Can You Survive These Killer Western Movie Questions?

Answers Below – No Peeking!

Think you’re a true fan of the Wild West on screen? Test your mettle with these 20 killer trivia questions on iconic Western movies, spanning classics from John Ford to Sergio Leone. From easy warm-ups to devilishly tough ones, see if you can ride through unscathed!

20 Trivia Questions on Killer Western Movies

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. Sam Peckinpah
B. Clint Eastwood
C. Sergio Leone
D. John Sturges

Question 2: In High Noon (1952), what is the name of the marshal played by Gary Cooper?

A. Marshal Dillon
B. Will Kane
C. Rooster Cogburn
D. Wyatt Earp

Question 3: Which film is The Magnificent Seven (1960) a remake of?

A. Rashomon
B. Yojimbo
C. Seven Samurai
D. The Hidden Fortress

Question 4: For which Western did John Wayne win his only Academy Award for Best Actor?

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

Question 5: In Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), what instrument does Charles Bronson’s character play?

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

Question 6: Which 1992 Western won the Academy Award for Best Picture?

A. Tombstone
B. Unforgiven
C. Geronimo: An American Legend
D. Wyatt Earp

Question 7: What 1939 John Ford film launched John Wayne to stardom?

A. The Searchers
B. My Darling Clementine
C. Stagecoach
D. Rio Grande

Question 8: Who stars as the titular character in Shane (1953)?

A. James Stewart
B. Alan Ladd
C. Gregory Peck
D. Kirk Douglas

Question 9: In Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), who plays Butch Cassidy?

A. Robert Redford
B. Paul Newman
C. Steve McQueen
D. Warren Beatty

Question 10: Who directed and starred in Dances with Wolves (1990)?

A. Kevin Costner
B. Tommy Lee Jones
C. Jeff Bridges
D. Kurt Russell

Question 11: What is the name of Clint Eastwood’s preacher character in Pale Rider (1985)?

A. The Stranger
B. The Preacher
C. The Gunslinger
D. The Outlaw

Question 12: Who directed The Wild Bunch (1969)?

A. Sergio Leone
B. Sam Peckinpah
C. Don Siegel
D. Michael Winner

Question 13: A Fistful of Dollars (1964) is a remake of which Akira Kurosawa film?

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

Question 14: In The Searchers (1956), what is John Wayne’s character’s name?

A. Ethan Edwards
B. Tom Doniphon
C. Ransom Stoddard
D. Liberty Valance

Question 15: Who plays the villain Frank in Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)?

A. Lee Van Cleef
B. Charles Bronson
C. Henry Fonda
D. Jack Elam

Question 16: Which Howard Hawks film stars John Wayne and Dean Martin?

A. Red River
B. Rio Bravo
C. El Dorado
D. Hatari!

Question 17: What is the release year of For a Few Dollars More?

A. 1964
B. 1965
C. 1966
D. 1967

Question 18: In True Grit (1969), what does Rooster Cogburn lose in his eye?

A. Nothing – both eyes work
B. Patch over left
C. Glass eye
D. Blind in right

Question 19: Who composed the score for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly?

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

Question 20: The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) was directed by whom?

A. Sergio Leone
B. Sam Peckinpah
C. Clint Eastwood
D. John Milius

Answers

  1. C. Sergio Leone – He directed all three films in the Dollars Trilogy (1964–1966) starring Clint Eastwood; Peckinpah did violent Westerns like The Wild Bunch, Sturges did The Magnificent Seven, Eastwood acted and later directed.
  2. B. Will Kane – Gary Cooper’s marshal waits alone for outlaws in real-time; others are from Gunsmoke, True Grit, and historical figures.
  3. C. Seven Samurai – John Sturges’ 1960 remake stars Yul Brynner and features Steve McQueen; Yojimbo inspired A Fistful of Dollars.
  4. C. True Grit – Wayne won Best Actor Oscar for Rooster Cogburn in the 1969 Henry Hathaway film; others are iconic but no win.
  5. C. Harmonica – Bronson’s character uses it for revenge motif; others are period instruments but not his signature.
  6. B. Unforgiven – Eastwood’s revisionist Western won Best Picture and Director Oscars; others from 1993–1994 era.
  7. C. Stagecoach – Ford’s film made Wayne a star alongside Claire Trevor; prior films were B-movies.
  8. B. Alan Ladd – Ladd’s mysterious gunfighter in George Stevens’ film; others starred in different classics.
  9. B. Paul Newman – Newman as Butch with Redford as Sundance; others considered but not cast.
  10. A. Kevin Costner – Costner directed and starred, winning Best Director Oscar; others in later Westerns.
  11. B. The Preacher – Eastwood’s mysterious anti-hero; similar to High Plains Drifter but specified here.
  12. B. Sam Peckinpah – Known for bloody 1969 epic with William Holden; Leone was Spaghetti Western master.
  13. D. Yojimbo – Leone’s unofficial 1964 remake of Kurosawa’s ronin tale; Seven Samurai was Magnificent Seven.
  14. A. Ethan Edwards – Wayne’s obsessive Confederate veteran searches for niece; others from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.
  15. C. Henry Fonda – Fonda’s chilling against-type role; Van Cleef was in Dollars films.
  16. B. Rio Bravo – 1959 Hawks film with Ricky Nelson too; El Dorado is 1966 remake.
  17. B. 1965 – Second Dollars film between A Fistful (1964) and The Good… (1966).
  18. A. Nothing – both eyes work – Cogburn’s eye patch is in 2010 remake; 1969 original has no patch.
  19. C. Ennio Morricone – Iconic 1966 score with coyote howl; Bernstein did Magnificent Seven.
  20. C. Clint Eastwood – Eastwood’s 1976 directorial effort post-Dollars; Milius wrote it.

How many did you nail? Share your score in the comments and challenge your posse to survive these killer questions!