Classic Movie Soundtracks Trivia: 10 Questions With Answers

Max Steiner's score for King Kong in 1933 helped prove that original film music could heighten drama, and classic movie soundtracks trivia explores the composers who gave films their sound. Meet Bernard Herrmann, Ennio Morricone, Henry Mancini's Moon River, Maurice Jarre's Lawrence of Arabia and early John Williams.

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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Steiner
Which 1933 film's score by Max Steiner was a milestone?
Herrmann
Which composer wrote the screeching violins for Psycho?
Morricone
Which composer created the whistled themes of spaghetti westerns?
Mancini
Which film introduced Moon River?
Jarre
Who scored Lawrence of Arabia?
Rota
Who composed the music for The Godfather?
Bond
Who arranged the classic James Bond theme?
Williams
Which 1975 film's two-note theme made John Williams famous?
Sam
Which song does Sam play in Casablanca?
Tiomkin
Which composer wrote the High Noon theme song?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Which 1933 film's score by Max Steiner was a milestone?
Answer: King Kong
It showed music's dramatic power.
Q2: Which composer wrote the screeching violins for Psycho?
Answer: Bernard Herrmann
He scored Citizen Kane too.
Q3: Which composer created the whistled themes of spaghetti westerns?
Answer: Ennio Morricone
He won an Oscar in 2016.
Q4: Which film introduced Moon River?
Answer: Breakfast at Tiffany's
Henry Mancini composed it.
Q5: Who scored Lawrence of Arabia?
Answer: Maurice Jarre
He also scored Doctor Zhivago.
Q6: Who composed the music for The Godfather?
Answer: Nino Rota
He often worked with Fellini.
Q7: Who arranged the classic James Bond theme?
Answer: John Barry
Monty Norman wrote the melody.
Q8: Which 1975 film's two-note theme made John Williams famous?
Answer: Jaws
It signals the shark.
Q9: Which song does Sam play in Casablanca?
Answer: As Time Goes By
It was written in 1931.
Q10: Which composer wrote the High Noon theme song?
Answer: Dimitri Tiomkin
It won an Oscar.

Classic Movie Soundtracks Trivia – The Music Behind the Movies

Film scores shape how audiences feel, building suspense, romance and excitement. In the silent era, live musicians played in theaters, but by the 1930s composers were writing original scores for sound films.

Max Steiner's King Kong showed the power of an original score, and Bernard Herrmann's music for Citizen Kane, Vertigo and Psycho became legendary. Dimitri Tiomkin wrote High Noon's theme, and Henry Mancini introduced Moon River in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Ennio Morricone's whistled westerns, Maurice Jarre's sweeping Lawrence of Arabia, Nino Rota's Godfather themes and John Barry's Bond arrangements became iconic, followed by John Williams's two-note Jaws theme.

What This Quiz Teaches

Movie fans and music lovers will enjoy these questions.

Which score was a milestone
Who scored Psycho
Who whistled the West
Which song Sam plays
Which theme made Williams famous

Did You Know?

Alfred Newman composed the 20th Century Fox fanfare.
Elmer Bernstein scored The Magnificent Seven.
Jerry Goldsmith scored Planet of the Apes.
Miklós Rózsa scored Ben-Hur.
Erich Wolfgang Korngold scored adventure films.