Fails the Bechdel test
Cool Hand Luke
1967. Directed by Stuart Rosenberg, written by Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson and Hal Dresner.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
2 women characters. 1 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
Luke Jackson is a cool, gutsy prisoner in a Southern chain gang, who, while refusing to buckle under to authority, keeps escaping and being recaptured. The prisoners admire Luke because, as Dragline explains it, "You're an original, that's what you are!" Nevertheless, the camp staff actively works to crush Luke until he finally breaks.
- Released
- 01 Nov 1967
- Genres
- Crime, Drama
- Rated
- Approved
- IMDb
- 8 / 10
- Metascore
- 92 / 100
- Awards
- Won 1 Oscar. 5 wins & 11 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Dragline 40 lines, man
- Luke 30 lines, man
- Boss Paul 18 lines, man
- Change 14 lines, woman
- Koko 13 lines, man
- Season 13 lines
- Carr 12 lines, man
- Society Red 11 lines, man
- Arletta 7 lines, woman
- Captain 7 lines, man
Full cast, 32 people
- Paul Newman as Luke Jackson
- George Kennedy as Dragline
- Luke Askew as Boss Paul
- Morgan Woodward as Boss Godfrey
- Harry Dean Stanton as Tramp
- Dennis Hopper as Babalugats
- Lou Antonio as Koko
- Robert Drivas as Loudmouth Steve
- Strother Martin as Captain
- Jo Van Fleet as Arletta
- Clifton James as Carr
- Marc Cavell as Rabbitt
- Richard Davalos as Blind Dick
- Robert Donner as Boss Shorty
- J.D. Cannon as Society Red
- Joe Don Baker as Fixer
- James Gammon as Sleepy
- Wayne Rogers as Gambler
- Ralph Waite as Alibi
- Chuck Hicks as Chief
- Rance Howard as Sheriff
- James Jeter as Wickerman
- Buck Kartalian as Dynamite
- Anthony Zerbe as Dog Boy
- Warren Finnerty as Tattoo
- John McLiam as Boss Keen
- Charles Tyner as Boss Higgins
- Joy Harmon as The Girl
- Kim Kahana as Convict (uncredited)
- Donn Pearce as Sailor (uncredited)
- John Pearce as John (uncredited)
- Rush Williams as Patrolman (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 20% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 31
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 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 to 2 | 0 | 5 |
| 3 to 3 | 0 | 16 |
| 4 to 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 to 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 to 6 | 0 | 10 |
| 7 to 7 | 0 | 4 |
| 8 to 8 | 1 | 6 |
| 9 to 9 | 2 | 9 |
| 10 to 10 | 10 | 45 |
| 11 to 11 | 1 | 19 |
| 12 to 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 to 13 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 to 14 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 to 15 | 0 | 4 |
| 16 to 16 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 to 17 | 0 | 1 |
| 18 to 18 | 0 | 3 |
| 19 to 19 | 0 | 1 |
| 20 to 20 | 0 | 19 |
| 21 to 21 | 2 | 32 |
| 22 to 22 | 2 | 4 |
| 23 to 23 | 3 | 2 |
| 24 to 24 | 1 | 2 |
| 25 to 25 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 to 26 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 to 27 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 to 28 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 to 29 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 to 30 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 to 31 | 0 | 0 |
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, 11 are women's.
23 lines from women, 185 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
2 women and 30 men in the cast. 1 women and 28 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 5 of 260.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 53 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 (685), men 94% (10,517). Women have 11% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
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
27
Exhibit E: behind the camera
None of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 4% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Stuart Rosenberg (man)
- Written by
- Frank Pierson (man), Donn Pearce (man), Hal Dresner (man)
- From the novel by
- Donn Pearce (man)
- Produced by
- Carter DeHaven Jr. (man), Gordon Carroll (man)
- Shot by
- Conrad Hall (man)
- Edited by
- Sam O'Steen (man)
- Music by
- Lalo Schifrin (man)
- Costumes by
- Howard Shoup (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
0 women, 5 men
-
Camera
0 women, 4 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 3 men
-
Writing
0 women, 4 men
-
Art
0 women, 3 men
-
Other crew
0 women, 2 men
-
Directing
0 women, 2 men
-
Lighting
0 women, 0 men, 2 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 51 on average. Men: 38 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Jo Van Fleet 51
Men
Robert Drivas 28, Dennis Hopper 31, Lou Antonio 33, Luke Askew 35, Harry Dean Stanton 41, Paul Newman 42, George Kennedy 42, Morgan Woodward 42, Strother Martin 48
Exhibit G: the money
It made 5.1 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $3.2 million
- Box office
- $16.2 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 31 scenes and 260 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
