Fails the Bechdel test
Dirty Harry
1971. Directed by Don Siegel and Clint Eastwood, written by Harry Julian Fink and Rita M. Fink and Dean Riesner.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
19 women characters. 2 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 0 out of 3.
The film
In 1971, San Francisco faces the terror of a killer maniac known as "Scorpio" (Andrew Robinson), who snipes at innocent victims and demands ransom through notes left at the crime scenes. Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) is assigned to the case along with his newest partner, Inspector Chico Gonzalez (Reni Santoni), to track down and stop Scorpio. Using humiliation and cat-and-mouse-type games against Callahan, Scorpio is put to the test with the cop with a dirty attitude.
- Released
- 23 Dec 1971
- Genres
- Action, Crime, Thriller
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 87 / 100
- Awards
- 2 wins & 4 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Harry 53 lines, man
- Killer 27 lines, man
- Chico 14 lines, man
- Change 12 lines, man
- Bressler 10 lines, man
- Chief 6 lines, man
- Norma 5 lines, woman
- Rothko 4 lines, man
- Mayor 3 lines
- Digeorgio 2 lines
Full cast, 66 people
- Clint Eastwood as Harry
- Harry Guardino as Bressler
- Reni Santoni as Chico
- John Vernon as The Mayor
- Andrew Robinson as Killer
- John Larch as Chief
- John Mitchum as De Georgio
- Mae Mercer as Mrs. Russell
- Lyn Edgington as Norma
- Ruth Kobart as Bus Driver
- Woodrow Parfrey as Mr. Jaffe
- Josef Sommer as Rothko
- William Paterson as Bannerman
- James Nolan as Liquor Proprietor
- Maurice Argent as Sid Kleinman
- Jo De Winter as Miss Willis
- Craig Kelly as Sgt. Reineke
- Albert Popwell as Bank Robber (uncredited)
- Joy Carlin as Communications Secretary (uncredited)
- Bill Couch as Suicide Jumper (uncredited)
- Diana Davidson as Swimmer (uncredited)
- Vince Deadrick Sr. as Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Chuck Dorsett as TV Watcher (uncredited)
- Al Dunlap as Man in Jaffe's Cafe (uncredited)
- Larry Duran as (uncredited)
- George Fargo as Homicide Detective (uncredited)
- Lois Foraker as Hot Mary (uncredited)
- Max Gail as Tunnel Hoodlum (uncredited)
- John Garber as Tunnel Hoodlum (uncredited)
- Christopher Pray as Tunnel Hoodlum (uncredited)
- Eddie Garrett as Policeman (uncredited)
- James W. Gavin as Helicopter Pilot (uncredited)
- David Gilliam as Homosexual (uncredited)
- Don Haggerty as Minor Role (uncredited)
- Scott Hale as Newsman (uncredited)
- Kate Harper as Underwear Chick (uncredited)
- Bob Harris as Man in Truck (uncredited)
- Chuck Hicks as Flower Vendor (uncredited)
- Raymond Johnson as Big Black Man (uncredited)
- Richard Lawson as Homosexual (uncredited)
- Laurie Mock as Third Nude (uncredited)
- Ann Noland as Hippie Girl (uncredited)
- Kathleen O'Malley as Lady in Jaffe's Cafe (uncredited)
- Angela Paton as Homicide Detective (uncredited)
- Victor Paul as Car Driver (uncredited)
- Debralee Scott as Ann Mary Deacon (uncredited)
- Don Siegel as Pedestrian Passing Harry's Car (uncredited)
- Kristoffer Tabori as Hippie Guy (uncredited)
- Tony Dario as Police Sergeant (uncredited)
- Marc Hertsens as Park Emergency Doctor (uncredited)
- Gordon Chapli as Fireman (uncredited)
- Janet Wisely as Nude Dancer (uncredited)
- Pamela Tanimura as Bus Kid (uncredited)
- Richard Samuelson as Bus Kid (uncredited)
- Derek Jue as Bus Kid (uncredited)
- Sean Maley as Bus Kid (uncredited)
- Diane Darnell as Mayor's Secretary (uncredited)
- Diana Davidson as Sandra Benson-Rooftop Swimmer (uncredited)
- Lolita Rios as Stripper on Bed (uncredited)
- Stephen Zacks as Kid Fishing (uncredited)
- Jauna D'Amico as Nude Dancer (uncredited)
- Charles Washburn as Steve, Medical Intern (uncredited)
- John Allen Vick as Fire Captain (uncredited)
- Boyd 'Red' Morgan as Krausgrill Tough (uncredited)
- Dean Webber as Newsman (uncredited)
- Gordon Chaplin as Fireman (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, 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 40
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 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 to 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 3 to 3 | 0 | 13 |
| 4 to 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 5 to 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 to 6 | 0 | 31 |
| 7 to 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 to 8 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 to 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 to 10 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 to 11 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 to 12 | 0 | 11 |
| 13 to 13 | 0 | 4 |
| 14 to 14 | 0 | 3 |
| 15 to 15 | 0 | 5 |
| 16 to 16 | 0 | 2 |
| 17 to 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 to 18 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 to 19 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 to 20 | 0 | 6 |
| 21 to 21 | 0 | 8 |
| 22 to 22 | 0 | 3 |
| 23 to 23 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 to 24 | 0 | 5 |
| 25 to 25 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 to 26 | 2 | 15 |
| 27 to 27 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 to 28 | 5 | 14 |
| 29 to 29 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 to 30 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 to 31 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 to 32 | 0 | 6 |
| 33 to 33 | 0 | 1 |
| 34 to 34 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 to 35 | 0 | 1 |
| 36 to 36 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 to 37 | 0 | 1 |
| 38 to 38 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 to 39 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 to 40 | 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, 5 are women's.
7 lines from women, 139 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
19 women and 45 men in the cast. 2 women and 13 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 116 of 164.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 115 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 2% of the words (209), men 98% (8,603). Women have 5% 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
19
Exhibit E: behind the camera
3 of the 14 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 12% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Don Siegel (man)
- Written by
- Harry Julian Fink (man), Rita M. Fink (woman), Dean Riesner (man), John Milius (man), Don Siegel (man), Clint Eastwood (man)
- Story by
- Harry Julian Fink (man), Rita M. Fink (woman), Jo Heims (woman)
- Produced by
- Don Siegel (man)
- Shot by
- Bruce Surtees (man)
- Edited by
- Carl Pingitore (man)
- Music by
- Lalo Schifrin (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
3 women, 28 men, 2 not listed
-
Writing
3 women, 7 men
-
Production
0 women, 5 men, 1 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 4 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 2 men
-
Directing
0 women, 3 men
-
Art
0 women, 2 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 39 on average. Men: 42 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Lyn Edgington 32, Mae Mercer 39, Ruth Kobart 47
Men
Andrew Robinson 29, Reni Santoni 32, John Vernon 39, Clint Eastwood 41, Harry Guardino 46, John Mitchum 52, John Larch 57
Exhibit G: the money
It made 9.0 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $4 million
- Box office
- $36 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 40 scenes and 164 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
