Passes the Bechdel test

Raising Arizona

Name: Raising Arizona
Released: 1987

1987. Directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, written by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
3 women characters. 2 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 42.
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

Recidivist hold-up man H.I. McDonnough and policewoman Edwina marry, and then discover that they are unable to conceive a child. Desperate for a baby, the pair decide to kidnap one of the quintuplets of furniture tycoon Nathan Arizona. The McDunnoughs try to keep their crime secret, while friends, co-workers, and a feral bounty hunter look to use Nathan Jr. for their own purposes.

Released: 10 Apr 1987
Genres: Comedy, Crime
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 7.3 / 10
Metascore: 69 / 100
Awards: 4 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Hi 180 lines, man
Ed 112 lines, woman
Voice Over 108 lines, man
Gale 70 lines, man
Nathan 64 lines, man
Evelle 61 lines, man
Glen 51 lines, man
Dot 17 lines, woman
Chairman 10 lines, man
Cashier 9 lines, man

Full cast, 58 people

Nicolas Cage as H.I.
Holly Hunter as Ed
Trey Wilson as Nathan Arizona, Sr.
John Goodman as Gale
William Forsythe as Evelle
Sam McMurray as Glen
Frances McDormand as Dot
Randall 'Tex' Cobb as Leonard Smalls
T.J. Kuhn as Nathan Junior
Lynne Kitei as Florence Arizona
Peter Benedek as Prison Counselor
Charles 'Lew' Smith as Nice Old Grocery Man
Warren Keith as Younger FBI Agent
Henry Kendrick as Older FBI Agent
Sidney Dawson as Ear-Bending Cellmate
Richard Blake as Parole Board Chairman
Troy Nabors as Parole Board Member
Mary Seibel as Parole Board Member
John O'Donnal as Hayseed in the Pickup
Keith Jandacek as Whitey
Warren Forsythe as Minister
Ruben Young as 'Trapped' Convict
Dennis Sullivan as Policeman in Arizona House
Richard Alexander as Policeman in Arizona House
Rusty Lee as Feisty Hayseed
James Yeater as Fingerprint Technician
Bill Andres as Reporter
Carver Barns as Reporter
Margaret H. McCormack as Unpainted Secretary
Bill Rocz as Newscaster
Mary F. Glenn as Payroll Cashier
Jeremy Babendure as Scamp with Squirt Gun
Bill Dobbins as Adoption Agent
Ralph Norton as Gynecologist
Henry Tank as Mopping Convict
Frank Outlaw as Supermarket Manager
Todd Michael Bodgers as Varsity Nathan, Jr.
M. Emmet Walsh as Machine Shop Ear-Bender
Robert Gray as Glen and Dot's Kid
Katie Thrasher as Glen and Dot's Kid
Derek Russell as Glen and Dot's Kid
Nicole Russell as Glen and Dot's Kid
Zachary Sanders as Glen and Dot's Kid
Noell Sanders as Glen and Dot's Kid
Cody Ranger as Arizona Quint
Jeremy Arendt as Arizona Quint
Ashley Hammon as Arizona Quint
Crystal Hiller as Arizona Quint
Olivia Hughes as Arizona Quint
Emily Malin as Arizona Quint
Melanie Malin as Arizona Quint
Craig McLaughlin as Arizona Quint
Adam Savageau as Arizona Quint
Benjamin Savageau as Arizona Quint
David Schneider as Arizona Quint
Michael Stewart as Arizona Quint
William Preston Robertson as Amazing Voice (voice)
Ron Cobert as Reporter #1 (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 6% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 42

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	3	20
2 to 2	5	56
3 to 3	0	8
4 to 4	1	5
5 to 5	0	2
6 to 6	0	4
7 to 7	0	18
8 to 8	28	49
9 to 9	0	3
10 to 10	20	90
11 to 11	3	15
12 to 12	11	32
13 to 13	16	34
14 to 14	6	8
15 to 15	0	1
16 to 16	3	0
17 to 17	6	2
18 to 18	1	6
19 to 19	0	1
20 to 20	0	0
21 to 21	0	0
22 to 22	10	42
23 to 23	0	1
24 to 24	0	3
25 to 25	0	39
26 to 26	0	18
27 to 27	0	2
28 to 28	1	0
29 to 29	0	19
30 to 30	0	0
31 to 31	0	12
32 to 32	0	12
33 to 33	0	1
34 to 34	7	17
35 to 35	0	14
36 to 36	0	3
37 to 37	0	0
38 to 38	0	0
39 to 39	2	8
40 to 40	2	0
41 to 41	0	0
42 to 42	6	53

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.

DOT: What would Ed and the angel do if a truck came along and splattered your brains all over the interstate? Where would you be then? ED: Yeah honey, what if you get run over? DOT: Or you got carried off by a twister?

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 18 are women's.

131 lines from women, 598 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

3 women and 13 men in the cast. 2 women and 9 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 7 of 773. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 99 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 16% of the words (1,211), men 84% (6,475). Women have 18% of the lines, so their lines run shorter 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

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

2 of the 12 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 23% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Joel Coen (man)
Written by: Ethan Coen (man), Joel Coen (man)
Produced by: Ethan Coen (man)
Shot by: Barry Sonnenfeld (man)
Edited by: Michael R. Miller (man)
Music by: Carter Burwell (man)
Production design by: Jane Musky (woman)
Costumes by: Richard Hornung (man)
Cast by: John S. Lyons (man), Donna Isaacson (woman), Sunny Seibel (gender not listed)