Passes the Bechdel test
Cape Fear
1962. Directed by J. Lee Thompson, written by John D. MacDonald and James R. Webb.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
5 women characters. 5 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 4 scenes out of 130. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
Having nothing but time on his hands, brutal, irredeemable criminal Max Cady re-enters the life of strait-laced lawyer and family man Sam Bowden after serving a life-changing eight-year stint in jail for assault. Now, nothing can prevent Max from getting what he wants, and driven by the unquenchable desire to get even, the sadist with the chilling smirk sets a sinister cat-and-mouse game in motion. In the following days, as Cady takes pleasure in pushing Bowden's buttons in a relentless campaign of psychological warfare, the psychotic ex-con will have Bowden and his family peering over their shoulders, hell-bent on destroying the district attorney who sent him to prison. Can Sam protect what he holds dear? Will the nightmare in Cape Fear ever end?
- Released
- 15 Jun 1962
- Genres
- Drama, Thriller
- Rated
- Approved
- IMDb
- 7.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 76 / 100
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Sam 175 lines, man
- Cady 77 lines, man
- Peggy 66 lines, woman
- Dutton 53 lines, man
- Nancy 39 lines, woman
- Sievers 24 lines, man
- Grafton 21 lines, man
- Diane 15 lines, woman
- Jepson 8 lines
- Lola 8 lines
Full cast, 29 people
- Gregory Peck as Sam Bowden
- Robert Mitchum as Max Cady
- Polly Bergen as Peggy Bowden
- Martin Balsam as Police Chief Mark Dutton
- Lori Martin as Nancy Bowden
- Jack Kruschen as Attorney Dave Grafton
- Telly Savalas as Private Detective Charles Sievers
- Barrie Chase as Diane Taylor
- Paul Comi as Garner
- John McKee as Officer Marconi
- Page Slattery as Deputy Kersek
- Ward Ramsey as Officer Brown
- Edward Platt as Judge
- Will Wright as Dr. Pearsall
- Joan Staley as Waitress
- Norma Yost as Ticket Clerk
- Mack Williams as Dr. Lowney
- Tom Newman as Lt. Gervasi
- Alan Reynolds as Vernon
- Herb Armstrong as Waiter
- Bunny Rhea as Pianist
- Cindy Carol as Betty
- Alan Wells as Young Blade
- Allan Ray as Young Blade
- Paul Levitt as Police Operator
- Kenner G. Kemp as Extra at Bar / Table Extra at Bar (uncredited)
- Bob Noble as Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Jeffrey Sayre as Bar Patron (uncredited)
- Hal Taggart as Juror (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 9% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 130
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 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 24 |
| 7 to 9 | 9 | 12 |
| 10 to 12 | 2 | 5 |
| 13 to 15 | 2 | 21 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 35 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 to 24 | 2 | 5 |
| 25 to 27 | 5 | 3 |
| 28 to 30 | 1 | 7 |
| 31 to 33 | 23 | 26 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 24 |
| 37 to 39 | 3 | 39 |
| 40 to 42 | 3 | 3 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 4 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 3 |
| 49 to 51 | 7 | 19 |
| 52 to 54 | 11 | 16 |
| 55 to 57 | 5 | 1 |
| 58 to 60 | 8 | 37 |
| 61 to 63 | 0 | 12 |
| 64 to 66 | 13 | 23 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 26 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 1 |
| 73 to 75 | 6 | 2 |
| 76 to 78 | 2 | 2 |
| 79 to 81 | 8 | 4 |
| 82 to 84 | 4 | 6 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 1 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 0 |
| 91 to 93 | 1 | 1 |
| 94 to 96 | 1 | 3 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 0 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 0 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 1 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 0 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 1 |
| 112 to 114 | 0 | 2 |
| 115 to 117 | 3 | 7 |
| 118 to 120 | 1 | 0 |
| 121 to 123 | 2 | 1 |
| 124 to 126 | 0 | 1 |
| 127 to 129 | 0 | 2 |
| 130 to 130 | 0 | 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.
PEGGY: I 1 ve been looking for an excuse to quit this and I 1 ve finally found it.• I just remembered I forgot to buy any paper plates and cups. NANCY: Mother! You did that on purpose!
NANCY: Iz it one of those? PEGGY: Of course not. Ours is gold~plated if the rent is any indication.
NANCY: Are we going to be completely marooned? I mean, no visitors or anything? PEGGY: You didn't say anything to Betty? NANCY: I didn't say anything to a soul, honest.
PEGGY: Don't you think it's about time you were getting ready for bed? NANCY: But where am I going to sleep?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 24 are women's.
122 lines from women, 382 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
5 women and 19 men in the cast. 5 women and 19 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 27 of 553.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 68 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 21% of the words (1,869), men 79% (7,207). Women have 24% 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
33
Exhibit F: behind the camera
1 of the 8 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 11% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- J. Lee Thompson (man)
- Written by
- James R. Webb (man)
- From the novel by
- John D. MacDonald (man)
- Produced by
- Sy Bartlett (man)
- Shot by
- Sam Leavitt (man)
- Edited by
- George Tomasini (man)
- Music by
- Bernard Herrmann (man)
- Costumes by
- Mary Wills (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 3 men
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men
-
Other crew
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Production
0 women, 2 men
-
Writing
0 women, 2 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 24 on average. Men: 41 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Lori Martin 14, Barrie Chase 28, Polly Bergen 31
Men
Paul Comi 30, Jack Kruschen 40, Telly Savalas 40, Martin Balsam 42, Robert Mitchum 44, John McKee 45, Gregory Peck 46
Exhibit H: the money
It made 2.9 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $35 million
- Box office
- $103 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 130 scenes and 553 lines of dialogue. How the test works
