Passes the Bechdel test
Bonnie and Clyde
1967. Directed by Arthur Penn, written by David Newman and Robert Benton and Robert Towne.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
4 women characters. 3 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 5 scenes out of 163. -
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
1934. Young adults Bonnie Parker, a waitress, and Clyde Barrow, a criminal just released from prison, are immediately attracted to what the other represents for their life when they meet by chance in West Dallas, Texas. Bonnie is fascinated with Clyde's criminal past, and his matter-of-factness and bravado in talking about it. Clyde sees in Bonnie someone sympathetic to his goals. Although attracted to each other physically, a sexual relationship between the two has obstacles. They decide to join forces to embark on a life of crime, holding up whatever establishments, primarily banks, to make money and to have fun. They don't plan on hurting anyone or killing despite wielding loaded guns. They amass a small gang of willing accomplices, including C.W. Moss, a mechanic to fix whatever cars they steal which is important especially for their getaways, and Buck Barrow, one of Clyde's older brothers. The only reluctant tag-along is Buck's nervous wife, Blanche Barrow, a preacher's daughter. The gang's life changes after the first fatal shot is fired. After that, their willingness to shoot to kill increases to protect themselves and their livelihood. Their notoriety precedes them, so much so that no matter what one's opinion is of them, most want to have some association to the Barrow gang, to help them, to be spoken in the same breath as them, or to capture and or kill them. Of the many people they encounter in their crime spree, the one who may have the most profound effect on their lives is Texas Ranger, Frank Hamer, who seeks retribution.
- Released
- 14 Aug 1967
- Genres
- Action, Biography, Crime
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 86 / 100
- Awards
- Won 2 Oscars. 23 wins & 29 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Clyde 238 lines, man
- Bonnie 183 lines, woman
- Buck 85 lines, man
- Blanche 41 lines, woman
- Malcolm 22 lines, man
- Eugene 13 lines, man
- Farmer 12 lines, man
- Hamer 11 lines, man
- Velma 8 lines, woman
- Man 7 lines, man
Full cast, 16 people
- Warren Beatty as Clyde Barrow
- Faye Dunaway as Bonnie Parker
- Michael J. Pollard as C. W. Moss
- Gene Hackman as Buck Barrow
- Estelle Parsons as Blanche
- Denver Pyle as Frank Hamer
- Dub Taylor as Ivan Moss
- Evans Evans as Velma Davis
- Gene Wilder as Eugene Grizzard
- Mabel Cavitt as Bonnie's mother (uncredited)
- Patrick Cranshaw as Bank Teller (uncredited)
- Owen Bush as Policeman (uncredited)
- Clyde Howdy as Deputy (uncredited)
- Russ Marker as Bank Guard (uncredited)
- Ann Palmer as Bonnie's Sister (uncredited)
- Ken Mayer as Sheriff Smoot (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 163
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 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 to 8 | 5 | 3 |
| 9 to 12 | 16 | 15 |
| 13 to 16 | 2 | 1 |
| 17 to 20 | 10 | 12 |
| 21 to 24 | 11 | 28 |
| 25 to 28 | 3 | 10 |
| 29 to 32 | 0 | 3 |
| 33 to 36 | 0 | 4 |
| 37 to 40 | 12 | 9 |
| 41 to 44 | 8 | 9 |
| 45 to 48 | 0 | 3 |
| 49 to 52 | 0 | 2 |
| 53 to 56 | 1 | 4 |
| 57 to 60 | 12 | 10 |
| 61 to 64 | 7 | 42 |
| 65 to 68 | 3 | 9 |
| 69 to 72 | 13 | 10 |
| 73 to 76 | 5 | 3 |
| 77 to 80 | 15 | 11 |
| 81 to 84 | 4 | 35 |
| 85 to 88 | 1 | 3 |
| 89 to 92 | 0 | 8 |
| 93 to 96 | 10 | 20 |
| 97 to 100 | 1 | 3 |
| 101 to 104 | 7 | 10 |
| 105 to 108 | 7 | 19 |
| 109 to 112 | 12 | 14 |
| 113 to 116 | 12 | 8 |
| 117 to 120 | 13 | 10 |
| 121 to 124 | 1 | 0 |
| 125 to 128 | 0 | 0 |
| 129 to 132 | 7 | 4 |
| 133 to 136 | 2 | 0 |
| 137 to 140 | 4 | 2 |
| 141 to 144 | 0 | 4 |
| 145 to 148 | 1 | 22 |
| 149 to 152 | 14 | 13 |
| 153 to 156 | 9 | 29 |
| 157 to 160 | 10 | 12 |
| 161 to 163 | 1 | 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.
BONNIE: Hello. BLANCHE: Hello.
BLANCHE: Please! Please! BONNIE: Shut up! Just shut up your big mouth! At least do that, will ya, just shut up.
BONNIE: WHAT? BLANCHE: Well, why not? Say I earned my share! Same as everybody. I coulda got killed same as everybody, and I'm wanted by the law same as everybody.…
BONNIE: How old are you, honey? VELMA: Thirty-three.
BONNIE: Well, why don't you all go play with it somewhere else? BLANCHE: What's bothering her?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 37 are women's.
240 lines from women, 406 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
4 women and 11 men in the cast. 3 women and 7 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
A woman speaks the first line.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 30 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 33% of the words (2,331), men 67% (4,825). Women have 37% 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
9
Two men
29
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 8 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 11% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Arthur Penn (man)
- Written by
- Robert Benton (man), David Newman (man)
- Produced by
- Warren Beatty (man)
- Shot by
- Burnett Guffey (man)
- Edited by
- Dede Allen (woman)
- Music by
- Charles Strouse (man)
- Costumes by
- Theadora Van Runkle (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
1 women, 11 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 1 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 3 men
-
Production
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Writing
0 women, 2 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 33 on average. Men: 39 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Faye Dunaway 26, Evans Evans 34, Estelle Parsons 39
Men
Michael J. Pollard 28, Warren Beatty 30, Gene Wilder 34, Gene Hackman 37, Denver Pyle 47, Dub Taylor 60
Exhibit H: the money
It made 28.0 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $2.5 million
- Box office
- $70 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 163 scenes and 660 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works