If you live in the United States, the 2008 presidential election and 2009 inauguration that will install our new president are probably at least peripherally on your mind. So, what better time to feature a movie trivia quiz on election movies?

I’ve found that many election movies are comedies. Could it be because the political process, although unintentionally so, is a bit funny? With all the mud-slinging that has become part of the process, real life sometimes can sometimes be comical — in a tragic sort of way.

The following movies are not necessarily about presidential elections, so keep that in mind when answering the questions:

1. Aaron Sorkin and James Toback worked without credit on the script of which election movie?

2. Name the movie this quote came from: “I’m not sure you can get AIDS by burning down your house, but I get your point.”

3. Allison Janney was offered the role of C.J. Cregg on The West Wing after Aaron Sorkin saw her in which election film?

4. Howard Stern was initially offered the lead role in a big-budget election movie but turned it down. What is the name of that movie?

5. In which election-themed movie did Thora Birch leave filming on her third day because of disagreements with the director?

6. Which movie featured Monty Python’s famous argument sketch as part of its presidential debate?

7. An election-themed movie featured Albanians as fictional enemies of the United States. What is the name of the movie?

8. Which movie features a small-time con man who gets elected to Congress because he has the same name as a congressman who just died?

9. Which satirical election movie was inspired by a Saturday Night Live sketch?

10. Which election movie featured two actors who both had played DC Comics superheroes in other movies?

Scroll down to see the answers.
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Answers

1. Aaron Sorkin and James Toback worked without credit on Warren Beatty’s Bulworth.

2. “I’m not sure you can get AIDS by burning down your house, but I get your point.” was said by Bulworth’s title character played by Warren Beatty.

3. Aaron Sorkin gave Allison Janney the role of CJ Cregg in The West Wing after seeing her play the minor role of Miss Walsh in Primary Colors.

4. Howard Stern turned down the lead role in Man of the Year because he already had a prior commitment to his satellite radio show. Robin Williams got the part instead.

5. Thora Birch walked off the set of Election, which starred Mathew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon.

6. Monty Python’s argument sketch was featured as part of the presidential debate in Head of State, starring Chris Rock and Bernie Mac.

7. Wag the Dog, starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert Dinero, featured Albanians as fictional enemies of America.

8. In The Distinguished Gentleman, Eddie Murphy stars as Thomas Jefferson Johnson, which is also the name of a fictional recently-deceased congressman.

9. Bob Roberts, starring Tim Robbins, was inspired by a Saturday Night Live sketch.

10. Speechless featured Christopher Reeve and Michael Keaton, who have both played superheroes. Christopher Reeve played Superman in multiple films and Michael Keaton played Batman in two movies.

Find our other movie trivia quizzes in the sidebar or visit the Tricky Movie Trivia site map.

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There are endless details to keep track of when filming a movie, so sometimes goofs happen. Below are some of the mistakes that happened while creating Enchanted, the charming Disney picture that is destined to become a classic. There also are some fun trivia facts about movie, which you can use to quiz your friends who are Enchanted fans.

Enchanted movie trivia

• One of the apartment doors in Robert’s (played by Patrick Dempsey) building is marked “714,” which is the area code for Orange County, California, the home of Disneyland.
• The green pepper slices on the pizza at the Italian restaurant and the bus driver’s hair are shaped shaped like Mickey Mouse ears.
• Giselle’s wedding dress weighed 45 pounds. Amy Adams had to be taught by a stunt double to move in the heavy gown.
• Enchanted was delivered to theaters with the fake name Radio to keep people from knowing what it was before it was released.
• Two of the male dancers in the park had previously worked together on 1961′s West Side Story and one of the dancers was a dancing chimney sweep in 1964′s Mary Poppins.

Enchanted movie goofs

• As Giselle (played by Amy Adams) and Robert sit and talk at a table in the Italian restaurant, Robert’s hair changes from shot to shot.
• Giselle takes a subway ride from Times Square to the Bowery, even though she doesn’t have any money. And Edward eats lunch in a deli, yet he doesn’t have any money either.
• Giselle makes herself a beautiful dress out of Robert’s curtains, yet the color of the fabric in the dress is different from the curtain fabric.
• Nathaniel (played by Timothy Spall) reaches his hand into boiling hot soup to pull out three poisoned apples, but he doesn’t appear to burn himself or feel any pain.
• When Giselle stands on “The Palace Casino” billboard, the billboard is dry, even though it just stopped raining a few minutes before.

You might also enjoy this trivia quiz about 2007 movies, which contains a trivia question about Enchanted.

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Image via Wikipedi

In the Good Old Summertime
1949
Starring Judy Garland, Van Johnson, Spring Byington and Buster Keaton
102 minutes

Memorable quote from the movie:
“Psychologically, I’m very confused, but personally I feel just wonderful.”

Summer School
1987
Starring Mark Harmon, Kirstie Alley and Courtney Thorne-Smith
97 minutes

Memorable quote from the movie:
“We just got lapped by an old lady in a walker.”

Summer of ’42
1971
Starring Jennifer O’Neill, Gary Grimes and Jerry Houser
103 minutes

Memorable quote from the movie:
“Nothing from that first day I saw her, and nothing that has happened to me since, has ever been as frightening and as confusing. For no person I’ve ever known has ever done more to make me feel more sure, more insecure, more important, and less significant.”

Summer Lovers
1982
Starring Peter Gallagher, Daryl Hannah and Valerie Quennessen
98 minutes

Image via WikipediaMemorable quote from the movie:
“Jealousy doesn’t show how much you love someone, it shows how insecure you are.”

One Crazy Summer
1986
Starring John Cusack, Demi Moore, Curtis Armstrong and Bob Goldthwait
89 minutes

Memorable quote from the movie:
(Reading the obituaries) “Hey, Hoops, you ever notice how people die in alphabetical order?”

My Summer of Love
2004
Starring Nathalie Press and Emily Blunt
86 minutes

Memorable quote from the movie:
“I’m gonna get a job in an abattoir, work really hard, get a boyfriend who’s like… a bastard, and churn out all these kids, right, with mental problems. And then I’m gonna wait for the menopause… or cancer.”

You might also enjoy these other Tricky Movie Trivia seasonal posts:

Easter Classic Movies Trivia Quiz
Movies About Moms for Mother’s Day
Irish Movies for St. Patrick’s Day
Memorial Day War Movies Trivia Quiz
Father’s Day Movie Trivia Quiz
Free Summer Clip Art

We honored Mom last month, now it’s time to send some appreciation in Dad’s direction for Fathers Day. The following tricky movie trivia questions will challenge your knowledge about dad movies, old and new. See how many you can get right!

1. Cary Grant turned down a starring role in what blockbuster 1964 movie so he could star in Father Goose?

2. Which famous comedian wanted the lead role of Stanley T. Banks in 1950′s Father of the Bride but was thought to be unsuitable by studio executives?

3. In 1991′s Father of the Bride, Steve Martin’s character George Banks says he doesn’t want his daughter’s wedding to bankrupt him and cause him to wander the streets in a bathrobe. That actually happens to a character Steve Martin played in another movie. What was that movie?

4. In which 2003 dad-related movie did the following exchange take place? (Big hint: It starred Eddie Murphy.)
Character #1: “Today we need some organization and planned activities.”
Character #2: “No. We need Ritalin and leashes, that’s what we need.”

5. Big Daddy (1991) features an action figure doll that was made up by Adam Sandler and modeled after a real action figure he had as a boy, named Diver Dan . What was the name of the fictional doll in the movie?

6. A major diaper company paid $50,000 to have their products mentioned in 3 Men and a Baby. What is the name of that company?

Scroll down to see the answers.

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Answers

1. Cary Grant turned down the role of Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady to star in Father Goose. He wanted Audrey Hepburn to play Catherine Freneau opposite him in Father Goose, but she was already committed to starring in My Fair Lady, so the part went to Leslie Caron.

2. Jack Benny wanted the lead role in the 1950 version of Father of the Bride, but the role went to Spencer Tracy instead.

3. Steve Martin wandered the streets in his bathrobe in 1979′s The Jerk.

4. That exchange was between the characters played by Eddie Murphy and Phil Garlin in Daddy Daycare.

5. Diver Dan’s fictional knock-off action figure was Scuba Steve.

6. Pampers paid $50,000 to have their diapers mentioned in 3 Men and a Baby.

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You might also enjoy these other Tricky Movie Trivia holiday-related posts:

Easter Classic Movies Trivia Quiz
Irish Movies for St. Patrick’s Day
Romantic Movies for Valentine’s Day
Memorial Day War Movies Trivia Quiz
Movies About Moms for Mother’s Day

I’m not usually a fan of shrill, but loud ex-showgirl Billy Dawn in the 1950 version of Born Yesterday is actually a joy to behold. In the deft hands of Judy Holliday, original playwright Garson Kanin and screenwriter Albert Mannheimer, Billy Dawn has depth that allows you to be patient with her decibel level — and even enjoy it.

In this Pygmalian-like story, Billy is the kept woman of rich man Harry Brock, played by Broderick Crawford. Both are fine with that arrangement until Harry’s business dealings as a well-to-do junk dealer take him to Washington so he can do a little influence peddling and buy a few national officials. As always, Billy comes along. But for the first time in their long relationship, she’s perceived as a liability because her lack of polish makes her stand out in stuffy Washington D.C.

Enter William Holden in the form of Paul Verrall, a newspaper reporter whom Harry hires to educate Billy and “smarten her up a little.” Engaging Verrall to spend so much time with Billy was a little like letting the fox into the hen house, because as a reporter he was well aware of Harry’s slimy reasons for being in Washington. But he doesn’t flat-out warn Billy about Harry. Instead, Billy sees the light for herself as the story unfolds. And that light does more than educate her about who she’s been living with; it shines on everyone around her and exposes their motives — for good or for bad.

There was a lot of controversy surrounding the casting of Born Yesterday. Although Holliday played the role for four years on Broadway to rave reviews, Columbia head Harry Cohn thought she was too fat for the movies. He tried to give the film role to Rita Hayworth but she knew it wasn’t right for her. Using the excuse that she wanted to spend time with her new husband Prince Aly Kahn, she turned it down. Cohn then tried to draft Celeste Holm, Lucille Ball, Marie McDonald, Shelly Winters, Evelyn Keyes, Paulette Goddard, Ida Lupino and Lana Turner but none of them were right for the job. In the end, he returned to Holliday and asked her to reprise the part she had already perfected on Broadway.

As a result of many years of embodying Billy Dawn, even Holliday’s most subtle movements are perfect: from the way she wiggled her pinky while tallying her cards after beating Harry at gin rummy, to the way she screamed, “W-h-a-a-a-a-a-a-t?” like a bleating goat across Harry’s expensive suite and to the duck noise she made that sounded completely natural, even though it was coming out of a beautiful woman’s mouth.

Image via Wikipedia

And Holliday wasn’t the only one who perfected her role. Director George Cukor actually had the actors rehearse the script like a play. They even gave six performances in front of live audiences so they could hone the timing of the jokes. This relentless pursuit of excellence resulted in Oscar nominations for Best Director, Best Writing, Screenplay, Best Picture and Best Costume Design, and a Best Actress Oscar and Golden Globe for Judy Holliday. Her win was quite a feat, because she was up against Anne Baxter and Bette Davis for All About Eve, Eleanor Parker for Caged and Gloria Swanson for Sunset Blvd.

Because the original version of Born Yesterday was crafted with such distinction, it was brave of Melanie Griffith to try to recreate the role of Billy Dawn in 1993. But to my surprise, Melanie carved out her own unique portayal, while managing to maintain the best aspects of the character Judy Holliday established. In my opinion, that makes both versions of Born Yesterday well worth the popcorn.

Other Tricky Movie Trivia classic movie reviews:
To Kill a Mockingbird
My Man Godfrey
Now, Voyager
The Enchanted Cottage
All About Eve