Passes the Bechdel test
Arsenic and Old Lace
1944. Directed by Frank Capra, written by Julius J. Epstein and Joseph Kesselring.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
3 women characters. 3 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 1. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
Mortimer Brewster is a newspaperman and author known for his diatribes against marriage. We watch him being married at city hall in the opening scene. Now all that is required is a quick trip home to tell Mortimer's two maiden aunts. While trying to break the news, he finds out his aunts' hobby; killing lonely old men and burying them in the cellar. It gets worse.
- Released
- 21 Sep 1944
- Genres
- Comedy, Crime, Thriller
- Rated
- Approved
- IMDb
- 7.9 / 10
- Awards
- 4 wins & 1 nomination total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Mortimer 467 lines, man
- Abby 209 lines, woman
- Jonathan 144 lines, man
- Doctor Einstein 121 lines, man
- Martha 115 lines, woman
- O'Hara 96 lines, man
- Elaine 94 lines, woman
- Teddy 83 lines, man
- Brophy 55 lines, man
- Lieutenant Rooney 55 lines, man
Full cast, 25 people
- Cary Grant as Mortimer Brewster
- Priscilla Lane as Elaine Harper Brewster
- Josephine Hull as Aunt Abby Brewster
- Jean Adair as Aunt Martha Brewster
- Raymond Massey as Jonathan Brewster
- John Alexander as 'Teddy Roosevelt' Brewster
- Peter Lorre as Dr. Einstein
- Jack Carson as Officer Patrick O'Hara
- Edward Everett Horton as Mr. Witherspoon
- James Gleason as Lt. Rooney
- Grant Mitchell as Reverend Harper
- Edward McNamara as Sergeant Brophy
- Garry Owen as Taxi Cab Driver
- John Ridgely as Officer Saunders
- Vaughan Glaser as Judge Cullman
- Chester Clute as Dr. Gilchrist
- Charles Lane as Reporter at Marriage License Office
- Edward McWade as Gibbs
- Hank Mann as Photographer at Marriage License Office (uncredited)
- Spencer Charters as Marriage License Clerk
- Sol Gorss as New York Pitcher (uncredited)
- Lee Phelps as Umpire (uncredited)
- Raymond Walburn as Drummer at baseball game (uncredited)
- Spec O'Donnell as Young Man in Line (uncredited)
- Leo White as Man in Phone Booth (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
We couldn't read who says what in this film's script, so there's no dialogue chart for it yet.
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.
MARTHA: Abby ! While I was out ? ABBY: Yes, dear. I just couldn't wait for you. I didn't know when you'd be back, and Reverend Harper was coming. MARTHA: But all by yourself. ABBY: Oh, I got along fine.
ABBY: Yes, of course. ABBY: Isn't it too, too wonderful ? MARTHA: And to think that it happened right here in this room !
ABBY: But before you go, we can have our celebration. I'll open a bottle of wine and we'll sing. And we'll invite a few of the neighbors in. MARTHA: And, of course, a wedding cake.
ABBY: Happy bridegroom ! MARTHA: Congratulations, darling !
ABBY: Yes. You just should get stop worrying about it. MARTHA: We told you to forget the whole thing.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 26 are women's.
419 lines from women, 1165 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
3 women and 22 men in the cast. 3 women and 20 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 4 of 1,594.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 305 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 24% of the words (4,058), men 76% (13,117). Women have 26% 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
41
Two men
76
Exhibit F: behind the camera
None of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 0% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Frank Capra (man)
- Written by
- Julius J. Epstein (man), Philip G. Epstein (man)
- Produced by
- Frank Capra (man), Jack L. Warner (man)
- Shot by
- Sol Polito (man)
- Edited by
- Daniel Mandell (man)
- Music by
- Max Steiner (man), Leo F. Forbstein (man)
- Costumes by
- Orry-Kelly (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 3 men
-
Directing
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Production
0 women, 3 men
-
Writing
0 women, 3 men
-
Art
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 56 on average. Men: 47 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Priscilla Lane 29, Josephine Hull 67, Jean Adair 71
Men
Jack Carson 33, Cary Grant 40, Peter Lorre 40, John Alexander 46, Raymond Massey 48, Edward Everett Horton 58, James Gleason 62
Exhibit H: the money
What it cost and made, where TMDB lists it.
- Budget
- $1.1 million
- Box office
- Not listed
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 1 scenes and 1,594 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
