Christmas Movie Trivia: 45 Questions on the Classic Holiday Films

Here is a fact that wins bets every December: Miracle on 34th Street, the film that practically invented the department-store Santa as a movie hero, opened in early May 1947. Twentieth Century-Fox released its Christmas picture with the spring flowers, and it still went on to win three Oscars. That is the spirit of this round of Christmas movie trivia: the films everyone knows, and the details almost nobody remembers.

There are forty-five questions, grouped by film or era. Answers sit in bold after each question, and a few of the stranger ones get a short explanation underneath.

Christmas movie trivia, round one: It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

1. What is the name of George Bailey’s hometown? Bedford Falls
2. What is Clarence’s full name and rank? Clarence Odbody, Angel Second Class
3. How much money does Uncle Billy misplace? $8,000
4. Who directed the film? Frank Capra
5. Which actor played the miserly Mr. Potter? Lionel Barrymore
6. Who played Mary Hatch Bailey? Donna Reed
7. What happens every time a bell rings, according to Zuzu? An angel gets his wings
8. The film grew out of which short story by Philip Van Doren Stern? “The Greatest Gift”
9. The film’s only Oscar went to what? A technical award for a new way of making artificial snow

Question 9 is the one people refuse to believe. It’s a Wonderful Life was nominated in several major categories and won none of them. What the Academy did honor was the effects work: RKO’s special-effects head Russell Shearman and his colleagues received a Technical Achievement Award for a new snow formula built from foamite, soap, water and sugar. Older movie snow was often painted cornflakes, which crunched so loudly that dialogue had to be re-recorded.

Round two: Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

10. Which actor won an Oscar for playing Kris Kringle? Edmund Gwenn
11. Which young actress played the skeptical Susan Walker? Natalie Wood
12. Which two rival New York department stores feature in the story? Macy’s and Gimbels
13. What finally wins Kris’s court case? The U.S. Post Office delivering sacks of letters addressed to Santa
14. How many Oscars did the film win? Three: Supporting Actor, Original Story (Valentine Davies) and Screenplay (George Seaton)
15. Which film beat it for Best Picture? Gentleman’s Agreement

Round three: songs, dances and Bing

16. In which 1942 film did Bing Crosby first sing “White Christmas”? Holiday Inn
17. Who wrote “White Christmas”? Irving Berlin
18. What did the song win? The Academy Award for Best Original Song
19. White Christmas (1954) was the first film released in which Paramount widescreen process? VistaVision
20. Which song from White Christmas earned its own Oscar nomination? “Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)”
21. Judy Garland introduced “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” in which 1944 musical? Meet Me in St. Louis

The VistaVision answer explains why White Christmas looks so sharp even today. Paramount ran the film horizontally through the camera to expose a larger frame, and its opening credits announce it as the first picture in the process. The film itself is a loose reworking of Holiday Inn, which is why the title song turns up again.

Round four: Golden Age holiday comedies

22. In The Shop Around the Corner (1940), which two clerks are secret pen pals? Alfred Kralik and Klara Novak (James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan)
23. Who directed The Shop Around the Corner? Ernst Lubitsch
24. Which 1998 romantic comedy remade its plot with email? You’ve Got Mail
25. In Christmas in Connecticut (1945), Barbara Stanwyck plays a celebrated what? Food and homemaking columnist who cannot cook
26. Cary Grant plays an angel named what in The Bishop’s Wife (1947)? Dudley
27. Who played Scrooge in the 1951 British film often called the definitive version? Alastair Sim

Round five: A Christmas Story (1983)

28. What does Ralphie want for Christmas? An Official Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle
29. What warning does he hear from almost every adult? “You’ll shoot your eye out”
30. What does Ralphie’s father win as a “major award”? A lamp shaped like a woman’s leg
31. Which dare sends Flick’s tongue to the frozen flagpole? The triple-dog-dare
32. What message does Ralphie’s secret decoder pin reveal? “Be sure to drink your Ovaltine”
33. Whose stories was the film based on, and who narrates it? Jean Shepherd, on both counts
34. What is the name of Ralphie’s fictional Indiana hometown? Hohman

Hohman is a lightly fictionalized Hammond, Indiana, where Shepherd grew up. Fans of the gun will also enjoy a quibble that has been pointed out for years: no real Red Ryder model matched Ralphie’s exact description. The compass and sundial in the stock belonged to a different Daisy rifle.

Round six: the 80s and 90s

35. In Gremlins (1984), what are the three rules for keeping a mogwai? No bright light, no water, and never feed him after midnight
36. What is the name of the friendly mogwai? Gizmo
37. In Home Alone (1990), where is Kevin’s family flying when they leave him behind? Paris
38. What is the gangster film Kevin plays to scare people away? Angels with Filthy Souls, a fake film shot for Home Alone
39. Die Hard (1988) is based on which Roderick Thorp novel? Nothing Lasts Forever
40. How many lights does Clark Griswold string on his house in Christmas Vacation (1989)? 25,000 (250 strands of 100 bulbs)

Question 38 catches a lot of people who assume they missed an old Warner Bros. picture. Angels with Filthy Souls never existed outside Home Alone. The filmmakers shot it in black and white specifically for the movie, with a title that nods to the 1938 James Cagney drama Angels with Dirty Faces. A sequel, Angels with Even Filthier Souls, turns up in Home Alone 2.

And yes, Die Hard belongs in a Christmas quiz whatever your household has decided about the great debate. It takes place at an office Christmas party on Christmas Eve, and that is good enough for trivia purposes.

Bonus round: Scrooge on screen

Dickens’s A Christmas Carol has been filmed so many times that it deserves a round of its own. These five work well as a picture round or a lightning finish.

41. Which actor played Scrooge in MGM’s 1938 version of A Christmas Carol? Reginald Owen
42. Under what title was the 1951 Alastair Sim film released in Britain? Scrooge
43. Who plays Ebenezer Scrooge opposite the Muppets in The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)? Michael Caine
44. Which Muppet appears as Charles Dickens and narrates the story? Gonzo, with Rizzo the Rat at his side
45. What is the name of Scrooge’s late business partner, whose ghost visits first? Jacob Marley

The Sim version is a fun one to ask about because it travels under two names. British audiences met it as Scrooge, while American audiences saw it as A Christmas Carol, and quiz answers that give either title should be accepted. Older viewers sometimes mix it up with the 1938 MGM picture, which is shorter, gentler and much more of a family-friendly studio product. Both are worth a look in the weeks before Christmas, and comparing how each one stages Marley’s arrival is half the pleasure.

If you want a harder variation on this round, ask for the year of each adaptation rather than the star. The dates spread across more than five decades, and few people can place them in order without a hint. For what it is worth, my own quiz nights find that the Muppet question is the only one every table gets right, which makes it a handy morale booster to end on.

Scoring and tie-breakers

One point per question, with a half point allowed for near misses on names (Odbody without the rank, or Kralik without Novak). If you need a tie-breaker, ask teams to write down the release month of Miracle on 34th Street. Closest guess wins, and nobody ever says May.

For more on the studio era that gave us most of these films, see our guide to the Golden Age of Hollywood. If your crowd is short on holiday spirit and long on nerve, the horror movie trivia rounds make a good second half.