Fails the Bechdel test
A Clockwork Orange
1972. Directed by Stanley Kubrick, written by Stanley Kubrick and Anthony Burgess.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
17 women characters. 4 of them speak. -
No
2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.
The film
Alex DeLarge is an "ultraviolent" youth in futuristic Britain. As with all luck, his eventually runs out and he's arrested and convicted of murder. While in prison, Alex learns of an experimental program in which convicts are programmed to detest violence. If he goes through the program, his sentence will be reduced and he will be back on the streets sooner than expected. But Alex's ordeals are far from over once he hits the streets of Britain.
- Released
- 02 Feb 1972
- Genres
- Crime, Sci-Fi
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 8.2 / 10
- Metascore
- 77 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 4 Oscars. 12 wins & 26 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Alex 259 lines, man
- Chief Guard 58 lines, man
- Minister 30 lines, man
- Mr. Alexander 25 lines, man
- Dim 21 lines, man
- Dr. Taylor 20 lines
- Pee 18 lines
- Deltoid 17 lines, man
- Priest 17 lines, man
- Dr. Branom 16 lines, woman
Full cast, 49 people
- Malcolm McDowell as Alex
- Patrick Magee as Mr. Alexander
- Carl Duering as Dr. Brodsky
- Michael Bates as Chief Guard
- Warren Clarke as Dim
- James Marcus as Georgie
- Michael Tarn as Pete
- Miriam Karlin as Catlady
- Adrienne Corri as Mrs. Alexander
- Sheila Raynor as Mum
- Philip Stone as Dad
- Aubrey Morris as Deltoid
- Clive Francis as Lodger
- John Clive as Stage Actor
- Paul Farrell as Tramp
- Michael Gover as Prison Governor
- Godfrey Quigley as Prison Chaplain
- Madge Ryan as Dr. Branom
- Anthony Sharp as Minister
- Pauline Taylor as Psychiatrist
- Margaret Tyzack as Conspirator
- Steven Berkoff as Det. Const. Tom
- Lindsay Campbell as Police Inspector
- David Prowse as Julian
- Barrie Cookson as Dr. Alcott
- Jan Adair as Handmaiden in Bible Fantasy
- Gaye Brown as Sophisto
- Peter Burton as Junior Minister
- John J. Carney as Detective Sergeant
- Alec Wallis as Conspirator D.B. Da Silva
- John Savident as Conspirator
- Vivienne Chandler as Handmaiden in Bible Fantasy
- Richard Connaught as Billyboy
- Prudence Drage as Handmaiden in Bible Fantasy
- Carol Drinkwater as Nurse Feeley
- Lee Fox as Desk Sergeant
- Cheryl Grunwald as Victim of Billyboy's Gang
- Gillian Hills as Sonietta
- Craig Hunter as Doctor
- Shirley Jaffe as Nurse
- Virginia Wetherell as Stage Actress
- Neil Wilson as Prison Check-in Officer
- Katya Wyeth as Girl in Ascot Fantasy
- Jack Arrow as Mustachioed Ludovico Technician (uncredited)
- Shane Shelton as Burbling Boy (uncredited)
- Norman Gay as BBC Producer (uncredited)
- Katharina Kubrick as Girl Passing Alex in the Record Store (uncredited)
- Glenys O'Brien as Brunette Girl (uncredited)
- Adolf Hitler as Self(Archive footage)(Uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 21% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 59
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 to 4 | 0 | 12 |
| 5 to 6 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 to 8 | 6 | 16 |
| 9 to 10 | 0 | 12 |
| 11 to 12 | 0 | 6 |
| 13 to 14 | 0 | 18 |
| 15 to 16 | 0 | 4 |
| 17 to 18 | 0 | 22 |
| 19 to 20 | 1 | 8 |
| 21 to 22 | 9 | 8 |
| 23 to 24 | 0 | 16 |
| 25 to 26 | 0 | 69 |
| 27 to 28 | 0 | 2 |
| 29 to 30 | 0 | 27 |
| 31 to 32 | 0 | 22 |
| 33 to 34 | 0 | 17 |
| 35 to 36 | 9 | 16 |
| 37 to 38 | 7 | 17 |
| 39 to 40 | 0 | 21 |
| 41 to 42 | 0 | 29 |
| 43 to 44 | 0 | 11 |
| 45 to 46 | 0 | 13 |
| 47 to 48 | 0 | 1 |
| 49 to 50 | 0 | 34 |
| 51 to 52 | 0 | 18 |
| 53 to 54 | 0 | 3 |
| 55 to 56 | 1 | 1 |
| 57 to 58 | 0 | 21 |
| 59 to 59 | 0 | 31 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 6 are women's.
33 lines from women, 477 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
17 women and 28 men in the cast. 4 women and 13 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 16 of 648.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 197 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 6% of the words (582), men 94% (8,892).
Exhibit D: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
0
Two men
35
Exhibit E: behind the camera
2 of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 14% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Stanley Kubrick (man)
- Written by
- Stanley Kubrick (man)
- From the novel by
- Anthony Burgess (man)
- Produced by
- Stanley Kubrick (man)
- Shot by
- John Alcott (man)
- Edited by
- Bill Butler (man)
- Music by
- Wendy Carlos (woman)
- Production design by
- John Barry (man)
- Costumes by
- Milena Canonero (woman)
- Cast by
- James Liggat (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Camera
0 women, 7 men, 2 not listed
-
Production
0 women, 6 men, 1 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 4 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
2 women, 2 men
-
Editing
0 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 50 on average. Men: 35 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Adrienne Corri 40, Miriam Karlin 46, Sheila Raynor 63
Men
Michael Tarn 19, Warren Clarke 24, Malcolm McDowell 28, James Marcus 29, Carl Duering 48, Patrick Magee 49, Michael Bates 50
Exhibit G: the money
It made 12.3 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $2.2 million
- Box office
- $27 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 59 scenes and 648 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
