Movies.

Overview

Movies has roughly 7,900 clues across regular games and 165 Final Jeopardy appearances, appearing with near-equal frequency in both the Jeopardy round (~3,480 J clues) and Double Jeopardy (~4,250 DJ clues), with a slight skew toward harder material in DJ. The answer pool spans over 4,400 unique responses, making it one of the broadest topics on the show.

The most-tested film of all time is Casablanca (34 clues, 97% correct), followed by King Kong and Jaws (22 each), Psycho (18), and Titanic (16). Among people, Marilyn Monroe (15 clues), John Wayne (13), Alfred Hitchcock (13), Woody Allen (12), and Charlie Chaplin (9) lead the field. The show draws from a wide range of eras, from silent film pioneers like D.W. Griffith and Mack Sennett through the Golden Age of Hollywood to modern blockbusters and animated features.

Major categories: THE MOVIES (590 clues), MOVIE TRIVIA (269), MOVIES (255), AT THE MOVIES (105), MOVIE DIRECTORS (94), MOVIE DEBUTS (71), MOVIE TAGLINES (70), FROM PAGE TO SCREEN (66), DOCUMENTARIES (65), and SILENT MOVIES (61). Specialty categories like MOVIE SEQUELS, MOVIE CHARACTERS, FOREIGN FILMS, and OSCAR-WINNING FILMS round out the range.

The gimmes: Animal House (14, 100%), John Wayne (13, 100%), Babe (13, 100%), Citizen Kane (12, 100%), Chinatown (12, 100%), Woody Allen (12, 100%), The Wizard of Oz (11, 100%), The Sound of Music (11, 100%), Rain Man (11, 100%), Pulp Fiction (11, 100%), Godzilla (11, 100%), Sunset Boulevard (10, 100%), Back to the Future (10, 100%), Annie Hall (10, 100%).

The stumper zone: The Wolf Man (83% wrong), Mack Sennett (80%), Bewitched (67%), Batman Forever (60%), The Third Man (50%), The Seventh Seal (50%), The Hustler (38%), The Deer Hunter (33%), American Graffiti (30%), Lawrence of Arabia (27%).

Classic Hollywood & Directors

~2,800 clues · 89% correct

The Golden Age of Hollywood, roughly spanning the 1930s through the 1960s, provides the backbone of Jeopardy!'s movie knowledge. These films are tested so frequently because they sit at the intersection of film history, American culture, and literary adaptation, the three angles the show loves most.

Casablanca (34 clues, 97% correct)

The single most-tested film in all of Jeopardy!. Clues draw from its inexhaustible supply of quotable lines: "Here's looking at you, kid," "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship," "Round up the usual suspects," and "Kiss me as if it were the last time." The show regularly tests that Rick's Cafe Americain is the central location, that S. Greenstreet wanted to buy it, and that the film premiered in New York on Thanksgiving 1942, just 15 days after the Allied liberation of its title city. The 1995 film The Usual Suspects takes its title from Claude Rains' famous line in Casablanca, a fact that has appeared in Final Jeopardy.

Citizen Kane (12 clues, 100% correct)

A perfect gimme despite its reputation as a "film buff" movie. Clues center on the snow globe, the sled named "Rosebud," Orson Welles' directorial debut, and the paradox that no one was in the room to hear Kane's last word. Welles and Herman Mankiewicz shared the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Welles famously described RKO Studios as "the biggest electric train set any boy ever had," a quote that appeared in Final Jeopardy.

Gone with the Wind (12 clues, 92% correct)

Clues love the detail that Vivien Leigh wore a dress made of curtains, that George Reeves (later TV's Superman) appeared as one of the Tarleton Twins, and that Leslie Howard's salary was more than double Leigh's. The film was released in 1939, a year the show calls "the best year ever for American films," alongside The Wizard of Oz, Wuthering Heights, Of Mice and Men, Stagecoach, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

Psycho (18 clues, 94% correct)

Hitchcock's masterwork appears in many guises. The classic murder scene took 70 camera setups and 7 days to shoot. Norman Bates and the Bates Motel are the key identifiers, and Edward Hopper's 1925 painting "House by the Railroad" inspired the Bates home. A 1998 remake's tagline, "Check in. break down. Relax. Take a shower," is tested. Janet Leigh, who starred in the original, appeared in a 1998 Final Jeopardy clue about Harry Houdini and her then-husband Tony Curtis.

The Wizard of Oz (11 clues, 100% correct)

Perfect accuracy. Clues test that the twister threw the film "into color," that Jack Haley couldn't sit down in his Tin Man costume, and that both Ed Wynn and W.C. Fields turned down the title role. The wicked witches killed in the film faced compass directions west and east, a 1985 Final Jeopardy answer. Dorothy falls into a pen of pigs near the beginning.

Sunset Boulevard (10 clues, 100% correct)

Another perfect gimme. The address 10086 on the titular street is where down-on-his-luck screenwriter Joe Gillis meets silent-film star Norma Desmond. Norma's famous line, "I am big. It's the pictures that got small," captures the film's central theme of Hollywood's merciless march forward.

On the Waterfront (10 clues, 89% correct)

Brando's "I coulda been a contender" is among the most quoted lines in movie history. The 1954 Best Picture was inspired by a series of newspaper articles about corruption in the longshoremen's union, a fact tested in Final Jeopardy.

The Maltese Falcon (8 clues, 88% correct)

John Huston's directorial debut, based on Dashiell Hammett's novel about the detective Sam Spade and a black bird. Ricardo Cortez played Spade in a 1931 version, ten years before Bogart's definitive performance.

Alfred Hitchcock (13 clues, 92% correct)

The most-tested director in the Movies topic. His cameo appearances are a recurring clue angle: he misses a bus in North by Northwest. Joan Fontaine is the only performer to win an Oscar for acting in one of his 53 films (for Suspicion). His final film was Family Plot (1976).

Other Classic Essentials

• Chinatown (12 clues, 100%) The last word of this 1974 Nicholson film is its title: "Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown." Noah Cross, the incestuous villain, is played in this Roman Polanski film. The Two Jakes was its 1990 sequel.
• Midnight Cowboy (13 clues, 83%) The only X-rated film to win Best Picture; its rating was later changed to R. Ratso Rizzo and Joe Buck are the central characters.
• The Graduate (13 clues, 100%) "Just one word: plastics." Mrs. Robinson's seduction line is tested in multiple forms.
• In the Heat of the Night (11 clues, 90%) Sidney Poitier's detective Virgil Tibbs in a Southern town.

Watch out: The Third Man (50% wrong) trips contestants despite its fame. The zither theme, Harry Lime's Ferris wheel speech, and the Vienna setting are the key identifiers. Mack Sennett (80% wrong) is a brutal stumper: the silent comedy director who founded the Keystone Company and once acted for D.W. Griffith.

Modern Blockbusters

~2,400 clues · 91% correct

The post-1970 era of Hollywood blockbusters is Jeopardy!'s second-richest vein of movie material. These films are tested for their cultural impact, memorable quotes, box-office records, and the trivia that surrounds their production.

Jaws (22 clues, 91% correct)

The film that invented the summer blockbuster. "You're gonna need a bigger boat" is the most-tested line. Clues test the trio of characters (Brody, Hooper, the Estuary Victim), and the film's origins in Peter Benchley's 1974 novel. A Final Jeopardy clue described it as combining "An Enemy of the People" and "Moby Dick."

King Kong (22 clues, 91% correct)

Tested across its 1933, 1976, and 2005 incarnations. Fay Wray as Ann Darrow encountering the "Eighth Wonder of the World" in 1933 is the essential clue. Jessica Lange played the female lead in 1976 (falling from the World Trade Center), and Naomi Watts took the role in 2005.

The Godfather (13 clues, 92% correct)

"It's a Sicilian message. It means Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes." The baptism scene intercut with killings is a commonly tested visual. Francis Ford Coppola is the only person to win screenwriting Oscars for both a film and its sequel. Laurence Olivier and Ernest Borgnine were considered for the lead, and Sergio Leone was considered to direct, per a 2023 Final Jeopardy clue. The title character's first words are "Why did you go to the police? Why didn't you come to me first?"

Star Wars (13 clues, 85% correct)

The top film of 1977 was "the 4th episode of a 9-film series." Darth Vader's name derives from the Dutch word for "father," a Final Jeopardy answer. George Lucas has directed only 6 films since 1971, but they have averaged more than $283 million each. Yoda, who died at 900, spoke in OSV (object-subject-verb) syntax. Chewbacca was given a medal in the novelization of the original film, "righting a perceived wrong," per a 2025 Final Jeopardy clue.

Forrest Gump (14 clues, 93% correct)

Based on Winston Groom's novel about a man with an IQ of 75. Bubba Blue's shrimping dream and the famous "My legs are just fine and dandy" exchange are regularly tested.

Titanic (16 clues, 81% correct)

Lower accuracy than you might expect. Centenarian ceramic artist Beatrice Wood inspired the character of Rose. Jack and Rose are the 1997 leads. "Leaving Port" and "My Heart Will Go On" appear on the soundtrack. The film's Titanic sinking scenes and the framing device of the 102-year-old Rose giving testimony are commonly clued.

Rocky (12 clues, 92% correct)

"His whole life was a million-to-one shot." The 1976 Stallone film about boxer Rocky Balboa regularly appears with clues about training with sides of beef and the iconic Philadelphia steps.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (11 clues, 91% correct)

Richard Dreyfuss meets aliens in this 1977 Spielberg classic. Often paired with Jaws in clues about Dreyfuss's career.

Other Modern Essentials

• Saving Private Ryan (11, 80%) Surprisingly difficult. The 1998 D-Day film stars Matt Damon and features Vin Diesel.
• The Shawshank Redemption (11, 100%) Based on a Stephen King story with "Rita Hayworth" in its original title. The prison drama with Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman.
• Taxi Driver (11, 91%) Travis Bickle's mirror scene was completely ad-libbed; the script simply read "Travis looks in the mirror." Albert Brooks made his film debut alongside De Niro.
• Pulp Fiction (11, 100%) Samuel L. Jackson's "What does Marsellus Wallace look like?" and characters Honey Bunny, Butch, and The Gimp.
• Goodfellas (9, 89%) Henry Hill: "As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster." More than 25 cast members later appeared on an HBO series (The Sopranos).
• Jurassic Park (10, 90%) Spielberg's dinosaur blockbuster based on Michael Crichton's novel.
• Back to the Future (10, 100%) A DeLorean with a fake speedometer because the actual car's gauge did not go high enough, per a 2025 Final Jeopardy clue.
• The Matrix (9, 100%) Perfect gimme.
• Die Hard (9, 100%) Its last line: "If this is their idea of Christmas, I gotta be here for New Year's."

Watch out: American Graffiti (30% wrong) is a significant stumper. The 1973 George Lucas film set in 1962 is clued with "Where were you in '62?" and the character Bob Falfa, but contestants frequently miss it. The Deer Hunter (33% wrong) is another trap: the Italian title "Il cacciatore" and Russian roulette scenes are the key identifiers.

Comedy, Horror & Genre Films

~1,200 clues · 90% correct

Jeopardy! tests genre films through a distinctive lens: comedies for their quotable lines and cultural footprint, horror films for their directors and monster lore, and musicals and animated features for their Academy Award histories.

Comedy

Animal House (14 clues, 100% correct), A perfect gimme. "It was the Deltas against the rules... the rules lost!" Characters Bluto, Otter, Flounder, and D-Day from the 1978 Belushi frat film are well-tested. Donald Sutherland showed his backside in the film after the director told him it was just for dailies.

Dr. Strangelove (14 clues, 93% correct), Peter Sellers played three roles: an army officer, a mad scientist, and the President. James Earl Jones launched his film career with this 1964 Kubrick classic. Characters include General "Buck" Turgidson, Colonel "Bat" Guano, and Major "King" Kong.

Ghostbusters (14 clues, 85% correct), "They ain't afraid of no ghost." "Each of us is wearing an unlicensed nuclear accelerator on his back." The 2016 all-female reboot updated the franchise begun 32 years before.

Annie Hall (10 clues, 100%), Woody Allen won the directing Oscar but was 3,000 miles away playing clarinet. Perfect gimme.

Mrs. Doubtfire (9 clues, 100%), Robin Williams in disguise. Perfect accuracy.

Young Frankenstein (8 clues, 88%), Mel Brooks' parody of the Universal horror classic.

Groundhog Day, The hero says he's "been stabbed, shot, poisoned, frozen, hung, electrocuted, and burned," a Final Jeopardy clue.

Horror

Horror films form a surprisingly deep sub-topic, with the classic Universal monsters leading the way.

Psycho (18, 94%), See Classic Hollywood section above.

Dracula (9 clues, 100%), Francis Ford Coppola directed a 1992 version billed as "Bram Stoker's..." Mel Brooks spoofed it in 1995's Dracula: Dead and Loving It.

Halloween (9 clues, 100%), Perfect accuracy for the slasher franchise.

Frankenstein (8 clues, 88%), The 1910 silent adaptation was the first film version. The 1935 sequel Bride of Frankenstein is also well-tested.

The Shining (9 clues, 78%), Jack Nicholson's "Heeeeeere's Johnny" in the 1980 Kubrick film. Louise and Lisa Burns, the twins, told a magazine, "We're naturally spooky!"

The Wolf Man (7 clues, 17% correct), The single hardest frequently-tested movie answer. Larry Talbot is the character's real name, and Lon Chaney played the role, but contestants overwhelmingly miss it.

Nosferatu (6 clues, 83%), The unauthorized 1922 adaptation of Dracula.

Scream (7 clues, 86%), The villain's mask was partly chosen for its likeness to Edvard Munch's 1893 painting The Scream.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (6 clues, 67%), Wes Craven's surname fittingly means "characterized by abject fear."

The Exorcist (7 clues, 71%), Lower accuracy than expected for this iconic 1973 horror film.

Musicals & Animation

The Sound of Music (11, 100%), "The hills are alive." Perfect gimme. Julie Andrews starred in both this and Mary Poppins, the two highest-grossing films of 1965.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (10, 100%), Bashful and Doc are the only two dwarfs whose names do not end in "Y," a 1985 Final Jeopardy answer.

Pinocchio (10, 90%), This 1940 Disney character wore a Tyrolean hat. Final Jeopardy answer.

Saturday Night Fever (10, 100%), "Catch It" was a tagline. The iconic soundtrack became one of the bestselling albums of all time.

Babe (13, 100%), "That'll do, pig. That'll do." Farmer Hoggett's line and the sequel Babe: Pig in the City are perfect gimmes.

Watch out: The Wolf Man (83% wrong) is the hardest movie stumper by a wide margin. When you hear "Larry Talbot" or "Lon Chaney gets infected," think Wolf Man immediately. The Seventh Seal (50% wrong), Ingmar Bergman's chess-with-Death classic, also trips up many contestants.

Actors, Directors & Oscar History

~1,500 clues · 91% correct

Jeopardy! tests movie people as much as it tests movies. The show's favorite angles are career firsts and lasts, Oscar records, filmography connections, and biographical trivia.

Most-Tested Actors

Marilyn Monroe (15 clues, 85%), She kept her undergarments in the icebox in The Seven Year Itch. She had a bit part in the Marx Brothers' Love Happy before stardom. In All About Eve (1950), the only Best Picture featuring Monroe, she played an actress. In Niagara, her only film with a one-word title, she plots her husband's murder at a honeymoon site.

John Wayne (13 clues, 100%), Perfect gimme. He turned down the role of Dirty Harry and played 142 leading roles, a Guinness record. He was "The Quiet Man" and directed The Green Berets (1968).

Humphrey Bogart (9 clues, 88%), Inseparable from Casablanca and The African Queen. He and Katharine Hepburn starred together in the AFI's top picks for greatest male and female film legends.

Katharine Hepburn (9 clues, 100%), Won the Best Actress Oscar for 1933, 1967, 1968, and 1981, more than any other performer. Pat and Mike is the only Tracy-Hepburn film with the characters' names in the title.

Charlie Chaplin (9 clues, 100%), City Lights lent its name to a famous San Francisco bookstore. The silent-era icon is a perfect gimme.

Greta Garbo (8 clues, 86%), The reclusive Swedish star of Hollywood's Golden Age.

Spencer Tracy (8 clues, 100%), Perfect accuracy. His partnership with Hepburn is a recurring angle.

Jack Nicholson (8 clues, 88%), From Chinatown to The Shining to playing the Joker in Batman.

Harrison Ford (8 clues, 100%), Played Rusty Sabich in Presumed Innocent and is synonymous with Indiana Jones and Han Solo.

Clint Eastwood (8 clues, 88%), Actor-director whose production company 1492 Pictures reflects the Columbus connection. Bird and Breezy are the only two films he directed without starring in.

Adam Sandler (11 clues, 100%), A perfect gimme, surprisingly high on the frequency list.

Most-Tested Directors

Alfred Hitchcock (13 clues, 92%), See Classic Hollywood section. The "Master of Suspense" dominates the MOVIE DIRECTORS category.

Woody Allen (12 clues, 100%), Won the Oscar for Annie Hall while playing clarinet across the country. His nickname supposedly came from bringing the stick for neighborhood stickball games. Manhattan, Annie Hall, and Shadows and Fog are all tested.

Steven Spielberg (8 clues, 100%), The only director whose two-letter-abbreviated film titles (E.T. and A.I.) have appeared in Final Jeopardy.

Spike Lee (8 clues, 100%), Perfect accuracy.

Oliver Stone (9 clues, 89%), His filmography spans Vietnam War dramas and political thrillers.

D.W. Griffith (7 clues, 83%), The Birth of a Nation premiered in 1915 under the title The Clansman. He sometimes wrote screenplays under the pseudonym Irene Sinclair.

John Ford (5 clues, 60%), Surprisingly difficult. He was the first director to win four Oscars and the first to receive the AFI Life Achievement Award.

John Huston (FJ), The only person to direct both his daughter (Anjelica) and his father (Walter) in Oscar-winning performances.

Oscar History

Oscar knowledge is tested through dedicated categories like OSCAR-WINNING FILMS, OSCAR-WINNING MOVIE SYNOPSES, and MOVIES BY OSCARS, as well as through general Movie clues. Key Oscar facts that appear repeatedly:

• Wings (1927) is the only silent film to win Best Picture.
• Midnight Cowboy is the only X-rated film to win Best Picture.
• Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, On the Waterfront, and The Godfather are the most-tested Best Picture winners.
• Katharine Hepburn holds the record with 4 Best Actress wins.
• The Artist (2011) is the only film to win both the Oscar and France's Cesar for Best Film.
• Big (1988) was the first film directed by a woman (Penny Marshall) to earn $100 million.
• Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982): the 1995, 2003, and 2006 Best Actor Oscar winners (Nicolas Cage, Sean Penn, Forest Whitaker) all appeared in this teen comedy.

The AFI Connection

The American Film Institute's lists are a recurring Final Jeopardy theme:

• Hannibal Lecter tops the AFI's 2003 list of all-time movie villains.
• The Terminator appears on both the AFI heroes and villains lists.
• Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn are the AFI's greatest male and female screen legends.
• James Dean, #18 on the AFI's greatest actors list, starred in just 3 films.
• Only 4 women have won the AFI Life Achievement Award: Lillian Gish, Bette Davis, Elizabeth Taylor, and Barbara Stanwyck.

Watch out: Mack Sennett (80% wrong) is the hardest person-answer in Movies. He founded the Keystone Company and acted for D.W. Griffith, but contestants consistently cannot recall his name. John Ford (40% wrong) is also surprisingly tough for such a legendary director.

Final Jeopardy & Study Patterns

With 165 appearances, Movies is one of the most frequent Final Jeopardy topics. Across four decades, certain patterns emerge that help you prepare for what the writers love to test.

Literary & Historical Sources

The most common FJ angle asks you to connect a film to its source material or historical inspiration:

• The African Queen (1951) was based on a C.S. Forester book. FJ answer.
• Schindler's List was inspired by a 13-page document typed April 18, 1945 listing 801 names. FJ answer.
• Apocalypse Now was based on Joseph Conrad's 1902 work Heart of Darkness. FJ answer.
• Shakespeare in Love features the young John Webster, who grew up to write The Duchess of Malfi. FJ answer.
• Clear and Present Danger: the title traces to a 1919 Supreme Court opinion by Oliver Wendell Holmes. FJ answer.
• Gladiator was partly inspired by Jean-Leon Gerome's painting "Pollice Verso" ("Thumbs Down"). FJ answer.
• Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was loosely based on Senator Burton Wheeler. FJ answer.
• Indiana Jones was modeled on Hiram Bingham, who rediscovered Machu Picchu. FJ answer.
• On the Waterfront was inspired by newspaper articles about longshoremen's union corruption. FJ answer.

Behind-the-Scenes Trivia

The show loves production details and the stories behind famous films:

• Taxi Driver: The "You talkin' to me?" mirror scene was completely ad-libbed; the script simply read, "Travis looks in the mirror." FJ answer.
• The Rocky Horror Picture Show has had the longest continuous theatrical run in movie history, playing since 1975. FJ answer.
• Technicolor was invented by an MIT alumnus and named in honor of the school. FJ answer.
• Fritz Lang originated the rocket countdown in his 1929 film Die Frau im Mond (Woman in the Moon). FJ answer.
• Abraham Zapruder made the first home movie named to the Library of Congress' National Film Registry. FJ answer.
• Almost Famous (2000) was the first drama to have an authorized Led Zeppelin tune on its soundtrack. FJ answer.
• Orson Welles called RKO "the biggest electric train set any boy ever had." FJ answer.
• Fantasia: Hewlett-Packard's first big customer was Walt Disney, who purchased special sound equipment for this film. FJ answer.

Oscar & AFI Trivia

• Ben-Hur: Charlton Heston, who played "3 presidents, 3 saints, and 2 geniuses," won his Oscar for this role. FJ answer.
• John Huston is the only person to direct both his daughter and father in Oscar-winning performances. FJ answer.
• The Artist is the only film to win both the Oscar and France's Cesar for Best Film. FJ answer.
• Das Boot (1981) holds the record for most Oscar nominations (6) for a foreign-language film. FJ answer.
• Patton (1970 Best Picture) was based in part on General Omar Bradley's memoirs. FJ answer.
• Greta Gerwig has made just 4 feature films as of 2025; 3 were nominated for Best Picture. FJ answer.
• Fast Times at Ridgemont High: Future Best Actor winners Sean Penn, Nicolas Cage, and Forest Whitaker all appeared in this 1982 teen comedy. FJ answer.

Casting & Character Trivia

• John Wayne turned down the role of Dirty Harry and played 142 leading roles. FJ answer.
• Lillian Gish: Her career spanned from An Unseen Enemy (1912) to The Whales of August (1987), 75 years. FJ answer.
• Quentin Tarantino was named for a Burt Reynolds TV character. FJ answer.
• James Dean: #18 on the AFI's greatest actors list, he starred in just 3 films. FJ answer.
• Yoda: 900 years old when he died, spoke in OSV (object-subject-verb) syntax. FJ answer.
• Buzz Lightyear: Originally going to be called "Lunar Larry," named for a real person. FJ answer.
• The Terminator appears on both the AFI heroes and villains lists. FJ answer.

Quotes, Titles & Wordplay

• Inherit the Wind completes the biblical quote "He that troubleth his own house shall..." FJ answer.
• A Man for All Seasons: Erasmus called Thomas More "omnium horarum homo." FJ answer.
• Shrek: The name means "fear" in Yiddish. FJ answer.
• Logue: The surname of the speech therapist in The King's Speech is also a suffix meaning "speech." FJ answer.
• Die Hard: "If this is their idea of Christmas, I gotta be here for New Year's." FJ answer.
• "Alright, alright, alright": Matthew McConaughey's first words on film in Dazed and Confused. FJ answer.

The Stumper Reference

Strategy for Movies Final Jeopardy: When a FJ clue mentions a novel, play, or painting, think adaptation. When it mentions a specific year, think Oscar history. When it quotes dialogue, think iconic scenes. When it mentions a foreign language, think foreign title or international connection. The show's favorite trick is to approach a well-known film from an unexpected angle: not "what film starred Bogart and Bergman?" but "what film premiered 15 days after the liberation of its title city?" Knowing the production history and cultural context of the top 30 films will cover the majority of Final Jeopardy appearances.