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Passes the Bechdel test

Which Way Is Up?

1978. Directed by Michael Schultz, written by Lina Wertmüller and Carl Gottlieb and Cecil Brown.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    8 women characters. 10 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 1 scene out of 96.
  3. Yes 3. About something besides a man
    In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.

Poster for Which Way Is Up?

The film

Richard Pryor plays three roles: Leroy Jones, a poor orange-picker who gets laid off for accidentally joining the workers' union during one of their demonstrations; Leroy's father, whom he leaves behind with the rest of his family to go to Los Angeles; and Reverend Lenox Thomas, who impregnates Leroy's wife Annie Mae during his absence. In Los Angeles, Leroy ends up working for the same company that fired him back home; he is a manager at the company, but is now distant from his former pals. Though married, he falls in love with labor organizer Vanetta and must divide his time between her and Annie Mae. When he discovers that Annie Mae is pregnant by Reverend Thomas, he puts the moves on Mrs. Thomas.

Released
23 Jun 1978
Genres
Comedy
Rated
R
IMDb
6.2 / 10
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Leroy 279 lines, man
  2. Vanetta 71 lines, woman
  3. Annie Mae 61 lines, woman
  4. Chuy 41 lines, man
  5. Sarah 41 lines, woman
  6. Rufus 21 lines, man
  7. Thelma 20 lines, woman
  8. Sugar 17 lines, man
  9. Thomas 17 lines, man
  10. Jose 11 lines, man
Full cast, 25 people
  • Richard Pryor as Leroy Jones / Rufus Jones / Rev. Lenox Thomas
  • Lonette McKee as Vanetta
  • Margaret Avery as Annie Mae
  • Morgan Woodward as Mr. Mann
  • Marilyn Coleman as Sister Sarah Thomas
  • Joe Turkel as Harry Boatwright
  • Kathy Cronkite as Photographer
  • Diane Rodriguez as Estrella Reyes
  • Ernesto Hernández as Jose Reyes
  • Gloria Edwards as Janelle
  • Bebe Drake as Thelma
  • DeWayne Jessie as Sugar
  • Morgan Roberts as Henry
  • Dolph Sweet as The Boss
  • Tim Thomerson as Tour Guide
  • Daniel Valdez as Chuy Estrada
  • Luis Valdez as Ramon Juarez
  • Marc Alaimo as Frankie
  • Victor Argo as Angel
  • Carmen Filpi as Wino
  • Tanya Lynne Lee as Althea
  • Paul Mooney as Inspector Caine
  • Korla Pandit as The Hindu
  • Hank Worden as The Flunky
  • Clifford A. Pellow as White Boss

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 8% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 96

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers
ScenesWomen's linesMen's lines
1 to 200
3 to 400
5 to 600
7 to 8610
9 to 1018
11 to 1205
13 to 1400
15 to 1619
17 to 18126
19 to 20417
21 to 22221
23 to 2404
25 to 2604
27 to 2809
29 to 3045
31 to 3223
33 to 341916
35 to 3622
37 to 3877
39 to 4010
41 to 4289
43 to 4400
45 to 46519
47 to 48112
49 to 50013
51 to 5213
53 to 5446
55 to 56108
57 to 58025
59 to 6056
61 to 62911
63 to 6436
65 to 66183
67 to 68118
69 to 701110
71 to 7213
73 to 741717
75 to 7603
77 to 7802
79 to 801413
81 to 8234
83 to 8466
85 to 861211
87 to 88415
89 to 90133
91 to 92521
93 to 94513
95 to 961420

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.
ANNIE MAE: Because I found out how deep the devil was inside me. I discovered how sinful I could be. THELMA: Now, I'd like to hear that story --- ANNIE MAE: It's past, and I don't want to discuss it. THELMA: Lookit here! Needy bumps!
ANNIE MAE: Needy bumps? What's that? Where? THELMA: That's them bumps on your arm, girl. Those is needy bumps, and they come up when you need some. You ain't had any for a long time,. have you… ANNIE MAE: No. I haven't.
ANNIE MAE: What can I do about them? THELMA: Pardon my French, sister, but you got to get some dick.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

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

208 lines from women, 456 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

8 women and 16 men in the cast. 10 women and 16 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 2 of 718. 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 26% of the words (2,005), men 74% (5,636). 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

Exhibit F: behind the camera

None of the 8 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 17% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Michael Schultz (man)
Written by
Carl Gottlieb (man), Cecil Brown (gender not listed)
Produced by
Steve Krantz (gender not listed)
Shot by
John A. Alonzo (man)
Edited by
Danford B. Greene (gender not listed)
Music by
Paul Riser (gender not listed), Mark Davis (man)

The crew, department by department

  • Writing

    1 women, 1 men, 1 not listed

  • Production

    0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed

  • Sound

    0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed

  • Camera

    0 women, 1 men

  • Other crew

    0 women, 0 men, 1 not listed

  • Directing

    0 women, 1 men

  • Editing

    0 women, 0 men, 1 not listed

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 30 on average. Men: 46 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Lonette McKee 23, Diane Rodriguez 26, Kathy Cronkite 27, Margaret Avery 33, Marilyn Coleman 43

Men

Richard Pryor 36, Joe Turkel 50, Morgan Woodward 52

Exhibit H: the money

What it cost and made, where TMDB lists it.

Budget
$3.2 million
Box office
Not listed

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 96 scenes and 718 lines of dialogue. How the test works

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