Can You Score 20/20? This Western Movie Quiz Gets Progressively Harder!

Answers Below – No Peeking!

Saddle up for this thrilling Western movie trivia quiz! Questions start with easy classics and ramp up to expert-level challenges spanning decades of cowboy lore. Think you can rope in a perfect score?

20 Trivia Questions on Western Movies

Question 1: Which actor starred in over 80 Western films, more than any other?

A. Gary Cooper
B. James Stewart
C. John Wayne
D. Clint Eastwood

Question 2: Who directed the groundbreaking Western Stagecoach (1939)?

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

Question 3: In what year was High Noon released?

A. 1952
B. 1960
C. 1948
D. 1970

Question 4: Who played the Man with No Name in Sergio Leone’s Dollars Trilogy?

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

Question 5: Which 1960 film was a Western remake of Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai?

A. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
B. A Fistful of Dollars
C. The Magnificent Seven
D. For a Few Dollars More

Question 6: Who directed and starred in Unforgiven (1992)?

A. Kevin Costner
B. Sergio Leone
C. John Wayne
D. Clint Eastwood

Question 7: The Searchers (1956) stars John Wayne alongside which actor as his nephew?

A. Montgomery Clift
B. Dean Martin
C. Jeffrey Hunter
D. James Arness

Question 8: Who directed Rio Bravo (1959), featuring John Wayne and Dean Martin?

A. John Ford
B. Anthony Mann
C. Howard Hawks
D. Budd Boetticher

Question 9: Shane (1953) ends with the cry “Shane! Come back!” from which character?

A. Marian Starrett
B. Chris Calloway
C. Torrey
D. Joey Starrett

Question 10: What is The Wild Bunch (1969) most notorious for pioneering in Westerns?

A. Slow-motion shootouts
B. Graphic violence
C. Epic cattle drives
D. Harmonica duels

Question 11: Which Kevin Costner film was the first Western to win Best Picture at the Oscars?

A. Unforgiven
B. True Grit
C. Dances with Wolves
D. Open Range

Question 12: Who played Rooster Cogburn in the original True Grit (1969)?

A. Jeff Bridges
B. Glen Campbell
C. Kim Darby
D. John Wayne

Question 13: Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) features Henry Fonda as which villain?

A. Cheyenne
B. Harmonica
C. Frank
D. Jill McBain

Question 14: Who composed the iconic score for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)?

A. Elmer Bernstein
B. John Williams
C. Jerry Goldsmith
D. Ennio Morricone

Question 15: Red River (1948) stars John Wayne as which cattle baron?

A. Matt Garth
B. Groot
C. Cherry Valance
D. Thomas Dunson

Question 16: Who directed The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)?

A. Andrew Dominik
B. Sam Mendes
C. David Fincher
D. Scott Cooper

Question 17: My Darling Clementine (1946) dramatises which historical event?

A. The Battle of Little Bighorn
B. Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
C. Lincoln’s assassination
D. The Pony Express

Question 18: Which Anthony Mann Western stars Jimmy Stewart as a gun for hire?

A. Winchester ’73
B. The Far Country
C. The Naked Spur
D. Bend of the River

Question 19: Heaven’s Gate (1980), a notorious box-office bomb, was directed by whom?

A. Francis Ford Coppola
B. Michael Cimino
C. Warren Beatty
D. Robert Altman

Question 20: Which was the very first Western to win the Academy Award for Best Picture?

A. Dances with Wolves (1990)
B. Cimarron (1931)
C. Unforgiven (1992)
D. No Country for Old Men (2007)

Answers

  1. C. John Wayne – He appeared in over 80 Westerns, including Stagecoach and The Searchers; the others starred in far fewer.
  2. C. John Ford – Ford’s Stagecoach (1939) launched John Wayne to stardom; the others directed later or different styles.
  3. A. 1952 – High Noon premiered in 1952, winning Gary Cooper an Oscar; other years are for different classics.
  4. D. Clint Eastwood – Eastwood defined the role in Leone’s trilogy (1964–1966); others played supporting parts.
  5. C. The Magnificent Seven – Directed by John Sturges in 1960, it remade Kurosawa’s film; others are Leone’s Dollars series.
  6. D. Clint Eastwood – Eastwood directed and starred as William Munny in the 1992 Oscar-winner; others are unrelated.
  7. C. Jeffrey Hunter – Hunter played Martin Pawley, Wayne’s nephew in John Ford’s The Searchers; others appeared in different Wayne films.
  8. C. Howard Hawks – Hawks helmed the 1959 ensemble Western with Wayne, Martin, and Angie Dickinson; Ford directed earlier works.
  9. D. Joey Starrett – The boy Joey (Brandon deWilde) yells the line in Shane; others are adult characters.
  10. B. Graphic violence – Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch revolutionised Westerns with its bloody realism in 1969.
  11. C. Dances with Wolves – Costner’s 1990 directorial debut won Best Picture; the others won different awards.
  12. D. John Wayne – Wayne won his sole acting Oscar as Cogburn in 1969; Bridges remade it in 2010.
  13. C. Frank – Fonda’s chilling Frank kills the McBain family; Cheyenne and Harmonica are anti-heroes, Jill the widow.
  14. D. Ennio Morricone – Morricone scored Leone’s 1966 epic; the others composed for later Hollywood Westerns.
  15. D. Thomas Dunson – Wayne’s ruthless Dunson clashes with son Matt (Montgomery Clift) in Howard Hawks’ film.
  16. A. Andrew Dominik – Dominik directed the 2007 slow-burn Western starring Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck.
  17. B. Gunfight at the O.K. Corral – John Ford’s film stars Henry Fonda as Wyatt Earp in the 1946 classic.
  18. A. Winchester ’73 – Mann’s 1950 film launched their acclaimed Stewart collaborations; others are later Mann/Stewart works.
  19. B. Michael Cimino – Cimino’s epic Heaven’s Gate infamously overran budgets, damaging United Artists.
  20. B. Cimarron (1931) – RKO’s adaptation of Edna Ferber’s novel was the first Western Best Picture winner; others came later.

How many did you get right? Share your score in the comments below and challenge your friends to this progressively tougher Western showdown!