Fails the Bechdel test
Police Academy
1984. Directed by Hugh Wilson, written by Neal Israel and Pat Proft and Hugh Wilson.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
10 women characters. 8 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
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3, though someone marked that rating as dubious.
The film
In desperate need of a fresh batch of police officers, the newly appointed Lady Mayoress of a crime-plagued metropolis lowers the bar for the recruitment process. As a result, all types of misfits start flocking into Commandant Eric Lassard's prestigious Police Academy, and the leader of this assortment of pariahs is Carey Mahoney: a light-hearted, devil-may-care young rebel. But now, there is no turning back, and to make matters worse, the autocratic martinet, Lieutenant Harris, can't wait to see them quit. Then, a full-scale riot breaks out, and the inexperienced but dauntless cadets will have to put their training to good use. Do they have what it takes to be law-enforcement officers?
- Released
- 23 Mar 1984
- Genres
- Comedy
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 41 / 100
- Awards
- 2 wins & 2 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Mahoney 140 lines, man
- Harris 54 lines, man
- Castro 48 lines, man
- Thompson 31 lines, woman
- Barbara 29 lines, man
- Fackler 29 lines, man
- Blankes 23 lines, man
- Lassard 23 lines
- Copeland 16 lines, man
- Reed 14 lines, man
Full cast, 67 people
- Steve Guttenberg as Carey Mahoney
- Kim Cattrall as Karen Thompson
- G.W. Bailey as Lieutenant Harris
- Bubba Smith as Moses Hightower
- Donovan Scott as Leslie Barbara
- George Gaynes as Commandant Lassard
- Andrew Rubin as George Martin
- David Graf as Tackleberry
- Leslie Easterbrook as Sergeant Callahan
- Michael Winslow as Larvell Jones
- Debralee Scott as Mrs. Fackler
- Bruce Mahler as Doug Fackler
- Ted Ross as Captain Reed
- Scott Thomson as Chad Copeland
- Brant von Hoffman as Kyle Blankes
- Marion Ramsey as Laverne Hooks
- Georgina Spelvin as Hooker
- Doug Lennox as Main Bad Guy
- George R. Robertson as Chief Hurst
- Don Lake as Mr. Wig
- Bill Lynn as Parking Lot Manager
- Michael J. Reynolds as Office Executive
- Joyce Gordon as Mrs. Thompson
- Don Payne as Barber
- Bruce McFee as Supply Clerk
- Beth Amos as Little Old Lady
- Araby Lockhart as Mrs. Lassard
- Barry Greene as Cadet with Hat
- Gary Farmer as Sidewalk Store Owner
- Josef Field as Blue Oyster Dancer
- Gary Colwell as Blue Oyster Dancer
- James Bearden as Driver
- Fred Brigham as Street Punk
- Marco Bianco as Tough
- Ted Hanlan as Tough
- F. Braun McAsh as Tough
- Rob Watson as Tough
- Roger Dunn as Booking Sergeant
- Vladimir Bondarenko as Officer
- J. Winston Carroll as Officer
- David Clement as Officer
- George E. Zeeman as Officer
- Gino Marrocco as Arresting Cop
- Gene Mack as Street Thug
- Bob Collins as Drill Instructor
- Danny Pawlick as Pool Hall Man
- Ruth Sisberg as Mayor
- Peter Cox as Bar Patron
- Danny Lima as Bar Patron
- Dwayne McLean as Bar Patron
- Brent Meyer as Bar Patron
- Carole Alderson as Martin's Lady
- Suzanne Barker as Martin's Lady
- Kimberley Boorman as Martin's Lady
- Jayne Broughton as Martin's Lady
- Julie McLeod as Martin's Lady
- Karen Robyn as Martin's Lady
- James D. Brown as Hippie Recruit with Sunglasses (uncredited)
- Charles W. Gray as Weird Waiter (uncredited)
- John Hawkes as Driver of Teskey Truck (uncredited)
- Kay Hawtrey as Surprise Party Lady (uncredited)
- Wink Roberts as Rope Climbing Cadet in Gym (uncredited)
- Dar Robinson as Menacing Thug in Plaid (uncredited)
- T.J. Scott as Tough (uncredited)
- Hugh Wilson as Angry Driver (uncredited)
- John Sampson as Prisoner (uncredited)
- Brent Meyer as Bar Patron
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 17% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 139
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 3 | 0 | 5 |
| 4 to 6 | 7 | 34 |
| 7 to 9 | 1 | 5 |
| 10 to 12 | 6 | 18 |
| 13 to 15 | 1 | 23 |
| 16 to 18 | 2 | 37 |
| 19 to 21 | 1 | 3 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 1 |
| 25 to 27 | 4 | 34 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 2 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 1 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 8 |
| 43 to 45 | 2 | 6 |
| 46 to 48 | 9 | 28 |
| 49 to 51 | 2 | 2 |
| 52 to 54 | 2 | 7 |
| 55 to 57 | 8 | 9 |
| 58 to 60 | 1 | 3 |
| 61 to 63 | 1 | 3 |
| 64 to 66 | 2 | 4 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 1 |
| 70 to 72 | 1 | 0 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 1 |
| 76 to 78 | 3 | 20 |
| 79 to 81 | 1 | 9 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 4 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 4 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 2 |
| 91 to 93 | 1 | 10 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 0 |
| 97 to 99 | 1 | 5 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 3 |
| 103 to 105 | 10 | 1 |
| 106 to 108 | 1 | 2 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 1 |
| 112 to 114 | 1 | 15 |
| 115 to 117 | 0 | 6 |
| 118 to 120 | 0 | 3 |
| 121 to 123 | 0 | 6 |
| 124 to 126 | 0 | 5 |
| 127 to 129 | 2 | 10 |
| 130 to 132 | 5 | 13 |
| 133 to 135 | 0 | 5 |
| 136 to 138 | 1 | 26 |
| 139 to 139 | 2 | 9 |
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, 17 are women's.
78 lines from women, 394 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
10 women and 41 men in the cast. 8 women and 11 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 10 of 570.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 42 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 14% of the words (791), men 86% (4,671). Women have 17% 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
2
Two men
64
Exhibit E: behind the camera
1 of the 15 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 12% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Hugh Wilson (man)
- Written by
- Neal Israel (man), Hugh Wilson (man), Pat Proft (man)
- Story by
- Neal Israel (man), Pat Proft (man)
- Produced by
- Paul Maslansky (man)
- Shot by
- Michael D. Margulies (man)
- Edited by
- Zach Staenberg (man), Robert Brown (man)
- Music by
- Robert Folk (man)
- Production design by
- Trevor Williams (man)
- Costumes by
- Christopher Ryan (man)
- Cast by
- Pamela Basker (gender not listed), Fern Champion (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
0 women, 25 men, 53 not listed
-
Other crew
3 women, 23 men, 12 not listed
-
Production
5 women, 5 men, 6 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 4 men, 4 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men, 6 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 4 men, 3 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Writing
0 women, 6 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 31 on average. Men: 38 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Kim Cattrall 27, Leslie Easterbrook 35
Men
Steve Guttenberg 25, Michael Winslow 25, David Graf 33, Donovan Scott 37, Andrew Rubin 37, G.W. Bailey 39, Bubba Smith 39, George Gaynes 66
Exhibit G: the money
It made 18.0 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $4.5 million
- Box office
- $81.2 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 139 scenes and 570 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
