Fails the Bechdel test
Citizen Kane
1941. Directed by Orson Welles, written by Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles and Roger Q. Denny.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
21 women characters. 6 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 1 out of 3.
The film
A group of reporters are trying to decipher the last word ever spoken by Charles Foster Kane, the millionaire newspaper tycoon: "Rosebud." The film begins with a news reel detailing Kane's life for the masses, and then from there, viewers are shown flashbacks from Kane's life. As the reporters investigate further, the viewers see a display of a fascinating man's rise to fame, and how he eventually fell off the top of the world.
- Released
- 05 Sep 1941
- Genres
- Drama, Mystery
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 8.2 / 10
- Metascore
- 100 / 100
- Awards
- Won 1 Oscar. 16 wins & 13 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Kane 304 lines, man
- Leland 103 lines, man
- Susan 95 lines, woman
- Bernstein 94 lines, man
- Thompson 64 lines, man
- Emily 42 lines, woman
- Thatcher 31 lines, man
- Raymond 29 lines, man
- Mrs. Kane 19 lines, woman
- Carter 17 lines, man
Full cast, 154 people
- Orson Welles as Charles Foster Kane
- Joseph Cotten as Jedediah Leland
- Dorothy Comingore as Susan Alexander Kane
- Ray Collins as Jim W. Gettys
- George Coulouris as Walter Parks Thatcher
- Agnes Moorehead as Mary Kane
- Paul Stewart as Raymond
- Ruth Warrick as Emily Norton Kane
- Erskine Sanford as Herbert Carter
- William Alland as Jerry Thompson/Narrator
- Everett Sloane as Mr. Bernstein
- Fortunio Bonanova as Signor Matiste
- Gus Schilling as John
- Philip Van Zandt as Mr. Rawlston
- Georgia Backus as Bertha Anderson
- Harry Shannon as Jim Kane
- Sonny Bupp as Charles Foster Kane III
- Buddy Swan as Young Charles Foster Kane
- Gregg Toland as Interviewer
- Don Ackerman as Man at Party in Everglades (uncredited)
- Gino Corrado as Gino (uncredited)
- Maurice Costello as Extra (uncredited)
- Demetrius Alexis as Newsreel Man (uncredited)
- Gene Coogan as Newsreel Man (uncredited)
- Art Dupuis as Newsreel Man (uncredited)
- Rudy Germane as Newsreel Man (uncredited)
- Mike Lally as Newsreel Man (uncredited)
- Walter Lawrence as Newsreel Man (uncredited)
- John Northpole as Newsreel Man (uncredited)
- Victor Romito as Newsreel Man (uncredited)
- Bob Terry as Newsreel Man (uncredited)
- William Alston as Man at Xanadu Great Hall (uncredited)
- Jack Gargan as Man at Xanadu Great Hall (uncredited)
- Bert Moorhouse as Man at Xanadu Great Hall (uncredited)
- Carmen Laroux as Maid in Xanadu Hall (uncredited)
- Sam Ash as Man at Boat Dock (uncredited)
- Buddy Messinger as Man at Boat Dock (uncredited)
- Terrance Ray as Man at Boat Dock (uncredited)
- Sally Corner as Woman at Boat Dock (uncredited)
- Walter Bacon as City Room Employee (uncredited)
- Herbert Corthell as City Editor (uncredited)
- Harry A. Bailey as Man Singing at Inquirer Party (uncredited)
- Danny Borzage as Man Singing at Inquirer Party (uncredited)
- J.J. Clark as Man Singing at Inquirer Party (uncredited)
- Tom Coleman as Man Singing at Inquirer Party (uncredited)
- Carl Deloro as Man Singing at Inquirer Party (uncredited)
- Jack Egan as Man Singing at Inquirer Party (uncredited)
- Robert Haines as Man Singing at Inquirer Party (uncredited)
- Ludwig Lowry as Man Singing at Inquirer Party (uncredited)
- John McCormack as Man Singing at Inquirer Party (uncredited)
- Hercules Mendez as Man Singing at Inquirer Party (uncredited)
- Paddy O'Flynn as Man Singing at Inquirer Party (uncredited)
- Sam Rice as Man Singing at Inquirer Party (uncredited)
- Don Roberts as Man Singing at Inquirer Party (uncredited)
- Larry Wheat as Man Singing at Inquirer Party (uncredited)
- Larry Williams as Man Singing at Inquirer Party (uncredited)
- Joan Blair as Georgia (uncredited)
- Morgan Brown as Servant (uncredited)
- Harry Burkhardt as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
- Edmund Cobb as Inquirer Reporter (uncredited)
- Eddie Coke as Reporter (uncredited)
- Louis Natheaux as Reporter (uncredited)
- Arthur O'Connell as Reporter (uncredited)
- Guy Repp as Reporter (uncredited)
- Tom Steele as Reporter (uncredited)
- Richard Wilson as Reporter (uncredited)
- Louise Currie as Reporter at Xanadu (uncredited)
- Walter Sande as Reporter at Xanadu (uncredited)
- Jan Wiley as Reporter at Xanadu (uncredited)
- Milton Kibbee as Reporter at Wedding (uncredited)
- Buck Mack as Reporter at Boat Deck (uncredited)
- Alan Ladd as Reporter Smoking Pipe at End (uncredited)
- Thomas A. Curran as Teddy Roosevelt (uncredited)
- Jack Curtis as Boss Printer (uncredited)
- George Noisom as Copy Boy (uncredited)
- Gerald Pierce as Copy Boy Delivering Message in Chicago Hotel Room (uncredited)
- Dona Dax as House Maid (uncredited)
- George DeNormand as Newspaperman at Trenton Town Hall (uncredited)
- Bud Geary as Newspaperman at Trenton Town Hall (uncredited)
- Bert LeBaron as Newspaperman at Trenton Town Hall (uncredited)
- Clyde McAtee as Newspaperman at Trenton Town Hall (uncredited)
- Cyril Ring as Newspaperman at Trenton Town Hall (uncredited)
- Roland Winters as Newspaperman at Trenton Town Hall (uncredited)
- Lew Harvey as Newspaperman (uncredited)
- Herman J. Mankiewicz as Newspaperman (uncredited)
- Eddie Dew as Man in Projection Room (uncredited)
- Perc Launders as Man in Projection Room (uncredited)
- John Dilson as Ward Heeler (uncredited)
- Walter James as Ward Heeler (uncredited)
- Robert Dudley as Photographer (uncredited)
- Suzanne Dulier as French Maid (uncredited)
- Al Eben as Solly (uncredited)
- Johnny Eckert as Car-Driver (uncredited)
- Carl Ekberg as Adolf Hitler (uncredited)
- Edith Evanson as Leland's Nurse (uncredited)
- Carl Faulkner as Hermann Goring (uncredited)
- Juanita Fields as Dancer (uncredited)
- Edna Mae Jones as Dancer (uncredited)
- Leda Nicova as Dancer (uncredited)
- Jolane Reynolds as Dancer (uncredited)
- Suzanne Ridgway as Dancer (uncredited)
- Olin Francis as Expressman (uncredited)
- Louise Franklin as Susan's Maid (uncredited)
- Renee Godfrey as Nurse (uncredited)
- Peter Gowland as Guest (uncredited)
- Jimmy Grant as Man at Party in Everglades (uncredited)
- Jesse Graves as Joseph (uncredited)
- Ernest Grooney as Man on Hospital Roof (uncredited)
- Jack Gwynne as Man on Hospital Roof (uncredited)
- Teddy Mangean as Man on Roof (uncredited)
- Henry Hebert as Best Man at Wedding (uncredited)
- Bryan 'Slim' Hightower as Fish Driver (uncredited)
- Mitchell Ingraham as Politician (uncredited)
- Philip Morris as Politician (uncredited)
- Francis Sayles as Politician (uncredited)
- George W. Jimenez as Waiter at Inquirer Party (uncredited)
- Ellen Lowe as Ms. Townsend (uncredited)
- James T. Mack as Prompter (uncredited)
- Mickey Martin as Newsboy (uncredited)
- Bruce Sidney as Newsman (uncredited)
- Major McBride as Shadowgraph Man (uncredited)
- Frank McLure as (uncredited)
- Charles Meakin as Civic Leader (uncredited)
- Edward Peil Jr. as Civic Leader (uncredited)
- Irving Mitchell as Dr. Corey (uncredited)
- Frances E. Neal as Ethel (uncredited)
- Lillian Nicholson as Woman at Opera (uncredited)
- Joseph North as Secretary (uncredited)
- William H. O'Brien as Secretary (uncredited)
- Field Norton as Opera Spectator (uncredited)
- Dick Scott as Opera Spectator (uncredited)
- Frank O'Connor as Man at Madison Square Garden (uncredited)
- Russ Powell as Man at Madison Square Garden (uncredited)
- Bert Stevens as Man at Madison Square Garden (uncredited)
- Thomas Pogue as Man (uncredited)
- Lillian O'Malley as Woman in Front of Chronicle Building (uncredited)
- Jack Raymond as Stagehand (uncredited)
- Gohr Van Vleck as Stagehand (uncredited)
- Myrtle Rishell as Big Governess (uncredited)
- Benny Rubin as Smather (uncredited)
- Shimen Ruskin as Hireling (uncredited)
- George Sherwood as Hireling (uncredited)
- Edward Ryan as Man in Inquirer City Room (uncredited)
- Landers Stevens as Senate Investigator (uncredited)
- Harry J. Vejar as Portuguese Laborer (uncredited)
- Tudor Williams as Chorus Master (uncredited)
- Arthur Yeoman as Speaker (uncredited)
- Tim Davis as Copy Boy (uncredited)
- Charles Bennett as Entertainer (uncredited)
- Arthur Kay as Orchestra Leader (Uncredited)
- John Alban as Reporter (uncredited)
- Finn Zirzow as Audience Member (uncredited)
- Sam Harris as Newsreel Man (uncredited)
- Dorothy Cleveland as Woman in Front of Chronicle Building (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 6% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 101
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 | 1 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 53 |
| 7 to 9 | 7 | 9 |
| 10 to 12 | 11 | 15 |
| 13 to 15 | 1 | 5 |
| 16 to 18 | 10 | 23 |
| 19 to 21 | 2 | 32 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 61 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 18 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 57 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 28 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 6 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 11 |
| 40 to 42 | 3 | 13 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 39 |
| 46 to 48 | 3 | 25 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 18 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 2 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 75 |
| 58 to 60 | 6 | 23 |
| 61 to 63 | 7 | 24 |
| 64 to 66 | 29 | 36 |
| 67 to 69 | 11 | 11 |
| 70 to 72 | 2 | 22 |
| 73 to 75 | 11 | 10 |
| 76 to 78 | 30 | 34 |
| 79 to 81 | 1 | 5 |
| 82 to 84 | 1 | 16 |
| 85 to 87 | 11 | 10 |
| 88 to 90 | 21 | 23 |
| 91 to 93 | 5 | 9 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 6 |
| 97 to 99 | 4 | 56 |
| 100 to 101 | 0 | 1 |
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, 18 are women's.
176 lines from women, 777 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
21 women and 101 men in the cast. 6 women and 20 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 70 of 1,014.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 193 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 (2,611), men 83% (12,995). Women have 18% 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
4
Two men
57
Exhibit E: behind the camera
None of the 8 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 0% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Orson Welles (man)
- Written by
- Orson Welles (man), Herman J. Mankiewicz (man)
- Produced by
- Orson Welles (man)
- Shot by
- Gregg Toland (man)
- Edited by
- Robert Wise (man)
- Music by
- Bernard Herrmann (man)
- Costumes by
- Edward Stevenson (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
0 women, 4 men
-
Writing
0 women, 2 men
-
Art
0 women, 1 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 1 men
-
Other crew
0 women, 1 men
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 30 on average. Men: 37 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Ruth Warrick 24, Dorothy Comingore 27, Agnes Moorehead 40
Men
Orson Welles 25, William Alland 25, Paul Stewart 33, Joseph Cotten 35, George Coulouris 37, Ray Collins 51, Erskine Sanford 55
Exhibit G: the money
It made 27.6 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $839,727
- Box office
- $23.2 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 101 scenes and 1,014 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
