Fails the Bechdel test
It Happened One Night
1934. Directed by Frank Capra, written by Robert Riskin and Samuel Hopkins Adams.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
13 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
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
Ellie Andrews has just tied the knot with society aviator King Westley when she is whisked away to her father's yacht and out of King's clutches. Ellie jumps ship and eventually winds up on a bus headed back to her husband. Reluctantly she must accept the help of out-of- work reporter Peter Warne. Actually, Warne doesn't give her any choice: either she sticks with him until he gets her back to her husband, or he'll blow the whistle on Ellie to her father. Either way, Peter gets what (he thinks!) he wants .... a really juicy newspaper story.
- Released
- 22 Feb 1934
- Genres
- Comedy, Romance
- Rated
- Approved
- IMDb
- 8.1 / 10
- Metascore
- 87 / 100
- Awards
- Won 5 Oscars. 14 wins & 2 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Peter 232 lines, man
- Ellie 167 lines, woman
- Andrews 79 lines
- Gordon 26 lines, man
- Shapeley 26 lines, man
- Wife 20 lines, woman
- King 12 lines, man
- Secretary 10 lines
- Driver 9 lines, man
- Man 8 lines, man
Full cast, 86 people
- Clark Gable as Peter Warne
- Claudette Colbert as Ellie Andrews
- Walter Connolly as Alexander Andrews
- Roscoe Karns as Oscar Shapeley
- Jameson Thomas as King Westley
- Alan Hale as Danker
- Arthur Hoyt as Zeke
- Blanche Friderici as Zeke's Wife
- Charles Cahill Wilson as Joe Gordon
- Ernie Adams as Bag Thief (uncredited)
- Jessie Arnold as Woman at Auto Camp (uncredited)
- Irving Bacon as Gas Station Attendant (uncredited)
- William Bailey as Clark (uncredited)
- William Begg as Wedding Party Guest (uncredited)
- William A. Boardway as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
- Ward Bond as Bus Driver (uncredited)
- Harry C. Bradley as Henderson (uncredited)
- George P. Breakston as Bus Passenger (uncredited)
- Charles A. Browne as Reporter (uncredited)
- James Burke as Detective (uncredited)
- Edmund Burns as Best Man at Wedding (uncredited)
- Frank Capra as Bus Singer (uncredited)
- Ken Carson as Guitar Player on Bus (uncredited)
- Eddy Chandler as Bus Driver (uncredited)
- Wallis Clark as Lovington (uncredited)
- Ray Cooke as Drunk Reporter (uncredited)
- Joseph Crehan as Detective (uncredited)
- Oliver Cross as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
- Jack Curtis as Policeman (uncredited)
- Mickey Daniels as Vendor on Bus (uncredited)
- Eva Dennison as Society Woman (uncredited)
- Neal Dodd as Minister at Wedding (uncredited)
- Oliver Eckhardt as Mr. Dykes (uncredited)
- Billy Engle as Bus Passenger (uncredited)
- Jack Evans as Man Saying "Your Bus Leaves in 5 Minutes" (uncredited)
- Bess Flowers as Agnes (uncredited)
- Allen Fox as Bus Passenger (uncredited)
- Dolores Fuller as Young Girl in the Shower Line (uncredited)
- Joaquin Garay as Bus Passenger (uncredited)
- Dick Gordon as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
- Carlton Griffin as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
- Kit Guard as Bus Passenger (uncredited)
- Sherry Hall as Drunk Reporter (uncredited)
- A.R. Haysel as Bus Dispatcher (uncredited)
- Frank Holliday as Detective (uncredited)
- Harry Holman as Last Auto Camp Manager (uncredited)
- Harry Hume as Policeman (uncredited)
- William Irving as Bus Passenger (uncredited)
- Milton Kibbee as Drunk Reporter (uncredited)
- Carl M. Leviness as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
- Marvin Loback as Bus Passenger (uncredited)
- King Lockwood as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
- Rose May as Bus Passenger (uncredited)
- William McCall as Bus Passenger (uncredited)
- Claire McDowell as Mother on Bus (uncredited)
- Kate Morgan as Bus Passenger (uncredited)
- Gayle Morris as Flower Girl (uncredited)
- Patsy O'Byrne as Bus Passenger (uncredited)
- Earl Pingree as Policeman (uncredited)
- June Preston as Crying Girl (uncredited)
- Hal Price as Reporter (uncredited)
- Margaret Reid as Bus Passenger (uncredited)
- Ky Robinson as Detective (uncredited)
- Blanche Rose as Bus Passenger (uncredited)
- Rita Ross as Bus Passenger (uncredited)
- Matty Roubert as Newsboy (uncredited)
- Marvin Schecter as Bus Passenger (uncredited)
- Harry Schultz as Bus Passenger (uncredited)
- Bert Scott as Bus Passenger (uncredited)
- Scott Seaton as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
- Harry Semels as Bus Passenger (uncredited)
- S.S. Simon as Bus Passenger (uncredited)
- Linda Lee Solomon as Young Girl (uncredited)
- Bert Starkey as Bus Passenger (uncredited)
- Ethel Sykes as Maid of Honor (uncredited)
- Jane Talent as Bus Passenger (uncredited)
- Emma Tansey as Ticket Buyer (uncredited)
- Harry Todd as Flagman at Railroad Crossing (uncredited)
- Maidel Turner as Last Motel Manager's Wife (uncredited)
- William Wagner as Waiter at Wedding (uncredited)
- John Wallace as Bus Passenger (uncredited)
- Fred Walton as Butler (uncredited)
- Dave Wengren as Bus Passenger (uncredited)
- Billy West as Reporter (uncredited)
- Buck Woods as Cook Serving Food to Passengers (uncredited)
- Frank Yaconelli as Tony (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
We couldn't read who says what in this film's script, so there's no dialogue chart for it yet.
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, 36 are women's.
198 lines from women, 347 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
13 women and 57 men in the cast. 2 women and 9 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 16 of 666.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 34 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 32% of the words (1,717), men 68% (3,668). Women have 36% 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
14
Exhibit E: behind the camera
None of the 8 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 7% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Frank Capra (man)
- Written by
- Robert Riskin (man)
- Produced by
- Frank Capra (man), Harry Cohn (man)
- Shot by
- Joseph Walker (man)
- Edited by
- Gene Havlick (man)
- Music by
- Howard Jackson (man)
- Costumes by
- Robert Kalloch (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
0 women, 3 men
-
Art
0 women, 2 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 2 men
-
Production
0 women, 2 men
-
Writing
0 women, 2 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 1 men
-
Other crew
1 women, 0 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 45 on average. Men: 44 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Claudette Colbert 30, Blanche Friderici 60
Men
Clark Gable 33, Charles Cahill Wilson 39, Roscoe Karns 42, Alan Hale 42, Jameson Thomas 45, Walter Connolly 46, Ernie Adams 48, Arthur Hoyt 59
Exhibit G: the money
It made 13.8 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $325,000
- Box office
- $4.5 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 1 scenes and 666 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
