Can You Score 20/20? The Most Epic Western Movie Trivia Quiz Ever Made!

Answers Below – No Peeking!

Saddle up for the ultimate test of your Western movie knowledge! From timeless John Ford classics to gritty modern masterpieces, this 20-question quiz mixes easy riders with tough trails to challenge even the most devoted fans of the genre.

20 Trivia Questions on Epic Western Movies

Question 1: Which John Ford film launched John Wayne to stardom in 1939?

A. The Searchers
B. Red River
C. Stagecoach
D. Rio Grande

Question 2: Who directed the 1956 epic The Searchers starring John Wayne?

A. Howard Hawks
B. Sergio Leone
C. John Sturges
D. John Ford

Question 3: Ennio Morricone composed the iconic score for which Sergio Leone Western?

A. A Fistful of Dollars
B. For a Few Dollars More
C. Duck, You Sucker!
D. Once Upon a Time in the West

Question 4: Who played Tuco, “The Ugly”, in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)?

A. Lee Van Cleef
B. Clint Eastwood
C. Henry Fonda
D. Eli Wallach

Question 5: Which 1952 Western stars Gary Cooper as a marshal facing a noon showdown?

A. Shane
B. High Noon
C. Winchester ’73
D. The Gunfighter

Question 6: Alan Ladd stars as a mysterious gunslinger in which 1953 classic?

A. 3:10 to Yuma
B. Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
C. Shane
D. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Question 7: John Wayne won a Best Actor Oscar for playing which character in True Grit (1969)?

A. LaBoeuf
B. Rooster Cogburn
C. Tom Chaney
D. Lucky Ned Pepper

Question 8: Who directed and starred in the 1992 Best Picture winner Unforgiven?

A. Gene Hackman
B. Morgan Freeman
C. Richard Harris
D. Clint Eastwood

Question 9: The Magnificent Seven (1960) is a remake of which Akira Kurosawa film?

A. Rashomon
B. Seven Samurai
C. Yojimbo
D. Sanjuro

Question 10: Which pair of actors star as outlaws in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)?

A. Clint Eastwood and Eli Wallach
B. Paul Newman and Robert Redford
C. John Wayne and James Stewart
D. Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas

Question 11: Kevin Costner directed and starred in which 1990 Best Picture-winning Western?

A. Unforgiven
B. Dances with Wolves
C. True Grit
D. The Quick and the Dead

Question 12: Sam Peckinpah directed the ultra-violent 1969 Western The Wild Bunch. True or part of its plot?

A. Stars John Wayne as the leader
B. Features a slow-motion shootout at the end
C. Set entirely in Mexico
D. Won Best Picture Oscar

Question 13: Which John Ford film depicts the famous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral?

A. My Darling Clementine
B. Fort Apache
C. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
D. Wings of Eagles

Question 14: Glenn Ford stars alongside Van Heflin in the original 3:10 to Yuma (1957). Who directed it?

A. Delmer Daves
B. Budd Boetticher
C. Anthony Mann
D. Raoul Walsh

Question 15: Who composed the harmonica-driven theme for Once Upon a Time in the West?

A. Clint Eastwood
B> Henry Fonda
C. Charles Bronson
D. Franco De Gemini (uncredited)

Question 16: Quentin Tarantino directed which 2012 Western starring Jamie Foxx as Django?

A. The Hateful Eight
B. Django Unchained
C. Inglourious Basterds
D. Jackie Brown

Question 17: Howard Hawks’ Rio Bravo (1959) co-stars John Wayne with which singer?

A. Johnny Cash
B. Dean Martin
C. Ricky Nelson
D. Both B and C

Question 18: Which Coen Brothers film won Best Picture for its modern Western tale in 2007?

A. True Grit
B. No Country for Old Men
C. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
D. Hail, Caesar!

Question 19: Jane Campion won Best Director for which 2021 Netflix Western?

A. The Power of the Dog
B. News of the World
C. Hostiles
D. Bones and All

Question 20: In Red River (1948), John Wayne plays a cattle driver clashing with his adopted son played by whom?

A. Montgomery Clift
B. James Stewart
C. Robert Mitchum
D. Ward Bond

Answers

  1. C. Stagecoach – John Ford’s 1939 film featured Wayne as the Ringo Kid, propelling him to stardom; the others are later Wayne films.
  2. D. John Ford – The legendary director helmed this Monument Valley-shot masterpiece about obsession and revenge.
  3. D. Once Upon a Time in the West – Morricone’s score, with its haunting harmonica, is one of cinema’s greatest; he scored Leone’s Dollars Trilogy too but this is distinct.
  4. D. Eli Wallach – Wallach’s manic performance as Tuco Benedicto Pacifico Juan Maria Ramirez perfectly embodies “The Ugly”.
  5. B. High Noon – Directed by Fred Zinnemann, it features real-time tension as Cooper’s marshal awaits outlaws at noon.
  6. C. Shane – Ladd’s enigmatic stranger becomes a hero in George Stevens’ poignant tale of the vanishing frontier.
  7. B. Rooster Cogburn – Wayne’s grizzled U.S. Marshal earned him his sole competitive Oscar.
  8. D. Clint Eastwood – Eastwood’s final Western role as an aging gunslinger won him Best Picture and Director Oscars.
  9. B. Seven Samurai – John Sturges’ 1960 remake transplants Kurosawa’s story to the American West with Yul Brynner leading the gunslingers.
  10. B. Paul Newman and Robert Redford – Their chemistry as charming outlaws made the film a box-office smash and enduring classic.
  11. B. Dances with Wolves – Costner’s directorial debut swept the Oscars, including Best Picture, for its sympathetic Native American portrayal.
  12. B. Features a slow-motion shootout at the end – Peckinpah’s innovative violence defined the film; Wayne was not in it, it’s partly set in Mexico but not entirely, and it wasn’t nominated for Best Picture.
  13. A. My Darling Clementine – Ford’s 1946 film stars Henry Fonda as Wyatt Earp in a poetic take on the historic event.
  14. A. Delmer Daves – The tense psychological drama was remade in 2007 with Russell Crowe and Christian Bale.
  15. D. Franco De Gemini (uncredited) – The harmonica soloist on Morricone’s theme was De Gemini, mimicking a young Eastwood’s style.
  16. B. Django Unchained – Tarantino’s bloody spaghetti Western homage won Christoph Waltz an Oscar.
  17. D. Both B and C – Dean Martin plays the drunk Dude, Ricky Nelson the young Colorado in Hawks’ riposte to High Noon.
  18. B. No Country for Old Men – The bleak adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel triumphed at the Oscars with Javier Bardem’s chilling Anton Chigurh.
  19. A. The Power of the Dog – Campion’s psychological drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch made history as the first woman to win Best Director in 29 years.
  20. A. Montgomery Clift – Clift’s intense performance as Matt Garth opposite Wayne’s Thomas Dunson in Hawks’ epic cattle drive.

How many did you get right, partner? Drop your score in the comments below and challenge your friends to this epic Western showdown!