We'll Give You 3 Words, You Tell Us Which '60s Movie They Go With


By: Olivia Cantor

6 Min Quiz

Image: Jurow-Shepherd / Paramount Pictures

About This Quiz

Buzzwords define specific eras, date generations and add color to pop culture language. But if these words are part of movie quotes and character catchphrases, they become part of global culture's timeless vocabulary. And when you look at a decade as colorful and as eclectic as the 1960s, you're sure to find many gems that we still find familiar after several decades.

Let's not get very far by mentioning one iconic character: James Bond. We saw his debut in the '60s, yet we still utter many of his famous words and lines today. How many times have you heard people say "Shaken, not stirred" when waiting for a drink at the bar? This quiz features more words associated with 007 and similarly catchy catchphrases from other films. 

Since it was also a time of reinvention, the 1960s gave us words that we originally didn't find in dictionaries and encyclopedias. But open up a reference book today and you'll find them as legitimate entries, often in reference to the films where they got featured. A certain flying nanny is guilty of this one! You'll find her inside the quiz as well. 

Ready to take the leap back in time? Good luck and have fun!

It's the "Jets" versus the "Sharks", with "Maria" as the referee in which movie musical?

Most of the actors in the Jets and Sharks gangs used their own voices in singing their "West Side Story" tunes. However, the filmmakers didn't use Natalie Wood's own voice; they used a ghost singer for her. Marni Nixon, the one who sang for Audrey Hepburn in "My Fair Lady," sang Wood's songs.


Paws, species, destiny. Which sci-fi tale scared us with these concepts?

American Film Institute's "100 Years, 100 Movie Quotes" tally listed one "Planet of the Apes" entry which starts with "Get your stinking paws off me." It's a line by astronaut George Taylor who got the surprise of his life when he discovered that humans aren't the top species anymore.


A "mother" interrupts a "motel" guest inside a "shower." Can you guess the film?

In interviews, Master of Suspense Alfred Hitchcock said he shot "Psycho" in black-and-white to lessen the implied gore of the Bates Motel shower scene. There's no direct stabbing or slashing presented; the idea it implied was scary enough for '60s audiences.


Motorcycles, Louisiana, hippies. What's your groovy take on this?

Embodying the true sense of the "free-spirited hippie" movement of the '60s, filmmaker-actors Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda didn't have a finished script before shooting "Easy Rider." They improvised the material along the way as they went riding from California to Louisiana.


"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" should be enough! If we throw in "chiminey" and "umbrella," can you identify the film better?

According to a Merriam-Webster research finding, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious didn't originate with "Mary Poppins" in 1964 because a 1949 song already existed bearing the same title. They also traced an earlier variant in a 1931 newspaper column published by Syracuse University.


Cat, socialite, "Moon River." Do we wait around the bend or can you guess this immediately, our Huckleberry friend?

A wannabe socialite singing "Moon River" cemented Holly Golightly as a relatable character in "Breakfast at Tiffany's." Since it's Audrey Hepburn playing it, producers didn't want to get too close to her character's call girl reality, like how Truman Capote wrote it in the book version.


"Atticus" the "lawyer" had Boo Radley as a neighbor in "Alabama." Which novel adaptation is this?

Gregory Peck was already a big star when he played Atticus Finch in "To Kill A Mockingbird." This is unlike his co-star Robert Duvall, who played Boo Radley in the film adaptation of Harper Lee's novel. This film marks Duvall's film debut.


Which film comes to mind upon seeing these words: SPECTRE, Moneypenny, Quarrel?

"Dr. No" marked two firsts in the James Bond filmography: the introduction of the evil organization called SPECTRE and the first time Miss Moneypenny appeared. SPECTRE originally meant Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion.


"Doolittle" is the "loverly" gal who talked about "rain" in which movie?

On stage, "My Fair Lady" had Julie Andrews playing Eliza Doolittle while Rex Harrison played the professor teaching her diction lessons. In the 1964 film version, Audrey Hepburn replaced Andrews for the lead while Harrison still played the same part.


Oscar + Felix + apartment = which situational comedy?

Walter Matthau played the divorced slob Oscar while Jack Lemmon played the divorced neat freak Felix in "The Odd Couple." The 1968 film had them sharing one New York apartment. After 30 years, "The Odd Couple II" sequel saw both actors reprising their roles but they don't share an apartment anymore.


Which movie unfolded an "affair" after a "seduction" and a "plastics" discussion took place?

An authentic college graduate, Charles Webb, wrote the book "The Graduate" which highlighted the seduction of a 21-year-old man by a woman the same generation as his parents. The novel's film adaptation also focused on this aspect of the story, casting Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft for the leads.


Musical fans can guess this one if we say: Edelweiss, goatherd, singing. Can you?

The success of "The Sound of Music" is the reason people worldwide know of "Edelweiss." It's the solo song for Captain Von Trapp which he sings before they flee Austria. Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote the song and used Austria's national flower to symbolize Von Trapp's loyalty to his homeland.


What film presented a "legend" nicknamed "Pilgrim" at the "frontier"?

In "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," John Wayne's rancher character referred to James Stewart's lawyer character as "pilgrim" which refers to being a newcomer in their frontier town. Later, through the help of the rancher, this lawyer becomes a legend based on a mistaken deed.


This spectacle featured three things: slaves, gladiators and Rome. Can you name it?

In his book "The Celluloid Closet," film historian Vito Russo detailed how Hollywood coded gayness in pre-Stonewall era films like "Spartacus." The film featured a deleted scene where an implied seduction happened between Roman general Crassus and his slave Antoninus.


A "sourpuss" of a history "professor" entertained late-night "guests" in which stage play-turned-film?

Richard Burton played the grumpy professor and reluctant host in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" while real-life spouse Elizabeth Taylor played his foul-mouthed wife. In the story, she refers to him as a sourpuss for not being sociable enough and for complaining about having late-night guests over.


We'll give you hustler, Rizzo and walking. Do you know this one?

Angelina Jolie's dad, Jon Voight, won several film critics awards for portraying a hustler in "Midnight Cowboy" back in 1969. He co-starred with Dustin Hoffman who played the con artist Rizzo, the one who said the famous line "I'm walking here! I'm walking here!"


Montague + Capulet x star-crossed = which tragedy?

Franco Zeffirelli wanted to cast actual teenagers to play Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet in his 1968 adaptation of "Romeo and Juliet." The 17-year-old Leonard Whiting and 16-year-old Olivia Hussey ended up playing the star-crossed lovers.


Banks, robbers, Ford. What twisted love story presented these?

Notorious Great Depression-era bank robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were the subjects of the successful 1967 film "Bonnie and Clyde." The film showed how they met each other and fell in love, their crime sprees, and how they got ambushed while inside their infamous Ford V8 car.


If you see "police" and "investigation" with "Tibbs," can you recall what they called this one?

"In The Heat of the Night" produced a classic TV and film trope out of Sidney Poitier's classic line: "They call me Mr. Tibbs." As an African American police detective doing an investigation in the south, he had to assert himself with dignity. This line shows how one can command respect.


Lieutenant, chase, Mustang. Will you hurry and tell us the right answer?

Exciting car chase scenes shot on real streets are already common now, but this wasn't the case before the '60s. It took one film to change this stunt landscape: "Bullitt." Having real-life racer Steve McQueen drive as Lt. Bullitt and chase bad guys aboard his Ford Mustang established this trend.


When "Levi" is in charge of "matchmaking" in "Yonkers," which story makes a grand entrance?

A discussion of unforgettable movie musicals won't be complete without mentioning the Yonkers-set story of "Hello, Dolly." The film is about New York matchmaker Dolly Levi, one of the feisty women roles immortalized by Barbra Streisand on film.


Deanie + school + Wordsworth = which taboo-laden teenage film?

The high school-set film "Splendor in the Grass" takes its title from William Wordsworth's poem called "Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood." In a scene, Natalie Wood's Deanie character reads a stanza of it and gets triggered by the memory of a recent heartbreak.


Where can you find this "womanizer" of a "chauffeur" calling women "it"?

Before Michael Caine played the respectable butler Alfred in "The Dark Knight" trilogy, he played the womanizing chauffeur named "Alfie" who called women "it." This shows how expansive the British actor's range can get throughout the decades.


Caractacus, Scrumptious and Bomburst are three kooky names in which fantasy film?

Novelist Ian Fleming's knack for naming James Bond characters was also evident in the way he named "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" characters. Watch the hero Caractacus Potts interact with the lovely Truly Scrumptious and narrate Baron Bomburst's evil deeds in the film adaptation.


This black comedy had "gentlemen" discussing a "doomsday machine." Can you name the film?

Stanley Kubrick served us a Cold War satire with "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Stopped Worrying and Loved the Bomb." One classic quote that sums up this intention goes "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here; this is the war room." Those men were arguing about a doomsday machine and possible war scenarios.


Which Eastwood film ruled with guns, gold and a poncho?

It's hard to miss Clint Eastwood's guns and gold-obsessed character termed as The Man with No Name when you see him with a cowboy hat, a small cigar and a poncho. This look appeared in "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" and in two other works that completed The Dollars Trilogy films by Sergio Leone.


Put "HAL" and "Dave" in "orbit" and what film do you get?

If you have an iPhone, try telling Siri to "open the pod bay doors" and you'll get a reply straight out of "2001: A Space Odyssey." Historians note how the movie's A.I. spaceship computer, HAL 9000, influenced tech giants as evident in Apple's A.I. and Amazon's Alexa technology.


Russian + revolution + mistress = what David Lean-directed epic?

It's not ironic anymore to see a Russian-made 2000s TV series of "Doctor Zhivago" since the former USSR can already handle criticism of the Bolshevik Revolution. But in the '50s, Boris Pasternak's book got banned in his own country, and David Lean's '60s film adaptation of it suffered the same fate.


Do you know this film about a "family" living near "rivers" and "plains" contained in a lengthy saga?

Seeing films with an impressive ensemble cast is common now, but this was a huge event during Hollywood's early decades. One example of such an event is "How the West Was Won," a Western epic showcasing generations of one family that lived near plains and rivers.


Before it became a musical, can you recognize this film from the words food, feed and plant?

Director Roger Corman and screenwriter Charles B. Griffith intended to create a filmic farce with "The Little Shop of Horrors." Showing how a plant can speak and demand food by saying "Feed me" achieved this purpose.


What Western ended with "dynamite" and "outlaws" in "Bolivia"?

"Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" is accurate in labeling itself as a loose adaptation of the lives of American who fled to Bolivia in the early 1900s. Books written by Cassidy's descendants and Old West historians contradict facts presented in the film and claim to offer the facts.


Gorgeous, parade and Ziegfeld are all you need to guess this Streisand movie. Can you point it out?

It's interesting to note how comedian Fanny Brice got immortalized in two different biographical films: "Funny Girl" and "Can You Ever Forgive Me." The former had Barbra Streisand saying "Well, hello Gorgeous" as she played Brice. The latter starred Melissa McCarthy as Brice biographer Lee Israel.


Watch "Reisman" round up "twelve" soldiers for "D-Day" in which war film?

If you think "Suicide Squad" had this unique concept of bringing criminals together to execute a difficult military operation, think again! "The Dirty Dozen" presented this concept back in 1967 about 12 army convicts sent to a D-Day connected suicide mission under Major Reisman's command.


Brainwashing, queen and assassination conjure the image of which espionage story?

If you're wondering why Tony Stark refers to Bucky as "The Manchurian Candidate" in "Captain America: Civil War," that's because the latter suffered a similar fate presented in the '60s film. It's about how a brainwashed soldier gets triggered to commit an assassination by a queen of diamonds card.


British + Bedouins + desert = which true-to-life tale?

Historians say David Lean's epic war film "Lawrence of Arabia" propagated T.E. Lawrence's romantic hero image. This WWI British soldier spent time in the Middle Eastern desert heroically fighting alongside the Arabs. Researchers said this was an inaccurate account of the soldier's real persona.


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