Oscar Trivia 2009 - The End

Without further ado:

1) Angels With Dirty Faces (1938). The classic about two boyhood friends, one of who becomes a priest and the other a crook.

2) The Grapes of Wrath (1940). Beautifully done, and I still think Henry Fonda should have won the Oscar. But Jimmy Stewart walked off with it for a decent but hardly spectacular performance in The Philadelphia Story because he'd gotten robbed the prior year. Poor Hank had to wait another 42 years, when he was on his deathbed.

3) Witness (1985). This story has been told before (Angel and the Badman, 1947) and since (The Outsider, 2002). But it's timeless.

4) The Shawshank Redemption (1994). A beautifully told ode to strength of the human spirit.

5) The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). A personal favorite of mine, for my own parents were one of those thousands of couples who married when the World War II was over and my dad came home from Europe. Here's the scene where the line is spoken, beautifully photographed, and the score is one of my favorites as well.



All four of you who answered got all of the movie titles correct. As for the bonus question, you guys really kept me hopping with your guesses about what the quotes all had in common. Kia guessed said that all the directors received Oscar nods for the films. I had to research this, and for a minute it looked like this was a correct guess . . . until I got to The Shawshank Redemption. Although the film itself was nominated for Best Picture, the Academy must have felt it directed itself . . . no nomination for the director. The men who called the shots on the other four movies were all honored with nominations, and two of them won (John Ford for The Grapes of Wrath and William Wyler for The Best Years of Our Lives). But while it was a good guess, it was not correct.

Ladysilver guessed that the quotes all came from books that had been adapted into film. Of course, this would be true of The Grapes of Wrath, and Shawshank was a novelette. Donna mentions in her resposne that Witness was a book, something I hadn't known. I began my research with Angels with Dirty Faces, because I didn't recall that being a book. Imbd.com gives credit for screenwriting and for the story (meaning the plot idea which then goes to a screenwriter, not a novel; I think they call it "a treatment," but I'm not absolutely sure. So that answer is ruled out as well, but it's also a four out of five (The Best Years of Our Lives gives credit to a novelist and a screenwriter.)

The answer (which Cassandra and Donna got): They are all the final lines spoken in of the respective movies.

So, here's where it ends:

1st place: Cassandra, who had 132 points and earned another 70 = 202

2nd place: Kia, who had 123 points and earned 50 = 173

3rd place: Ladysilver, who had 90 points and earned 50 = 140

4th place: Donna, who had 59 points and earned 70 = 129

5th place: Patricia = 42

Cassandra wins an ARC of A New Kind of Bliss.
Kia wins a $10 gift certificate to either Barnes & Noble or Borders.
Ladysilver wins an autographed copy of the mass market edition of The People Next Door.
Donna and Patricia each win a gift "soundtrack" CD that I often give to people who purchase books at booksignings, and a laminated two-sided bookmark.

I need to hear from everybody, addresses for all, name to put in the book if that's what you won, which store certificate you prefer if that's what you won. Keep in mind that while I have my author copies of The People Next Door, I have yet to receive my ARCs (I'm getting a real paltry number this time around; they apparently had less of them printed because I was so late with the manuscript, although I'm not quite sure of the connection between the two.) E-mail me at bettye (at symbol) bettyegriffin.com.

Thank you all for playing along at what I think will probably be an annual tradition, provided I still have published novels to award as prizes and provided I don't run out of quotes (had quite a few from this year that I didn't use, so I don't think this is going to happen; not so sure about the first possibility, but I will be around with a new book next year at least!).

Donna, I hope your child feels better. Kia, Ladysilver and Cassandra, I hope you'll continue to drop in here at the blog every now and then.

Thanks again! I'll be back tomorrow with a regular post.