Can You Score 20/20? Ultimate Detective Movie Trivia Quiz – Only True Fans Will Pass!

Answers Below – No Peeking!

Think you’re a master of detective movies? From film noir classics to modern thrillers, this quiz will test your knowledge of iconic gumshoes, hardboiled PIs, and clever sleuths. Questions range from easy warm-ups to fiendishly tough challenges – good luck scoring a perfect 20!

20 Trivia Questions on Detective Movies

Question 1: In which 1941 film did Humphrey Bogart first portray the hardboiled detective Sam Spade?

A. The Big Sleep
B. Casablanca
C. The Maltese Falcon
D. Key Largo

Question 2: Who directed the 1974 neo-noir masterpiece Chinatown?

A. Martin Scorsese
B. Francis Ford Coppola
C. Roman Polanski
D. Robert Altman

Question 3: What is Jack Nicholson’s character’s full name in Chinatown?

A. Jake Gittes
B. Jack Gittes
C. J.J. Gittes
D. John Gittes

Question 4: In Se7en (1995), which two actors play the lead detectives?

A. Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe
B. Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman
C. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones
D. Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo

Question 5: David Fincher’s Zodiac (2007) chronicles the real-life investigation into which serial killer?

A. The Black Dahlia killer
B. Jack the Ripper
C. The Zodiac Killer
D. Son of Sam

Question 6: Who directed the 1997 Best Picture nominee L.A. Confidential?

A. Curtis Hanson
B. Michael Mann
C. David Fincher
D. Ridley Scott

Question 7: Humphrey Bogart plays private detective Philip Marlowe in which 1946 film?

A. The Maltese Falcon
B. The Big Sleep
C. Farewell, My Lovely
D. Kiss Me Deadly

Question 8: Orson Welles plays corrupt detective Hank Quinlan in which 1958 film noir?

A. The Third Man
B. Touch of Evil
C. Strangers on a Train
D. Shadow of a Doubt

Question 9: Who portrayed Hercule Poirot in the 1974 adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express?

A. Peter Ustinov
B. Albert Finney
C. Kenneth Branagh
D. David Suchet

Question 10: Guy Ritchie’s 2009 action take on Sherlock Holmes stars which actor as the titular detective?

A. Benedict Cumberbatch
B. Robert Downey Jr.
C. Ian McKellen
D. Basil Rathbone

Question 11: In Knives Out (2019), Daniel Craig plays which eccentric detective?

A. Harlan Thrombey
B. Benoit Blanc
C. Ransom Drysdale
D. Lieutenant Elliott

Question 12: Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe star as mismatched investigators in which 2016 neo-noir comedy?

A. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
B. The Nice Guys
C. In Bruges
D. 7 Psychopaths

Question 13: Rian Johnson’s 2005 high school noir Brick stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a teen detective. What is his character’s name?

A. Brendan Frye
B. The Pin
C. Dode
D. Tara

Question 14: Val Kilmer plays the PI nicknamed “Gay Perry” in which 2005 Shane Black film?

A. L.A. Confidential
B. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
C. The Nice Guys
D. Inherent Vice

Question 15: Sean Connery stars as Franciscan friar and detective William of Baskerville in which 1986 film?

A. The Name of the Rose
B. Brother Cadfael
C. The Da Vinci Code
D. Angels & Demons

Question 16: Sidney Poitier plays Philadelphia detective Virgil Tibbs in which 1967 Best Picture winner?

A. In the Heat of the Night
B. Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
C. To Sir, with Love
D. Lilies of the Field

Question 17: William Powell and Myrna Loy play husband-and-wife detectives Nick and Nora Charles in which 1934 comedy-mystery?

A. After the Thin Man
B. The Thin Man
C. Shadow of the Thin Man
D. Song of the Thin Man

Question 18: Robert Mitchum portrays Philip Marlowe in the 1975 adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s Farewell, My Lovely. Who directed it?

A. Howard Hawks
B. Dick Richards
C. Robert Altman
D. John Huston

Question 19: Norman Jewison directed the 1967 film In the Heat of the Night. Who plays the Southern sheriff opposite Poitier’s detective?

A. Rod Steiger
B. Warren Oates
C. Lee Marvin
D. Steve McQueen

Question 20: In which 1935 film did Basil Rathbone first play Sherlock Holmes on screen?

A. The Hound of the Baskervilles
B. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
C. Pursuit to Algiers
D. The Scarlet Claw

Answers

  1. C. The Maltese Falcon – Bogart’s iconic Sam Spade debut was in John Huston’s 1941 adaptation of Dashiell Hammett’s novel; The Big Sleep (1946) was his later Marlowe role, while the others are non-detective films.
  2. C. Roman Polanski – Polanski helmed the script by Robert Towne, earning Chinatown its status as a neo-noir landmark; the others directed different 1970s classics like Taxi Driver or The Godfather.
  3. C. J.J. Gittes – Nicholson’s private eye is formally J.J. “Jake” Gittes in the film; the others are partial or incorrect variations.
  4. B. Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman – Pitt as eager Detective Mills and Freeman as veteran Somerset hunt the killer in Fincher’s thriller; the pairs are from Men in Black, Training Day, and Shutter Island.
  5. C. The Zodiac Killer – The film depicts the 1960s-70s San Francisco murders unsolved to this day; the others are different infamous cases covered in films like Zodiac contemporaries.
  6. A. Curtis Hanson – Hanson co-wrote and directed the James Ellroy adaptation, earning Oscars; Fincher did Se7en and Zodiac, Mann Heat.
  7. B. The Big Sleep – Howard Hawks’ adaptation stars Bogart as Chandler’s Marlowe; Maltese Falcon was Spade, the others feature different PIs.
  8. B. Touch of Evil – Welles wrote, directed, and starred in this border-town noir; the Hitchcock films feature other investigators.
  9. B. Albert Finney – Finney’s Poirot leads the all-star cast in Sidney Lumet’s Agatha Christie adaptation; Ustinov did later films, Branagh the 2017 remake.
  10. B. Robert Downey Jr. – Downey Jr. revitalised Holmes with Ritchie’s steampunk flair; Cumberbatch is BBC’s Sherlock, others classic portrayers.
  11. B. Benoit Blanc – Craig’s Southern drawl detective unravels the Thrombey family mystery; others are suspects or family members.
  12. B. The Nice Guys – Shane Black’s 1970s LA buddy comedy pairs bumbling Holland March (Gosling) with enforcer Jackson Healy (Crowe); others are similar Black or McDonagh films.
  13. A. Brendan Frye – Gordon-Levitt’s loner investigates his ex’s death in Johnson’s Chandler-inspired tale; others are villains or victims.
  14. B. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang – Black’s meta-noir has Kilmer as Perry alongside Downey Jr.’s thief-turned-actor; the others are different LA detective stories.
  15. A. The Name of the Rose – Connery solves medieval murders based on Umberto Eco’s novel; the others feature different sleuths like Cadfael or Langdon.
  16. A. In the Heat of the Night – Poitier’s cool Tibbs clashes with Steiger’s Gillespie in the racially tense Oscar-winner; the others are Poitier’s non-detective roles.
  17. B. The Thin Man – W.S. Van Dyke’s screwball hit launched the series with Powell and Loy’s witty Charles duo; the others are sequels.
  18. B. Dick Richards – Richards directed Mitchum’s velvet-voiced Marlowe searching for Velma; Hawks did Big Sleep, others Chandler adaptations.
  19. A. Rod Steiger – Steiger won Supporting Actor as racist Sheriff Gillespie partnering with Poitier’s Tibbs; the others are action stars of the era.
  20. B. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Rathbone’s second Holmes film (after Hound re-release) was his first new 1939 outing with Nigel Bruce as Watson; the others are later Universal entries.

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