Passes the Bechdel test
An American Werewolf in London
1981. Directed by John Landis, written by John Landis.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
18 women characters. 4 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 104. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.
The film
Two American college students are on a walking tour of Britain and are attacked by a werewolf. One is killed, the other is mauled. The werewolf is killed but reverts to its human form, and the local townspeople are unwilling to acknowledge its existence. The surviving student begins to have nightmares of hunting on four feet at first but then finds that his friend and other recent victims appear to him, demanding that he commit suicide to release them from their curse, being trapped between worlds because of their unnatural deaths.
- Released
- 21 Aug 1981
- Genres
- Comedy, Horror
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.5 / 10
- Metascore
- 55 / 100
- Awards
- Won 1 Oscar. 3 wins & 4 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- David 285 lines, man
- Alex 158 lines, woman
- Jack 122 lines, man
- Dr. Hirsch 97 lines, man
- Woman 26 lines, woman
- Chess Player 19 lines, man
- Lt. Villiers 16 lines, man
- Miss Gallagher 16 lines, woman
- Dart Player 12 lines, man
- Sgt. Mcmanus 9 lines, man
Full cast, 60 people
- David Naughton as David Kessler
- Griffin Dunne as Jack Goodman
- Jenny Agutter as Nurse Alex Price
- John Woodvine as Dr. J.S. Hirsch
- Don McKillop as Inspector Villiers
- Brian Glover as Chess Player
- David Schofield as Dart Player
- Lila Kaye as Barmaid
- Rik Mayall as Second Chess Player
- Sean Baker as Second Dart Player
- Frank Oz as Mr. Collins
- Paul Kember as Sergeant McManus
- Joe Belcher as Truck Driver
- Paddy Ryan as First Werewolf
- Anne-Marie Davies as Nurse Susan Gallagher
- Colin Fernandes as Benjamin
- Albert Moses as Hospital Porter
- Michele Brisigotti as Rachel Kessler
- Mark Fisher as Max Kessler
- Gordon Sterne as Mr. Kessler
- Paula Jacobs as Mrs. Kessler
- Claudine Bowyer as Creepy Little Girl
- Johanna Crayden as Creepy Little Girl
- Nina Carter as Naughty Nina
- Geoffrey Burridge as Harry Berman
- Brenda Cavendish as Judith Browns
- Christopher Scoular as Sean
- Mary Tempest as Sean's Wife
- Cynthia Powell as Sister Hobbs
- Sydney Bromley as Alf
- Frank Singuineau as Ted
- Will Leighton as Joseph
- Michael Carter as Gerald Bringsley
- Elizabeth Bradley as Woman in Zoo
- Rufus Deakin as Little Boy with Balloons
- Lesley Ward as Little Boy's Mother
- George Hilsdon as News-Vendor
- Gerry Lewis as Man in Bus Queue
- Dennis Fraser as 2nd Man in Bus Queue
- Alan Ford as Taxi Driver
- Peter Ellis as Bobby in Trafalgar Square
- Denise Stephens as Girl in Trafalgar Square
- Christine Hargreaves as Ticket Lady
- Lucien Morgan as Lance Boyle ("See You Next Wednesday" Cast)
- Dave Cooper as Chris Bailey ("See You Next Wednesday" Cast)
- Susan Spencer as Georgia Bailey ("See You Next Wednesday" Cast)
- Bob Babenia as Usher
- Ken Sicklen as Bobby at Cinema
- John Salthouse as Bobby at Cinema
- John Altman as Assorted Police
- Keith Hodiak as Assorted Police
- John Owens as Assorted Police
- Roger Rowland as Assorted Police
- Linzi Drew as Brenda Bristols
- John Cannon as Villager (uncredited)
- George Oliver as Man in Cinema (uncredited)
- John Landis as Man Smashed into Window (uncredited)
- Simon van Collem as Shop Owner (uncredited)
- James Payne as Taxi Driver (uncredited)
- Alecia St Leger as Passer-By (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 5% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 104
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 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 35 |
| 7 to 9 | 14 | 60 |
| 10 to 12 | 4 | 61 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 3 |
| 16 to 18 | 19 | 10 |
| 19 to 21 | 3 | 65 |
| 22 to 24 | 15 | 6 |
| 25 to 27 | 22 | 19 |
| 28 to 30 | 3 | 19 |
| 31 to 33 | 23 | 25 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 53 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 1 |
| 40 to 42 | 14 | 11 |
| 43 to 45 | 6 | 10 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 19 |
| 49 to 51 | 2 | 3 |
| 52 to 54 | 10 | 35 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 1 |
| 58 to 60 | 5 | 6 |
| 61 to 63 | 5 | 11 |
| 64 to 66 | 5 | 5 |
| 67 to 69 | 2 | 5 |
| 70 to 72 | 11 | 12 |
| 73 to 75 | 1 | 7 |
| 76 to 78 | 2 | 17 |
| 79 to 81 | 5 | 6 |
| 82 to 84 | 14 | 14 |
| 85 to 87 | 17 | 28 |
| 88 to 90 | 6 | 14 |
| 91 to 93 | 2 | 37 |
| 94 to 96 | 1 | 0 |
| 97 to 99 | 1 | 0 |
| 100 to 102 | 1 | 3 |
| 103 to 104 | 5 | 1 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scene
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
MISS GALLAGHER: Uh, I don't know if.... ALEX: It's all right, Susan. Yes, Doctor, I have.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 26 are women's.
218 lines from women, 606 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
18 women and 40 men in the cast. 4 women and 15 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 44 of 864.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 55 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 21% of the words (1,441), men 79% (5,262). Women have 26% 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
2
Two men
25
Exhibit F: behind the camera
1 of the 7 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 10% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- John Landis (man)
- Written by
- John Landis (man)
- Produced by
- George Folsey Jr. (man)
- Shot by
- Robert Paynter (man)
- Edited by
- Malcolm Campbell (man)
- Music by
- Elmer Bernstein (man)
- Costumes by
- Deborah Nadoolman Landis (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
3 women, 25 men, 4 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 8 men, 3 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 7 men, 3 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 3 men, 4 not listed
-
Production
2 women, 4 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 3 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 40 on average. Men: 37 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Jenny Agutter 28, Lila Kaye 51
Men
Rik Mayall 23, Griffin Dunne 26, David Schofield 29, David Naughton 30, Brian Glover 47, John Woodvine 52, Don McKillop 53
Exhibit H: the money
It made 3.2 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $10 million
- Box office
- $32 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 104 scenes and 864 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
