Passes the Bechdel test
All the King's Men
1949. Directed by Robert Rossen, written by Robert Penn Warren and Robert Rossen.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
6 women characters. 5 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 3. -
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
Jack Burden is a newspaper reporter who first hears of Willie Stark when his editor sends him to Kanoma County to cover the man. What's special about this nobody running for county treasurer? He's supposedly an honest man. Burden discovers this to be true when he sees Stark delivering a speech and having his son pass out handbills, while the local politicians do their best to intimidate him. Willie Stark is honest and brave. He's also a know-nothing hick whose schoolteacher wife has given him what little education he has. Stark loses the race for treasurer, but later makes his way through law school to become an idealistic attorney who fights for what is good. Someone in the governor's employ remembers Stark when the governor needs a patsy to run against him and split the vote of his rival. The fat cats underestimate Stark, but Jack Burden, Stark's biggest supporter, overestimates the man's idealism. To get where he wants to go, Willie Stark is willing to crack a few eggs--including his tough-talking assistant Sadie Burke, Jack's poised and elegant fiancée Anne Stanton, and even Jack Burden himself.
- Released
- 01 Jan 1950
- Genres
- Drama, Film-Noir
- Rated
- Approved
- IMDb
- 7.4 / 10
- Awards
- Won 3 Oscars. 16 wins & 10 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Willie 304 lines, man
- Jack 293 lines, man
- Sadie 83 lines, woman
- Anne 58 lines, woman
- Exterior 58 lines
- Interior 55 lines
- Stanton 46 lines
- Duffy 41 lines, man
- Judge 34 lines
- Lucy 34 lines, woman
Full cast, 83 people
- John Ireland as Jack Burden
- Broderick Crawford as Willie Stark
- Joanne Dru as Anne Stanton
- John Derek as Tom Stark
- Mercedes McCambridge as Sadie Burke
- Shepperd Strudwick as Adam Stanton
- Ralph Dumke as Tiny Duffy
- Anne Seymour as Mrs. Lucy Stark
- Katherine Warren as Mrs. Burden
- Raymond Greenleaf as Judge Monte Stanton
- Walter Burke as Sugar Boy
- Will Wright as Dolph Pillsbury
- Grandon Rhodes as Floyd McEvoy
- Marshall Bradford as Senator (uncredited)
- Chet Brandenburg as Man Listening to Speech (uncredited)
- Wheaton Chambers as Senator (uncredited)
- Stephen Chase as Puckett (uncredited)
- Tom Coleman as Man Tearing Down Poster (uncredited)
- James Conaty as Party Guest (uncredited)
- Roy Darmour as Politician at Harrison's Headquarters (uncredited)
- Earle S. Dewey as Joe Harrison (uncredited)
- King Donovan as Reporter (uncredited)
- Robert Filmer as Editor (uncredited)
- Paul Ford as Spokesman for Impeachment (uncredited)
- Dick Gordon as Politician (uncredited)
- William E. Green as Senator (uncredited)
- Charles Haefeli as Man in Cheap Bar (uncredited)
- Frank Hagney as Stark Strong-Arm Man (uncredited)
- Richard Hale as Richard Hale (uncredited)
- Bert Hanlon as Editor (uncredited)
- Judd Holdren as Politician (uncredited)
- Robert Karnes as Legislator (uncredited)
- Kenner G. Kemp as Legislator (uncredited)
- Donald Kerr as Spectator (uncredited)
- Nolan Leary as Senator (uncredited)
- Wilbur Mack as Former Governor Stanton (uncredited)
- Louis Mason as Minister (uncredited)
- Paul Maxey as Local Chairman (uncredited)
- Frank McLure as Doctor (uncredited)
- Walter Merrill as Man in City Bar (uncredited)
- Harold Miller as Speaker of the House (uncredited)
- John 'Skins' Miller as Drunk at Football Game (uncredited)
- Pat O'Malley as Politician (uncredited)
- Jeffrey Sayre as Party Guest (uncredited)
- Charles Sherlock as Politician at Harrison's Headquarters (uncredited)
- Ray Spiker as Farmer Listing to Speech (uncredited)
- Helene Stanley as Helene Hale (uncredited)
- Larry Steers as Man at Impeachment Hearing (uncredited)
- Houseley Stevenson as Madison, Editor (uncredited)
- Charles Sullivan as Man Listening to Speech (uncredited)
- William Tannen as Man in City Bar (uncredited)
- Phil Tully as Football Coach (uncredited)
- Glen Walters as Woman Listening to Speech (uncredited)
- Frank Wilcox as Public Relations Man (uncredited)
- Harry Wilson as One of Duffy's Goons (uncredited)
- Bill Wolfe as Farmer (uncredited)
- Al Wyatt Sr. as State Trooper (uncredited)
- Sam Harris as Politician (uncredited)
- Charles Ferguson as Newspaper Office Worker (uncredited)
- Richard Bartell as State Legislator (uncredited)
- Mary Bear as File Clerk (uncredited)
- William Bruce as Commissioner (uncredited)
- Edwin Chandler as Radio Announcer (uncredited)
- William Cottrell as Reporter (uncredited)
- Jack Deery as Man at Impeachment Hearing (uncredited)
- George Farmer as Bus Man (uncredited)
- Tom Ferrandini as Politician (uncredited)
- Ted French as Dance Caller (uncredited)
- Slim Gaut as Man Listening to Speech (uncredited)
- John Giles as Young Boy (uncredited)
- Avery Graves as Senator (uncredited)
- Jimmie Horan as Man Listening to Speech (uncredited)
- James Linn as Politician (uncredited)
- H.C. Miller as Pa Stark (uncredited)
- Truett Myers as Minister at Funeral (uncredited)
- Frank O'Connor as Party Guest (uncredited)
- Sammy Shack as Duffy Associate (uncredited)
- Irving Smith as Butler (uncredited)
- George Taylor as Politician (uncredited)
- Al Thompson as Man in Cheap Bar (uncredited)
- Glen Thompson as State Trooper (uncredited)
- A.C. Tillman as Sheriff (uncredited)
- Reba Waterson as Receptionist (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 22% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 3
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 1 | 156 | 593 |
| 2 to 2 | 26 | 114 |
| 3 to 3 | 7 | 24 |
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.
ANNE: Oh, please... let's not talk politics. MRS. BURDEN: Anne is right. I absolutely forbid any more of it. I know what we need, we need another toast. You propose it, Monty... you're so good at it…
ANNE: Yes, certainly. SADIE: We're late.
LUCY: I made some refreshments for your friends. I'll get them. SADIE: I'll help. LUCY: No, thank you. Thank you kindly.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 21 are women's.
189 lines from women, 731 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
6 women and 60 men in the cast. 5 women and 15 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 94 of 1,179.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 93 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 18% of the words (2,039), men 82% (9,070). Women have 21% 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
6
Two men
72
Exhibit F: behind the camera
None of the 8 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 5% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Robert Rossen (man)
- Written by
- Robert Rossen (man)
- From the novel by
- Robert Penn Warren (man)
- Produced by
- Robert Rossen (man)
- Shot by
- Burnett Guffey (man)
- Edited by
- Al Clark (man)
- Music by
- Louis Gruenberg (gender not listed)
- Costumes by
- Jean Louis (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 3 men
-
Directing
0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Production
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Writing
0 women, 2 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 36 on average. Men: 41 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Joanne Dru 27, Mercedes McCambridge 33, Anne Seymour 40, Katherine Warren 44
Men
John Derek 23, John Ireland 35, Broderick Crawford 37, Shepperd Strudwick 42, Ralph Dumke 50, Raymond Greenleaf 57
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 3 scenes and 1,179 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
