Fails the Bechdel test
Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment
1985. Directed by Jerry Paris and James Signorelli, written by Neal Israel and Pat Proft and Barry W. Blaustein.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
11 women characters. 8 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 1 out of 3.
The film
Having earned their shiny new badges after graduating from the prestigious Police Academy (1984) of Commandant Eric Lassard, Officer Carey Mahoney, along with five other top graduates, find themselves transferred to the worst precinct in the city, run by Eric's brother, Captain Pete Lassard. As the town holds a record for crime rates, mainly because of the "Scullions", the mean local gang of the unhinged crime boss, Zed, the inexperienced recruits have a lot on their plate, while in the meantime, power-hungry Lieutenant Mauser is dreaming of making a name for himself. Now, only Mahoney and a coordinated undercover mission can thwart Mauser's plans. But, can the world's most eccentric police officers save the day?
- Released
- 29 Mar 1985
- Genres
- Comedy
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 5.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 39 / 100
- Awards
- 1 win total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Pete Lassard 58 lines, man
- Mauser 53 lines, man
- Mahoney 50 lines, man
- Tackleberry 39 lines, man
- Proctor 21 lines, man
- Eric Lassard 16 lines, man
- Mahohey 16 lines
- Fackler 14 lines, man
- Flacko 12 lines, man
- Hooks 12 lines, woman
Full cast, 47 people
- Steve Guttenberg as Carey Mahoney
- Bubba Smith as Moses Hightower
- David Graf as Tackleberry
- Michael Winslow as Larvell Jones
- Bruce Mahler as Doug Fackler
- Marion Ramsey as Laverne Hooks
- Colleen Camp as Kirkland
- Howard Hesseman as Pete Lassard
- Art Metrano as Lieutenant Mauser
- George Gaynes as Commandant Lassard
- Bobcat Goldthwait as Zed
- Julie Brown as Chloe
- Peter Van Norden as Vinnie Schtulman
- Tim Kazurinsky as Merchant
- Ed Herlihy as Dooley
- Sandy Ward as Sistrunk
- Lance Kinsey as Proctor
- Christopher Jackson as Mojo
- Church Ortiz as Flacko
- George R. Robertson as Chief Hurst
- Arthur Batanides as Old Man Kirkland
- Jackie Joseph as Mrs. Kirkland
- Andrew Paris as Bud Kirkland
- Monica Parker as Namu
- Kenji Shintani as Japanese Chef
- Jennifer Darling as Mayor
- Lucy Lee Flippin as Mom in Mercedes
- Jason Hervey as Brat
- Diana Bellamy as Nurse
- Julie Paris as Check-out Girl
- Debra Dusay as Preppy Girl
- Jim Boyce as Preppy Boy
- Tim Haldeman as Tim
- Bert Williams as Bartender
- Pamela Matheson as Slit
- Bufort McClerkins as Gang Member
- Conrad Hurtt as Gas Station Attendant
- William Yamadera as Greengrocer
- Morris Beers as Crook
- G.W. Bailey as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
- Chester Grimes as Thug Wearing Bandana in Alleyway (uncredited)
- Rich Hall as Street Punk (uncredited)
- Wayne Montanio as Crook (uncredited)
- Tom Morga as Thug (uncredited)
- Danny Nero as Precision Driver (uncredited)
- Bill M. Ryusaki as Thug (uncredited)
- Brian J. Williams as Zed's Gang Member (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 38% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 104
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 | 0 |
| 4 to 6 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 34 |
| 10 to 12 | 1 | 6 |
| 13 to 15 | 1 | 7 |
| 16 to 18 | 5 | 40 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 3 |
| 22 to 24 | 5 | 13 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 9 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 2 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 11 |
| 34 to 36 | 2 | 4 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 13 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 26 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 10 |
| 46 to 48 | 2 | 20 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 8 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 8 |
| 55 to 57 | 1 | 7 |
| 58 to 60 | 1 | 19 |
| 61 to 63 | 8 | 15 |
| 64 to 66 | 10 | 20 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 8 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 23 |
| 73 to 75 | 1 | 20 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 11 |
| 79 to 81 | 2 | 8 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 0 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 4 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 10 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 2 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 4 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 1 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 10 |
| 103 to 104 | 0 | 6 |
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, 9 are women's.
40 lines from women, 383 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
11 women and 36 men in the cast. 8 women and 43 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 10 of 678.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 103 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 7% of the words (301), men 93% (3,867). Women have 9% 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
60
Exhibit E: behind the camera
1 of the 11 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 11% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Jerry Paris (man)
- Written by
- David Sheffield (man), Barry W. Blaustein (man)
- Produced by
- Paul Maslansky (man)
- Shot by
- James Crabe (man)
- Edited by
- Bob Wyman (man)
- Music by
- Robert Folk (man)
- Production design by
- Trevor Williams (man)
- Costumes by
- Bernie Pollack (man)
- Cast by
- Pamela Basker (gender not listed), Fern Champion (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
2 women, 26 men, 8 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 17 men, 10 not listed
-
Production
2 women, 3 men, 9 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 4 men, 8 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men, 8 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 3 men, 4 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 2 men, 5 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 5 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 34 on average. Men: 40 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Colleen Camp 31, Marion Ramsey 37
Men
Steve Guttenberg 26, Michael Winslow 26, David Graf 34, Bruce Mahler 36, Bubba Smith 40, Howard Hesseman 45, Art Metrano 48, George Gaynes 67
Exhibit G: the money
It made 7.3 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $7.6 million
- Box office
- $55.6 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 104 scenes and 678 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
