Passes the Bechdel test

The Man Who Knew Too Much

Name: The Man Who Knew Too Much
Released: 1956

1956. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, written by John Michael Hayes and Charles Bennett and D.B. Wyndham-Lewis.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
17 women characters. 5 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 5 scenes out of 488.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.

The film

While attending a medical conference in Paris, an American physician, Dr. Ben McKenna, along with his wife, retired musical theater actress and singer Jo McKenna née Conway, and their adolescent son, Hank McKenna, decide to take a side trip to Marrakesh, French Morocco. On the bus to Marrakesh, they meet a Frenchman, Louis Bernard. The following day at the market, Louis is masquerading as an Arab and approaches Ben with a knife plunged in his back. Before dying, Louis cryptically whispers into Ben's ear that there will be an attempted assassination in London of a statesman. Ben is reluctant to provide any information of this news to the authorities because he learned Hank was kidnapped by a British couple, Edward and Lucy Drayton. The people the Draytons were working for threatened to kill Hank if Ben divulged any information told to him by Louis Bernard. With what little information they have on hand, Ben and Jo head to London to try and thwart the assassination attempt and more importantly find Hank alive and safe. Scotland Yard is aware of some pieces to the puzzle, including the fact that Louis Bernard was a French secret service agent and that there will be an assassination attempt on someone. They will have to work together as they hit a diplomatic roadblock, one that may be overcome with a special Jo Conway song.

Released: 01 Jun 1956
Genres: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Rated: PG
IMDb: 7.4 / 10
Metascore: 76 / 100
Awards: Won 1 Oscar. 3 wins & 4 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Ben 275 lines, man
Jo 202 lines, woman
Drayton 67 lines, man
Hank 54 lines, man
Louis 45 lines, man
Buchanan 41 lines, man
Mrs. Drayton 34 lines, woman
Inspector 22 lines
J0 19 lines
Val 17 lines, man

Full cast, 95 people

James Stewart as Ben McKenna
Doris Day as Jo McKenna
Brenda De Banzie as Lucy Drayton
Bernard Miles as Edward Drayton
Ralph Truman as Buchanan
Daniel Gélin as Louis Bernard
Mogens Wieth as Ambassador
Alan Mowbray as Val Parnell
Hillary Brooke as Jan Peterson
Christopher Olsen as Hank McKenna
Reggie Nalder as Rien
Richard Wattis as Assistant Manager
Noel Willman as Woburn
Alix Talton as Helen Parnell
Yves Brainville as Police Inspector
Carolyn Jones as Cindy Fontaine
Bernard Herrmann as Conductor at Albert Hall (uncredited)
Patrick Aherne as Handyman (uncredited)
Frank Albertson as Taxidermist (uncredited)
Frank Atkinson as Edgar (uncredited)
John Barrard as Taxidermist Holding Panther (uncredited)
Mayne Lynton as Grey-Haired Taxidermist (uncredited)
Clifford Buckton as Sir Kenneth Clarke (uncredited)
Walter Bacon as Church Member (uncredited)
Lovyss Bradley as Church Member (uncredited)
Nora Bush as Church Member (uncredited)
Ann Kunde as Church Member (uncredited)
Jean Ransome as Church Member (uncredited)
Albert Carrier as French Policeman (uncredited)
Louis Mercier as French Policeman (uncredited)
Anthony Warde as French Policeman (uncredited)
Frank Baker as Royal Albert Hall Attendee (uncredited)
Oliver Cross as Royal Albert Hall Attendee (uncredited)
Sam Harris as Royal Albert Hall Attendee (uncredited)
Jimmie Horan as Royal Albert Hall Attendee (uncredited)
Carl M. Leviness as Royal Albert Hall Attendee (uncredited)
Lee Miller as Royal Albert Hall Attendee (uncredited)
Arthur Tovey as Royal Albert Hall Attendee (uncredited)
Harry Fine as Edington (uncredited)
Alex Frazer as Man in Box Office Lobby (uncredited)
Wolf Frees as Prime Minister's Aide (uncredited)
Richard Marner as Prime Minister's Aide (uncredited)
Milton Frome as Embassy Back Entrance Guard (uncredited)
Walter Gotell as Matthews, Scotland Yard Patrol Car (uncredited)
Leo Gordon as Drayton's Chauffeur (uncredited)
Alfred Hitchcock as Man in Marrakesh Marketplace (uncredited)
Gladys Holland as Bernard's Date at Restaurant (uncredited)
George Howe as Ambrose Chappell Sr. (uncredited)
Richard Wordsworth as Ambrose Chappell Jr. (uncredited)
Eumenio Blanco as Arab (uncredited)
Allen Jaffe as Arab (uncredited)
Lou Krugman as Marrakesh Headwaiter (uncredited)
Harold Kasket as Stavis (uncredited)
Barry Keegan as Patterson (uncredited)
Lloyd Lamble as General Manager of Albert Hall (uncredited)
Lewis Martin as Detective (uncredited)
Ralph Neff as Drayton's Henchman (uncredited)
John O'Malley as Hotel Doorman (uncredited)
Eric Snowden as Special Branch Officer (uncredited)
Patrick Whyte as Special Branch Officer (uncredited)
Alma Taylor as Embassy Guest (uncredited)
Guy Verney as Embassy Footman (uncredited)
Peter Williams as Police Sergeant at Albert Hall (uncredited)
John Marshall as Embassy Butler (uncredited)
Alexis Bobrinskoy as Foreign Prime Minister (uncredited)
Betty Baskcomb as Edna (uncredited)
Hyma Beckley as Albert Hall Audience (uncredited)
Paul Beradi as Embassy Guest (uncredited)
Arline Bletcher as Church Member (uncredited)
Janet Bruce as Woman in Box Office Queue (uncredited)
Naida Buckingham as Albert Hall Audience (uncredited)
Barbara Burke as Miss Benson (uncredited)
Peter Camlin as Marrakesh Waiter (uncredited)
Jimmy Charters as Albert Hall Audience (uncredited)
Abdelhaq Chraibi as Muslim Husband On Bus (uncredited)
Victor Harrington as Embassy Guest (uncredited)
George Hilsdon as Photographer at Airport (uncredited)
Philip Johns as Embassy Chef (uncredited)
Barbara Jones as Lady On Bus (uncredited)
Anthony Lang as Singer in Choir (uncredited)
Donald Lawton as Desk Clerk (uncredited)
Marion Lessing as Church Member (uncredited)
Enid Lindsey as Lady Clarke (uncredited)
Janet Macfarlane as Albert Hall Audience (uncredited)
Edward Manouk as Marrakesh Waiter (uncredited)
Lola Morice as Singer in Choir (uncredited)
Leslie Newport as Inspector at Albert Hall (uncredited)
Elsa Palmer as Embassy Cook (uncredited)
Liddell Peddieson as Taxidermist With Cap (uncredited)
Pauline Pfarr as Ambassador's Wife (uncredited)
Arthur Ridley as Albert Hall Ticket Collector (uncredited)
Lucile Sewall as Church Member (uncredited)
Mahin S. Shahrivar as Muslim Wife On Bus (uncredited)
Guy Standeven as Albert Hall Audience (uncredited)
Allen Zeidman as Assistant Manager (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 11 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 7% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 488

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 11	2	12
12 to 22	0	0
23 to 33	3	30
34 to 44	5	31
45 to 55	17	21
56 to 66	12	25
67 to 77	21	23
78 to 88	11	10
89 to 99	21	28
100 to 110	0	0
111 to 121	2	7
122 to 132	11	41
133 to 143	11	40
144 to 154	28	27
155 to 165	3	13
166 to 176	4	33
177 to 187	17	24
188 to 198	37	33
199 to 209	0	1
210 to 220	0	39
221 to 231	5	8
232 to 242	13	11
243 to 253	7	26
254 to 264	3	4
265 to 275	2	15
276 to 286	5	7
287 to 297	7	7
298 to 308	5	10
309 to 319	0	0
320 to 330	5	0
331 to 341	1	2
342 to 352	0	0
353 to 363	0	0
364 to 374	0	0
375 to 385	0	0
386 to 396	0	0
397 to 407	0	0
408 to 418	0	0
419 to 429	1	9
430 to 440	7	58
441 to 451	3	11
452 to 462	3	2
463 to 473	1	3
474 to 484	1	8
485 to 488	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 scenes

The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.

MRS. DRAYTON: Good evening. MRS. DRAYTON: You must think me awfully rude. I've been staring at you ever since I saw you at the hotel. MRS. DRAYTON: You are Jo Conway, the Jo Conway? JO: Yes, I am.

MRS. DRAYTON: Oh dear, oh dear. I'm always saying the wrong thing. JO: Not the least, Mrs. Drayton. MRS. DRAYTON: Tell me; Dr. McKenna do you always.....

JO: Hallo. MRS. DRAYTON: Mrs. McKenna? JO: Yes. MRS. DRAYTON: This is Mrs. Drayton. You remember me?

JO: I go. HELEN: Jo! You look wonderful!

JAN: Oh, I am sorry. I knew you were married, but a doctor. How clever! Especially in such a psychosomatic business. Why -- CINDY: Will you be quiet! JAN: Cindy! CINDY: You don't know what psychosomatic means.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 31 are women's.

275 lines from women, 621 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

17 women and 63 men in the cast. 5 women and 30 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 3 of 966. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 48 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 27% of the words (2,586), men 73% (6,821). Women have 31% 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

1 of the 14 people in these jobs is a woman. Across the whole crew, 13% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock (man)
Written by: John Michael Hayes (man)
Story by: D.B. Wyndham-Lewis (man), Charles Bennett (man)
Produced by: Alfred Hitchcock (man)
Shot by: Robert Burks (man)
Edited by: George Tomasini (man)
Music by: Bernard Herrmann (man)
Costumes by: Edith Head (woman)
Cast by: Bill Greenwald (gender not listed), Edward R. Morse (man), Tony Regan (man), Gary Fifield (gender not listed), William Cowitt (gender not listed)