Can You Score 20/20? This Ultimate Western Movies Trivia Quiz Will Test Everything You Know!

Answers Below – No Peeking!

Think you’re a true Western fan? From John Ford classics to spaghetti shootouts and revisionist gems, this quiz dives deep into the genre’s iconic films, directors, and stars. Questions range from easy riders to tough draws – how many can you nail?

20 Trivia Questions on Western Films

Question 1: Who directed the Dollars Trilogy, including A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly?

A. John Ford
B. Howard Hawks
C. Sergio Leone
D. Sam Peckinpah

Question 2: In which year was John Ford’s breakthrough Western Stagecoach released?

A. 1935
B. 1941
C. 1939
D. 1945

Question 3: What is the name of the town where the main action unfolds in Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven?

A. Redemption
B. Big Whiskey
C. Lago
D. Absolution

Question 4: Which Western won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1931?

A. The Big Trail
B. Cimarron
C. Hell's Heroes
D. Billy the Kid

Question 5: Who played the villainous Liberty Valance in John Ford’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance?

A. Lee Marvin
B. Jack Palance
C. Robert Ryan
D. Burl Ives

Question 6: For which film did John Wayne win his only Academy Award for Best Actor?

A. The Searchers
B. Red River
C. True Grit
D. The Shootist

Question 7: In The Searchers, what is John Wayne’s character’s name?

A. Tom Dunson
B. Ethan Edwards
C. Rooster Cogburn
D. Ransom Stoddard

Question 8: Which director helmed the Western Rio Bravo starring John Wayne and Dean Martin?

A. Sergio Leone
B. John Ford
C. Howard Hawks
D. Fred Zinnemann

Question 9: In Once Upon a Time in the West, what instrument does Charles Bronson’s character play?

A. Guitar
B. Harmonica
C. Banjo
D. Jew's harp

Question 10: Who directed the ultra-violent Western The Wild Bunch released in 1969?

A. Sergio Corbucci
B. Sam Peckinpah
C. Don Siegel
D. Budd Boetticher

Question 11: The Magnificent Seven (1960) is a remake of which Akira Kurosawa film?

A. Rashomon
B. Seven Samurai
C. Yojimbo
D. Throne of Blood

Question 12: In which year was Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid released?

A. 1967
B. 1969
C. 1972
D. 1965

Question 13: What is the name of John Wayne’s cattle baron character in Howard Hawks’ Red River?

A. Ethan Edwards
B. Tom Dunson
C. Cole Thornton
D. Kirby York

Question 14: Which John Ford film depicts the story of Wyatt Earp and the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral?

A. My Darling Clementine
B. Fort Apache
C. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
D. Wagon Master

Question 15: In which year was the original 3:10 to Yuma starring Glenn Ford released?

A. 1955
B. 1957
C. 1960
D. 1953

Question 16: Who played Wyatt Earp in My Darling Clementine?

A. James Stewart
B. Henry Fonda
C. Burt Lancaster
D. Kirk Douglas

Question 17: What is the runtime of Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West (international version)?

A. 145 minutes
B. 165 minutes
C. 175 minutes
D. 155 minutes

Question 18: In High Noon, what time does the train arrive with the Miller gang?

A. Noon
B. 10 a.m.
C. 2 p.m.
D. Dawn

Question 19: Which actor played both Rooster Cogburn in the original True Grit and its sequel Rooster Cogburn?

A. Warren Oates
B. John Wayne
C. Glen Campbell
D. Kim Darby

Question 20: Who directed No Country for Old Men, a modern neo-Western that won Best Picture?

A. Sam Mendes
B. Paul Thomas Anderson
C. Joel Coen
D. Taylor Sheridan

Answers

  1. C. Sergio Leone – He directed all three films in the Dollars Trilogy starring Clint Eastwood; Ford, Hawks, and Peckinpah made other notable Westerns but not this series.
  2. C. 1939 – Stagecoach was released on 15 March 1939, launching John Wayne to stardom; the other years feature different Ford or Wayne films.
  3. B. Big Whiskey – The sheriff’s jurisdiction is Big Whiskey, Wyoming, in the 1992 Oscar-winning film; the others are towns from other Eastwood Westerns.
  4. B. Cimarron – It won Best Picture at the 4th Academy Awards for its 1930/31 release; the others are early talkie Westerns that were nominated but didn’t win.
  5. A. Lee Marvin – Marvin’s menacing portrayal earned an Oscar nomination; Palance was in Shane, Ryan in The Wild Bunch, and Ives the judge in the same film.
  6. C. True Grit – Wayne won Best Actor in 1970 for the 1969 film; he was nominated for the others but didn’t win.
  7. B. Ethan Edwards – Wayne’s obsessive uncle searches for his niece in the 1956 film; the others are his characters from different Westerns.
  8. C. Howard Hawks – The 1959 film co-stars Ricky Nelson; Leone did spaghetti Westerns, Ford Monument Valley epics, and Zinnemann High Noon.
  9. B. Harmonica – The opening credits feature Bronson’s character playing it; the others are instruments from different Leone films or Western tropes.
  10. B. Sam Peckinpah – His 1969 film redefined the genre with slow-motion violence; the others directed different gritty Westerns.
  11. B. Seven Samurai – The 1960 Steve McQueen/Yul Brynner film directly adapts Kurosawa’s 1954 classic; the others are unrelated samurai tales.
  12. B. 1969 – Starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, it won multiple Oscars; the other years are close but for different buddy Westerns.
  13. B. Tom Dunson – He leads a cattle drive in the 1948 film; the others are Wayne roles from The Searchers, Rio Bravo, and Rio Grande.
  14. A. My Darling Clementine – The 1946 film stars Henry Fonda as Earp; the others are Ford cavalry Westerns without the O.K. Corral focus.
  15. B. 1957 – Directed by Delmer Daves, it stars Glenn Ford and Van Heflin; the 2007 remake is later, and others are nearby years for similar films.
  16. B. Henry Fonda – Fonda’s thoughtful Earp is iconic in the 1946 Ford film; Stewart was in Broken Arrow, Lancaster/Douglas in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
  17. B. 165 minutes – The 1968 international cut runs 165-175 minutes depending on version; U.S. cuts were shorter at around 145.
  18. A. Noon – The real-time tension builds to the noon train arrival in the 1952 film; the other times don’t match the plot.
  19. B. John Wayne – He reprised the role opposite Katharine Hepburn in 1975; Oates played him later in a TV version.
  20. C. Joel Coen – The Coen Brothers’ 2007 adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel won Best Picture; the others directed acclaimed but non-winning neo-Westerns.

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