Fails the Bechdel test
Superman
1978. Directed by Richard Donner, written by Mario Puzo and David Newman and Leslie Newman.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
13 women characters. 7 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
Just before the destruction of the planet Krypton, scientist Jor-El sends his infant son Kal-El on a spaceship to Earth. Raised by kindly farmers Jonathan and Martha Kent, young Clark discovers the source of his superhuman powers and moves to Metropolis to fight evil. As Superman, he battles the villainous Lex Luthor, while, as novice reporter Clark Kent, he attempts to woo co-worker Lois Lane
- Released
- 15 Dec 1978
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 7.4 / 10
- Metascore
- 82 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 3 Oscars. 19 wins & 23 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Luthor 101 lines, man
- Lois 96 lines, woman
- Superman 81 lines, man
- Clark 65 lines, man
- Eve 42 lines, woman
- Jor-El 39 lines, man
- Otis 27 lines, man
- Martha 19 lines
- Perry 18 lines, man
- Jonathan 14 lines, man
Full cast, 90 people
- Christopher Reeve as Superman / Clark Kent
- Margot Kidder as Lois Lane
- Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor
- Marlon Brando as Jor-El
- Ned Beatty as Otis
- Jackie Cooper as Perry White
- Glenn Ford as Pa Kent
- Trevor Howard as 1st Elder
- Jack O'Halloran as Non
- Valerie Perrine as Eve Teschmacher
- Maria Schell as Vond-Ah
- Terence Stamp as General Zod
- Phyllis Thaxter as Ma Kent
- Susannah York as Lara
- Jeff East as Young Clark Kent
- Marc McClure as Jimmy Olsen
- Sarah Douglas as Ursa
- Harry Andrews as 2nd Elder
- Diane Sherry Case as Lana Lang
- Vass Anderson as 3rd Elder
- John Hollis as 4th Elder
- James Garbutt as 5th Elder
- Michael Gover as 6th Elder
- David Neal as 7th Elder
- William Russell as 8th Elder
- Penelope Lee as 9th Elder
- John Stuart as 10th Elder
- Alan Cullen as 11th Elder
- Aaron Smolinski as Baby Clark Kent
- Billy J. Mitchell as 1st Editor
- Robert Henderson as 2nd Editor
- Larry Lamb as 1st Reporter
- John Cassady as 3rd Reporter
- John F. Parker as 4th Reporter
- Harry Scott as 5th Reporter
- Ray Evans as 6th Reporter
- Miquel Brown as 8th Reporter
- Vincent Marzello as 1st Copy Boy
- Benjamin Feitelson as 2nd Copy Boy
- Lise Hilboldt as 1st Secretary
- Leueen Willoughby as 2nd Secretary
- Rex Reed as Rex Reed
- Weston Gavin as Mugger
- Steve Kahan as Officer 1
- Ray Hassett as Officer 2
- Randy Jurgensen as Officer 3
- Matt Russo as News Vendor
- Colin Skeaping as Pilot
- Bo Rucker as Pimp
- Paul Avery as TV Cameraman
- David Baxt as Burglar
- George Harris II as Patrolman Mooney
- John Cording as 2nd Hood
- Oz Clarke as 4th Hood
- Rex Everhart as Desk Sergeant
- Jayne Tottman as Little Girl
- Frank Lazarus as Air Force One Pilot
- Brian Protheroe as Co Pilot
- Lawrence Trimble as 1st Crewman
- Robert Whelan as 2nd Crewman
- David Calder as 3rd Crewman
- Norwich Duff as Newscaster
- Keith Alexander as Newscaster
- Michael Ensign as Newscaster
- Larry Hagman as Major
- Paul Tuerpe as Sgt. Hayley
- Graham McPherson as Lieutenant
- David Yorston as Petty Officer
- Robert O'Neill as Admiral
- Robert MacLeod as General
- John Ratzenberger as 1st Controller
- Alan Tilvern as 2nd Controller
- Phil Brown as State Senator
- Bill Bailey as 2nd Senator
- Burnell Tucker as Agent
- Chief Tug Smith as Indian Chief
- Norman Warwick as Superchief Driver
- Chuck Julian as Assistant
- Mark Wynter as Mate
- Roy Stevens as Warden
- Noel Neill as Ella Lane (uncredited)
- Kirk Alyn as Sam Lane (uncredited)
- Tony Selby as Hood (uncredited)
- Bruce Boa as General (extended version) (uncredited)
- David de Keyser as Warden (voice) (uncredited)
- Richard Donner as Man in Street (extended version) (uncredited)
- Harry Fielder as Policeman (uncredited)
- Alan Harris as Man on Daily Planet Rooftop (uncredited)
- Shane Rimmer as Naval Transport Commander (uncredited)
- Marco St. John as Mugger's Arm in Alley (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 13% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 228
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 5 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 to 10 | 1 | 13 |
| 11 to 15 | 8 | 15 |
| 16 to 20 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 to 25 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 to 30 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 to 35 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 to 40 | 0 | 3 |
| 41 to 45 | 0 | 14 |
| 46 to 50 | 3 | 13 |
| 51 to 55 | 0 | 0 |
| 56 to 60 | 0 | 6 |
| 61 to 65 | 0 | 10 |
| 66 to 70 | 21 | 30 |
| 71 to 75 | 0 | 0 |
| 76 to 80 | 0 | 1 |
| 81 to 85 | 22 | 40 |
| 86 to 90 | 0 | 4 |
| 91 to 95 | 2 | 4 |
| 96 to 100 | 0 | 3 |
| 101 to 105 | 0 | 3 |
| 106 to 110 | 5 | 4 |
| 111 to 115 | 13 | 43 |
| 116 to 120 | 2 | 5 |
| 121 to 125 | 2 | 4 |
| 126 to 130 | 3 | 5 |
| 131 to 135 | 1 | 3 |
| 136 to 140 | 39 | 45 |
| 141 to 145 | 0 | 0 |
| 146 to 150 | 13 | 26 |
| 151 to 155 | 0 | 0 |
| 156 to 160 | 1 | 5 |
| 161 to 165 | 2 | 12 |
| 166 to 170 | 0 | 0 |
| 171 to 175 | 0 | 17 |
| 176 to 180 | 1 | 6 |
| 181 to 185 | 0 | 0 |
| 186 to 190 | 0 | 9 |
| 191 to 195 | 0 | 17 |
| 196 to 200 | 4 | 20 |
| 201 to 205 | 5 | 7 |
| 206 to 210 | 0 | 0 |
| 211 to 215 | 0 | 0 |
| 216 to 220 | 1 | 5 |
| 221 to 225 | 2 | 4 |
| 226 to 228 | 1 | 5 |
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, 27 are women's.
152 lines from women, 402 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
13 women and 71 men in the cast. 7 women and 23 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 6 of 634.
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 20% of the words (1,538), men 80% (6,019). Women have 27% 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
40
Exhibit E: behind the camera
3 of the 16 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 10% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Richard Donner (man)
- Written by
- Mario Puzo (man), Leslie Newman (woman), Robert Benton (man), David Newman (man), Tom Mankiewicz (man)
- Story by
- Mario Puzo (man)
- Produced by
- Pierre Spengler (man)
- Shot by
- Geoffrey Unsworth (man)
- Edited by
- Stuart Baird (man), Michael Ellis (man)
- Music by
- John Williams (man)
- Production design by
- John Barry (man)
- Costumes by
- Yvonne Blake (woman)
- Cast by
- Lynn Stalmaster (man), Mary Selway (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Camera
0 women, 21 men, 19 not listed
-
Directing
3 women, 16 men, 18 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 16 men, 15 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 19 men, 12 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
6 women, 2 men, 18 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 15 men, 6 not listed
-
Production
2 women, 10 men, 8 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 9 men, 9 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 33 on average. Men: 48 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Margot Kidder 30, Valerie Perrine 35
Men
Christopher Reeve 26, Jack O'Halloran 35, Ned Beatty 41, Gene Hackman 48, Marlon Brando 54, Jackie Cooper 56, Glenn Ford 62, Trevor Howard 65
Exhibit G: the money
It made 5.5 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $55 million
- Box office
- $300 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 228 scenes and 634 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
