Fails the Bechdel test
Something Wicked This Way Comes
1983. Directed by Jack Clayton, written by Ray Bradbury.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
6 women characters. 4 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
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
In Green Town, Illinois, the twelve year-old boys Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade are neighbors and best friends. Will's father Charles Halloway is an old man and the local librarian while Jim and his mother wait for the return of the return of their father and husband that will never occur. The boys know everyone in town, including their school teacher Miss Foley that misses her beauty and youth; the lonely barber Mr. Crosetti that has no girlfriend or wife; the greedy owner of a cigar store Mr. Tetley that is obsessed with money; and the bartender Ed that has severed arm and leg and dreams on being a football hero. One day, Jim buys a lightning rod from the salesman Tom Fury that tells that a storm is coming. During the night, the boys overhear a mysterious train and they run through the woods to see the arrival but they do not see a living soul. However, they find the Mr. Dark's Pandemonium Carnival ready to be enjoyed and they snoop around. Soon they realize that frustrated and greedy people are vanishing in town and the evil Mr. Dark and the Dust Witch make their dreams come true. In return, Mr. Dark seizes their souls. Now Mr. Dark is seeking them out but Charles Halloway has a journal from his father about the autumn carnival that might be their last chance to defeat the evil.
- Released
- 29 Apr 1983
- Genres
- Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 6.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 68 / 100
- Awards
- 2 wins & 7 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Will 143 lines, man
- Halloway 101 lines, man
- Jim 100 lines, man
- Dark 60 lines, man
- Dark'S Voice O.S 19 lines
- Mrs. Nightshade 16 lines, woman
- Miss Foley 13 lines, woman
- Tom Fury 11 lines, man
- Mrs. Halloway 10 lines, woman
- Sheriff 9 lines
Full cast, 25 people
- Jason Robards as Charles Halloway
- Jonathan Pryce as Mr. Dark
- Diane Ladd as Mrs. Nightshade
- Royal Dano as Tom Fury
- Vidal Peterson as Will Halloway
- Shawn Carson as Jim Nightshade
- Mary Grace Canfield as Miss Foley
- Richard Davalos as Mr. Crosetti
- Jake Dengel as Mr. Tetley
- Jack Dodson as Dr. Douglas
- Bruce M. Fischer as Mr. Cooger
- Ellen Geer as Mrs. Halloway
- Pam Grier as Dust Witch
- Brendan Klinger as Cooger as a Child
- James Stacy as Ed the Bartender
- Angelo Rossitto as Little Person #1
- Peter Risch as Little Person #2
- Jill Carroll as Teenage Girl
- Tony Christopher as Young Ed
- Sharan Lea as Young Miss Foley
- Scott De Roy as Cooger as a Young Man
- Sharon Ashe as Townswoman
- Arthur Hill as Narrator (voice)
- Phil Fondacaro as Demon Clown (uncredited)
- Jerry Maren as Demon Small Person (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 10% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 186
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 | 3 | 14 |
| 5 to 8 | 4 | 38 |
| 9 to 12 | 1 | 15 |
| 13 to 16 | 3 | 7 |
| 17 to 20 | 0 | 16 |
| 21 to 24 | 2 | 4 |
| 25 to 28 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 to 32 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 to 36 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 to 40 | 0 | 4 |
| 41 to 44 | 0 | 3 |
| 45 to 48 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 to 52 | 0 | 13 |
| 53 to 56 | 8 | 7 |
| 57 to 60 | 0 | 9 |
| 61 to 64 | 0 | 5 |
| 65 to 68 | 3 | 22 |
| 69 to 72 | 2 | 14 |
| 73 to 76 | 2 | 19 |
| 77 to 80 | 0 | 3 |
| 81 to 84 | 0 | 10 |
| 85 to 88 | 11 | 24 |
| 89 to 92 | 0 | 29 |
| 93 to 96 | 0 | 1 |
| 97 to 100 | 0 | 44 |
| 101 to 104 | 4 | 5 |
| 105 to 108 | 0 | 19 |
| 109 to 112 | 0 | 5 |
| 113 to 116 | 0 | 5 |
| 117 to 120 | 0 | 0 |
| 121 to 124 | 0 | 3 |
| 125 to 128 | 0 | 2 |
| 129 to 132 | 0 | 6 |
| 133 to 136 | 0 | 0 |
| 137 to 140 | 0 | 8 |
| 141 to 144 | 0 | 9 |
| 145 to 148 | 0 | 5 |
| 149 to 152 | 0 | 0 |
| 153 to 156 | 1 | 46 |
| 157 to 160 | 3 | 3 |
| 161 to 164 | 0 | 1 |
| 165 to 168 | 0 | 2 |
| 169 to 172 | 3 | 5 |
| 173 to 176 | 1 | 3 |
| 177 to 180 | 0 | 5 |
| 181 to 184 | 0 | 30 |
| 185 to 186 | 0 | 0 |
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, 10 are women's.
51 lines from women, 463 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
6 women and 15 men in the cast. 4 women and 19 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 571.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 132 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 10% of the words (637), men 90% (5,767).
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
1
Two men
63
Exhibit E: behind the camera
1 of the 12 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 6% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Jack Clayton (man)
- Written by
- Ray Bradbury (man)
- From the novel by
- Ray Bradbury (man)
- Produced by
- Peter Douglas (man)
- Shot by
- Stephen H. Burum (man)
- Edited by
- Argyle Nelson Jr. (man), Barry Mark Gordon (man)
- Music by
- James Horner (man)
- Production design by
- Richard Macdonald (man)
- Costumes by
- Ruth Myers (woman)
- Cast by
- Virginia Higgins (gender not listed), Pam Polifroni (gender not listed)
The crew, department by department
-
Art
0 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Production
0 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 2 men
-
Writing
0 women, 2 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 0 men
-
Other crew
0 women, 1 men
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 53 on average. Men: 46 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Diane Ladd 47, Mary Grace Canfield 58
Men
Vidal Peterson 14, Jonathan Pryce 35, Jake Dengel 49, Jack Dodson 51, Richard Davalos 52, Jason Robards 60, Royal Dano 60
Exhibit G: the money
It made 42% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $20 million
- Box office
- $8.4 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 186 scenes and 571 lines of dialogue. How the test works
