Passes the Bechdel test

The Poseidon Adventure

Name: The Poseidon Adventure
Released: 1972

1972. Directed by Ronald Neame, written by Stirling Silliphant and Wendell Mayes and Paul Gallico.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
7 women characters. 10 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 111.
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 1 out of 3.

The film

A passenger ship, on her way to the scrap yard is pushed to her limits by the new owners to save on the dismantling fees. A tidal wave hits her, flipping her over so that all the internal rooms are upside down. A priest takes a mixed band of survivors on a journey through the bowels of the ship in an attempt to survive.

Released: 13 Dec 1972
Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama
Rated: PG
IMDb: 7.1 / 10
Metascore: 70 / 100
Awards: Won 1 Oscar. 5 wins & 13 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Scott 140 lines, man
Rogo 103 lines, man
Martin 63 lines, man
Belle 56 lines, woman
Robin 38 lines, man
Linda 35 lines, woman
Captain 32 lines
Manny 32 lines, man
Susan 29 lines, woman
Nonnie 28 lines, woman

Full cast, 26 people

Gene Hackman as Reverend Scott
Ernest Borgnine as Mike Rogo
Stella Stevens as Linda Rogo
Shelley Winters as Belle Rosen
Jack Albertson as Manny Rosen
Red Buttons as James Martin
Roddy McDowall as Acres
Carol Lynley as Nonnie Parry
Pamela Sue Martin as Susan Shelby
Eric Shea as Robin Shelby
Arthur O'Connell as John, the Chaplain
Leslie Nielsen as Captain Harrison
Fred Sadoff as Mr. Linarcos
Sheila Allen as Nurse
Jan Arvan as Doctor
Byron Webster as Purser
John Crawford as Chief Engineer
Bob Hastings as M. C.
Ernie F. Orsatti as Terry
Erik L. Nelson as Mr. Tinkham
Charles Bateman as First Officer Larsen
Maurice Marsac as French Naval Officer
Roseann Williams as Woman
Ruth Foster as Passenger
Paul Stader as Martin
Marco López as Passenger (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 9% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 111

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 3	0	0
4 to 6	0	2
7 to 9	0	17
10 to 12	5	2
13 to 15	9	16
16 to 18	16	27
19 to 21	0	0
22 to 24	7	19
25 to 27	2	5
28 to 30	0	2
31 to 33	0	2
34 to 36	0	0
37 to 39	0	0
40 to 42	0	0
43 to 45	0	0
46 to 48	33	94
49 to 51	4	23
52 to 54	0	9
55 to 57	4	18
58 to 60	0	7
61 to 63	1	3
64 to 66	8	18
67 to 69	0	1
70 to 72	8	9
73 to 75	0	1
76 to 78	0	1
79 to 81	0	0
82 to 84	19	41
85 to 87	6	7
88 to 90	6	20
91 to 93	1	4
94 to 96	9	20
97 to 99	8	11
100 to 102	6	10
103 to 105	0	11
106 to 108	9	56
109 to 111	0	0

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.

NONNIE: {tentatively) Ted... Ted... Ted... NONNIE: Come on, Teddy, let's go! LINDA: Where the hell have you been?

ANGLED ON SUSAN: 289 looking up from below at the open hatch and the steaming oil. SUSAN: All right. I promise. But you'll be back.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 26 are women's.

161 lines from women, 456 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

7 women and 19 men in the cast. 10 women and 21 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 36 of 675. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 35 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 24% of the words (1,920), men 76% (6,115). Women have 26% 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

None of the 13 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 10% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Ronald Neame (man)
Written by: Stirling Silliphant (man), Wendell Mayes (man)
From the novel by: Paul Gallico (man)
Produced by: Steve Broidy (man), Sidney Marshall (gender not listed), Irwin Allen (man)
Shot by: Harold E. Stine (man)
Edited by: Harold F. Kress (man)
Music by: John Williams (man)
Production design by: William J. Creber (man)
Costumes by: Paul Zastupnevich (man)
Cast by: Jack Baur (man)