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David K. Israel
Celluloid-stumper: The Cabinet
by David K. Israel - August 30, 2006 - 2:09 PM

question_marks.jpgWe know how much you all loved Ransom’s Geo-stumper, so we’re serving another one up today, only let’s call it a Celluloid-stumper.

(By the way, little known factoid: film isn’t generally made from celluloid anymore, but rather polyester.)

Now then, without Googling, (and we mean it!), bragging rights to the person who can answer these three questions first, and correctly:

Question #1: What movie does the following excerpted dialogue come from?

Character A: Can you name all the members of the Cabinet?

Character B: Yes… I know the names of the Cabinet.

Character A: Okay… All Twelve?

Character B: Yes.

Question #2: Name the actors who played both characters.

Question #3: Tell us what Character B’s answer should have been to the question posed by Character A and why.

On your mark, get set, GO!

Comments (9)
  1. Too easy…Movie is Broadcast News; Character A was played Albert Brooks; Character B was played by William Hurt. And he should have said “no.”
    :-)

  2. I remember it was from Broadcast News and I know William Hurt was in it. Can I get partial credit?

  3. Drew: Sure, partial credit is always there for the taking, but I’m not sure how far those bragging rights will take you at the water cooler.

    Sarah: Almost there! Why should he have said “no”???

  4. ’cause there aren’t 12 members of the cabinet – but I forget the right number

  5. The movie is Broadcast News and the Character of Aaron played by Albert Brooks is asking the question of William Hurt’s Character Tom. Tom should have said no he did not know the members of the cabinet because he sometimes just doesn’t GET the stories that he is reporting.

  6. and there are only 10 cabinet members

  7. 1.) Broadcast News

    2.) A. Aaron Altman – Albert Brooks
    B. Tom Grunick – William Hurt

    3.) In 1987, Character B’s answer
    should have been…”How can I
    know all twelve when there are
    only ten”.

    I swear on my 1980 Tug McGraw autographed baseball…I did not google. I am intimately familiar with this film. We’ve all got one of those don’t we…for some reason you know and or remember everything from one of your favorites.

  8. Technically, Mel wins, as she was the first to answer my three questions, albeit in bits and pieces. In the world that James Brooks created, there were only 10 cabinet members, not 12.

    Hats off to Dawn for nailing the full names of the characters, which I didn’t ask for… but big brownie points there.

    Curiously, in 1987, when the film premiered, Ronald Reagan had 13 people in his Cabinet, not ten. And so, Tom would have been closer to the right answer than Aaron.

    Presently, with the addition of Homeland Security and the Department of Veterans Affairs, there are 15 Cabinet members.

    I believe that’s right… though I’m open to hearing someone else’s take, if I’ve miscounted somehow.

  9. In answer to your earlier question to me, he should have said “no” because he couldn’t name all the members of the Cabinet…no matter how many there were/are….
    Isn’t that the Ockman’s Razor response?
    :-)

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