Passes the Bechdel test
An Unmarried Woman
1978. Directed by Paul Mazursky, written by Paul Mazursky.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
9 women characters. 6 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 11 scenes out of 57. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
Erica is unmarried only temporarily, in that her successful, wealthy husband of 16 years has just left her for a girl he met while buying a shirt in Bloomingdale's. This movie shows Erica coming to terms with the break-up while revising her opinions of herself, redefining that self in its own right rather than as an extension of somebody else's personality, and finally going out with another man. Erica refuses to drop everything for Saul, an abstract expressionist painter, simply out of love for him, because he expects this of her. It is not so much loneliness that is her problem, and the problems that men, flitting around this newly "available" woman like moths round a flame, bring to her sense of independence.
- Released
- 17 Mar 1978
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.2 / 10
- Metascore
- 79 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 3 Oscars. 6 wins & 18 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Erica 690 lines, woman
- Saul 155 lines, man
- Patti 125 lines, woman
- Martin 122 lines, man
- Elaine 58 lines, woman
- Charlie 57 lines, man
- Tanya 52 lines
- Bob 45 lines, man
- Sue 39 lines, woman
- Jeannette 34 lines, woman
Full cast, 30 people
- Jill Clayburgh as Erica Benton
- Alan Bates as Saul Kaplan
- Michael Murphy as Martin Benton
- Cliff Gorman as Charlie
- Kelly Bishop as Elaine Liebowitz
- Lisa Lucas as Patti Benton
- Linda Miller as Jeannette Lewin
- Patricia Quinn as Sue Miller
- Andrew Duncan as Bob
- Daniel Seltzer as Dr. Arthur Jacobs
- Matthew Arkin as Phil
- Penelope Russianoff as Dr. Tanya Berkel
- Novella Nelson as Jean
- Raymond J. Barry as Edward Thoreau
- Ivan Karp as Herb Rowan
- Jill Eikenberry as Claire
- Michael Tucker as Fred
- Chico Martínez as Cabbie
- Clint Chin as Chinese Waiter
- Ken Chapin as Man at Bar
- Tom Elios as Ice Vendor
- Karen Ford as Executive Secretary
- Alice J. Kane as Waitress
- Paul Mazursky as Hal
- Pamela Meunier as Hat-Check Girl
- Donna Perich as Sophie Wyndham
- Vincent Schiavelli as Man at Party
- John Stravinsky as Bartender
- Ultra Violet as Lady MacBeth
- David Rasche as Man who says, "Hello" (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 7% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 57
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 | 7 | 9 |
| 3 to 4 | 12 | 6 |
| 5 to 6 | 81 | 1 |
| 7 to 8 | 63 | 38 |
| 9 to 10 | 9 | 0 |
| 11 to 12 | 6 | 0 |
| 13 to 14 | 23 | 19 |
| 15 to 16 | 58 | 14 |
| 17 to 18 | 44 | 21 |
| 19 to 20 | 45 | 28 |
| 21 to 22 | 39 | 33 |
| 23 to 24 | 3 | 2 |
| 25 to 26 | 75 | 3 |
| 27 to 28 | 34 | 13 |
| 29 to 30 | 26 | 25 |
| 31 to 32 | 17 | 0 |
| 33 to 34 | 42 | 32 |
| 35 to 36 | 21 | 21 |
| 37 to 38 | 19 | 4 |
| 39 to 40 | 35 | 20 |
| 41 to 42 | 32 | 0 |
| 43 to 44 | 67 | 83 |
| 45 to 46 | 11 | 0 |
| 47 to 48 | 24 | 25 |
| 49 to 50 | 88 | 33 |
| 51 to 52 | 36 | 7 |
| 53 to 54 | 42 | 24 |
| 55 to 56 | 9 | 8 |
| 57 to 57 | 7 | 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.
ERICA: Goodbye. ELAINE: You're just in time for some big news. SUE: You're looking great, Erica. ERICA: I had a good week.
ERICA: Take an aspirin. PATTI: Anybody home? ERICA: We're in here, honey. PATTI: What's going on in there? Should I go out and come in again?
ERICA: It's good for your soul. PATTI: I think I'll pass, Mom.
PATTI: I'll see you tonight, Mom. ERICA: Have fun.
ERICA: What? ... Oh. That's fine. ERICA: I'm not used to being the one who tastes the wine. ELAINE: See what you have to look forward to.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 68 are women's.
975 lines from women, 469 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
9 women and 14 men in the cast. 6 women and 9 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 1,559.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 8 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 70% of the words (8,754), men 30% (3,772). Women have 68% 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
51
Two men
14
Exhibit F: behind the camera
None of the 9 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 0% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Paul Mazursky (man)
- Written by
- Paul Mazursky (man)
- Produced by
- Anthony Ray (man), Paul Mazursky (man)
- Shot by
- Arthur J. Ornitz (man)
- Edited by
- Stuart H. Pappé (man)
- Music by
- Bill Conti (man)
- Production design by
- Pato Guzman (gender not listed)
- Costumes by
- Albert Wolsky (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Art
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 2 men
-
Production
0 women, 2 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men
-
Sound
0 women, 1 men
-
Writing
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 32 on average. Men: 43 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Lisa Lucas 17, Jill Clayburgh 34, Kelly Bishop 34, Linda Miller 35, Patricia Quinn 40
Men
Michael Murphy 40, Cliff Gorman 41, Alan Bates 44, Daniel Seltzer 45
Exhibit H: the money
It made 9.5 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $2.5 million
- Box office
- $24 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 57 scenes and 1,559 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
