Awesome! I loved this quiz. Not a Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, or Marvel movie in the bunch. The sequels could be endless and I would welcome them all. Thank you.
I've seen Vertigo rated as the greatest film ever made in a few rankings, and Rear Window is almost always somewhere in there. I'd say they're famous enough.
If you've never heard of "Vertigo" or "Rear Window", that's not a reflection on the theoretical obscurity of those movies, but rather indicative that you may want to expand your horizons. If I say that I've never heard of Marie Curie or Napoleon, does that mean they're "not that famous"? SMH
All four Hitchcock movies are very famous and fair game for a quiz like that, but putting four films by the same director in a list of 20 is major overkill. There are hundreds of great films to choose from.
Agreed. Films like Ben Hur, Dr. Zhivago, or any of the many musicals of that time would have been good alternatives. Maybe there is enough material for a second quiz?
His style did not define the filmmaking of several eras. His films were at the apex of several decades, sure, but most other films did not replicate his style. First of all, he did not become a major name until the 50's, and almost of his major movies are from that decade and the 60's (Shadow of a Doubt and Rope are the only ones I can think of outside those two decades). Second, other directors like John Huston, John Ford, Elia Kazan, William Wyler, David Lean and probably most notably Billy Wilder were more influential on their contemporary cinema. Hitchock's influence has been most evident on the generations that followed him, but it is not especially acute on his contemporaries. Vertigo doesn't capture a period of cinema. It captures a period of Hitchcock.
@Algernon If you've ever seen TV comedies more than, say, twice you've seen takeoffs on the many famous scenes from those 2 movies. "Iconic" is a drastically overcooked buzzword, but those scenes are perfect examples of iconic cultural benchmarks.
I understand there are still places where movie posters are painted by hand. Would be interesting to have something with those and generally between the above and the superhero craze. Just a thought.
Great idea, It is really hard to find modern movie images that are public domain. Super Hero film franchises are especially protective of copy write images. That's why this quiz is composed of older films. I will see how many modern film posters I can rustle up.
Wings is historically notable for a few reasons, but it's primarily remembered now as the winner of Best Picture (called "Outstanding Picture" at the time) at the very first Academy Awards in 1929.
Wings was shot (among other locations) at Camp Stanley outside San Antonio. It had been a Cavalry outpost since the 1800s, and it had trained troops for trench warfare during WWI, thus they had built some very realistic trenches that were still there to use for the film just 10 years later. Doing remediation work there in the 2010s you could still find bayonets and other debris from that era.
Great quiz! Oh, for the movies of yore which had actors who could actually act; a plot, a beginning, a middle, and end (and didn't throw gratuitous sex or violence into every other scene).
Oh, for the comments of a time that didn't exist, when people didn't insist on making overgeneralized, inaccurate indictments of the media being created in the present day. There are tons of great actors, directors, and movies around today. You just need to look further than the ads at the nearest bus stop to learn about them. Also, these movies have stayed in the public consciousness *because* they're so great, but how much do you actually know about the movies made in 1958, when Vertigo was released? You've never seen most of them because they were forgettable and were therefore forgotten. If future generations judge 2017 only by its best movies -- maybe Logan, Get Out, Dunkirk, Three Billboards, Baby Driver, and Phantom Thread -- they'll have the same rose-tinted misconceptions that you have about past eras of movies.
Excellent quiz. More than a third of the films listed were black and white! "Wings" was the first Oscar winner. Like most, I was stumped by "Imitation" and "Peter Pan." Good job.
Interesting that this "classic" period spans over 50 years. I mean, to consider Taxi Driver (1976) as classic with all the other films that came out no later than 1963 seems a bit of a stretch.
It doesn't say anything about a classic "period." It just says "classic films." Goodfellas is a classic. Pulp Fiction is a classic. Fargo is a classic. Gladiator is a classic. And in time, some movies from this decade will be classics.
Ugh, seriously. Bless this quizmaster. You forgot Lord of the Rings though. It's just not Jetpunk if I'm not being constantly inundated with Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars lol. The site should issue a moratorium on all these movies. I kid, I kid.
Only 37% got Parent Trap?? This is a travesty I tell you. A travesty!! lol. Favorite movie of my childhood, so maybe I'm a bit biased. The modern one with Dennis Quaid and Lindsay Lohan is actually really good, too.
And kudos for including Imitation of Life. A great film and I got it! More please!