Passes the Bechdel test
The Lion in Winter
1968. Directed by Anthony Harvey, written by James Goldman.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
2 women characters. 2 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 82. -
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
It's Christmas 1183, and King Henry II (Peter O'Toole) is planning to announce his successor to the throne. The jockeying for the crown, though, is complex. Henry has three sons and wants his boy Prince John (Nigel Terry) to take over. Henry's wife, Queen Eleanor (Katharine Hepburn), has other ideas. She believes their son Prince Richard (Sir Anthony Hopkins) should be King. As the family and various schemers gather for the holiday, each tries to make the indecisive King choose his or her option.
- Released
- 30 Oct 1968
- Genres
- Biography, Drama, History
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 7.8 / 10
- Awards
- Won 3 Oscars. 16 wins & 18 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Henry 265 lines, man
- Eleanor 241 lines, woman
- Richard 86 lines, man
- Alais 77 lines, woman
- John 55 lines, man
- Geoffrey 49 lines, man
- Philip 40 lines, man
- Marshal 6 lines, man
- Boat And Jetty 1 lines
- Richard .- 1 lines, man
Full cast, 16 people
- Peter O'Toole as Henry II
- Katharine Hepburn as Eleanor of Aquitaine
- Anthony Hopkins as Richard
- John Castle as Geoffrey
- Nigel Terry as John
- Timothy Dalton as Philip II
- Jane Merrow as Alais
- Nigel Stock as William Marshall
- O.Z. Whitehead as Bishop of Durham
- Kenneth Ives as Queen Eleanor's Guard
- Kenneth Griffith as Strolling Player
- Henry Woolf as Strolling Player
- Karol Hagar as Strolling Player
- David Griffith as Strolling Player
- Fran Stafford as Lady in Waiting
- Ella More as Lady in Waiting
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 82
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 | 1 |
| 3 to 4 | 2 | 4 |
| 5 to 6 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 to 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 to 10 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 to 12 | 9 | 7 |
| 13 to 14 | 3 | 5 |
| 15 to 16 | 2 | 11 |
| 17 to 18 | 7 | 6 |
| 19 to 20 | 2 | 2 |
| 21 to 22 | 7 | 5 |
| 23 to 24 | 16 | 42 |
| 25 to 26 | 16 | 16 |
| 27 to 28 | 28 | 45 |
| 29 to 30 | 0 | 10 |
| 31 to 32 | 31 | 45 |
| 33 to 34 | 3 | 5 |
| 35 to 36 | 15 | 47 |
| 37 to 38 | 14 | 15 |
| 39 to 40 | 0 | 1 |
| 41 to 42 | 1 | 2 |
| 43 to 44 | 0 | 73 |
| 45 to 46 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 to 48 | 1 | 0 |
| 49 to 50 | 0 | 0 |
| 51 to 52 | 95 | 71 |
| 53 to 54 | 0 | 0 |
| 55 to 56 | 0 | 0 |
| 57 to 58 | 0 | 0 |
| 59 to 60 | 0 | 0 |
| 61 to 62 | 0 | 0 |
| 63 to 64 | 0 | 7 |
| 65 to 66 | 0 | 0 |
| 67 to 68 | 0 | 0 |
| 69 to 70 | 0 | 0 |
| 71 to 72 | 0 | 0 |
| 73 to 74 | 7 | 7 |
| 75 to 76 | 10 | 9 |
| 77 to 78 | 0 | 0 |
| 79 to 80 | 48 | 61 |
| 81 to 82 | 1 | 2 |
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.
ELEANOR: You look cold. ALAIS: I've mulled some wine.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 39 are women's.
318 lines from women, 502 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
2 women and 11 men in the cast. 2 women and 6 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 6 of 822.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 75 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 39% of the words (3,380), men 61% (5,322).
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
7
Two men
27
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 9 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 19% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Anthony Harvey (man)
- Written by
- James Goldman (man)
- Produced by
- Martin Poll (man)
- Shot by
- Douglas Slocombe (man)
- Edited by
- John Bloom (man)
- Music by
- John Barry (man)
- Costumes by
- Lee Poll (woman), Margaret Furse (woman)
- Cast by
- Paul Lee Lander (gender not listed)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
1 women, 5 men, 3 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 5 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men
-
Art
1 women, 1 men
-
Other crew
0 women, 2 men
-
Directing
0 women, 2 men
-
Editing
1 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 44 on average. Men: 35 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Jane Merrow 26, Katharine Hepburn 61
Men
Timothy Dalton 22, Nigel Terry 23, John Castle 28, Anthony Hopkins 30, Kenneth Ives 34, Peter O'Toole 36, Nigel Stock 48, O.Z. Whitehead 57
Exhibit H: the money
It made 5.6 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $4 million
- Box office
- $22.3 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 82 scenes and 822 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
