Passes the Bechdel test
When a Stranger Calls
1979. Directed by Fred Walton, written by Steve Feke and Fred Walton.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
6 women characters. 3 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 113. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
During an evening of babysitting, high-school student Jill Johnson is terrorized by a caller who keeps asking "Have you checked the children lately?" When she calls the police, they inform her that the calls are coming from inside the house.
- Released
- 26 Oct 1979
- Genres
- Horror, Mystery, Thriller
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.4 / 10
- Metascore
- 58 / 100
- Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Jill 133 lines, woman
- Clifford 105 lines, man
- John 53 lines, man
- Duncan 41 lines, man
- Tracy 41 lines, woman
- Garber 35 lines, man
- Sacker 28 lines, man
- Dr. Monk 24 lines, woman
- Nancy 18 lines
- Carol 16 lines, woman
Full cast, 31 people
- Carol Kane as Jill Johnson
- Charles Durning as John Clifford
- Colleen Dewhurst as Tracy
- Tony Beckley as Curt Duncan
- Rutanya Alda as Mrs. Mandrakis
- Carmen Argenziano as Dr. Mandrakis
- Kirsten Larkin as Nancy
- Ron O'Neal as Lt. Charlie Garber
- Heetu as Houseboy
- Rachel Roberts as Dr. Monk
- Michael Champion as Bill
- William Boyett as Sgt. Sacker (as Bill Boyett)
- Joseph Reale as Bartender
- Ed Wright as Retired Man
- Louise Wright as Retired Woman
- Carol Tillery Banks as Mrs. Garber
- Dennis McMullen as Maintenance Man
- Wally Taylor as Cheater
- John Tobyansen as Bar Customer
- Sarah Dammann as Bianca Lockart
- Richard Bail as Stevie Lockart
- Steven Anderson as Stephen Lockart
- Lenora May as Sharon
- Randy Holland as Maitre d'
- Trent Dolan as Policeman #1
- Frank DiElsi as Policeman #2
- Arell Blanton as Policeman #3
- DeForest Covan as Officer #1
- Charles Boswell as Officer #2
- Dick Warlock as Bartender (uncredited)
- Cheryl Wilson as Mrs. Shifrin (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 11% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 113
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 | 12 | 0 |
| 4 to 6 | 22 | 2 |
| 7 to 9 | 3 | 1 |
| 10 to 12 | 19 | 12 |
| 13 to 15 | 26 | 36 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 15 |
| 19 to 21 | 8 | 10 |
| 22 to 24 | 16 | 14 |
| 25 to 27 | 6 | 32 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 12 |
| 31 to 33 | 6 | 4 |
| 34 to 36 | 8 | 17 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 to 42 | 8 | 21 |
| 43 to 45 | 1 | 3 |
| 46 to 48 | 7 | 36 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 12 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 2 |
| 55 to 57 | 2 | 4 |
| 58 to 60 | 3 | 5 |
| 61 to 63 | 0 | 0 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 0 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 0 |
| 70 to 72 | 2 | 2 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 5 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 0 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 4 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 0 |
| 85 to 87 | 9 | 8 |
| 88 to 90 | 6 | 6 |
| 91 to 93 | 20 | 8 |
| 94 to 96 | 37 | 34 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 2 |
| 100 to 102 | 12 | 14 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 25 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 0 |
| 109 to 111 | 4 | 5 |
| 112 to 113 | 3 | 1 |
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.
JUNE: Mommy, will you come here a minute? I want to tell you something. JILL: What is it? JUNE: Come closer. JUNE: I love you.
JUNE: Mommy? JILL: Sshhh...
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 41 are women's.
240 lines from women, 352 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
6 women and 15 men in the cast. 3 women and 13 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 662.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 36 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 36% of the words (1,813), men 64% (3,191). Women have 41% 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
2
Two men
16
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 33% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Fred Walton (man)
- Written by
- Fred Walton (man), Steve Feke (man)
- Produced by
- Steve Feke (man), Doug Chapin (man)
- Shot by
- Donald Peterman (man)
- Edited by
- Sam Vitale (gender not listed)
- Music by
- Dana Kaproff (man)
- Production design by
- Elayne Barbara Ceder (woman)
- Cast by
- Penny Perry (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
1 women, 3 men, 3 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 0 men
-
Writing
0 women, 2 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
-
Editing
0 women, 0 men, 1 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 42 on average. Men: 45 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Carol Kane 27, Rutanya Alda 36, Rachel Roberts 51, Colleen Dewhurst 55
Men
Carmen Argenziano 35, Ron O'Neal 41, Tony Beckley 49, Charles Durning 56
Exhibit H: the money
It made 16.7 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $1.5 million
- Box office
- $25 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 113 scenes and 662 lines of dialogue. How the test works
