Fails the Bechdel test

Chinatown

Name: Chinatown
Released: 1974

1974. Directed by Roman Polanski, written by Robert Towne and Roman Polanski.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

2 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
7 women characters. 5 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
Women do talk to each other.
No 3. About something besides a man
Every conversation between women that our parser found mentions a man.

Second opinion

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.

The film

It's 1937 Los Angeles. Specializing in cases of cheating spouses, private investigator Jake 'J.J.' Gittes is tailing Hollis Mulwray, whose wife suspects him of marital infidelity. Mulwray is the high profile chief engineer for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. He being high profile is because of the chronic drought in the Los Angeles area and the importance of fresh water to the growing community. Most of what Gittes witnesses in following Mulwray are some usual and some not so usual business dealings, among the former being a public meeting for construction of a new dam to create an additional water supply for Los Angeles, the dam which Mulwray opposes. But Gittes eventually witnesses Mulwray meeting with a young unknown woman who is not his wife. Once news of the supposed tryst between Mulwray and this woman hits the media, additional information comes to light that makes Gittes believe that Mulwray is being framed for something and that he himself is being set-up. Gittes is assisted in his investigation of the issue behind Mulwray's framing and his own set-up by Mulwray's wife, Evelyn Mulwray. Despite Evelyn's help, Gittes also believes that she isn't being totally forthright with him. The further he gets into the investigation, the more secrets he uncovers about the professional and personal dealings of the Mulwrays, which includes Mulwray's former business partnership with Evelyn's father, Noah Cross. The identity of the unknown woman may be the key to uncovering the whole story.

Released: 20 Jun 1974
Genres: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Rated: R
IMDb: 8.1 / 10
Metascore: 92 / 100
Awards: Won 1 Oscar. 21 wins & 24 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

Gittes 534 lines, man
Evelyn 183 lines, woman
Escobar 74 lines, man
Cross 67 lines, man
Curly 26 lines, man
Yelburton 20 lines, man
Walsh 19 lines, man
Secretary 14 lines, man
Pilot 13 lines
Mrs. Mulwray 12 lines, woman

Full cast, 64 people

Jack Nicholson as J.J. 'Jake' Gittes
Faye Dunaway as Evelyn Cross Mulwray
John Huston as Noah Cross
Perry Lopez as Lieutenant Lou Escobar
Burt Young as Curly
John Hillerman as Russ Yelburton
Darrell Zwerling as Hollis I. Mulwray
Roman Polanski as Man with Knife
Diane Ladd as Ida Sessions
Richard Bakalyan as Detective Loach
Joe Mantell as Lawrence Walsh
Roy Jenson as Claude Mulvihill
James Hong as Evelyn's Butler
Bruce Glover as Duffy
Nandu Hinds as Sophie
James O'Rear as Lawyer
Beulah Quo as Maid
Jerry Fujikawa as Gardener
Belinda Palmer as Katherine
Roy Roberts as Mayor Bagby
Noble Willingham as Councilman
Elliott Montgomery as Councilman
Rance Howard as Irate Farmer
George Justin as Barber
C.O. Erickson as Customer
Fritzi Burr as Mulwray's Secreatry
Charles Knapp as Mortician
Claudio Martínez as Boy on Horseback
Freddie Roberto as Cross' Butler
Allan Warnick as Clerk
John Holland as Farmer in the Valley
Jesse Vint as Farmer in the Valley
Jim Burk as Farmer in the Valley
Denny Arnold as Farmer in the Valley
Elizabeth Harding as Curly's Wife
John Rogers as Mr. Palmer
Cecil Elliott as Emma Dill
Paul Jenkins as Policeman
Lee de Broux as Policeman
Bob Golden as Policeman
Don Ames as Townsman (uncredited)
Jack Berle as Townsman (uncredited)
Duke Fishman as Sign Painter on Door (uncredited)
Charles Fogel as Retirement Home Resident (uncredited)
Bob Harks as Policeman (uncredited)
Robert Hitchcock as Councilman (uncredited)
Michael Jeffers as Townsman (uncredited)
John Marlin as Waiter (uncredited)
Alan Marston as Assistant (uncredited)
Rose Michtom as Retirement Home Resident (uncredited)
Monty O'Grady as Councilman (uncredited)
Joe Pine as Townsman (uncredited)
Murray Pollack as Councilman (uncredited)
Anthony Redondo as Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
Cosmo Sardo as Barber (uncredited)
Jack Slate as Townsman (uncredited)
Owen Song as Pedestrian (uncredited)
Norman Stevans as Maitre D' (uncredited)
Paul Van as Assistant (uncredited)
Richard Warren as Driver (uncredited)
Wally West as Townsman (uncredited)
Chalky Williams as Bailiff (uncredited)
Kai J. Wong as Pedestrian (uncredited)
Sally Yarnell as Committee Reporter (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 4% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 83

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	12
3 to 4	1	9
5 to 6	12	20
7 to 8	0	6
9 to 10	0	10
11 to 12	0	15
13 to 14	7	33
15 to 16	0	28
17 to 18	0	17
19 to 20	17	20
21 to 22	0	31
23 to 24	15	41
25 to 26	0	10
27 to 28	0	0
29 to 30	0	7
31 to 32	39	58
33 to 34	3	7
35 to 36	0	39
37 to 38	12	17
39 to 40	0	10
41 to 42	0	0
43 to 44	0	82
45 to 46	0	24
47 to 48	0	23
49 to 50	8	11
51 to 52	12	44
53 to 54	12	12
55 to 56	25	21
57 to 58	0	0
59 to 60	0	0
61 to 62	16	16
63 to 64	0	8
65 to 66	0	0
67 to 68	0	0
69 to 70	0	46
71 to 72	2	10
73 to 74	38	57
75 to 76	2	26
77 to 78	0	11
79 to 80	0	23
81 to 82	0	16
83 to 83	4	27

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, 21 are women's.

225 lines from women, 847 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

7 women and 42 men in the cast. 5 women and 19 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 13 of 1,119. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 162 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 17% of the words (1,769), men 83% (8,425). Women have 21% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.

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

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

2 of the 11 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 10% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Roman Polanski (man)
Written by: Robert Towne (man), Roman Polanski (man)
Produced by: Robert Evans (man)
Shot by: John A. Alonzo (man)
Edited by: Sam O'Steen (man)
Music by: Jerry Goldsmith (man)
Production design by: Richard Sylbert (man)
Costumes by: Anthea Sylbert (woman)
Cast by: Jane Feinberg (woman), Mike Fenton (man)

The crew, department by department

Sound

0 women, 15 men, 21 not listed
Camera

0 women, 4 men, 7 not listed
Art

1 women, 5 men, 4 not listed
Other crew

0 women, 8 men, 2 not listed
Costume & Make-Up

3 women, 1 men, 4 not listed
Production

1 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
Directing

0 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
Editing

0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed

Women
Men
Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit F: how old the stars were

Women: 36 on average. Men: 44 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Faye Dunaway 33, Diane Ladd 38

Men

Burt Young 34, Jack Nicholson 37, Roman Polanski 40, John Hillerman 41, Richard Bakalyan 43, Perry Lopez 44, Darrell Zwerling 45, John Huston 67

Exhibit G: the money

It made 5.0 times what it cost.

Budget: $6 million
Box office: $30 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 83 scenes and 1,119 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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