I do believe the gold dust has just about settled on this year’s riveting awards season. That might be my cue then to announce the results of the Filmotomy Oscar Quiz before you all forget what the Academy Awards are. Sure. Here are those quiz answers.
Who said “It’s ironic I won for directing, but no less acceptable.”?Who said “It’s ironic I won for directing, but no less acceptable.”?
43% of you believed it was Warren Beatty who said that (having won Best Director for Reds in 1981), but it was actually Robert Redford after winning Best Director for Ordinary People in 1980 – 38% of you got that right.
Who accepted his Oscar win on behalf of all the stutterers in the world?
A landslide victory for Best Actor winner Colin Firth as 79% of quiz-takers picked him, but it was Best Original Screenplay winner David Seidler (with only 11% of the votes) who paid that tribute.
Which acting Oscar did this Best Picture winner pick up?
The Best Picture winner in the image was The Deer Hunter, which means 63% of you were correct to choose Best Supporting Actor, which was Christopher Walken of course.
One of Hacksaw Ridge’s Oscar wins broke which losing steak?
More than half got this right, Kevin O Connell winning his first Oscar after 20 losses for Best Sound Editing.
Who introduced Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins with “I’m sure they’re pissed off about something.”?
The correct answer was David Letterman at the 1996 ceremony. 32% got that one, but it was close, Billy Crystal pulling in 26% of the votes, with Whoopi Goldberg and Steve Martin both on 21%.
In which other category did this Best Picture Oscar winner take gold?
The Best Picture winner was Wings, and although Best Sound Effects garnered 37% of the votes, the correct answer was Best Engineering Effects – to which 26% selected.
What was significant about the writing categories at the 1950 Oscars?
Each had a husband and wife team. Congratulations to 37% of you.
At the 1987 Oscars what was particularly note-worthy about the Best Director line-up?
None of them were born in the United States. 53% got that right. To clarify, John Boorman (Hope and Glory) and Adrian Lyne (Fatal Attraction) are English, Norman Jewison (Moonstruck) is Canadian, Lasse Hallström (My Life as a Dog) is Swedish, and Best Director winner Bernardo Bertolucci (The Last Emperor) is Italian.
What was unique about this Oscar winner’s director that year?
The director being Steven Soderbergh, nominated for two films in the same year. He won Best Director for a different film (Traffic) to the one pictured with Best Actress winner Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich). 42% of quizzers got that right.
On winning Best Actor, who said “I hope this isn’t a mistake, because I won’t give it back for anything in the world.”?
David Niven received the most answers with 42%. But it was Yul Brynner (winning for The King and I) with the least at 11% which was the correct answer.
Dyan Cannon was nominated in which two different categories, one in 1969, one in 1976?
You all tied Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Screenplay wins with the correct answer Best Supporting Actress and Best Live Action Short. Cannon was nominated for Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice as Best Supporting Actress in 1969, then Best Live Action Short for Number One as writer, director, and producer in 1976.
Following this win how many more times would they be victorious?
This win was of course Jack Nicholson in his first of three acting Oscar wins in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. He won win two more times (for Terms of Endearment and As Good as it Gets) – 67% of you got that correct.
Which was the very first film from Colombia Pictures to be nominated for Best Picture?
The Private Life of Henry VIII on 42% of answers was the wrong answer – it was Lady for a Day.
Which Best Picture winner was on general release before the previous year’s ceremony?
The Silence of the Lambs was the clear winner here. The film was released 5 weeks before the Best Picture award for Dances with Wolves was announced in 1991, and would win the same prize the following year.
What was quite rare about the Best Picture line-up for the year this film won?
59% got this right, that Best Director and Best Picture nominees matched five-for-five. Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain), Bennett Miller (Capote), Paul Haggis (Crash), George Clooney (Good Night, and Good Luck), and Steven Spielberg (Munich) all nabbed Best Director nominations to go alongside Best Picture nods for their films.
What did Barry Fitzgerald do to force the Academy to change rules?
Fitzgerald was nominated for both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for the same film – winning the latter.
Who said of their Oscar win “Some you do for money, some you do for love. This was a lovechild.”?
It was indeed James Coburn who said that, winning Best Supporting Actor for Affliction.
How many acting nominations did this Oscar-winning film receive?
The film in question is Moonlight. Naomie Harris for Best Supporting Actress, and eventual winner for Best Supporting Actor Mahershala Ali, made it two acting nominations. 53% got that one right.
What did Billy Wilder Achieve at the 1960 Oscars?
Two thirds of quiz-takers were correct here. Wilder won three Oscars in that one year for The Apartment – as producer, as director, and as co-writer.
What stands out about Amy Adams’ Best Actress nomination for American Hustle?
The other four actresses have all won Oscars prior – as 53% of you answered correctly. Winner this year, Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine), had won Best Supporting Actress for The Aviator. Then, Sandra Bullock (Gravity) had a Best Actress award for The Blind Side, and Judi Dench (Philomena) won Best Supporting Actress for Shakespeare in Love. Not forgetting of course, Meryl Streep (August: Osage County) with two Best Actress wins, Sophie’s Choice and The Iron Lady, as well as a Best Supporting Actress win for Kramer vs. Krameer. Amy Adams remains Oscarless to this day.
What stat will remain with this Oscar winner forever?
The actress was Vivian Leigh, who won Best Actress for Gone with the Wind, and she would be nominated one more time and win again, for A Streetcar Named Desire – making her two for two.
Which film was Billy Crystal referencing when he joked it got nominations for each of its ending?
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and 80% got this absolutely right. Crystal was not only referencing the film’s 11 nominations, but also that the close of the movie has many strands and closure scenes.
Why did the audience have to prompt presenter Burt Lancaster at the 1961 Oscars?
He hadn’t read Sophia Loren’s name as a nominee – the lady who would actually win that Best Actress award for Two Women.
What was the significance of this Oscar win?
73% correctly chose that Peck was nominated 4 times previously without winning for Best Actor – The Keys of the Kingdom (1945), The Yearling (1946), Gentleman’s Agreement (1947), and Twelve O’Clock High (1949).
What did Mike Nichols, Vivien Merchant, and Alan Arkin achieve at the 1966 Oscars?
In various categories, they were all nominated for their film debuts, 87% got that one.
Why did Barbra Streisand refuse to present a particular award in 1972?
Asked to be the presenter of the Best Picture award, Streisand objected to A Clockwork Orange being a Best Picture nominee and thus turned the offer down.
What stand-out achievement can be attributed to this Oscar winning film’s director?
Pretty easy this one, if you can figure out the film in the image first. It was of course Platoon, for which Oliver Stone won Best Director, and he would win Best Director again three years later for Born on the Fourth of July. 67% of quizzers were right here.
What is unique about Film Editing nominee Roderick Jaynes?
His name is a pseudonym used by the Coen brothers. That’s right. And 93% agreed. Pretty easy, that.
Who said of Best Actor nominee Richard Barthelmess “he has the most beautiful face of any man who ever went before a camera.”?
The correct answer was Lillian Gish, as 44% of participants also thought. Mary Pickford was chosen by 38%.
How old was this Oscar winner when her name was read out?
The picture was of Jennifer Lawrence as seen in Silver Linings Playbook in 2012. She was 22 years old when she tripped up, I mean, picked up the Best Actress prize. Most of you got that one.
Congratulations to Elana S, who a topped the Oscar quiz with a score of 80% – there’s no jetski or gold statuette unfortunately. Only the unofficial title of the smartest Oscar nerd around. Evan O came in second place with 73%, and a third place spot goes to Jack M with 67%. I won’t name and shame those who belly-flopped with horrible scores, but don’t be surprised if a Razzie is delivered to your door. Thanks all for taking part.
I won! I am so excited! I have to admit, though, that maybe I should have had a handicap, since I taught film courses on the college level for many years.
I won’t tell a soul. Bravo!