Passes the Bechdel test
Howard the Duck
1986. Directed by Willard Huyck, written by Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz and Steve Gerber.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
9 women characters. 5 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 158. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, 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
A scientific experiment unknowingly brings extraterrestrial life forms to the Earth through a laser beam. First is the cigar smoking drake Howard from the duck's planet. A few kids try to keep him from the greedy scientists and help him back to his planet. But then a much less friendly being arrives through the beam...
- Released
- 01 Aug 1986
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Comedy
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 4.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 28 / 100
- Awards
- 5 wins & 4 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Howard 236 lines, man
- Beverly 146 lines, woman
- Phil 87 lines, man
- Jenning 43 lines, man
- Carter 26 lines, man
- Ginger 14 lines, man
- Waitress 9 lines, woman
- Weber 9 lines, man
- Coramae 8 lines, woman
- Ronette 8 lines, woman
Full cast, 55 people
- Lea Thompson as Beverly Switzler
- Jeffrey Jones as Dr. Walter Jenning
- Tim Robbins as Phil Blumburtt
- Ed Gale as Howard T. Duck
- Chip Zien as Howard T. Duck (voice)
- Tim Rose as Howard T. Duck
- Steve Sleap as Howard T. Duck
- Peter Baird as Howard T. Duck
- Mary Wells as Howard T. Duck
- Lisa Sturz as Howard T. Duck
- Jordan Prentice as Howard T. Duck
- Paul Guilfoyle as Lieutenant Welker
- Liz Sagal as Ronette
- Dominique Davalos as Cal
- Holly Robinson Peete as K.C.
- Tommy Swerdlow as Ginger Moss
- Richard Edson as Ritchie
- Miles Chapin as Carter
- Richard McGonagle as First Cop
- Virginia Capers as Coramae
- Debbie Lee Carrington as Additional Ducks (voice)
- Jorli McLain as Waitress
- Miguel Sandoval as Club Owner
- Sheldon Feldner as Hot Tub Spa Owner
- Lee Anthony as Grossbach
- Paul Comi as Dr. Chapin
- Maureen Coyne as Teacher
- James Lashly as State Trooper
- Tom Parker as Steve Kanelli
- Ed Holmes as TV Duck Hunter
- David Paymer as Larry, Scientist
- William Hall as Hanson
- Denny Delk as Sergeant
- Martin Ganapoler as First Trucker
- Tom Rayhall as Second Trucker
- Gary Littlejohn as Third Trucker
- Thomas Dolby as Bartender in Rock Club
- Kristopher Logan as Punk
- Reed Kirk Rahlmann as Bender
- John Fleck as Pimples
- William McCoy as Skin Head
- Steven Kravitz as Lover Boy
- Anne Tofflemire as Lover Girl
- Marcia Banks as Mama Biker
- Nancy Fish as Bag Lady
- Monty Hoffman as Club Bouncer
- Ted Kurtz as Kirby
- Wood Moy as Chef
- Wanda McCaddon as Hostess
- James Brady as First Tour Guide
- Carol McElheney as Screaming Woman
- Jeanne Lauren as Bear
- Richard Kiley as The Cosmos (voice)
- Mel Blanc as Daffy Duck (voice) (archive sound)
- Carlos Gómez as Extra
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 8% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 158
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 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 to 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 to 16 | 0 | 4 |
| 17 to 20 | 3 | 3 |
| 21 to 24 | 1 | 2 |
| 25 to 28 | 17 | 25 |
| 29 to 32 | 24 | 14 |
| 33 to 36 | 2 | 2 |
| 37 to 40 | 4 | 25 |
| 41 to 44 | 7 | 34 |
| 45 to 48 | 8 | 10 |
| 49 to 52 | 0 | 1 |
| 53 to 56 | 12 | 46 |
| 57 to 60 | 17 | 51 |
| 61 to 64 | 6 | 13 |
| 65 to 68 | 0 | 10 |
| 69 to 72 | 4 | 13 |
| 73 to 76 | 0 | 12 |
| 77 to 80 | 3 | 9 |
| 81 to 84 | 3 | 9 |
| 85 to 88 | 1 | 6 |
| 89 to 92 | 4 | 10 |
| 93 to 96 | 36 | 73 |
| 97 to 100 | 1 | 2 |
| 101 to 104 | 5 | 2 |
| 105 to 108 | 1 | 6 |
| 109 to 112 | 0 | 5 |
| 113 to 116 | 1 | 1 |
| 117 to 120 | 0 | 0 |
| 121 to 124 | 0 | 7 |
| 125 to 128 | 0 | 6 |
| 129 to 132 | 0 | 3 |
| 133 to 136 | 0 | 4 |
| 137 to 140 | 0 | 2 |
| 141 to 144 | 0 | 5 |
| 145 to 148 | 0 | 9 |
| 149 to 152 | 0 | 7 |
| 153 to 156 | 0 | 10 |
| 157 to 158 | 16 | 35 |
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.
RONETTE: Yo, How - weird. BEVERLY: Hi, ducky.
RONETTE: Give 'em some privacy, Philsy. BEVERLY: How's the world been treating you?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 27 are women's.
176 lines from women, 476 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
9 women and 26 men in the cast. 5 women and 23 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 14 of 705.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 63 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 25% of the words (1,774), men 75% (5,262). Women have 27% 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
4
Two men
63
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 16% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Willard Huyck (man)
- Written by
- Willard Huyck (man), Gloria Katz (woman)
- Produced by
- Gloria Katz (woman)
- Shot by
- Richard H. Kline (man)
- Edited by
- Michael Chandler (man), Sidney Wolinsky (man)
- Music by
- John Barry (man)
- Production design by
- Peter Jamison (man)
- Costumes by
- Joe I. Tompkins (man)
- Cast by
- Dianne Crittenden (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Art
1 women, 11 men, 2 not listed
-
Production
4 women, 6 men
-
Sound
1 women, 8 men
-
Other crew
1 women, 5 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 7 men
-
Editing
0 women, 4 men
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 3 men
-
Writing
1 women, 2 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 25 on average. Men: 31 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Lea Thompson 25
Men
Ed Gale 22, Tim Robbins 27, Tim Rose 30, Jeffrey Jones 39, Chip Zien 39
Exhibit H: the money
It made 1.0 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $37 million
- Box office
- $38 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 158 scenes and 705 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
