Thanksgiving is almost upon us, and with it all the traditional trimmings – turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, family gatherings and football games.
The holiday has always been a favorite subject for American movies. So if after this year’s hearty meal you feel like kicking back and popping a movie into the VCR or DVD player, get in the mood with this quiz on Thanksgiving movies and, more generally, thankfulness in the movies.
1. With whom did Bob Hope premiere his famous theme song in “Thanks for the Memory” (1938)?
2. Arguably Hollywood’s most fervent argument for giving thanks is “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946). In its nightmare sequence, George Bailey (James Stewart) finds his beloved town turned corrupted and depraved. Which is the transition: a) Mandrake Falls becomes Potter’s Field. b) Bedford Falls becomes Potterville. c) Carvel becomes Potterstown. d) Pleasantville becomes Potter City.
3. Speaking of “It’s a Wonderful Life,” which of the following films is not an official or unofficial remake – or, some would say, rip-off – of Frank Capra’s enduring classic: “The Family Man” (2000), “It Happened One Christmas” (1977), “Mr. Destiny” (1990) or “You Can’t Run Away From It” (1956)?
4. Who does Danny Rose (Woody Allen) have over for Thanksgiving dinner each year in “Broadway Danny Rose” (1984)?
5. What 1986 film, winner of Academy Awards for best screenplay, best supporting actor and best supporting actress, opens and closes with scenes of a big family Thanksgiving dinner?
6. In “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” (1987), a hapless businessman (Steve Martin) struggles to make it home for Thanksgiving, despite being dogged by a needy loser (John Candy) who has adopted him as his best friend. By what mode of transportation does he finally get home?
7. Al Pacino won an Oscar as best actor for his performance in “Scent of a Woman” (1992) as Frank Slade, a blind veteran who spends a memorable Thanksgiving weekend in New York, accompanied only by his increasingly frantic “minder” (Chris O’Donnell). Is Slade a veteran of the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines?
8. In the drag-queen comedy “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar” (1995), who played Wong Foo?
9. What gets a whole family on the road for Thanksgiving weekend in “The Daytrippers” (1996)?
10. What’s the most depressing Thanksgiving movie ever made? Bonus: What Oscar-winning actress directed the Thanksgiving movie “Home for the Holidays” (1999)?
ANWSERS
Answers to the movie quiz
1. Oops, trick question. Hope did indeed premiere “Thanks for the Memory” in 1938, but not in the film of that name. “The Big Broadcast of 1938” launched the Ralph Rainger/Leo Robin song, with Hope and Shirley Ross singing it well enough to earn an Academy Award as best song. The song became popular, and Paramount Pictures quickly re-teamed Hope and Ross for the less effective movie of the same title. And no, despite a popular misconception, the song isn’t called “Thanks for the Memories.”
2. b) In “It’s a Wonderful Life,” Bedford Falls becomes Potterville. Mandrake Falls, incidentally, is the hometown of Longfellow Deeds, Carvel the hometown of Andy Hardy, and Pleasantville the 1950s television paradise featured in the 1998 film of the same name.
3. “You Can’t Run Away From It” is not a remake of “It’s a Wonderful Life.” It’s a musical based on Capra’s “It Happened One Night” (1934).
4. In Woody Allen’s delightful comedy, Danny Rose is a hardworking-but-inept talent agent who’s too softhearted to refuse talentless clients. Every Thanksgiving he has his entire client list over for dinner at his apartment.
5. Woody Allen’s “Hannah and Her Sisters” (1986), one of his best comedy-dramas, opens with Hannah (Mia Farrow) hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for her extended family and closes, a year later, with another Thanksgiving dinner. The film won Oscars for Allen’s screenplay, Michael Caine as best supporting actor and Dianne Wiest as best supporting actress.
6. In “Planes, Trains & Automobiles,” Neal Page (Martin) makes it home for Thanksgiving dinner – with unexpected guest Del Griffith (Candy) – and does the last leg on Chicago’s El train.
7. Lt. Col. Frank Slade is a veteran of the Army.
8. Wong Foo doesn’t appear in “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar.” The title comes from a photo of the actress – most famous as Catwoman on the 1960s “Batman” television series – inscribed to the owner of a Chinese restaurant. The photo is real, spotted by screenwriter Douglas Carter Beane in a restaurant on New York’s Times Square.
9. A young wife (Hope Davis) becomes convinced that her husband is having an affair, and soon her entire family is out looking for answers in “The Daytrippers.” It’s an overlooked independent gem, featuring indie stars Davis, Parker Posey and Liev Schreiber, plus a nice comic turn from Anne Meara as Davis’ character’s obnoxious mom.
10. It’s hard to say for sure which Thanksgiving movie is the most depressing, because something about the holiday seems to inspire moviemakers to grim stories about family conflict. But surely Ang Lee’s “The Ice Storm” (1997) is right up there, with its themes of adultery, drug use and the death of a child. (Ang Lee is in Denver this weekend with his latest film, “Brokeback Mountain.”) Bonus: Jodie Foster, director of “Home for the Holidays,” won Academy Awards as best actress for “The Accused” (1988) and “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991).