Passes the Bechdel test

The King's Speech

Name: The King's Speech
Released: 2010

2010. Directed by Tom Hooper, written by David Seidler.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
8 women characters. 6 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 91.
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

Britain's Prince Albert must ascend the throne as King George VI, but he has a speech impediment. Knowing that the country needs her husband to be able to communicate effectively, Elizabeth hires Lionel Logue, an Australian actor and speech therapist, to help him overcome his stammer. An extraordinary friendship develops between the two men, as Logue uses unconventional means to teach the monarch how to speak with confidence.

Released: 25 Dec 2010
Genres: Biography, Drama, History
Rated: R
IMDb: 8 / 10
Metascore: 88 / 100
Awards: Won 4 Oscars. 109 wins & 206 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Bertie 353 lines, man
Lionel 342 lines, man
Cosmo Lang 70 lines, man
Winston Churchill 69 lines, man
Elizabeth 65 lines, woman
Myrtle 51 lines, woman
David 49 lines, man
Baldwin 15 lines, man
King George V 13 lines, man
Anna 9 lines, woman

Full cast, 42 people

Colin Firth as King George VI
Geoffrey Rush as Lionel Logue
Helena Bonham Carter as Queen Elizabeth
Guy Pearce as King Edward VIII
Timothy Spall as Winston Churchill
Michael Gambon as King George V
Jennifer Ehle as Myrtle Logue
Derek Jacobi as Archbishop Cosmo Lang
Freya Wilson as Princess Elizabeth
Ramona Marquez as Princess Margaret
Richard Dixon as Private Secretary
Robert Portal as Equerry
Eve Best as Wallis Simpson
Paul Trussell as Chauffeur
Adrian Scarborough as BBC Radio Announcer
Andrew Havill as Robert Wood
Charles Armstrong as BBC Technician
Roger Hammond as Dr. Blandine Bentham
Calum Gittins as Laurie Logue
Dominic Applewhite as Valentine Logue
Ben Wimsett as Anthony Logue
David Bamber as Theatre Director
Jake Hathaway as Willie
Patrick Ryecart as Lord Wigram
Teresa Gallagher as Nurse
Simon Chandler as Lord Dawson
Claire Bloom as Queen Mary
Orlando Wells as Duke of Kent
Tim Downie as Duke of Gloucester
Dick Ward as Butler
John Albasiny as Footman
Danny Emes as Boy in Regent's Park
Anthony Andrews as Stanley Baldwin
John Warnaby as Steward
Roger Parrott as Neville Chamberlain
Dean Ambridge as Royal Marine (uncredited)
Julianne Buescher as Mrs. Cooper - Vocalist
James Currie as Binky (uncredited)
Graham Curry as Infantry (uncredited)
Tony Earnshaw as Policeman (uncredited)
Sean Talo as BBC Technician / Soldier (uncredited)
Adolf Hitler as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 2 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 91

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 2	0	0
3 to 4	0	1
5 to 6	2	1
7 to 8	1	6
9 to 10	0	1
11 to 12	16	15
13 to 14	8	15
15 to 16	9	16
17 to 18	0	15
19 to 20	0	4
21 to 22	0	2
23 to 24	12	10
25 to 26	2	97
27 to 28	1	7
29 to 30	0	8
31 to 32	4	7
33 to 34	3	17
35 to 36	4	8
37 to 38	0	0
39 to 40	0	22
41 to 42	0	3
43 to 44	0	14
45 to 46	1	151
47 to 48	0	0
49 to 50	0	13
51 to 52	0	9
53 to 54	2	54
55 to 56	7	21
57 to 58	0	12
59 to 60	2	8
61 to 62	3	53
63 to 64	0	34
65 to 66	1	4
67 to 68	9	12
69 to 70	0	2
71 to 72	1	2
73 to 74	8	18
75 to 76	1	14
77 to 78	0	1
79 to 80	36	50
81 to 82	0	80
83 to 84	5	73
85 to 86	0	49
87 to 88	2	26
89 to 90	0	4
91 to 91	2	6

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.

MYRTLE: Will the Yorks be staying for dinner? ELIZABETH: A previous engagement.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 13 are women's.

142 lines from women, 965 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

8 women and 29 men in the cast. 6 women and 12 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 2 of 1,134. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 172 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 11% of the words (1,271), men 89% (10,161). Women have 13% 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

3 of the 11 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 25% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Tom Hooper (man)
Written by: David Seidler (man)
Produced by: Iain Canning (man), Emile Sherman (man), Gareth Unwin (gender not listed)
Shot by: Danny Cohen (man)
Edited by: Tariq Anwar (man)
Music by: Alexandre Desplat (man)
Production design by: Eve Stewart (woman)
Costumes by: Jenny Beavan (woman)
Cast by: Nina Gold (woman)