1.
An easy one
to start off – or is it? Which of the
following movies – all set in Paris – won the most Oscars?
Correct Answer
C. Gigi
Explanation
Gigi won 9 Oscars in 1958, beating the previous record of 8 (for Gone With The Wind). Gigi is also one of the very few multi-nominated films to win all Academy Awards for which it had been shortlisted. (An American in Paris won 6 Oscars in 1951.)
2.
In which movie
do we get the following synopsis of the Spanish Civil War? “I wanted to be
a dancer. My father was a coal miner. An anarchist. Our house was full of
politics all the time, but I was always finding a way to dance. When they
declared the Socialist Republic, our house became a hospital. I tried to help,
but I didn’t know anything, and people were dying in my arms. Then the soldiers
came. I tried to stop them from taking my brother – that’s when they hurt my
leg. After that, I knew I could not be a dancer. I wanted to help people, so
that’s why I became a nurse. And why I need to go back to my country.”
Correct Answer
B. The Sun Also Rises
Explanation
The speech is actually lifted verbatim from Hemingway’s novel of the same name. No, I was only kidding. It’s from d. Head in the Clouds. Penelope Cruz should have received an Oscar for giving that speech with a straight face.
3.
Audrey
Hepburn probably starred in more “Paris” movies than any other Hollywood
actress. Not, however, in Gigi, a movie that appears to have been written with Hepburn
in mind. Nevertheless, there is a connection between Hepburn and the movie.
Which of the following is it?
Correct Answer
D. She had played the part in the original play on Broadway.
Explanation
The correct answer is that Audrey Hepburn had played the part in the original play on Broadway. This suggests that although she did not star in the movie adaptation of Gigi, she had prior experience and familiarity with the role.
4.
If Audrey
Hepburn is the queen, the king of the Paris movie is – disappointingly, perhaps
– Kevin Kline. No other actor seems to have impersonated as many different
people with a “French connection” over the years. But which one of these performances
is the odd one out?
Correct Answer
D. A dashing officer in 15th century Paris
Explanation
Phoebus in the cartoon version of the Hunchback of Notre Dame, a part for which Kline only provided his voice. The other films are a. French Kiss, b. The Pink Panther and c. De-Lovely (as Cole Porter).
5.
In terms of
Paris and the movies: which of the following actors is the odd one out?
Correct Answer
C. Gene Kelly
Explanation
Fred Astaire (Funny Face), Marlon Brando (The Last Tango in Paris) and Paul Newman (Paris Blues; Mr and Mrs Bridge) all shot their Paris movies on location in Paris while Gene Kelly never left Hollywood for An American in Paris.
6.
In terms of
Paris and the movies: which of the following directors is the odd one out?
Correct Answer
A. Ernst Lubitsch
Explanation
Same story: While Hitchcock (Topaz), Scorsese (Age Of Innocence) and Spielberg (Munich) shot at least some of their Parisian scenes on location, Lunitsch’s Ninotchka was entirely made by in the studio.
7.
For Hollywood
even more than for anybody else, Paris is the city of love. But which of the
following screen couples never exchanged a passionate kiss by the banks of the
Seine or in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower?
Correct Answer
C. An American newspaper reporter and a beautiful young princess
Explanation
That’s Roman Holiday, starring Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn in what should have been but was not the quintessential Parisian romance. (No prizes for guessing where it was actually shot.) The other movies are: a. Forget Paris (Billy Crystal and Debra Winger), b. Charade (Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn), c. Sabrina (Harrison Ford and Julia Ormond – the 1954 version with Bogey and Hepburn never makes it to Paris and ends on the boat).
8.
People who
come to Victor Hugo’s novel, having watched the Disney version of The Hunchback
Of Notre Dame, will be in for a few surprises: there is a lot less singing, for
one, the mood is altogether much darker, and there is no happily-ever-after
ending either. Disney, meanwhile, took freedoms not only with the novel: the
film makers also treated French history with a certain amount of poetic
license. Which of the following errors did they commit?
Correct Answer
B. The original church had no gargoyles – not even ones that could not sing or dance.
c. There is a character
Explanation
When Gothic architecture became fashionable again, at some stage in the 19th century, Notre Dame Cathedral, having been one of the first churches built in the Gothic style, was felt to be insufficiently medieval and received a facelift. The new features that were added included the large gargoyles on the bell tower.
9.
They say that every protagonist in every
movie about Paris has a room with a view of the Eiffel Tower. This is a gross
exaggeration: the Arc de Triomphe and the Sacre Coeur will equally do.
As a matter of fact, only one of the
following does actually see the Eiffel Tower from the window in his / her flat
or hotel room. Which one is it?
Correct Answer
D. Linguini, the young cook, in Ratatouille
Explanation
Yes, it’s the cook. Meg Ryan in French Kiss fails to spot the Eiffel Tower for the entire length of her stay in Paris – it’s a sort of running joke in the film.
10.
Actresses in musicals must, as a
genaral rule, be able to dance and sing. If, however, their singing voices are
not quite up to professional standard, there is always a way out. Bearing that
in mind: which of the following performances is the odd one out?
Correct Answer
A. Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face
Explanation
Audrey Hepburn’s singing voice is the only one we hear in these four films. But what was good enough for Funny Face, was obviously not good enough for My Fair Lady a few years later where her singing was dubbed by Marni Nixon. (The media storm which ensued when the story broke is said to have cost Hepburn the chance for an Oscar. My Fair Lady won 8, but she was not even nominated.)