How Well Do You Really Know Western Movies? Ultimate 20-Question Trivia Quiz Challenge!

Answers Below – No Peeking!

Test your knowledge of the Wild West with this epic trivia quiz on classic Western movies! From John Ford masterpieces to Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti showdowns, these 20 questions mix easy draws with tough draws. Grab your hat and holster – can you hit 20/20?

20 Trivia Questions on Western Movies

Question 1: Who directed the 1939 Western classic Stagecoach?

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

Question 2: In which film does John Wayne play the character Ethan Edwards?

A. True Grit
B. Rio Bravo
C. Red River
D. The Searchers

Question 3: What year was High Noon released?

A. 1950
B. 1957
C. 1952
D. 1955

Question 4: Which actor starred as Shane in Shane (1953)?

A. Gary Cooper
B. Glenn Ford
C. James Stewart
D. Alan Ladd

Question 5: Unforgiven (1992) won Best Picture at the Oscars. Who directed and starred in it as William Munny?

A. Gene Hackman
B. Morgan Freeman
C. Kevin Costner
D. Clint Eastwood

Question 6: The Magnificent Seven (1960) is a remake of which Japanese film?

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

Question 7: In The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, what is the name of Clint Eastwood’s character?

A. Josey Wales
B. Man with No Name
C. Rowdy Yates
D. Blondie

Question 8: Who composed the iconic score for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly?

A. Elmer Bernstein
B. Dimitri Tiomkin
C. John Williams
D. Ennio Morricone

Question 9: Which film features the line “Fill your hands, you son of a bitch!” spoken by Rooster Cogburn?

A. The Cowboys
B. Big Jake
C. Rooster Cogburn
D. True Grit

Question 10: Who directed Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)?

A. Howard Hawks
B. Anthony Mann
C. John Ford
D. Sergio Leone

Question 11: In Dances with Wolves, who directed and starred as Lieutenant John Dunbar?

A. Graham Greene
B. Russell Means
C. Rodney A. Grant
D. Kevin Costner

Question 12: Which Western won the first Best Picture Oscar?

A. The Covered Wagon
B. High Noon
C. Stagecoach
D. Cimarron

Question 13: Who played Wyatt Earp in John Ford’s My Darling Clementine (1946)?

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

Question 14: What is the name of the horse ridden by the Lone Ranger?

A. Trigger
B. Champion
C. Buttermilk
D. Silver

Question 15: In The Searchers, what is the name of John Wayne’s character’s niece he searches for over years?

A. Lucy
B. Martha
C. Laurie
D. Debbie

Question 16: Which “Singing Cowboy” starred in Westerns like Melody Ranch and was the first to do so on screen?

A. Roy Rogers
B. Tex Ritter
C. Gene Autry
D. Hopalong Cassidy

Question 17: Who directed the ultra-violent 1969 Western The Wild Bunch?

A. Robert Aldrich
B. Don Siegel
C. Budd Boetticher
D. Sam Peckinpah

Question 18: In Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, who played Butch Cassidy?

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

Question 19: Which 1957 Western stars Burt Lancaster as Wyatt Earp and Kirk Douglas as Doc Holliday in a showdown at the O.K. Corral?

A. Wyatt Earp
B. Tombstone
C. Hour of the Gun
D. Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

Question 20: What year was John Ford’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance released?

A. 1960
B. 1964
C. 1958
D. 1962

Answers

  1. C. John Ford – Stagecoach (1939) was directed by Ford, propelling John Wayne to stardom; Hawks did Red River, Leone and Peckinpah came later.
  2. D. The Searchers – Wayne’s Ethan Edwards obsessively hunts his abducted niece in this 1956 Ford epic; others feature different Wayne roles.
  3. C. 1952 – High Noon premiered in 1952, winning Gary Cooper an Oscar; the others are nearby Western release years but incorrect.
  4. D. Alan Ladd – Ladd portrayed the mysterious gunslinger Shane in George Stevens’ 1953 film; others starred in different classics.
  5. D. Clint Eastwood – Eastwood directed and played the ageing gunslinger in the 1992 Best Picture winner; others were supporting actors.
  6. B. Seven Samurai – The 1960 remake transplants Kurosawa’s 1954 story to the Old West; the others are unrelated samurai films.
  7. D. Blondie – Eastwood’s character is nicknamed Blondie in Leone’s 1966 film; the others are from different roles or general nicknames.
  8. D. Ennio Morricone – Morricone’s score, with its coyote howl, defined the film; the others scored other Westerns like The Magnificent Seven.
  9. D. True Grit – Wayne’s Rooster Cogburn utters the line in the 1969 Oscar-winner; the others feature Wayne but not this quote.
  10. D. Sergio Leone – Leone directed the epic 1968 Spaghetti Western starring Henry Fonda; the others are American Western directors.
  11. D. Kevin Costner – Costner directed and led as Dunbar in his 1990 Best Picture winner; the others played Native American roles.
  12. D. Cimarron – The 1931 film was the first Western to win Best Picture; the others were nominated but didn’t win.
  13. D. Henry Fonda – Fonda’s nuanced Earp anchors Ford’s 1946 retelling; the others played Earp in later films.
  14. D. Silver – “Hi-yo, Silver! Away!” is the Lone Ranger’s cry; Trigger was Roy Rogers’, Champion Gene Autry’s.
  15. D. Debbie – Debbie Edwards is rescued at the end of the 1956 film; the others are relatives killed early.
  16. C. Gene Autry – Autry pioneered the singing cowboy in 1930s films; Rogers followed later.
  17. D. Sam Peckinpah – Peckinpah’s bloody 1969 revisionist Western redefined the genre; others directed different violent films.
  18. D. Paul Newman – Newman played Butch opposite Redford’s Sundance in the 1969 hit; others were considered for roles.
  19. D. Gunfight at the O.K. Corral – The 1957 film dramatises the historic event with Lancaster and Douglas; later films recast it.
  20. D. 1962 – Ford’s black-and-white classic starring Wayne and Stewart was released in 1962; others are nearby Ford Western years.

How did you fare in the showdown? Drop your score in the comments and challenge your friends to outdraw you!