My Way
- C.
From Here to Eternity
- D.
Laura
- 38.This is both the most expensive and the highest-grossing black-and-white film ever made.
- A.
Raging Bull
- B.
Metropolis
- C.
Doctor Strangelove
- D.
Schindler's List
- 39.Milos Forman was inspired to make this film as realistic as possible after watching Frederick Wiseman's Titticut Follies.
- A.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
- B.
Amadeus
- C.
The Hospital
- D.
The People vs Larry Flynt
- 40.This film was updated as You've Got Mail in 1998.
- A.
Gigi
- B.
Carmen Jones
- C.
The Shop Around the Corner
- D.
Imitation of Life
- 41.It is in this film that Greta Garbo utters the famous line, "I want to be alone."
- A.
Ninotchka
- B.
Grand Hotel
- C.
Queen Christina
- D.
Anna Christie
- 42.What film is this quote from? "Oh, the humanity."
- A.
Hindenburg Disaster Newsreel
- B.
Apocalypse Now
- C.
M*A*S*H*
- D.
Citizen Kane
- 43.Which of these is not a propaganda film?
- A.
Why We Fight
- B.
Tulips Shall Grow
- C.
A Time Out of War
- D.
Duck and Cover
- 44.Which of the follwing was not shot in San Francisco?
- A.
D.O.A.
- B.
The Hustler
- C.
Bullitt
- D.
The Conversation
- 45.Which actor has the most films on the National Film Registry?
- A.
Harrison Ford
- B.
James Stewart
- C.
Ward Bond
- D.
John Wayne
- 46.Which actress is tied for the most films on the National Film Registry?
- A.
Judy Garland
- B.
Elizabeth Taylor
- C.
Lillian Gish
- D.
Mae West
- 47.Of the following, which year has zero releases represented on the Registry?
- A.
1985
- B.
1965
- C.
1990
- D.
1987
- 48.He is tied for the most credits as a screenwriter in the Registry.
- A.
Preston Sturges
- B.
Ben Hecht
- C.
Billy Wilder
- D.
Charlie Chaplin
- 49.Comedian and social critic Richard Pryor has a National Film Registry credit as a screenwriter. Which of the following films did he share a writing credit?
- A.
The Muppet Movie
- B.
Airplane!
- C.
Blazing Saddles
- D.
The Producers
- 50.Which of the following dogs does not have a film on the National Film Registry?
- A.
Rin Tin Tin
- B.
Benji
- C.
Asta
- D.
Sirus
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