Mastermind Club

Quiz 2026-3

The Oscars

Set by Mel Kinsey

Answers

1/Which film won Best Picture at the first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929?   

 

Wings

2/ Which screenwriter was the first person  to refuse an Academy Award, and for which film? 

 

Dudley Nichols — for The Informer (1935), protesting the Academy’s treatment of writers

3/At which ceremony year (honoring films of the previous year) were the Oscars first televised? 

1953

4/Which film received the first Best Picture nomination without a corresponding directing nomination?

Grand Hotel (1932)

5/Who was the youngest person ever to win a competitive Oscar? 

Tatum O’Neal — Paper Moon (1973), age 10

6/Which three films have won 11 Academy Awards, the most in Oscar history?

Ben-Hur (1959), Titanic (1997), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

7/Which performer has received the most acting nominations without winning? 

Peter O’Toole (8 nominations, no competitive wins)

8/Who was the first woman to win Best Director? 

Kathryn Bigelow — The Hurt Locker (2009)

9/Which 2 films holds the record for the most Oscar nominations without winning a single award?

The Turning Point (1977) and The Color Purple (1985) — both with 11 losses

10/Which individual has won the most competitive Academy Awards? 

Walt Disney (22 competitive Oscars)

11/Which British actor was nominated for an Oscar for portraying three distinct characters in the same film? 

Peter Sellers — Dr. Strangelove (1964)

12/Who was the first man to win the best actor Oscar posthumously? P

Peter Finch – Network (1976)

13/Which 3 films have won all five major categories (Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Screenplay)? 

It Happened One Night (1934), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

14/Who was the first performer to win an Oscar for a non-English-language performance? 

Sophia Loren — Two Women (1961)

15/Which British actor received an Oscar nomination for playing multiple family roles in one film, but did not win? 

Alec Guinness — Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)

16/In ‘Les Misérables’ (2012), the filmmakers won an Oscar for Sound Mixing by using what innovative technique for the musical numbers? 

They had the actots sing live on set, recoding their voices directly

17/Who declined their Oscar in 1973 as a protest of Hollywood’s portrayal of Native Americans? 

Marlon Brando — via Sacheen Littlefeather

18/Which year’s ceremony was famously delayed due to the assassination of Martin LutherKing Jr.?

1968

19/Which film caused controversy by winning Best Picture despite being released the year before its eligibility window? 

Around the World in 80 Days (1956)

20/ Which Oscar category was temporarily discontinued after 1947 

Best Assistant Director

21/Which country holds the most wins for Best International Feature Film? 

Italy 22

22/Which film became the first non-English-language Best Picture winner? 

Parasite (2019)

23/Which animated film was the first to receive a Best Picture nomination? 

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

24/Which film won Best Picture with the shortest runtime? 

Marty (1955) — 90 minutes

25/Which years  Academy Awards ceremony featured a Best Picture announcement error? 

2017 La La Land / Moonlight mix-up