Passes the Bechdel test
Airplane!
1980. Directed by Jim Abrahams and David Zucker and Jerry Zucker, written by Jim Abrahams and David Zucker and Jerry Zucker.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
26 women characters. 12 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 5 scenes out of 337. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3, though someone marked that rating as dubious.
The film
Drowning his sorrows after that botched mission during World War II, Ted Striker, a traumatized ex-fighter-pilot with a neurotic fear of flying, still has not gotten over his old flame, flight attendant, Elaine Dickinson. Determined to win her back, Ted boards a domestic flight from Los Angeles to Chicago, only to come face-to-face with a severe case of in-flight food poisoning that is threatening everyone's lives. With most of the passengers and the entire cockpit crew down with the food-borne illness, Striker must confront his inner demons and take over the control of the ungovernable aircraft with the help of a gruff air-traffic controller and his former commander. Can Ted Striker land the airplane and save the passengers?
- Released
- 02 Jul 1980
- Genres
- Comedy
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 7.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 78 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award. 3 wins & 7 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Striker 100 lines, man
- Kramer 98 lines, man
- Elaine 92 lines, woman
- Mccroskey 60 lines, man
- Oveur 46 lines
- Dr. Rumack 45 lines, man
- Randy 43 lines, woman
- Hinshaw 22 lines
- Murdock 21 lines, man
- P.A. System 20 lines
Full cast, 75 people
- Robert Hays as Ted Striker
- Julie Hagerty as Elaine Dickinson
- Leslie Nielsen as Dr. Rumack
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as Roger Murdock
- Lloyd Bridges as Steve McCroskey
- Peter Graves as Capt. Clarence Oveur
- Robert Stack as Captain Rex Kramer
- Lorna Patterson as Randy
- Jill Whelan as Lisa Davis
- Ann Nelson as Hanging Lady
- Jim Abrahams as Religious Zealot #6
- Jonathan Banks as Gunderson
- Stephen Stucker as Johnny Henshaw-Jacobs
- Frank Ashmore as Victor Basta
- Craig Berenson as Paul Carey
- Barbara Billingsley as Jive Lady
- Lee Bryant as Mrs. Hammen
- Joyce Bulifant as Mrs. Davis
- Mae E. Campbell as Security Lady
- Ethel Merman as Lieutenant Hurwitz
- Jimmie Walker as Windshield Wiper Man
- Nora Meerbaum as Cocaine Lady
- Kenneth Tobey as Air Controller Neubauer
- James Hong as Japanese General
- Michelle Stacy as Young Girl with Coffee
- David Leisure as First Krishna
- Al White as Second Jive Dude
- Nicholas Pryor as Mr. Hammen
- Cyril O'Reilly as Soldier
- Ted Chapman as Airport Steward
- Jesse Emmett as Man from India
- Norman Alexander Gibbs as First Jive Dude
- Amy Gibson as Soldier's Girl
- Marcy Goldman as Mrs. Geline
- Bob Gorman as Striped Controller
- Rossie Harris as Joey
- Maurice Hill as Reporter #3
- David Hollander as Young Boy with Coffee
- Howard Honig as Jack
- Gregory Itzin as Religious Zealot #1
- Howard Jarvis as Man in Taxi
- Michael Laurence as Newscaster
- Zachary Lewis as Religious Zealot #3
- Barbara Mallory as Religious Zealot #2
- Maureen McGovern as Nun
- Mary Mercier as Shirley
- Len Mooy as Reporter #1
- Laura Nix as Mrs. Hurwitz
- John O'Leary as Reporter #2
- Bill Porter as Hospital Contortionist
- Conrad E. Palmisano as Religious Zealot #4
- Mallory Sandler as L.A. Ticket Agent
- Robert Starr as Religious Zealot #5
- Barbara Stuart as Mrs. Kramer
- Lee Terri as Mrs. Oveur
- William Tregoe as Jack Kirkpatrick
- Hatsuo Uda as Japanese Newscaster
- Herb Voland as Air Controller Macias
- John David Wilder as Second Krishna
- Windy as Horse
- Jason Wingreen as Dr. Brody
- Louise Yaffe as Mrs. Jaffe
- Charlotte Zucker as Make-up Lady
- David Zucker as Ground Crewman #2
- Jerry Zucker as Ground Crewman #1
- Kitten Natividad as Bouncy Topless Woman on Plane (uncredited)
- Larry Blake as Upside-Down Man (uncredited)
- Paula Moody as Girl Scout In Bar (uncredited)
- Sandra Lee Gimpel as Girl Scout In Bar (uncredited)
- Henry Wills as Commuter on Baggage Carousel (uncredited)
- Joyce Mandel as Woman on Flight (uncredited)
- Gene LeBell as Religious Zealot (uncredited)
- Susan Breslau as Ticket Agent (uncredited)
- Bob Bryan as Native (uncredited)
- Dan Cotter as Passenger in Terminal (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 8 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 19% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 337
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 8 | 3 | 2 |
| 9 to 16 | 5 | 9 |
| 17 to 24 | 6 | 13 |
| 25 to 32 | 4 | 6 |
| 33 to 40 | 7 | 3 |
| 41 to 48 | 0 | 1 |
| 49 to 56 | 6 | 20 |
| 57 to 64 | 10 | 17 |
| 65 to 72 | 15 | 35 |
| 73 to 80 | 8 | 6 |
| 81 to 88 | 32 | 8 |
| 89 to 96 | 9 | 11 |
| 97 to 104 | 7 | 11 |
| 105 to 112 | 0 | 0 |
| 113 to 120 | 8 | 4 |
| 121 to 128 | 9 | 22 |
| 129 to 136 | 6 | 6 |
| 137 to 144 | 11 | 11 |
| 145 to 152 | 4 | 28 |
| 153 to 160 | 1 | 9 |
| 161 to 168 | 4 | 22 |
| 169 to 176 | 0 | 11 |
| 177 to 184 | 14 | 21 |
| 185 to 192 | 10 | 3 |
| 193 to 200 | 0 | 13 |
| 201 to 208 | 5 | 22 |
| 209 to 216 | 2 | 17 |
| 217 to 224 | 3 | 17 |
| 225 to 232 | 3 | 17 |
| 233 to 240 | 2 | 3 |
| 241 to 248 | 5 | 12 |
| 249 to 256 | 0 | 7 |
| 257 to 264 | 1 | 9 |
| 265 to 272 | 1 | 7 |
| 273 to 280 | 2 | 0 |
| 281 to 288 | 1 | 11 |
| 289 to 296 | 0 | 3 |
| 297 to 304 | 0 | 2 |
| 305 to 312 | 0 | 2 |
| 313 to 320 | 1 | 0 |
| 321 to 328 | 0 | 6 |
| 329 to 336 | 1 | 3 |
| 337 to 337 | 0 | 0 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scenes
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
ELAINE: We'll be taking off real soon so we better fasten you in tight. LISA: Thank you. Oh Mother, this is so exciting. MRS. DAVIS: I know, but remember you must get some rest. ELAINE: That's good advice. You relax and I'll be back after we take off.
ELAINE: Excuse me. MRS. ELDERLY: No wonder you're upset. She's lovely. And a darling figure. Supple, pouting breasts. Firm thighs. It's a shame you're not getting along.
ELAINE: I found a wonderful apartment for us. It's got a brick fireplace and a cute little bedroom with mirrors on the ceiling. And... CAPTAIN GELINE: I'm off course. Red Leader!!! Look out!!
RANDY: Excuse me, Sister? SISTER ANGELINA: Yes? RANDY: There's a little girl on board who's ill and... SISTER ANGELINA: Oh yes, I saw. Poor child.
ELAINE: Yes? SHIRLEY: My, stomach. I haven't felt this awful since we saw that Lina Wertmuller film. ELAINE: I'll see if I can find some Dramamine.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 32 are women's.
206 lines from women, 430 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
26 women and 44 men in the cast. 12 women and 25 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 10 of 783.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 40 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 27% of the words (2,092), men 73% (5,741). Women have 32% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit E: 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
9
Two men
24
Exhibit F: behind the camera
1 of the 13 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 23% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Jim Abrahams (man), David Zucker (man), Jerry Zucker (man)
- Written by
- Jim Abrahams (man), David Zucker (man), Jerry Zucker (man)
- Produced by
- Jon Davison (man)
- Shot by
- Joseph F. Biroc (man)
- Edited by
- Patrick Kennedy (gender not listed)
- Music by
- Elmer Bernstein (man)
- Production design by
- Ward Preston (man)
- Costumes by
- Rosanna Norton (woman)
- Cast by
- Joel Thurm (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
9 women, 16 men, 6 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 8 men, 3 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 3 men, 6 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 4 men, 6 not listed
-
Production
2 women, 6 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 1 men, 4 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 5 men
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 3 men, 3 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 31 on average. Men: 50 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Jill Whelan 13, Lorna Patterson 23, Julie Hagerty 25, Ann Nelson 64
Men
Robert Hays 32, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 33, Leslie Nielsen 54, Peter Graves 54, Robert Stack 61, Lloyd Bridges 67
Exhibit H: the money
It made 23.8 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $3.5 million
- Box office
- $83.5 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 337 scenes and 783 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
