Fails the Bechdel test
Lawrence of Arabia
1962. Directed by David Lean, written by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
0 / 3
Fails
-
No
1. At least two women
Fewer than two women characters. -
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
Due to his knowledge of the native Bedouin tribes, British Lieutenant T.E. Lawrence is sent to Arabia to find Prince Faisal and serve as a liaison between the Arabs and the British in their fight against the Turks. With the aid of native Sherif Ali, Lawrence rebels against the orders of his superior officer and strikes out on a daring camel journey across the harsh desert to attack a well-guarded Turkish port.
- Released
- 16 Dec 1962
- Genres
- Adventure, Biography, Drama
- Rated
- Approved
- IMDb
- 8.3 / 10
- Metascore
- 100 / 100
- Awards
- Won 7 Oscars. 31 wins & 14 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Lawrence 364 lines, man
- Ali 143 lines, man
- Allenby 127 lines, man
- Brighton 95 lines, man
- Auda 75 lines, man
- Feisal 72 lines, man
- Bentley 64 lines, man
- Dryden 46 lines, man
- Murray 20 lines, man
- Farraj 17 lines, man
Full cast, 64 people
- Peter O'Toole as T.E. Lawrence
- Alec Guinness as Prince Feisal
- Anthony Quinn as Auda abu Tayi
- Jack Hawkins as General Edmund Allenby
- Omar Sharif as Sherif Ali
- José Ferrer as Turkish Bey
- Anthony Quayle as Colonel Harry Brighton
- Claude Rains as Mr. Dryden
- Arthur Kennedy as Jackson Bentley
- Donald Wolfit as General Archibald Murray
- I.S. Johar as Gasim
- Gamil Ratib as Majid
- Michel Ray as Farraj
- John Dimech as Daud
- Zia Mohyeddin as Tafas
- Howard Marion-Crawford as Medical Officer
- Jack Gwillim as Club Secretary
- Hugh Miller as R.A.M.C. Colonel
- John Barry as MP in Map Room (uncredited)
- Bruce Beeby as Captain at Officer's Club (uncredited)
- Fred Bennett as Sergeant at Cairo Headquarters (uncredited)
- John Bennett as Arab Sheik (uncredited)
- Steve Birtles as Motor Bike Rider (uncredited)
- Robert Bolt as Officer with Pipe Gazing at Lawrence (uncredited)
- Peter Burton as Damascus Sheik (uncredited)
- J.R.M. Chapman as Extra (uncredited)
- Barbara Cole as Nurse (uncredited)
- Basil Dignam as Cavalry General at Field Briefing (uncredited)
- Peter Dukelow as Driver in Cairo (uncredited)
- Mohamed El Habachi as Talal (uncredited)
- Kenneth Fortescue as Allenby's Aide (uncredited)
- Harry Fowler as William Potter (uncredited)
- James Hayter as Sheik in Arab Council (uncredited)
- Jack Hedley as Reporter at Lawrence's Funeral (uncredited)
- Rafael Hernández as Turkish Soldier (uncredited)
- Noel Howlett as Vicar at St. Paul's (uncredited)
- Patrick Kavanagh as Staff Major - Murray's Aide (uncredited)
- David Lean as Motorcyclist by Suez Canal (uncredited)
- Ian MacNaughton as Michael George Hartley (uncredited)
- Clive Morton as Artillery General at Field Briefing (uncredited)
- Daniel Moynihan as Officer in Officer's Club (uncredited)
- Henry Oscar as Silliam (uncredited)
- George Plimpton as Bedouin (uncredited)
- Bryan Pringle as Driver (uncredited)
- Ernie Rice as Mourner (uncredited)
- Robert Rietti as Majid (voice) (uncredited)
- John Robinson as Infantry General at Field Briefing (uncredited)
- Norman Rossington as Corporal Jenkins (uncredited)
- John Ruddock as Elder Harith (uncredited)
- Fernando Sancho as Turkish Sergeant (uncredited)
- Stuart Saunders as Regimental Sergeant Major (uncredited)
- Cyril Shaps as Bartender in Officer's Club (uncredited)
- Jack Sharp as Mourner (uncredited)
- George Spence as Mourner (uncredited)
- Roy Stevens as Truck Driver (uncredited)
- Graham Tonbridge as Mourner (uncredited)
- Barry Warren as Arab Sheik (uncredited)
- John Kelland as Officer at Officer’s Club (Uncredited)
- John Crewdson as Turkish Pilot (uncredited)
- Victor Croxford as Mourner (uncredited)
- Norman Fisher as Mourner at St. Paul's (uncredited)
- Charles Gray as General Allenby (voice) (uncredited)
- Ned Lynch as Mourner (uncredited)
- Harry Phipps as Mourner at St. Paul's (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 10% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 10
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 | 12 |
| 2 to 2 | 0 | 10 |
| 3 to 3 | 0 | 10 |
| 4 to 4 | 0 | 40 |
| 5 to 5 | 0 | 4 |
| 6 to 6 | 0 | 525 |
| 7 to 7 | 0 | 27 |
| 8 to 8 | 0 | 249 |
| 9 to 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 to 10 | 0 | 290 |
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, 0 are women's.
0 lines from women, 1167 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
1 women and 57 men in the cast. 0 women and 35 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
No woman speaks.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 1295 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 0% of the words (0), men 100% (13,887).
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
85
Exhibit E: behind the camera
3 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 10% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- David Lean (man)
- Written by
- Robert Bolt (man), Michael Wilson (man)
- Produced by
- Sam Spiegel (man), David Lean (man)
- Shot by
- Freddie Young (man)
- Edited by
- Anne V. Coates (woman)
- Music by
- Maurice Jarre (man)
- Production design by
- John Box (man)
- Costumes by
- Phyllis Dalton (woman)
- Cast by
- Maude Spector (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
0 women, 23 men, 4 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 15 men, 8 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 9 men, 11 not listed
-
Production
6 women, 6 men, 6 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 9 men, 8 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 6 men, 6 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Men: 49 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Men
Peter O'Toole 30, Omar Sharif 30, Anthony Quinn 47, Alec Guinness 48, Arthur Kennedy 48, Anthony Quayle 49, José Ferrer 50, Jack Hawkins 52, Donald Wolfit 60, Claude Rains 73
Exhibit G: the money
It made 4.7 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $15 million
- Box office
- $70 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 10 scenes and 1,295 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
