Passes the Bechdel test
An Affair to Remember
1957. Directed by Leo McCarey, written by Delmer Daves and Leo McCarey and Mildred Cram.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
22 women characters. 8 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 6 scenes out of 102. -
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 2 out of 3.
The film
Nickie Ferrante's return to New York to marry a rich heiress is well publicized as are his many antics and affairs. He meets a nightclub singer Terry McKay who is also on her way home to her longtime boyfriend. She sees him as just another playboy and he sees her as stand-offish but over several days they soon find they've fallen in love. Nickie has never really worked in his life so they agree that they will meet again in six months time atop the Empire State building. This will give them time to deal with their current relationships and for Nickie to see if he can actually earn a living. He returns to painting and is reasonably successful. On the agreed date, Nickie is waiting patiently for Terry who is racing to join him. Fate intervenes however resulting in misunderstanding and heartbreak and only fate can save their relationship.
- Released
- 19 Jul 1957
- Genres
- Drama, Romance
- Rated
- Approved
- IMDb
- 7.4 / 10
- Metascore
- 71 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 4 Oscars. 4 wins & 6 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Terry 226 lines, woman
- Nickie 200 lines, man
- Grandmother 34 lines, woman
- Kenneth 15 lines, man
- Courbet 12 lines, man
- Sales Manager 11 lines, woman
- Lois 10 lines, woman
- Boy 9 lines, man
- Miss Webb 9 lines, woman
- Hathaway 8 lines, man
Full cast, 88 people
- Cary Grant as Nickie Ferrante
- Deborah Kerr as Terry McKay
- Richard Denning as Kenneth Bradley
- Neva Patterson as Lois Clark
- Cathleen Nesbitt as Grandmother Janou
- Robert Q. Lewis as Robert Q. Lewis
- Charles Watts as Ned Hathaway
- Fortunio Bonanova as Courbet
- Dorothy Adams as Mother at Rehearsal (uncredited)
- Al Bain as Man (uncredited)
- Frank Baker as Ship Passenger (uncredited)
- Mary Bayless as Ship Passenger (uncredited)
- Dino Bolognese as Italian TV Commentator (uncredited)
- Paul Bradley as Ship Passenger (uncredited)
- George Calliga as Ship Passenger (uncredited)
- Mary Carroll as Teacher (uncredited)
- Steve Carruthers as Ship Passenger (uncredited)
- Brian Corcoran as Boy (uncredited)
- Walt Davis as Elevator Passenger (uncredited)
- Anthony De Mario as Waiter (uncredited)
- Ken DuMain as Audience Member (uncredited)
- Minta Durfee as Ship Passenger (uncredited)
- Michka Egan as Ship Waiter (uncredited)
- Suzanne Ellers as Teacher (uncredited)
- Juney Ellis as Teacher (uncredited)
- Franklyn Farnum as Ballet Audience Member (uncredited)
- Jesslyn Fax as Terry's Landlady (uncredited)
- Adolph Faylauer as Ship Passenger (uncredited)
- Raoul Freeman as Ship Passenger (uncredited)
- Priscilla Garcia as Marie (uncredited)
- Rudy Germane as Police Officer (uncredited)
- Kenneth Gibson as Ballet Audience Member (uncredited)
- Herschel Graham as Ship Passenger (uncredited)
- Stuart Hall as Audience Member (uncredited)
- Sam Harris as Audience Member (uncredited)
- Lars Hensen as Man at Gangway (uncredited)
- Bill Hickman as Ship Passenger (uncredited)
- Ken Kane as Elevator Operator (uncredited)
- Terry Kelman as Orphan (uncredited)
- Walter Woolf King as Hospital Doctor (uncredited)
- Jeanne Lafayette as Ballet Audience Member (uncredited)
- Mike Lally as Ship Passenger (uncredited)
- Richard LaMarr as Ship Passenger (uncredited)
- Jack Lomas as Sign Painter (uncredited)
- Leota Lorraine as Ballet Audience Member (uncredited)
- Robert Lynn as Doctor (uncredited)
- Wilbur Mack as Audience Member (uncredited)
- Nora Marlowe as Gladys (uncredited)
- Nita Mathews as Party Guest (uncredited)
- Helen Mayon as Nurse (uncredited)
- Anthony Mazzola as Page Boy (uncredited)
- Louis Mercier as Mario (uncredited)
- Harold Miller as Ship Passenger (uncredited)
- Hans Moebus as Ship Passenger (uncredited)
- Michele Montau as Gabriella (uncredited)
- Matt Moore as Father McGrath (uncredited)
- Alberto Morin as Bartender (uncredited)
- Scotty Morrow as Orphan (uncredited)
- Charles Morton as Elevator Passenger (uncredited)
- Sol Murgi as Elevator Passenger (uncredited)
- Alena Murray as Airline Stewardess (uncredited)
- Marni Nixon as Terry McKay (singing voice) (uncredited)
- Tom Nolan as Tyrone (uncredited)
- Monty O'Grady as Ship Passenger (uncredited)
- Charles Perry as Elevator Passenger (uncredited)
- Don Pietro as Page Boy (uncredited)
- Murray Pollack as Audience Member (uncredited)
- Patricia Powell as Blonde Woman (uncredited)
- Paul Power as Ship Passenger (uncredited)
- Jack Raine as British TV Commentator (uncredited)
- Jean Ransome as Ballet Audience Member (uncredited)
- Fred Rapport as Ballet Audience Member (uncredited)
- Leoda Richards as Audience Member (uncredited)
- Paul Russell as Ship Passenger (uncredited)
- Jeffrey Sayre as Ballet Audience Member (uncredited)
- Sarah Selby as Miss Lane (uncredited)
- Eddie Lou Simms as Bugsy (uncredited)
- Leslie Sketchley as Crew Member (uncredited)
- Carl Sklover as Chauffer (uncredited)
- Marc Snegoff as Man (uncredited)
- Marc Snow as Ship's Photographer (uncredited)
- Bert Stevens as Maitre D' (uncredited)
- Tina Thompson as Orphan (uncredited)
- Roger Til as French Commentator (uncredited)
- Geraldine Wall as Miss Webb (uncredited)
- Luree Wiese as Ballet Audience Member (uncredited)
- George Winslow as Orphan (uncredited)
- Tom Wyner as Drummer in Orphan Band (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 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 102
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 | 16 | 23 |
| 4 to 6 | 24 | 31 |
| 7 to 9 | 24 | 43 |
| 10 to 12 | 6 | 6 |
| 13 to 15 | 1 | 1 |
| 16 to 18 | 20 | 6 |
| 19 to 21 | 33 | 14 |
| 22 to 24 | 11 | 5 |
| 25 to 27 | 28 | 39 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 to 33 | 4 | 2 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 1 |
| 40 to 42 | 16 | 9 |
| 43 to 45 | 2 | 9 |
| 46 to 48 | 3 | 5 |
| 49 to 51 | 9 | 0 |
| 52 to 54 | 6 | 0 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 11 |
| 58 to 60 | 1 | 5 |
| 61 to 63 | 14 | 0 |
| 64 to 66 | 13 | 0 |
| 67 to 69 | 19 | 0 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 6 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 2 |
| 76 to 78 | 4 | 14 |
| 79 to 81 | 2 | 2 |
| 82 to 84 | 2 | 0 |
| 85 to 87 | 1 | 6 |
| 88 to 90 | 1 | 0 |
| 91 to 93 | 3 | 4 |
| 94 to 96 | 2 | 2 |
| 97 to 99 | 51 | 36 |
| 100 to 102 | 2 | 2 |
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.
TERRY: How'm I doing, Boss? MANAGER: That noise is applause, isn't it? TERRY: Oh, maybe they're applauding the chef. MANAGER: No, that's for you.
TERRY: Thank you. SALES MANAGER: How nice you'Te looking! TERRY: Yes, I kmow. I didn't get it here. Cont. SALES MANAGER: Where have you been all these months?
SALES MANAGER: Miss McKay - my dear - my favorite customer! welcome back, TERRY: Thank you. SALES MANAGER: How nice youtre looking! TERRY: Yes, I know, I didn't get it here. Cont.
MISS WEBB: Oh, I don't think you could make a mistake on either one -- MISS WEBB: Oh = excuse me, please - SALES MANAGER: Why don't you take both of them, Miss McKay? “And what about furs? Isn't it-time to be thinking about furs? TERRY: Oh <--
TERRY: No. I'm afraid that's all. SALES MANAGER: Where shall we have this sent? TERRY: I don't kmow, at the moment. [I'll have to call you back and let you know. I think that's right, isn't 1t? MISS WEBB: No - no - charge?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 53 are women's.
318 lines from women, 284 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
22 women and 56 men in the cast. 8 women and 17 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 10 of 651.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 18 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 55% of the words (4,474), men 45% (3,612). Women have 53% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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
9
Two men
8
Exhibit F: behind the camera
1 of the 10 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 4% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Leo McCarey (man)
- Written by
- Delmer Daves (man), Leo McCarey (man)
- Story by
- Mildred Cram (woman), Leo McCarey (man)
- Produced by
- Jerry Wald (man)
- Shot by
- Milton Krasner (man)
- Edited by
- James B. Clark (man)
- Music by
- Hugo Friedhofer (man)
- Costumes by
- Charles LeMaire (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
0 women, 8 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 5 men
-
Writing
1 women, 3 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
-
Other crew
0 women, 1 men
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 49 on average. Men: 48 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Deborah Kerr 35, Neva Patterson 37, Dorothy Adams 57, Cathleen Nesbitt 68
Men
Robert Q. Lewis 36, Richard Denning 43, Charles Watts 44, Al Bain 48, Cary Grant 53, Fortunio Bonanova 62
Exhibit H: the money
It made 1.8 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $2.1 million
- Box office
- $3.8 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 102 scenes and 651 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
