Fails the Bechdel test
Midnight Express
1978. Directed by Alan Parker, written by Oliver Stone and Billy Hayes and William Hoffer.
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
On October 6, 1970 while boarding an international flight out of Istanbul Airport, American Billy Hayes (Brad Davis) is caught attempting to smuggle two kilos of hashish out of the country, the drugs strapped to his body. He is told that he will be released if he cooperates with the authorities in identifying the person who sold him the hashish. Billy's troubles really begin when after that assistance, he makes a run for it and is recaptured. He is initially sentenced to just over four years for possession, with no time for the more harsh crime of smuggling. The prison environment is inhospitable in every sense, with a sadistic prison guard named Hamidou (Paul L. Smith) ruling the prison, he who relishes the mental and physical torture he inflicts on the prisoners for whatever reason. Told to trust no one, Billy does befriend a few of the other inmates, namely fellow American Jimmy Booth (Randy Quaid) (in for stealing two candlesticks from a mosque), a Swede named Erich (Norbert Weisser), and one of the senior prisoners having already served seven years, an Englishman named Max (Sir John Hurt), the latter two also in for hashish-related charges. One prisoner not befriended is Rifki (Paolo Bonacelli), who wields power in the prison as the unofficial eyes and ears for the guards. As Billy, his family and his girlfriend Susan (Irene Miracle) attempt through legal and diplomatic channels for Billy's release, Max tells him that the only way out is to "catch the midnight express" (escape), which is what Jimmy is continually trying to do. When Billy's situation changes, he becomes more desperate in every sense of the word. It seems as if Billy has only two options: to let the prison ultimately figuratively then literally kill him, or to somehow regain control of his life through whatever means available.
- Released
- 27 Oct 1978
- Genres
- Biography, Crime, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.5 / 10
- Metascore
- 59 / 100
- Awards
- Won 2 Oscars. 17 wins & 14 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Billy 209 lines, man
- Max 67 lines, man
- Bell 53 lines, man
- Hamidou 26 lines, man
- Susan 26 lines, woman
- Erich 22 lines, man
- Driver 20 lines, man
- Father 20 lines, man
- Ziat 18 lines, man
- Billy Voice 17 lines, man
Full cast, 22 people
- Brad Davis as Billy Hayes
- Irene Miracle as Susan
- Bo Hopkins as Tex
- Paolo Bonacelli as Rifki
- Paul L. Smith as Hamidou
- Randy Quaid as Jimmy Booth
- Norbert Weisser as Erich
- John Hurt as Max
- Mike Kellin as Mr. Hayes
- Franco Diogene as Yesil
- Michael Ensign as Stanley Daniels
- Gigi Ballista as Chief Judge
- Kevork Malikyan as Prosecutor
- Peter Jeffrey as Ahmet
- Joe Zammit Cordina as Airport Customs Officer
- Yashaw Adem as Airport Police Chief
- Raad Rawi as Airport Security Chief
- Tony Boyd as Aslan
- Zannino as Police Detective
- Mihalis Giannatos as Court Translator
- Vic Tablian as Star
- Ahmed El Shenawi as Negdir
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, 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 3
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 | 26 | 528 |
| 3 to 3 | 0 | 40 |
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, 4 are women's.
26 lines from women, 568 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
1 women and 21 men in the cast. 1 women and 13 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 5 of 643.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 269 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 5% of the words (367), men 95% (6,531). Women have 4% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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
28
Exhibit E: behind the camera
1 of the 9 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 24% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Alan Parker (man)
- Written by
- Oliver Stone (man)
- Produced by
- David Puttnam (man), Alan Marshall (man)
- Shot by
- Michael Seresin (man)
- Edited by
- Gerry Hambling (man)
- Music by
- Giorgio Moroder (man)
- Production design by
- Geoffrey Kirkland (man)
- Costumes by
- Milena Canonero (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 0 men, 2 not listed
-
Production
0 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 2 men
-
Writing
0 women, 3 men
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men
-
Sound
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 24 on average. Men: 37 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Irene Miracle 24
Men
Randy Quaid 27, Brad Davis 28, Franco Diogene 30, Norbert Weisser 32, John Hurt 38, Paul L. Smith 39, Bo Hopkins 40, Paolo Bonacelli 41, Mike Kellin 56
Exhibit G: the money
It made 15.2 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $2.3 million
- Box office
- $35 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 3 scenes and 643 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
