Fails the Bechdel test
The Blues Brothers
1980. Directed by John Landis, written by Dan Aykroyd and John Landis.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
0 / 3
Fails
-
No
1. At least two women
Fewer than two women characters. -
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
After the release of Jake Blues from prison, he and brother Elwood go to visit "The Penguin" (Kathleen Freeman), the last of the nuns who raised them in an orphanage. They learn the Archdiocese will stop supporting the school and will sell the place to the Education Authority. The only way to keep the place open is if the $5,000 ($17,868.41 in 2022 adjusted for inflation) tax on the property is paid within 11 days. The Blues Brothers want to help, and decide to put their blues band back together and raise the money by staging a big gig. As they set off on their "mission from God" they seem to make more enemies along the way. Will they manage to come up with the money in time?
- Released
- 20 Jun 1980
- Genres
- Adventure, Comedy, Crime
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 60 / 100
- Awards
- 2 wins & 1 nomination total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Jake 152 lines, man
- Elwood 132 lines, man
- Mr. Fabulous 25 lines, man
- Aretha 18 lines
- Bob 18 lines, man
- Nazi Leader 18 lines, man
- Murph 16 lines, man
- Curtis 14 lines, man
- Matt 14 lines, man
- Song 14 lines
Full cast, 71 people
- John Belushi as 'Joliet' Jake Blues
- Dan Aykroyd as Elwood Blues
- James Brown as Cleophus James
- Cab Calloway as Curtis
- Ray Charles as Ray
- Aretha Franklin as Mrs. Murphy
- Steve Cropper as Steve 'The Colonel' Cropper
- Donald 'Duck' Dunn as Donald 'Duck' Dunn
- Murphy Dunne as Murphy 'Murph' Dunne
- Willie Hall as Willie 'Too Big' Hall
- Tom Malone as "Bones" Malone
- Lou Marini as 'Blue Lou' Marini
- Matt Murphy as Matt 'Guitar' Murphy
- Alan Rubin as Mr. Fabulous
- Carrie Fisher as Mystery Woman
- Henry Gibson as Head Nazi
- John Candy as Burton Mercer
- Kathleen Freeman as Sister Mary Stigmata
- John Lee Hooker as Street Slim
- Tom Erhart as Prison Guard
- Gerald Walling as Prison Guard
- Walter Levine as Prison Guard
- Alonzo Atkins as Choirmaster
- Chaka Khan as Choir Soloist
- Armand Cerami as Trooper Daniel
- Steven Williams as Trooper Mount
- Kristi Oleson as Sales Girl
- Gary McLarty as Man in Toy Store
- Joe Cuttone as Lloyd
- Layne Britton as The Cheese Whiz
- Toni Fleming as Mrs. Tarantino
- Sheilah Wells as Claire
- Rosie Shuster as Cocktail Waitress
- Judith Belushi-Pisano as Cocktail Waitress
- Lou Perryman as Man at Bar
- Paul Reubens as Waiter
- Ben Piazza as Father
- Gwen Banta as Mother
- Lari Taylor as Daughter #1
- Cindy Fisher as Daughter #2
- Elizabeth Hoy as Daughter #3
- Tony M. Conde as Sommelier
- Eugene J. Anthony as Gruppenführer
- Dean Hill as Nazi
- Jack Orend as Nazi
- Gene Schuldt as Nazi
- Gary Houston as Nazi
- Charles Mountain as Cop
- Frank Oz as Corrections Officer
- John Landis as Trooper La Fong
- Elmore James as Choir
- Stephen Bishop as Charming Trooper
- Charles Napier as Tucker McElroy
- Steven Spielberg as Cook County Assessor's Office Clerk
- Curt Clendenin as Orphan
- Twiggy as Chic Lady
- Steve Lawrence as Maury Sline
- De'voreaux White as Young Guitar Thief
- Jeff Morris as Bob
- Mr. T as Guy on Street
- James Avery as Man Dancing Outside Ray's Shop
- Raven De La Croix as Woman in Concert Crowd
- Leoda Richards as Restaurant Patron
- Norman Matlock as Police Commissioner
- S.D. Nemeth as Inmate
- Carolyn Franklin as Soul Food Chorus
- Jack Callahan as The Good Old Boys
- George Sasaki as Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
- Ralph Foody as Police Dispatcher
- Joe Walsh as Prisoner
- Rick Danko as Prisoner (Uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
We couldn't read who says what in this film's script, so there's no dialogue chart for it yet.
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, 5 are women's.
27 lines from women, 475 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
13 women and 48 men in the cast. 1 women and 27 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 32 of 605.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 191 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 (400), men 93% (5,050). Women have 5% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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
44
Exhibit E: behind the camera
1 of the 10 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 25% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- John Landis (man)
- Written by
- Dan Aykroyd (man), John Landis (man)
- Produced by
- Robert K. Weiss (man)
- Shot by
- Stephen M. Katz (man)
- Edited by
- George Folsey Jr. (man)
- Music by
- Elmer Bernstein (man)
- Production design by
- John J. Lloyd (man)
- Costumes by
- Deborah Nadoolman Landis (woman)
- Cast by
- Michael Chinich (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
5 women, 11 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Production
0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 2 men
-
Directing
1 women, 1 men
-
Sound
0 women, 2 men
-
Writing
0 women, 2 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 0 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 38 on average. Men: 41 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Aretha Franklin 38
Men
Dan Aykroyd 27, Willie Hall 29, John Belushi 31, Murphy Dunne 37, Steve Cropper 38, Donald 'Duck' Dunn 38, James Brown 47, Ray Charles 49, Cab Calloway 72
Exhibit G: the money
It made 4.3 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $27 million
- Box office
- $115 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 1 scenes and 605 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
