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About This Quiz
The mafia, with all its violence and villains, is one of the silver screen's favorite subjects. Test your knowledge of cement shoes and tommy guns.
The movie "Goodfellas" was based on the novel "Wise Guys" by what author?
Mario Puzo
Henry Hill
Nicholas Pileggi
Puzo was a pretty good guess, but "Wise Guys" and the screenplay for "Goodfellas" was written by Nicholas Pileggi.
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Which supporting actor from the movie "Bugsy" actually played gangster Bugsy Seigel in an earlier TV movie?
Elliot Gould
Joe Mantegna
Harvey Keitel
In the 1974 TV movie "The Virginia Hill Story," character actor Harvey Keitel played gangster Bugsy Seigel.
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True or False: "The Godfather" was nominated for more than 10 Academy Awards.
TRUE
FALSE
If you're up on your Oscar history, you know that "The Godfather" was nominated for exactly 10 Academy Awards.
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In the movie "The Untouchables," actor Sean Connery, as Jim Malone, tells Kevin Costner's Eliot Ness that if Al Capone "sends one of yours to the hospital, send one of his to" what place?
"the cemetery"
"the morgue"
In one of the classic lines of the movie, Connery instructs Costner to send Capone's men to "the morgue."
"the afterlife"
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The movie "Donnie Brasco" was based on the life of what undercover FBI agent?
Joe Pistone
Donnie Brasco was the name that real-life undercover agent Joe Pistone used to infiltrate the mob.
Donnie Brasco
Henry Hill
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Which legendary film producer famously butted heads with director Francis Ford Coppola during the making of "The Cotton Club."
Saul Zaentz
Agostino 'Dino' De Laurentis
Robert Evans
All three are legends, but Robert Evans was the kid who stayed in the picture when he produced "The Cotton Club"?
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True or False: Mob movie "Once Upon a Time in America" was directed by a man most well-known for his Westerns.
TRUE
True. Director Sergio Leone was most well-known for Clint Eastwood Westerns like "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" and "A Fistful of Dollars."
FALSE
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What mafia movie is noted for using the "F" word more than 420 times?
"Donnie Brasco"
"Casino"
All mafia movies have their fair share of cursing, but "Casino" takes the cake with a total of 422 uses of the "F" word alone.
"Goodfellas"
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In 1946, mobster Bugsy Seigel opened what famous casino, helping to kick start the now famous Las Vegas strip?
Flamingo Hilton
Bugsy was noted for getting the casino business going in Las Vegas by opening the historic Flamingo Hilton.
The Sahara
The Last Frontier
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In "The Godfather" movie, the fictional character Jack Woltz awakes to find what gruesome item in his bed?
A horse's head
When producer Woltz refuses to cast Don Corleone's godson Johnny Fontane in his new film, he finds the head of his prized race horse in his bed.
A severed hand
The five fingers of his brother
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During prep for "Once Upon a Time in America," actor Robert De Niro requested a meeting with what real-life gangster?
Lucky Luciano
Bugsy Siegel
Meyer Lanksy
De Niro made a request, but was rebuffed for a meeting with legendary gangster Meyer Lansky.
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What is the highest grossing mafia movie of all time?
"Goodfellas"
"The Godfather"
Mafia movies are noted for their modest box office numbers, except for "The Godfather," which raked in more than $130 million in 1972, far higher than any other mafia movie.
"The Godfather Part II"
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What gangster was the underboss to Lucky Luciano in the 1997 mobster movie "Hoodlum"?
Meyer Lansky
Dutch Schultz
Actor Tim Roth played underboss Dutch Shultz to Andy Garcia's Lucky Luciano.
Monk Eastman
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Director Martin Scorsese was known for his take on Italian mobsters until he broke the mold with his depiction of tough guys of what heritage in "The Departed"?
Greek
American
Irish
After making movies about Italian mobsters in New York, Scorsese went in another direction when he featured Irish gangsters in Boston in the 2006 film "The Departed."
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The famous diner scene at the end of "Goodfellas" features a meeting between Jimmy Conway and Henry Hill. What noted camera trick does director Martin Scorsese employ in this scene?
The "dutch angle"
The "swing and tilt"
The "vertigo shot"
Sometimes called the "dolly zoom," director Alfred Hitchcock made this camera trick famous in his movie "Vertigo."
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In "Goodfellas," gangster Henry Hill eventually winds up ...
Buried in a shallow grave in the desert
In the witness relocation program
The last shot of "Goodfellas" famously depicts gangster Henry Hill living an average, ordinary life in the witness relocation program.
Working as an undercover police officer
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As diction practice, Bugsy Seigel repeats what tongue twister throughout the movie "Bugsy"?
Twenty dwarves took turns doing handstands on the carpet
In his bid to become an actor, Warren Betty's Bugsy Seigel repeats the "20 dwarves" line to himself as a diction exercise.
Rubber baby buggy bumpers
Beckoned Becky, boasted Bobby, believed babbling Brooke
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In "Goodfellas," what slight variation of the name "Henry" does Tommy DeVito use for his best friend Henry Hill?
Henrietta
Hendry
A young Tommy DeVito repeatedly refers to Henry Hill as "Hendry."
Henny Youngman
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Which two actors played the same role over the course of the first two "Godfather" movies?
Al Pacino and Robert De Niro
Marlon Brando and Al Pacino
Robert De Niro and Marlon Brando
De Niro played the younger version of Brando's Vito Corleone in "The Godfather Part II."
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True or False: Joe Pesci's character Tommy callously shoots a bartender named Spider in the arm for no good reason in the movie "Goodfellas."
TRUE
FALSE
This one may have tripped you up. Tommy does shoot Spider for no good reason, but the wound is in the foot.
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How does Brando's Vito Corleone finally die in "The Godfather"?
Of a heart attack while playing with his grandson
In one of the more human scenes in the film, Brando dies of a heart attack in the garden, while playing with his grandson.
In a hail of gunfire in a drive-by shooting
Quietly in bed, surrounded by his underbosses
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The David Cronenberg movie "Eastern Promises" featured the Russian mafia and a famous fight scene that takes place where?
Backstage of a Yakov Smirnoff show
Red Square
Russian bath house
Mentioned once on SYSK, the very uncomfortable fight scene in "Eastern Promises" is set inside a Russian bath house.
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What fictional casino is the setting for Martin Scorsese's movie "Casino"?
The Tangiers
The other two are pretty good casino names, but "The Tangiers" is what Scorsese used as his fictional backdrop for "Casino."
The Vegas Star
The Oasis
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What award winning E.L. Doctrow novel about a young man who becomes a surrogate son to gangster Dutch Schultz was made into a movie in 1991?
"Mobsters"
"Ragtime"
"Billy Bathgate"
Doctrow did write "Ragtime," and "Mobsters" was released in 1991, but it was "Billy Bathgate" that fits the bill for this one.
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Actress Winona Ryder was set to play Michael Corleone's daughter in "The Godfather Part III" before she dropped out for what other movie?
"Edward Scissorhands"
Ryder was the first choice by director Francis Ford Coppola. It was only after she took the role for Tim Burton's "Edward Scissorhands" that he turned to his own daughter Sofia.
"Mermaids"
"Heathers"
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What African-American actor has appeared in two noteworthy mobster movies?
Gregory Hines
Laurence Fishburne
Laurence Fishburne appeared in both "The Cotton Club" and "Hoodlum."
Novella Nelson
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How did the following famous line from "The Godfather" finish? "I'm going to make him an offer..."
"... he won't dare say no to."
"... he'll refuse to agree to."
"... he can't refuse."
The line "I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse" was voted as the second most famous line in film history by The American Film Institute.
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Who plays the role of Tommy's mother in "Goodfellas"?
Joe Pesci's mother
Martin Scorsese's mother
Director Martin Scorcese would often cast his own mother in bit parts.
Robert De Niro's aunt
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Many famous actors failed to get the part of Eliot Ness in "The Untouchables," but only one was offered the part and refused. Who was he?
Don Johnson
Michael Douglas
Harrison Ford
Johnson and Douglas actually tried out for Costner's part, but were shot down by director Brian De Palma. Harrison Ford was offered the part and refused it.
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The famous mouthpiece made by a Los Angeles dentist was used by Marlon Brando in "The Godfather" so his character would appear what?
as if he were a bulldog
Brando famously stuffed cotton in his cheeks for the audition to appear as if he were a bulldog. Coppola loved the idea and commissioned a dentist to make a removable mouthpiece to puff out Brando's jowls.
that speaking caused physical discomfort
that he was tired and overworked
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You Got:
/30
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