Passes the Bechdel test
Car Wash
1976. Directed by Michael Schultz, written by Joel Schumacher.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
10 women characters. 4 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 73. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
One day, a close-knit group of car-wash employees have all manner of strange visitors coming onto their forecourt, including Richard Pryor as a preaching "wonder-man" who is loved by most but loathed by one, and a man who's mistaken for a drunk, but the bottle he clutches is actually his urine sample as he is off to the hospital. Meanwhile, T.C.'s love life improves, and the songs keep coming.
- Released
- 22 Oct 1976
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 6.3 / 10
- Metascore
- 71 / 100
- Awards
- 3 wins & 2 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Lonnie 53 lines, man
- Mr. B 53 lines, man
- Duane 36 lines, man
- Marsha 31 lines, woman
- Irwin 28 lines, man
- Lloyd 28 lines, man
- Chuko 23 lines, man
- Hippo 23 lines, man
- Justin 22 lines, man
- Calvin 17 lines, man
Full cast, 50 people
- Ivan Dixon as Lonnie
- DeWayne Jessie as Lloyd
- Bill Duke as Duane – Abdullah
- Franklyn Ajaye as Theodore Chauncy "T.C." Alcott (The Fly)
- Sully Boyar as Leon "Mr. B" Barrow
- Melanie Mayron as Marsha
- June Pointer as The Wilson Sister
- Bonnie Pointer as The Wilson Sister
- Anita Pointer as The Wilson Sister
- Ruth Pointer as The Wilson Sister
- Lauren Jones as Marleen
- Richard Brestoff as Irwin Barrow
- Tracy Reed as Mona
- Antonio Fargas as Lindy
- James Spinks as Hippo
- Clarence Muse as Snapper
- Darrow Igus as Floyd
- Leon Pinkney as Justin
- Ren Woods as Loretta
- Jack Kehoe as Scruggs
- Raymond Vitte as Geronimo
- Pepe Serna as Chuco
- Henry Kingi as Goody
- Leonard Jackson as Earl
- Michael Fennell as Calvin
- George Carlin as The Taxi Driver
- Irwin Corey as The Mad Bomber
- Garrett Morris as Slide
- Arthur French as Charlie
- Richard Pryor as Daddy Rich
- Erin Blunt as Lonnie's Son
- Janine Williams as Lonnie's Daugher
- Lorraine Gary as Hysterical Lady
- Ricky Fellen as Hysterical Lady's Son
- Carmine Caridi as Foolish Father
- Otis Sistrunk as Otis
- Derek Schultz as Foolish Father's Son
- Cynthia Hamowy as Bandaged Man's Wife
- Antonie Becker as Charlene
- Tim Thomerson as Marsha's Blond Date
- Mike Slaney as Bandaged Man
- Antar Mubarak as Sonny Fredericks
- Reginald Farmer as Daddy Rich's Chauffeur
- Al Stellone as Oldsmobile Owner
- Jason Bernard as Lonnie's Parole Officer
- Ed Metzger as Arresting Cop
- Ben Frommer as Man Behind Ken
- Jay Butler as AM Disc Jockey (voice)
- Sarina C. Grant as Newscaster (voice)
- Billy Bass as Newscaster (voice)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 11% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 73
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 | 33 |
| 3 to 4 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 to 6 | 1 | 11 |
| 7 to 8 | 0 | 18 |
| 9 to 10 | 0 | 4 |
| 11 to 12 | 0 | 6 |
| 13 to 14 | 1 | 25 |
| 15 to 16 | 1 | 2 |
| 17 to 18 | 1 | 11 |
| 19 to 20 | 0 | 5 |
| 21 to 22 | 3 | 0 |
| 23 to 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 to 26 | 1 | 4 |
| 27 to 28 | 1 | 3 |
| 29 to 30 | 6 | 3 |
| 31 to 32 | 3 | 18 |
| 33 to 34 | 0 | 22 |
| 35 to 36 | 2 | 6 |
| 37 to 38 | 2 | 5 |
| 39 to 40 | 12 | 34 |
| 41 to 42 | 1 | 10 |
| 43 to 44 | 6 | 17 |
| 45 to 46 | 0 | 11 |
| 47 to 48 | 0 | 28 |
| 49 to 50 | 7 | 9 |
| 51 to 52 | 3 | 6 |
| 53 to 54 | 5 | 7 |
| 55 to 56 | 1 | 43 |
| 57 to 58 | 11 | 59 |
| 59 to 60 | 2 | 25 |
| 61 to 62 | 0 | 1 |
| 63 to 64 | 2 | 20 |
| 65 to 66 | 0 | 25 |
| 67 to 68 | 3 | 15 |
| 69 to 70 | 6 | 4 |
| 71 to 72 | 0 | 16 |
| 73 to 73 | 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 scene
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
MARSHA: ‘What's the matter?... PREGNANT WOMAN: Nothing... ee ae
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 14 are women's.
81 lines from women, 509 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
10 women and 30 men in the cast. 4 women and 28 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 58 of 662.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 70 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 11% of the words (744), men 89% (5,843). Women have 14% 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
1
Two men
54
Exhibit F: behind the camera
None of the 9 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 0% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Michael Schultz (man)
- Written by
- Joel Schumacher (man)
- Produced by
- Gary Stromberg (gender not listed), Art Linson (man)
- Shot by
- Frank Stanley (man)
- Edited by
- Christopher Holmes (gender not listed)
- Music by
- Norman Whitfield (gender not listed)
- Costumes by
- Daniel Paredes (man)
- Cast by
- Don Phillips (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
0 women, 5 men, 6 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Production
0 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 26 on average. Men: 36 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
June Pointer 22, Melanie Mayron 24, Bonnie Pointer 26, Anita Pointer 28, Ruth Pointer 30
Men
DeWayne Jessie 25, Franklyn Ajaye 27, Bill Duke 33, Ivan Dixon 45, Sully Boyar 52
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 73 scenes and 662 lines of dialogue. How the test works
