Chariots of Fire: 1981 Best Picture

At the 54th Academy Awards “Chariots of Fire” won Best Picture, over the highly favored “Reds” (12 nominations), as well as “On Golden Pond” (10), “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (8) and “Atlantic City” (5).

For the record, we put “Atlantic City” in the film titles for 1980, the year it was first released. It was not released in the USA until 1981 and that’s why it got its Oscar nominations with the 1981 films. In the following clue, the cluewriters were going by the nomination year: THE OSCARS $600: This star of “Elmer Gantry” earned his last Oscar nomination for Louis Malle’s 1981 film “Atlantic City”

Other 1981 films with multiple nominations were: “Ragtime”, “The French Lieutenant’s Woman”, “Arthur”, “Absence of Malice”, “Only When I Laugh”, “Pennies from Heaven”, and “Dragonslayer”.

Big box office hits that got no notice at the Oscars included “Superman II”, “Stripes”, “For Your Eyes Only” and “Time Bandits”

Jeopardy! clues on “Chariots of Fire”
’80s ONE-HIT WONDERS $1600: Vangelis, with his theme from this movie
IN THE MOVIES $1000: This 1981 Best Picture Oscar winner takes place in part at the 1924 Olympics
THE FILM VAULT $500: Ben Cross & Ian Charleson played the 2 1920s Olympians whose stories were so eloquently told in this 1981 film
OSCAR-WINNING FILMS IN OTHER WORDS $600: “Ancient Vehicles Ablaze”
NAME THE MOVIE $600: 1981: “When I run, I feel his pleasure”

More 1981 clues:
MOVIE MEALS $1000: In this 1981 Louis Malle film, Wallace Shawn & Andre Gregory sit & eat & chat
A MOVIE & A MEAL $2000: This 1981 low-budget Wallace Shawn film was shot in winter in an abandoned hotel with no heat
KISS ME, KATE $2000: As Ethel Thayer in a 1981 film, she was asked, “Wanna dance or would you rather just suck face?”
AUSTRALIAN MOVIES $1200: 2 Australian sprinters are sent to fight in Turkey during WWI in this 1981 film
& OTHER LITTLE PEOPLE $1200: In this 1981 Terry Gilliam film, the title little guys have stolen a temporal-travel map from the Supreme Being
HOW’S THE SCREENPLAY GOING, STEVE? $800: Steve Gordon both wrote & directed this 1981 film where super-rich Dudley Moore drank in the scenery
SCARY STARTS $600: His first film role was in 1981’s “The Burning”; the role of George Costanza would come a decade later
MOVIES AT SEA $800: A captain & his inexperienced crew patrol the Atlantic in a sub in this 1981 Wolfgang Petersen film with a German title
THE WIZARD $1000: Nicol Williamson played Merlin in this magical 1981 film
BIG ACTORS, SMALL ROLES $1200: Chemicals turn Lily Tomlin into this title “Woman” in a 1981 Joel Schumacher film
STATES THAT END IN HAMPSHIRE $800: New Hampshire’s Squam Lakes provided the title location for this 1981 Fonda & Hepburn film
BAY O’ WOLF $800: When David–yeah, the Dr. Pepper guy–gets bit on the English moors, he turns into the title monster in this 1981 film
THE SERPENT $200: In this 1981 film Harrison Ford delivers the immortal line “I hate snakes”
DEAR JOHN $2000: In a 1981 film Warren Beatty played this newspaperman who covered the Russian Revolution
REALLY OLD MOVIES $2000: Sean Penn & Tom Cruise were both cadets in this 1981 film whose title references a sad bugle’s song
HOT MOVIES $2000: This 1981 dramatic film about Stone Age man won the Academy Award for Best Makeup
FOREIGN CINEMA $800: The submarine models for this 1981 German film were also used in “Raiders of the Lost Ark”
HERE’S WALDO $1000: This tough-guy actor’s last film role was as Police Commissioner Waldo in 1981’s “Ragtime”
EGYPTIAN CINEMA $800: Indy seeks to solve a biblical mystery in this 1981 film that features a quest from Nepal to Cairo
I NEED AN M.D.! $800: Remove all wire hangers from your closet before watching this 1981 Faye Dunaway film
ACTORS & ACTRESSES $800: Born in Vancouver in 1981, on film he “skywalked” into space in 2002
SPIRITED CINEMA $5,000 (Daily Double): David’s haunted by the decomposing corpse of his friend Jack after being attacked on the British Moors in this 1981 film
ME TARZAN $1200: In a 1981 film Miles O’Keeffe was Tarzan to this lady’s Jane
FAMILY FILMS $400: 1981 film that immortalized the line “No wire hangers — ever!”
4-LETTER FILMS $800: Warren Beatty won Oscar nominations for Best Actor, Director & Screenwriter for this 1981 film
4-LETTER FILMS $1000: Sean Penn made his feature film debut as a military cadet in this 1981 film
EGYPTIAN FILM FESTIVAL $800: In a 1981 film, it’s what Harrison Ford was looking for in the Egyptian city of Tanis
MOVIE CO-STARS $300 (Daily Double): This father & daughter were both nominated for Oscars for a 1981 film; Dad won
CALIFORNIA HERE I COME FILMS $400: In this 1981 Burt Reynolds film, the first race car to reach California won
FILMS OF THE ’80s $600: Tom Cruise, Timothy Hutton & Sean Penn played military cadets in this 1981 film
EROTIC THRILLERS $1000: “Picture” this 1981 film in which Bruce Dern is “drawn” to model Maud Adams
EARLY IN THEIR CAREERS $400: George Cukor directed Meg Ryan’s 1981 film debut & this actress’ 1932 debut, “A Bill of Divorcement”
ACTRESSES $600: In 1981 she left the cast of “Barnum” to star in her first film, “The World According to Garp”
MOVIE TRIVIA $500: Warren Beatty was Oscar nominated as actor, director & writer for this 1981 film
1981 $400 (Daily Double): Movie remake that gave us the following song, a Top 10 hit in 1981: “On the boats and on the planes / They’re coming to America…”
LEADING MEN: Up for producing, directing, acting & writing for 1978 & 1981, he’s the only man to twice get 4 Oscar nominations for one film
THE ACADEMY AWARDS: In 1981 he received an honorary Oscar for his body of work; a year later, he won an acting Oscar for his final film
FOREIGN FILMS: With 6, this 1981 German film holds the record for most Oscar nominations for a foreign-language film