Can You Name 30 Hollywood Celebrities Who Starred in Classic Film Noir?

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Classic Film Noir Quiz Questions

30 Questions · 1M Plays · 6 Comments

Question 1

The classic, genre-defining gumshoe in the 1941 film noir The Maltese Falcon is played by which actor?

  • A
    Humphrey Bogart
  • B
    Spencer Tracy
  • C
    Kirk Douglas
  • D
    Richard Widmark

Question 2

The 1949 noir crime drama Port of New York is a study in police procedural dramas and features law enforcement efforts to stop an opium shipment from being distributed. Who plays the leader of the ring of drug dealers?

  • A
    Charles Bronson
  • B
    Fred Astaire
  • C
    Yul Brynner
  • D
    Jeff Bridges

Question 3

Hailed as a truly classic film noir, the 1946 gem The Killers featured a 23-year-old actor in a role that would make him an instant star. Which famous leading man played the part of a dreamy, thoughtful Swede in danger from multiple plots?

  • A
    James Earl Jones
  • B
    Burt Lancaster
  • C
    Charlie Chaplin
  • D
    Klaus Kinski

Question 4

Spellbound, a 1945 film noir with deliciously complex characterizations, stars Ingrid Bergman as a psychoanalyst who is trying to help an amnesiac played by what well-known actor?

  • A
    Bruce Dern
  • B
    Gregory Peck
  • C
    Brian Keith
  • D
    Alan Alda

Question 5

In the 1953 black and white film noir Angel Face which actor has the starring male role as a hapless race car driver turned ambulance jockey?

  • A
    John Wayne
  • B
    Woody Allen
  • C
    Bing Crosby
  • D
    Robert Mitchum

Question 6

The feisty Girl Friday in the 1946 film noir The Dark Corner gets involved in the dangerous troubles of her private detective boss when he asks for her help. Who plays this spirited secretary?

  • A
    Jane Fonda
  • B
    Sally Field
  • C
    Vivien Leigh
  • D
    Lucille Ball

Question 7

The 1946 film Notorious is a romance and a thriller as well as a classic film noir. A US agent asks a woman of dubious reputation to spy on a group of Nazis in South America. Who plays this agent?

  • A
    James Stewart
  • B
    Sidney Poitier
  • C
    Cary Grant
  • D
    Willem Dafoe

Question 8

Released in 1953, the noir film The Big Heat chronicles the fictional tale of an everyman police officer targeted by the mob because he wants to shut down illegal activities. Who plays this sympathetic policeman?

  • A
    Glenn Ford
  • B
    William Hurt
  • C
    Clark Gable
  • D
    Danny Glover

Question 9

The 1936 film noir The Petrified Forest features an unlikely teaming of a wealthy Englishman, an American gangster, and a dreamy waitress who loves beauty. Which iconic Hollywood actress portrays the waitress?

  • A
    Angela Lansbury
  • B
    Bette Davis
  • C
    Hedy Lamarr
  • D
    Joan Blondell

Question 10

The atmospheric, shadowy 1958 noir Touch of Evil features a well-known Hollywood personality in his final direction of a studio film. In the film, he portrays a drunken sheriff in a dusty town bordering Mexico. Who is this actor and director?

  • A
    Billy Crystal
  • B
    Orson Welles
  • C
    Charlie Chaplin
  • D
    Tom Cruise

Question 11

Who shouts the immortal line "Made it, Ma! Top of the world!" in the 1949 film noir White Heat?

  • A
    James Cagney
  • B
    David Niven
  • C
    Burt Lancaster
  • D
    Peter Lorre

Question 12

The 1944 film noir Gaslight is about a man protecting a secret at all costs, even if he has to drive his wife mad. This film was nominated for seven Oscars and won two, including a Best Actress win for what Hollywood legend?

  • A
    Claudette Colbert
  • B
    Ingrid Bergman
  • C
    Julie Andrews
  • D
    Elizabeth Taylor

Question 13

The 1945 film noir Mildred Pierce features a famous actress who plays a hard-working mother in the clutches of her spoiled, manipulative daughter. Who plays the eponymous role of this woman who cannot see through her daughter's deceit?

  • A
    Eva Gabor
  • B
    Joan Crawford
  • C
    Dyan Cannon
  • D
    Angie Dickinson

Question 14

Skilled character actors are vital in the genre of film noir. John Huston's 1948 action-packed movie Key Largo features one of Hollywood's greatest character actors, this time in a wheelchair. Who is he?

  • A
    Lionel Barrymore
  • B
    Gene Kelly
  • C
    James Coburn
  • D
    Lee Marvin

Question 15

The 1950 gothic noir Sunset Boulevard tells the story of a fading silent film star clinging to the past and to a youngish male writer who is content to be kept by her. Who portrays this intelligent and sometimes cruel writer in his breakthrough role?

  • A
    Michael Caine
  • B
    John Carradine
  • C
    James Brolin
  • D
    William Holden

Question 16

Who plays the title role of a sexy femme fatale who uses her beauty to manipulate in the 1946 noir Gilda?

  • A
    Judy Garland
  • B
    Ginger Rogers
  • C
    Mia Farrow
  • D
    Rita Hayworth

Question 17

In the shattering 1945 noir The Lost Weekend, a writer struggles with alcoholism. What actress portrays his girlfriend, who tries to save him from his plunge into addiction?

  • A
    Jane Wyman
  • B
    Helen Hayes
  • C
    Mitzi Gaynor
  • D
    Shirley Temple

Question 18

Which actress portrays the strong yet inexperienced femme fatale in the 1946 film The Postman Always Rings Twice?

  • A
    Judith Dench
  • B
    Diane Keaton
  • C
    Lana Turner
  • D
    Audrey Hepburn

Question 19

In the 1954 neo-noir Dial M for Murder, a jealous husband wants to kill his wife by hiring someone else to do the dirty work. However, he fails to consider that his wife might fight back. Who plays this plucky woman?

  • A
    Anne Bancroft
  • B
    Greta Garbo
  • C
    Mae West
  • D
    Grace Kelly

Question 20

Howard Hawks' 1946 film noir The Big Sleep tells the story of fictional detective Philip Marlowe's convoluted involvement with a wealthy client and his beautiful daughter. Who famously plays this female role?

  • A
    Katharine Hepburn
  • B
    Lauren Bacall
  • C
    Faye Dunaway
  • D
    Natalie Wood

Question 21

In the 1949 film noir 'The Third Man', a pulp fiction writer investigates his friend's death in the war-torn city of Vienna. In doing so, he also must struggle with complex questions of morality. Which actor plays this writer?

  • A
    Gregory Hines
  • B
    Anthony Hopkins
  • C
    David Jason
  • D
    Joseph Cotten

Question 22

The bleak 1950 noir 'D.O.A.' is a classic nihilistic drama as well as a police thriller. Who plays the man who has been murdered with a slow-acting poison and is desperately seeking his killer?

  • A
    Dennis Hopper
  • B
    Michael Douglas
  • C
    Edmond O'Brien
  • D
    Brian Dennehy

Question 23

The scheming yet vulnerable character of Phyllis Dietrichson in the noir 'Double Indemnity' wants to get her husband out of the way. What actress plays her?

  • A
    Ann Blyth
  • B
    Cloris Leachman
  • C
    Barbara Stanwyck
  • D
    Irene Dunne

Question 24

Who directed and starred in the 1947 film noir 'Lady in the Lake'?

  • A
    Charlton Heston
  • B
    James Dean
  • C
    Robert Montgomery
  • D
    Alan Ladd

Question 25

In the 1949 noir 'Criss Cross', a scheming woman gets her honest ex-husband involved with her criminal husband and a disastrous robbery. Who portrays this devious femme fatale?

  • A
    Donna Reed
  • B
    Ethel Merman
  • C
    Yvonne De Carlo
  • D
    Lena Horne

Question 26

In the hands of director John Huston, the 1950 noir crime thriller 'The Asphalt Jungle' puts a sympathetic face on criminals. Which male actor stars as a man trying to pull off a heist?

  • A
    John Hurt
  • B
    Tommy Lee Jones
  • C
    Sterling Hayden
  • D
    Jeremy Irons

Question 27

The 1944 noir 'The Suspect' is unusual in that it is set in Edwardian England where a man decides to kill his vindictive wife. Which trans-Atlantic actor plays him?

  • A
    Cary Grant
  • B
    Anthony Andrews
  • C
    John Houseman
  • D
    Charles Laughton

Question 28

Who plays the mentally unstable but somehow sympathetic character of Bruno Anthony in Alfred Hitchcock's 1951 film 'Strangers on a Train'?

  • A
    Frank Sinatra
  • B
    Glen Campbell
  • C
    Jack Lemmon
  • D
    Robert Walker

Question 29

In the 1944 film 'Laura', a policeman falls in love with a woman while investigating her murder. Who portrays the character Laura in this film of the same name?

  • A
    Goldie Hawn
  • B
    Shirley MacLaine
  • C
    Hedy Lamarr
  • D
    Gene Tierney

Question 30

In a spectacular setting, the 1953 dramatic noir 'Niagara' is about honeymooners who get involved with a disturbed war veteran and his unfaithful wife. What famous beauty plays this cheating woman?

  • A
    Elizabeth Taylor
  • B
    Marilyn Monroe
  • C
    Jayne Mansfield
  • D
    Olivia de Havilland

Comments (6)

We want to hear your feedback! Share your scores and discuss the quiz, but keep it civil.

I would have done even worse if there weren't pics. That's all I was going on

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Aced It!!

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I admit it is harder to recognize others in black and white format. Ninety percent test score is good

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After awhile all the actresses looked the same . Good actresses and good movies as well.

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The quiz offered a little bit of a challenge based on early photos of the actresses and actors in question

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Great Movies

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