Passes the Bechdel test
National Lampoon's Vacation
1983. Directed by Harold Ramis, written by John Hughes.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
7 women characters. 10 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 15 scenes out of 151. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
Having planned it all down to the last detail, well-meaning American paterfamilias Clark Griswold takes his supportive wife Ellen and their two kids, Rusty and Audrey, on a cross-country trip from the suburbs of Chicago to sunny California's Walley World amusement park. However, there is no such thing as a foolproof plan; anything that can go wrong will go wrong in the Griswold family trip. Before long, uninvited relatives enter the picture, and Clark is on the verge of blowing a gasket. Now, as a blonde distraction in a fast 1981 Ferrari 308 GTSi threatens to sabotage his plans, Clark must do the right thing and finally find the promised land. But how hard can it be to have the perfect vacation?
- Released
- 29 Jul 1983
- Genres
- Adventure, Comedy
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.3 / 10
- Metascore
- 55 / 100
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Clark 313 lines, man
- Ellen 167 lines, woman
- Rusty 72 lines, man
- Audrey 64 lines, woman
- Ci.Abk 26 lines, man
- Eddie 21 lines, man
- Edna 17 lines, woman
- Girl 16 lines, woman
- Walley 15 lines, man
- Aunt Edna 12 lines, woman
Full cast, 35 people
- Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold
- Beverly D'Angelo as Ellen Griswold
- Anthony Michael Hall as Rusty Griswold
- Imogene Coca as Aunt Edna
- Randy Quaid as Cousin Eddie
- Dana Barron as Audrey Griswold
- Eddie Bracken as Roy Walley
- Brian Doyle-Murray as Kamp Komfort Clerk
- Miriam Flynn as Cousin Catherine
- James Keach as Motorcycle Cop
- Eugene Levy as Car Salesman
- Frank McRae as Grover
- John Candy as Lasky, Guard at Walleyworld
- Christie Brinkley as Girl In The Red Ferrari
- Jane Krakowski as Cousin Vicki
- John P. Navin Jr. as Cousin Dale
- Nathan Cook as Man Giving Directions
- Christopher Jackson as Pimp
- Mickey Jones as Mechanic
- John Diehl as Assistant Mechanic
- Jeannie Dimter Barton as Dodge City Cashier
- Randy Lowell as Wyatt Earp
- Virgil Wyaco II as Indian
- Gerry Black as Davenport
- James Staley as Motel Desk Clerk
- Adelaide Wilder as Car Hop
- Tessa Richarde as Motel Guest
- Fritz Ford as Neighbor
- Eric Stacey as Neighbor
- Scott Perry as Swat Leader
- Dennis Freeman as Policeman
- Michael Talbott as Cowboy
- John Craigmile as Camel Rider
- Henry Gibson as Hotel clerk (uncredited)
- Harold Ramis as Car salesman (voice) (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 7% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 151
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 | 29 |
| 5 to 8 | 9 | 16 |
| 9 to 12 | 8 | 15 |
| 13 to 16 | 3 | 5 |
| 17 to 20 | 5 | 10 |
| 21 to 24 | 4 | 20 |
| 25 to 28 | 2 | 6 |
| 29 to 32 | 18 | 16 |
| 33 to 36 | 1 | 3 |
| 37 to 40 | 3 | 6 |
| 41 to 44 | 15 | 11 |
| 45 to 48 | 10 | 20 |
| 49 to 52 | 14 | 10 |
| 53 to 56 | 18 | 21 |
| 57 to 60 | 26 | 42 |
| 61 to 64 | 14 | 5 |
| 65 to 68 | 11 | 14 |
| 69 to 72 | 14 | 19 |
| 73 to 76 | 1 | 2 |
| 77 to 80 | 5 | 22 |
| 81 to 84 | 7 | 6 |
| 85 to 88 | 8 | 7 |
| 89 to 92 | 12 | 29 |
| 93 to 96 | 2 | 4 |
| 97 to 100 | 2 | 16 |
| 101 to 104 | 10 | 34 |
| 105 to 108 | 3 | 5 |
| 109 to 112 | 3 | 11 |
| 113 to 116 | 14 | 14 |
| 117 to 120 | 14 | 18 |
| 121 to 124 | 5 | 6 |
| 125 to 128 | 12 | 14 |
| 129 to 132 | 10 | 13 |
| 133 to 136 | 3 | 4 |
| 137 to 140 | 2 | 5 |
| 141 to 144 | 4 | 17 |
| 145 to 148 | 0 | 17 |
| 149 to 151 | 4 | 17 |
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.
AUDREY: An orange station wagon? ELLEN: What happened?
ELLEN: Ann. song ends. AUDREY: We don't know any of your songs.
ELLEN: "O" is for "O", goshl "O", gollyt "O"; gee I AUDREY: "S" is for super-swell family glee!
AUDREY: Far-fetched. ELLEN: I just broke a nail.
ELLEN: Share the peanut butter cups! AUDREY: I paid for them with my babysitting moneyl
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 36 are women's.
296 lines from women, 529 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
7 women and 23 men in the cast. 10 women and 20 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 31 of 884.
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 30% of the words (3,207), men 70% (7,375). Women have 36% 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
39
Two men
60
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 9 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 9% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Harold Ramis (man)
- Written by
- John Hughes (man)
- Produced by
- Matty Simmons (man)
- Shot by
- Victor J. Kemper (man)
- Edited by
- Pembroke J. Herring (man)
- Music by
- Ralph Burns (man)
- Production design by
- Jack T. Collis (man)
- Cast by
- Susan Arnold (woman), Phyllis Huffman (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
0 women, 6 men, 5 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 4 men, 4 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 5 men, 2 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 6 men
-
Directing
0 women, 4 men, 2 not listed
-
Production
2 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 2 men
-
Lighting
0 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 38 on average. Men: 38 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Dana Barron 17, Beverly D'Angelo 31, Miriam Flynn 31, Imogene Coca 74
Men
Anthony Michael Hall 15, Randy Quaid 32, James Keach 35, Brian Doyle-Murray 37, Chevy Chase 39, Eddie Bracken 68
Exhibit H: the money
It made 4.1 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $15 million
- Box office
- $61.4 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 151 scenes and 884 lines of dialogue. How the test works
