cultural literacy 23

Question 1

premise of Notorious

Answer 1

U.S. government agent T. R. Devlin (Grant) enlists the help of Alicia Huberman (Bergman), the daughter of a German war criminal, to infiltrate a circle of executives of IG Farben hiding out in Rio de Janeiro after WWII; the situation becomes complicated when the two fall in love as Huberman is instructed to seduce a Farben executive (Rains)

Question 2

Rope

Answer 2

1948 psychological crime thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Jimmy Stewart

Question 3

premise of Rope

Answer 3

two aesthetes strangle their former classmate from prep school, just before a party, as the fulfillment of a “superman” moral doctrine espoused by one of the guests, their former housemaster (Stewart), the two make slips over the course of the evening, leading the housemaster to suspect foul play as the murdered victim never shows up to the party

Question 4

Strangers on a Train

Answer 4

1951 psychological thriller film noir directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Farley Granger

Question 5

plot of Strangers on a Train

Answer 5

mentally unstable man, Bruno, meets Tennis star and lover of senator’s daughter, Guy, on a train, Bruno proposes a scheme, “crisscross”, by which each murders the person the other wants to get rid of: Guy would kill Bruno’s father and Bruno would kill Guy’s wife, Bruno goes through with it and expects Guy to do the same, showing up in Washington and making things awkward for Guy, Bruno threatens to expose Guy by leaving Guy’s lighter on the island in the amusement park where he committed the murder, but Guy shows up tailed by the police and Bruno dies, police find the lighter on Bruno thus backing up Guy’s story and exonerating him

Question 6

Rear Window

Answer 6

1954 mystery thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly

Question 7

plot of Rear Window

Answer 7

photographer Jeff is recuperating with a cast on his leg and thus homebound in his apartment that looks out on a rear courtyard of the apartment block, he starts observing the apartment of one tenant (Raymond Burr), Mr. Thorwald, who appears to have murdered his wife and chopped her up, he meanwhile is having strife with his girlfriend, Lisa (Kelly), whom along with his nurse and his old Air Force buddy who is now a detective he tells about what he has seen, they have difficulty convincing the detective so they take matters into their own hands to prove their case, putting themselves in danger with Jeff almost getting killed when Thorwald discovers that Jeff has been observing him, the police arrive in time to thwart Jeff’s murder and arrest Thorwald

Question 8

synopsis of Dostoevsky’s The Idiot

Answer 8

Prince Myshkin, a gentle and kind-hearted nobleman recently returned to Russia after years in a Swiss clinic for epilepsy, encounters the passionate Parfyon Rogozhin on a train to Saint Petersburg. Rogozhin is obsessed with the beautiful but troubled Nastasya Filippovna, and he pursues her, sparking a love triangle that draws in Myshkin. Myshkin’s attempts to help Nastasya lead him to interact with a wide circle, including the wealthy Epanchin family, whose youngest daughter, Aglaya, he comes to love. Nastasya, however, struggles with her trauma and wavers between Myshkin and Rogozhin, leading to jealousy, public scandals, and intense confrontations. Myshkin, driven by compassion, ultimately proposes to Nastasya, but on their wedding day, she flees with Rogozhin, leaving Myshkin heartbroken and descending back into a state of mental fragility, trapped in a tragic cycle of love, sacrifice, and unfulfilled hope.