Passes the Bechdel test

A League of Their Own

Name: A League of Their Own
Released: 1992

1992. Directed by Penny Marshall, written by Kim Wilson and Kelly Candaele and Lowell Ganz.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
26 women characters. 13 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 16 scenes out of 87.
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 World War II when all the men are fighting the war, most of the jobs that were left vacant because of their absence were filled in by women. The owners of the baseball teams, not wanting baseball to be dormant indefinitely, decide to form teams with women, so scouts are sent all over the country to find female players. One of the scouts passes through Oregon and finds a woman named Dottie Hinson, who is incredible. He approaches her and asks her to try out but she's not interested, but her sister Kit has been wanting to get out of Oregon and offers to go with him; he agrees only if she can get her sister to come along. When they try out, they're chosen and are on the same team. Jimmy Dugan, a former player who's now a drunk, is the team manager. But he doesn't feel that it's a real job, so he drinks and is not exactly doing his job, so Dottie steps up. After a few months when it appears the girls are not garnering any attention, the league faces closure until Dottie does something that grabs attention. Before long, Dottie is the star of the team and Kit feels like she's living in her shadow.

Released: 01 Jul 1992
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Sport
Rated: PG
IMDb: 7.4 / 10
Metascore: 69 / 100
Awards: 7 wins & 13 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Dottie 248 lines, woman
Kit 129 lines, woman
Jimmy 116 lines, man
Cappy 63 lines
Arthur 40 lines
Marla 39 lines, woman
Doris 34 lines, woman
Mae 33 lines, woman
Harvey 29 lines, man
Evelyn 24 lines, woman

Full cast, 95 people

Tom Hanks as Jimmy Dugan
Geena Davis as Dottie Hinson (C)
Lori Petty as Kit Keller (P)
Madonna as Mae Mordabito (CF)
Rosie O'Donnell as Doris Murphy (3B)
Megan Cavanagh as Marla Hooch (2B)
Tracy Reiner as Betty Horn (LF/P)
Bitty Schram as Evelyn Gardner (RF)
Ann Cusack as Shirley Baker (LF)
Anne Ramsay as Helen Haley (1B)
Freddie Simpson as Ellen Sue Gotlander (SS/P)
Renée Coleman as Alice Gaspers (LF/C)
Robin Knight as 'Beans' Babbitt (SS)
Patti Pelton as Marbleann Wilkenson (2B)
Kelli Simpkins as Beverly Dixon (OF)
Neezer Tarleton as Neezer Dalton (OF)
Connie Pounds-Taylor as Connie Calhoun (OF)
Kathleen Marshall as 'Mumbles' Brockman (OF)
Sharon Szmidt as Vivian Ernst (2B)
Pauline Brailsford as Miss Cuthbert
David Strathairn as Ira Lowenstein
Garry Marshall as Walter Harvey
Jon Lovitz as Ernie Capadino
Bill Pullman as Bob Hinson
Justin Scheller as Stilwell
Eddie Jones as Dave Hooch
Alan Wilder as Nelson
Michael Haley as Empathetic Umpire
Don S. Davis as Racine Coach Charlie
Janet Jones as Racine Pitcher
Brenda Ferrari as Racine Catcher
Téa Leoni as Racine 1B
Laurel Cronin as Maida Gillespie
Wantland L. Sandel Jr. as Doctor
Joe Krowka as Heckler
Harry Shearer as Newsreel Announcer
Blaire Baron as Margaret
Ryan Howell as Jeffrey
Brian Boru Gleeson as Bobby
David Franks as Vacuum Salesman
Ryan Olsen as Dollbody Kid
Ellie Weingardt as Charm School Instructor
Larissa Collins as Charm School Assistant
Douglas Blakeslee as Doris' Fan #1
Joey Slotnick as Doris' Fan #2
Brian Flannery as Autograph Kid #1
Stephen Feagley as Autograph Kid #2
Rae Allen as Ma Keller
Gregory Sporleder as Mitch Swaley
Eddie Mekka as Mae's Guy in Bar
Stephen Mailer as Kit's Guy in Bar
Raymond L. Chapman as Ticket Scalper
Joette Hodgen as Opera Singer
Lynn Cartwright as Older Dottie
Kathleen Butler as Older Kit
Eunice Anderson as Older Mae
Vera Johnson as Older Doris
Patricia Wilson as Older Marla
Mark Holton as Older Stilwell
Barbara Erwin as Older Shirley
Betty Miller as Older Betty
Eugenia McLin as Older Ellen Sue
Barbara Pilavin as Older Helen
Marvin Einhorn as Older Ira
Shirley Burkovich as Older Alice
Dolores 'Pickles' Dries as Lady in Bleachers
Shelly Adlard as Additional Player
Vickie Buse as Additional Player
K.C. Carr as Additional Player
Julie Croteau as Additional Player
Tonya Gilles Koch as Additional Player
Kirsten Gretick as Additional Player
Stacey Gustaferro as Additional Player
Lisa Handirk as Additional Player
Cheryl Jones as Additional Player
Shelly Niemeyer as Additional Player
Sally Rutherford as Additional Player
Lita Schmitt as Additional Player
Amanda Walker as Additional Player
Brenda Watson as Additional Player
Clint Calvert as Baseball Fan with Boy (uncredited)
Del Close as Baseball Owner (uncredited)
Sarah Cosgrove-Gaumond as Charm School Assistant (uncredited)
Cris Cunningham as Soldier (uncredited)
Doug Decker as Photographer (uncredited)
Andrea Helene as Model (uncredited)
Gary Houston as Ray Foster (uncredited)
David L. Lander as Radio Sportscaster (uncredited)
Kindra Marra as Racine Pitcher (uncredited)
Megan McCarthy as Ballplayer (uncredited)
Ed Quinn as Mr. Murphy (uncredited)
Phil Russell as Enthusiastic Fan (uncredited)
Keith Schrader as Umpire (uncredited)
Ray Toler as Loudmouth from Lukash (uncredited)
Robin Wyatt as Background Extra (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 20% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 87

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	3	0
3 to 4	9	1
5 to 6	36	24
7 to 8	35	0
9 to 10	11	7
11 to 12	0	1
13 to 14	1	0
15 to 16	2	0
17 to 18	9	0
19 to 20	1	4
21 to 22	8	6
23 to 24	0	0
25 to 26	5	0
27 to 28	10	0
29 to 30	0	0
31 to 32	24	23
33 to 34	1	16
35 to 36	1	0
37 to 38	0	0
39 to 40	1	0
41 to 42	4	0
43 to 44	29	4
45 to 46	4	3
47 to 48	49	11
49 to 50	0	4
51 to 52	41	23
53 to 54	4	0
55 to 56	15	0
57 to 58	5	2
59 to 60	1	11
61 to 62	2	4
63 to 64	25	6
65 to 66	19	22
67 to 68	13	13
69 to 70	28	10
71 to 72	11	0
73 to 74	45	1
75 to 76	21	12
77 to 78	7	14
79 to 80	0	3
81 to 82	6	9
83 to 84	35	24
85 to 86	35	6
87 to 87	2	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.

MARLA: Ma... ; MARLA: You ready, Mom? You don’t want to miss your plane. DOTTIE: Ready. .

MARLA: If you girls keep acting like this, Grandma’s gonna go away on that airplane and never come back. Right, Grandma? DOTTIE: Well, I wouldn’t say never. MARLA: Mon, you think Aunt Kit will be there? DOTTIE: «++ Couldn’t say.

DOTTIE: Kit stops. DOTTIE: Look, Sis, she’s getting everybody out up high. Don’t swing at that pitch. KIT: I like that pitch. . DOTTIE: You miss that pitch.

KIT: T will! DOTTIE: They try to hit to right. Only if she pitches you inside then you have to pull it. KIT: I know! DOTTIE: If it is inside, just open up your stance a little, ‘cause with that heavy bat --

DOTTIE: No high ones. KIT: I like the high ones! DOTTIE ~ Mule! KIT: Nag!

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 68 are women's.

558 lines from women, 264 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

26 women and 22 men in the cast. 13 women and 15 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 3 of 1,025. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 30 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 56% of the words (4,495), men 44% (3,535). Women have 68% 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

5 of the 15 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 31% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Penny Marshall (woman)
Written by: Lowell Ganz (man), Babaloo Mandel (man), Kim Wilson (woman), Kelly Candaele (man)
Produced by: Robert Greenhut (man), Elliot Abbott (man)
Shot by: Miroslav Ondříček (man)
Edited by: Adam Bernardi (man), George Bowers (man)
Music by: Hans Zimmer (man)
Production design by: Bill Groom (man)
Costumes by: Cynthia Flynt (woman)
Cast by: Ellen Lewis (woman), Amanda Mackey (woman)