Passes the Bechdel test
Raiders of the Lost Ark
1981. Directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas and Philip Kaufman.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
2 women characters. 2 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 141. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
The year is 1936. An archeology professor named Indiana Jones is venturing in the jungles of South America searching for a golden statue. Unfortunately, he sets off a deadly trap but miraculously escapes. Then, Jones hears from a museum curator named Marcus Brody about a biblical artifact called The Ark of the Covenant, which can hold the key to human existence. Jones has to venture to vast places such as Nepal and Egypt to find this artifact. However, he will have to fight his enemy Rene Belloq and a band of Nazis in order to reach it.
- Released
- 12 Jun 1981
- Genres
- Adventure
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 8.4 / 10
- Metascore
- 86 / 100
- Awards
- Won 4 Oscars. 46 wins & 26 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Indy 196 lines, man
- Marion 91 lines, woman
- Belloq 37 lines, man
- Shliemann 22 lines, man
- Sallah 19 lines, man
- Eaton 15 lines, man
- Brody 14 lines, man
- Belzig 13 lines, man
- Satipo 13 lines, man
- Musgrove 11 lines, man
Full cast, 50 people
- Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones
- Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood
- Paul Freeman as Dr. René Belloq
- John Rhys-Davies as Sallah
- Ronald Lacey as Major Arnold Toht
- Wolf Kahler as Colonel Dietrich
- Anthony Higgins as Gobler
- Denholm Elliott as Dr. Marcus Brody
- Alfred Molina as Satipo
- Vic Tablian as Barranca / Monkey Man
- Don Fellows as Col. Musgrove
- William Hootkins as Major Eaton
- George Harris as Katanga
- Fred Sorenson as Jock
- Anthony Chinn as Mohan
- Eddie Tagoe as Messenger Pirate
- Bill Reimbold as Bureaucrat
- Patrick Durkin as Australian Climber
- Matthew Scurfield as 2nd. Nazi
- Malcolm Weaver as Ratty Nepalese
- Sonny Caldinez as Mean Mongolian
- Pat Roach as Giant Sherpa / 1st Mechanic
- Christopher Frederick as Otto
- Tutte Lemkow as Imam
- Ishaq Bux as Omar
- Kiran Shah as Abu
- Souad Messaoudi as Fayah
- Terry Richards as Arab Swordsman
- Steve Hanson as German Agent
- Frank Marshall as Pilot
- Martin Kreidt as Young Soldier
- John Rees as Sergeant
- Tony Vogel as Tall Captain
- Ted Grossman as Peruvian Porter
- Vic Armstrong as German Soldier (uncredited)
- Peter Diamond as German Soldier (uncredited)
- Nick Gillard as German Soldier (uncredited)
- Romo Gorrara as German Soldier (uncredited)
- Rick Lester as German Soldier (uncredited)
- Rocky Taylor as German Soldier (uncredited)
- Reg Harding as German Lieutenant (uncredited)
- Harry Fielder as German (uncredited)
- Billy Horrigan as Gobler's Gunner (uncredited)
- Terry Leonard as Driver of German Truck (uncredited)
- Sergio Mioni as Driver of German Truck (uncredited)
- Dennis Muren as Nazi Spy on the Airplane (uncredited)
- Glenn Randall Jr. as Flying Wing Mechanic (uncredited)
- Michael Sheard as U-Boat Captain (uncredited)
- Frank Welker as Special Vocal Effects (voice) (uncredited)
- Dharmadasa Kuruppu as Chieftain of Mayapore
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 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 141
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 | 32 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 7 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 22 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 42 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 9 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 4 |
| 37 to 39 | 35 | 34 |
| 40 to 42 | 16 | 20 |
| 43 to 45 | 5 | 13 |
| 46 to 48 | 2 | 3 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 2 |
| 52 to 54 | 1 | 0 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 0 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 1 |
| 61 to 63 | 1 | 41 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 6 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 3 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 2 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 6 |
| 76 to 78 | 5 | 5 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 1 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 11 |
| 85 to 87 | 1 | 9 |
| 88 to 90 | 10 | 19 |
| 91 to 93 | 1 | 11 |
| 94 to 96 | 2 | 3 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 1 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 0 |
| 103 to 105 | 10 | 10 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 5 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 9 |
| 112 to 114 | 0 | 2 |
| 115 to 117 | 0 | 1 |
| 118 to 120 | 0 | 4 |
| 121 to 123 | 0 | 0 |
| 124 to 126 | 0 | 13 |
| 127 to 129 | 3 | 8 |
| 130 to 132 | 0 | 2 |
| 133 to 135 | 1 | 0 |
| 136 to 138 | 0 | 0 |
| 139 to 141 | 2 | 14 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scene
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
FAYAH: Silence! Why do you forget yourselves? FAYAH: What is this? Who brought this animal in? MARION: Why, thank you. I like you too. FAYAH: Then it shall be welcome in our house.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 20 are women's.
95 lines from women, 375 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
2 women and 43 men in the cast. 2 women and 19 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 121 of 482.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 120 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 21% of the words (999), men 79% (3,832). Women have 20% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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
1
Two men
36
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 13 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 11% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Steven Spielberg (man)
- Written by
- Lawrence Kasdan (man)
- Story by
- George Lucas (man), Philip Kaufman (man)
- Produced by
- Frank Marshall (man)
- Shot by
- Douglas Slocombe (man)
- Edited by
- Michael Kahn (man)
- Music by
- John Williams (man)
- Production design by
- Norman Reynolds (man)
- Costumes by
- Deborah Nadoolman Landis (woman)
- Cast by
- Jane Feinberg (woman), Mike Fenton (man), Mary Selway (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
2 women, 26 men, 15 not listed
-
Production
6 women, 10 men, 17 not listed
-
Visual Effects
1 women, 7 men, 17 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 14 men, 7 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 15 men, 6 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 6 men, 8 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 7 men, 5 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 4 men, 6 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 29 on average. Men: 40 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Karen Allen 29
Men
Alfred Molina 28, Anthony Higgins 34, John Rhys-Davies 37, Harrison Ford 38, Paul Freeman 38, Wolf Kahler 41, Vic Tablian 43, Ronald Lacey 45, Denholm Elliott 59
Exhibit H: the money
It made 21.7 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $18 million
- Box office
- $390 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 141 scenes and 482 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
