Fails the Bechdel test
Bad Day at Black Rock
1955. Directed by John Sturges, written by Millard Kaufman and Don McGuire and Howard Breslin.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
0 / 3
Fails
-
No
1. At least two women
Fewer than two women characters. -
No
2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 0 out of 3.
The film
From the time John J. Macreedy steps off the train in Black Rock, he feels a chill from the local residents. The town is only a speck on the map, and few strangers ever come to the place. Macreedy himself is tight-lipped about the purpose of his trip and he finds that the hotel refuses him a room, the local garage refuses to rent him a car, and the sheriff is a useless drunkard. It's apparent that the locals have something to hide, but when he finally tells them that he is there to speak to a Japanese-American farmer named Kamoko, he touches a nerve so sensitive that he will spend the next 24 hours fighting for his life.
- Released
- 13 Feb 1955
- Genres
- Crime, Drama, Mystery
- Rated
- Approved
- IMDb
- 7.6 / 10
- Awards
- Nominated for 3 Oscars. 4 wins & 8 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Macreedy 247 lines, man
- Smith 108 lines, man
- Doc 83 lines, man
- Pete 56 lines, man
- Tim 44 lines, man
- Liz 43 lines, woman
- Hector 37 lines, man
- Coley 31 lines, man
- Hastings 25 lines, man
- Sam 8 lines, man
Full cast, 16 people
- Spencer Tracy as John J. Macreedy
- Robert Ryan as Reno Smith
- Walter Brennan as Doc T.R. Velie Jr.
- Lee Marvin as Hector David
- Dean Jagger as Tim Horn
- Anne Francis as Liz Wirth
- John Ericson as Pete Wirth
- Ernest Borgnine as Coley Trimble
- Russell Collins as Mr. Hastings
- Walter Sande as Sam
- Billy Dix as Cafe Lounger (uncredited)
- K.L. Smith as Cafe Lounger (uncredited)
- Robert Griffin as Second Train Conductor (uncredited)
- Harry Harvey as First Train Conductor (uncredited)
- Bobby Johnson as One of Two Porters (uncredited)
- Francis McDonald as Tall - White-haired Cafe Lounger (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 1% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 80
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 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 to 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 to 6 | 0 | 22 |
| 7 to 8 | 0 | 24 |
| 9 to 10 | 0 | 15 |
| 11 to 12 | 0 | 27 |
| 13 to 14 | 0 | 22 |
| 15 to 16 | 0 | 21 |
| 17 to 18 | 0 | 53 |
| 19 to 20 | 5 | 28 |
| 21 to 22 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 to 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 to 26 | 0 | 34 |
| 27 to 28 | 0 | 16 |
| 29 to 30 | 0 | 1 |
| 31 to 32 | 0 | 14 |
| 33 to 34 | 0 | 12 |
| 35 to 36 | 17 | 18 |
| 37 to 38 | 0 | 62 |
| 39 to 40 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 to 42 | 0 | 7 |
| 43 to 44 | 0 | 27 |
| 45 to 46 | 0 | 47 |
| 47 to 48 | 0 | 39 |
| 49 to 50 | 0 | 98 |
| 51 to 52 | 0 | 0 |
| 53 to 54 | 0 | 0 |
| 55 to 56 | 0 | 10 |
| 57 to 58 | 0 | 0 |
| 59 to 60 | 0 | 1 |
| 61 to 62 | 0 | 0 |
| 63 to 64 | 21 | 17 |
| 65 to 66 | 0 | 0 |
| 67 to 68 | 0 | 0 |
| 69 to 70 | 0 | 2 |
| 71 to 72 | 0 | 0 |
| 73 to 74 | 0 | 7 |
| 75 to 76 | 0 | 15 |
| 77 to 78 | 0 | 0 |
| 79 to 80 | 0 | 4 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 6 are women's.
43 lines from women, 644 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
1 women and 14 men in the cast. 1 women and 9 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 190 of 694.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 298 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 6% of the words (389), men 94% (6,493).
Exhibit D: 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
0
Two men
38
Exhibit E: behind the camera
None of the 7 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 0% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- John Sturges (man)
- Written by
- Millard Kaufman (man)
- Story by
- Howard Breslin (man)
- Produced by
- Dore Schary (man)
- Shot by
- William C. Mellor (man)
- Edited by
- Newell P. Kimlin (man)
- Music by
- André Previn (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Art
0 women, 4 men
-
Writing
0 women, 3 men
-
Directing
0 women, 2 men
-
Production
0 women, 2 men
-
Sound
0 women, 2 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 1 men
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 24 on average. Men: 46 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Anne Francis 24
Men
John Ericson 28, Lee Marvin 30, Ernest Borgnine 37, Robert Ryan 45, Walter Sande 48, Dean Jagger 51, Spencer Tracy 54, Russell Collins 57, Walter Brennan 60
Exhibit G: the money
It made 3.0 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $1.3 million
- Box office
- $3.8 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 80 scenes and 694 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
