Fails the Bechdel test

Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Name: Planes, Trains & Automobiles
Released: 1987

1987. Directed by John Hughes, written by John Hughes.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

2 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
11 women characters. 5 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
Women do talk to each other.
No 3. About something besides a man
Every conversation between women that our parser found mentions a man.

Second opinion

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.

The film

All that Neal Page wants to do is to get home for Thanksgiving. When bad weather cancels his flight, he decides on other means of transportation. As well as bad luck, Neal is blessed with the presence of Del Griffith, shower-curtain-ring salesman and all-around blabbermouth who is never short of advice, conversation, bad jokes, or company. And when he decides that he is going the same direction as Neal..

Released: 25 Nov 1987
Genres: Comedy, Drama
Rated: R
IMDb: 7.6 / 10
Metascore: 72 / 100
Awards: 1 nomination total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

Del 459 lines, man
Neal 420 lines, man
Cop 18 lines, man
Clerk 16 lines, man
Man 14 lines, man
Driver 13 lines, man
Sue 11 lines, woman
Agent 10 lines
Dispatcher 9 lines, man
John 8 lines, man

Full cast, 40 people

Steve Martin as Neal Page
John Candy as Del Griffith
Laila Robins as Susan Page
Michael McKean as State Trooper
Dylan Baker as Owen
Kevin Bacon as Taxi Racer
Olivia Burnette as Marti Page
Carol Bruce as Joy Page
Diana Douglas as Peg
Martin Ferrero as Motel Clerk
Larry Hankin as Doobie
Richard Herd as Walt
Susan Kellermann as Waitress
Matthew Lawrence as Little Neal
Edie McClurg as Car Rental Agent
Susan Isaacs as Marie
John Randolph Jones as Cab Dispatcher
Ben Stein as Wichita Airport Rep
Lyman Ward as John
George Petrie as Martin
Gary Riley as Motel Thief
Charles Tyner as Gus
Lulie Newcomb as Owen's Wife
Nicholas Wyman as New York Lawyer
Gaetano Lisi as Cab Driver - New York
Diana Castle as Stewardess #1
Julie H. Morgan as Stewardess #2
Bill Erwin as Man on Plane
Ruth de Sosa as New York Ticket Agent
Kim Genelle as Receptionist
Grant Forsberg as Brand Manager
David Raiport as Cafe Patron
Andrew J. Hentz as Bus Lover
Karen Meisinger as Bus Loverette
Gary Palmer as Pilot
John Moio as Screaming Driver
Victoria Vanderkloot as Screaming Driver's Wife
William Windom as Mr. Bryant
Troy Evans as Antisocial Trucker
George Sasaki as Plane Passenger (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 178

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	0
5 to 8	0	0
9 to 12	0	20
13 to 16	0	1
17 to 20	0	6
21 to 24	0	22
25 to 28	0	1
29 to 32	1	3
33 to 36	1	15
37 to 40	2	6
41 to 44	0	34
45 to 48	0	30
49 to 52	0	37
53 to 56	0	0
57 to 60	0	26
61 to 64	0	72
65 to 68	6	84
69 to 72	0	53
73 to 76	0	0
77 to 80	0	27
81 to 84	0	37
85 to 88	0	13
89 to 92	0	3
93 to 96	0	40
97 to 100	0	52
101 to 104	0	21
105 to 108	0	42
109 to 112	0	0
113 to 116	0	0
117 to 120	0	15
121 to 124	0	11
125 to 128	0	8
129 to 132	0	28
133 to 136	0	47
137 to 140	0	48
141 to 144	0	36
145 to 148	0	55
149 to 152	0	24
153 to 156	0	2
157 to 160	0	20
161 to 164	0	2
165 to 168	0	25
169 to 172	18	10
173 to 176	1	9
177 to 178	8	7

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.

37 lines from women, 992 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

11 women and 21 men in the cast. 5 women and 14 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 53 of 1,055. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 635 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 3% of the words (287), men 97% (10,366). Women have 4% 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

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

1 of the 8 people in these jobs is a woman. Across the whole crew, 11% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: John Hughes (man)
Written by: John Hughes (man)
Produced by: John Hughes (man)
Shot by: Donald Peterman (man)
Edited by: Paul Hirsch (man)
Music by: Ira Newborn (man)
Production design by: John W. Corso (man)
Costumes by: April Ferry (woman)

The crew, department by department

Sound

0 women, 15 men, 3 not listed
Art

1 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
Costume & Make-Up

3 women, 2 men
Production

0 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
Other crew

0 women, 4 men
Directing

0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
Camera

0 women, 1 men
Editing

0 women, 1 men

Women
Men
Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit F: how old the stars were

Women: 43 on average. Men: 36 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Olivia Burnette 10, Laila Robins 28, Diana Douglas 64, Carol Bruce 68

Men

Dylan Baker 28, Kevin Bacon 29, John Candy 37, Michael McKean 40, Martin Ferrero 40, Steve Martin 42

Exhibit G: the money

It made 3.3 times what it cost.

Budget: $15 million
Box office: $49.5 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 178 scenes and 1,055 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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