Fails the Bechdel test
Octopussy
1983. Directed by John Glen, written by George MacDonald Fraser and Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
18 women characters. 5 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
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.
The film
James Bond's next mission sends him to the circus. A British Agent was murdered and found holding onto a priceless Fabergé egg. Kamal Kahn buys the egg at an auction, but Bond becomes suspicious when Kahn meets up with Russian General Orlov. Bond soon finds out that Kahn's and Orlov's plan is to blow-up a nuclear device on a U.S. Air Force Base. Bond teams up with a circus group, which are headed by the beautiful Octopussy, who is also close friend of Kahn.
- Released
- 10 Jun 1983
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Thriller
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 6.5 / 10
- Metascore
- 63 / 100
- Awards
- 2 wins & 4 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Bond 136 lines, man
- Kamal 64 lines, man
- Octopussy 43 lines, woman
- Orlov 38 lines, man
- Rev 35 lines
- Magda 21 lines, woman
- Sadruddin 18 lines, man
- Auctioneer 14 lines, man
- Gobinda 13 lines, man
- Gogol 12 lines, man
Full cast, 69 people
- Roger Moore as James Bond
- Maud Adams as Octopussy
- Louis Jourdan as Kamal Khan
- Kristina Wayborn as Magda
- Kabir Bedi as Gobinda
- Steven Berkoff as Orlov
- Vijay Amritraj as Vijay
- Desmond Llewelyn as Q
- Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny
- Robert Brown as M
- David Meyer as Twin One
- Tony Meyer as Twin Two
- Walter Gotell as Gogol
- Albert Moses as Sadruddin
- Michaela Clavell as Penelope Smallbone
- Geoffrey Keen as Minister of Defence
- Douglas Wilmer as Fanning
- Andy Bradford as 009
- Philip Voss as Auctioneer
- Bruce Boa as U.S. General
- Richard LeParmentier as U.S. Aide
- Paul Hardwick as Soviet Chairman
- Suzanne Jerome as Gwendoline
- Cherry Gillespie as Midge
- Dermot Crowley as Kamp
- Peter Porteous as Lenkin
- Eva Rueber-Staier as Rublevitch
- Jeremy Bulloch as Smithers
- Tina Hudson as Bianca
- William Derrick as Thug with Yo-yo
- Stuart Saunders as Major Clive
- Patrick Barr as British Ambassador
- Gabor Vernon as Borchoi
- Hugo Bower as Karl
- Ken Norris as Colonel Toro
- Tony Arjuna as Mufti
- Gertan Klauber as Bubi
- Brenda Cowling as Schatzi
- David Grahame as Petrol Pump Attendant
- Brian Coburn as South American V.I.P.
- Michael Halphie as South American Officer
- Mary Stavin as Octopussy Girl
- Carole Ashby as Octopussy Girl
- Cheryl Anne as Octopussy Girl
- Jani-Z as Octopussy Girl
- Julie Martin as Octopussy Girl
- Joni Flynn as Octopussy Girl
- Julie Barth as Octopussy Girl
- Kathy Davies as Octopussy Girl
- Helene Hunt as Octopussy Girl
- Gillian De Terville as Octopussy Girl
- Safira Afzal as Octopussy Girl
- Louise King as Octopussy Girl
- Tina Robinson as Octopussy Girl
- Alison Worth as Octopussy Girl
- Janine Andrews as Octopussy Girl
- Lynda Knight as Octopussy Girl
- Richard Graydon as Francisco the Fearless
- Michael Moor as Thug
- Peter Edmund as Thug
- Eugene Lipinski as Head VOPO (uncredited)
- Ingrid Pitt as Galley Mistress (voice) (uncredited)
- Nicola Stapleton as Little Girl at Circus (uncredited)
- Michael G. Wilson as Soviet Security Council Member / Man on Tour Boat (uncredited)
- Michael Leader as Auction Patron (uncredited)
- Egbert Sen as Barman (uncredited)
- Gito Santana as Killer
- Jennifer Hill as Ambassador's Wife (uncredited)
- Gary Dean as Auction Patron (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 20% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 18
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 | 8 | 70 |
| 2 to 2 | 0 | 5 |
| 3 to 3 | 12 | 74 |
| 4 to 4 | 6 | 2 |
| 5 to 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 to 6 | 5 | 5 |
| 7 to 7 | 2 | 36 |
| 8 to 8 | 31 | 80 |
| 9 to 9 | 1 | 25 |
| 10 to 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 to 11 | 3 | 23 |
| 12 to 12 | 3 | 3 |
| 13 to 13 | 1 | 5 |
| 14 to 14 | 0 | 1 |
| 15 to 15 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 to 16 | 0 | 2 |
| 17 to 17 | 0 | 1 |
| 18 to 18 | 1 | 3 |
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, 18 are women's.
73 lines from women, 335 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
18 women and 38 men in the cast. 5 women and 21 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 3 of 511.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 121 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 15% of the words (708), men 85% (3,987). Women have 18% 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
40
Exhibit E: behind the camera
2 of the 14 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 15% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- John Glen (man)
- Written by
- George MacDonald Fraser (man), Richard Maibaum (man), Michael G. Wilson (man)
- From the novel by
- Ian Fleming (man)
- Produced by
- Albert R. Broccoli (man), Tom Pevsner (man)
- Shot by
- Alan Hume (man)
- Edited by
- Peter Davies (man), Henry Richardson (man)
- Music by
- John Barry (man)
- Production design by
- Peter Lamont (man)
- Costumes by
- Emma Porteous (woman)
- Cast by
- Debbie McWilliams (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Art
0 women, 5 men
-
Other crew
0 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Production
1 women, 4 men
-
Writing
0 women, 4 men
-
Directing
1 women, 1 men
-
Editing
0 women, 2 men
-
Sound
1 women, 1 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 42 on average. Men: 51 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Kristina Wayborn 32, Maud Adams 38, Lois Maxwell 56
Men
Vijay Amritraj 29, Kabir Bedi 37, Steven Berkoff 45, Roger Moore 55, Louis Jourdan 61, Robert Brown 61, Desmond Llewelyn 68
Exhibit G: the money
It made 6.8 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $27.5 million
- Box office
- $188 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 18 scenes and 511 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
