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50 free Grumpy Old Men trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
45 free Grumpy Old Men trivia questions with answers. Grumpy Old Men (1993) and Grumpier Old Men (1995) turned Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau's decades-long friendship into two of the surprise hits of the nineties. This quiz covers both films: John Gustafson and Max Goldman's ice-fishing feud in Wabasha, Minnesota, the dead fish in the truck, Ariel Truax moving in across the street, Grandpa Gustafson's breakfast advice, the IRS agent, Chuck's bait shop, and then Maria Ragetti's Italian restaurant, Catfish Hunter and the wedding that closes the sequel. There are easy questions for anyone who has seen the films at Christmas, and harder ones on how they were made: the screenwriter who was working as a secretary when he wrote it, Matthau's pneumonia, the Minnesota towns that doubled for Wabasha, the box office, the cancelled third film Grumpiest Old Men and the Eddie Murphy remake that never arrived. A final stretch covers the ten films Lemmon and Matthau made together. Every answer has been checked against the Wikipedia articles on the films and their stars, and each question shows its source once you have answered.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which two actors star as the feuding neighbours in Grumpy Old Men?
Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau
It was their sixth film together, 27 years after The Fortune Cookie made them friends.
Q 02In which Minnesota town is Grumpy Old Men set?
Wabasha
A sign at the real town's limits now reads "Welcome to Wabasha, Home of Grumpy Old Men".
Q 03What is the name of Jack Lemmon's character?
John Gustafson
He is a retired history teacher who is divorced and dodging the IRS.
Q 04What did Walter Matthau's character Max Goldman do for a living before retiring?
Television repairman
He is a widower, while John is divorced; the two have been at each other since childhood.
Q 05What is the signature prank John and Max keep pulling?
Leaving a dead fish in the rival's vehicle
The final one goes into the wedding limo; Max also plants one in the IRS agent's car.
Q 06Who plays Ariel Truax, the free-spirited widow who moves in across the street?
Ann-Margret
The screenwriter had pictured Sophia Loren in the part; she ended up in the sequel instead.
Q 07What is Ariel's profession?
English professor
She has Thanksgiving dinner with Chuck from the bait shop, which sets John and Max competing for her.
Q 08Which veteran actor plays John's father, Grandpa Gustafson?
Burgess Meredith
He was 85 playing a sex-obsessed 95-year-old, and Grumpier Old Men was his final film.
Q 09The actor who plays Grandpa Gustafson was best known earlier in his career for which two roles?
The Penguin and Rocky's trainer Mickey
He also appeared in four episodes of The Twilight Zone, tying Jack Klugman for the most starring roles on the show.
Q 10Who plays John's daughter Melanie?
Daryl Hannah
Melanie ends the first film beginning a romance with Max's son Jacob, and the pair are engaged by the sequel.
Q 11Kevin Pollak plays Jacob Goldman, Max's son. What office is Jacob running for?
Mayor
He wins, and later uses the job to block the seizure of John's house.
Q 12What is Chuck, played by Ossie Davis, the owner of?
The town bait shop
After Chuck dies in his sleep, the shop's sale to Maria Ragetti drives the plot of the sequel.
Q 13Which government agency is chasing John over a serious debt?
The IRS
Agent Elliott Snyder, played by Buck Henry, ends up buried in snow with a fish in his car.
What is the real root of the decades-long feud between the two neighbours?
Q 21Interior scenes for the first film were shot at which famous Minnesota studio?
Paisley Park
Prince's complex in Chanhassen doubled as the soundstage; the ice-shanty scenes were on Lake Rebecca.
Q 22What halted production for several months during the first film?
Matthau caught pneumonia filming a fight in subzero cold
Shooting did not wrap until June 23, 1993, six months before release.
Q 23On what date did Grumpy Old Men open in US cinemas?
December 25, 1993
One married the other's high-school sweetheart
John points out that May was unfaithful and Max ended up happier with Amy, the woman he did marry.
Q 15How does a jealous Max endanger his neighbour after learning he has slept with Ariel?
He drives the fishing shanty onto thin ice
John narrowly escapes, and it is that night that the truth about May comes out.
Q 16What happens to John on Christmas Day after he storms out of the bar?
He has a heart attack in the snow
Max finds him, checks him into the hospital as his friend, and then fetches Ariel.
Q 17What wedding gift does Max announce at the end of the first film?
He and Jacob have paid off the tax debt
John still finds a fish waiting for him in the wedding limo.
Q 18Screenwriter Mark Steven Johnson wrote Grumpy Old Men while working what job?
Secretary at Orion Pictures
He went on to write and direct Daredevil and Ghost Rider.
Q 19Who directed Grumpy Old Men?
Donald Petrie
Petrie had made Mystic Pizza; Howard Deutch took over for the sequel.
Q 20Why did the crew have to delay the start of shooting in Minnesota in January 1993?
There was not enough snow
Filming finally began on February 2, and St. Paul, Faribault and Center City stood in for Wabasha.
It became one of the surprise hits of the year, earning $70 million domestically on a $35 million budget.
Q 24Roughly how much did Grumpy Old Men gross worldwide?
$80 million
Home video added another $40 million, which is why a sequel was announced within 15 months.
Q 25What grade did audiences polled by CinemaScore give Grumpy Old Men?
A
Critics were cooler: Roger Ebert gave it two stars but admitted Matthau and Lemmon were fun to see together.
Q 26Which Italian screen legend joins the cast of Grumpier Old Men?
Sophia Loren
She plays Maria Ragetti, who buys the old bait shop to open an Italian restaurant.
Q 27In Grumpier Old Men, what does Maria Ragetti plan to turn Chuck's old bait shop into?
An Italian restaurant
John and Max join forces to sabotage it, and by the end it is a restaurant and a bait shop.
Q 28What is the name of the giant fish everyone in the sequel is trying to land?
Catfish Hunter
John and Max finally catch it, then let it go so it can stay in the lake with J.W.'s ashes.
Q 29What insults do John and Max still trade in the sequel, now with friendly intent?
"Moron" and "putz"
John calls Max a moron and Max calls John a putz, feud or no feud.
Q 30How is Grandpa Gustafson found dead in Grumpier Old Men?
At his fishing spot with a rod and a beer
His ashes are scattered in the lake, which prompts John and Max to call off their feud again.