Passes the Bechdel test
FairyTale: A True Story
1997. Directed by Charles Sturridge, written by Albert Ash and Tom McLoughlin and Ernie Contreras.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
7 women characters. 3 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 13 scenes out of 147. -
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
Based on factual accounts, this is the story of two young girls that, somehow, have the ability to take pictures of winged beings... which certainly causes quite a stir throughout England during the time of the first World War. Everyone, except the girls who think it's quite normal, are excited about this "photographic proof" that fairies exist... even the great Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini pay the girls a visit.
- Released
- 24 Oct 1997
- Genres
- Drama, Family, Fantasy
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 6.5 / 10
- Awards
- Won 1 BAFTA Award. 1 win & 3 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Frances 197 lines, man
- Elsie 172 lines, woman
- Artie 114 lines, man
- Polly 81 lines, woman
- Gardner 48 lines, man
- Sir Arthur 41 lines, man
- Ferret 24 lines, man
- Wiggins 19 lines, man
- Houdini 17 lines, man
- King George 9 lines, man
Full cast, 30 people
- Florence Hoath as Elsie Wright
- Elizabeth Earl as Frances Griffiths
- Paul McGann as Arthur Wright
- Peter O'Toole as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- Harvey Keitel as Harry Houdini
- Phoebe Nicholls as Polly Wright
- Bill Nighy as Edward Gardner
- Tim McInnerny as John Ferret, a Reporter
- Joseph May as Houdini's Assistant
- Peter Mullan as Sergeant Farmer
- Anna Chancellor as Peter Pan
- Lara Morgan as Jean Doyle
- Adam Franks as Adrian Doyle
- Guy Witcher as Denis Doyle
- Peter Wight as Newspaper Editor
- Anton Lesser as Wounded Corporal
- Bob Peck as Harry Briggs
- Lynn Farleigh as Mrs. Thornton, the Teacher
- David Calder as Harold Snelling
- Anthony Calf as Geoffrey Hodson
- Benjamin Whitrow as Mr. Binley
- Barbara Hicks as City Woman
- Paul Popplewell as Second Soldier
- Ina Clough as Lady Calling to Fairies
- Tom Sturridge as Hab, a Fairy
- Tom Georgeson as Reporter
- Anna Brecon as Elabigathe, a Fairy
- Bill Stewart as Chess MC
- Mel Gibson as Frances' Father (uncredited)
- Ali Bastian as Lull, a fairy
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 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 147
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 | 5 | 6 |
| 5 to 8 | 18 | 29 |
| 9 to 12 | 4 | 17 |
| 13 to 16 | 12 | 13 |
| 17 to 20 | 37 | 49 |
| 21 to 24 | 11 | 17 |
| 25 to 28 | 9 | 15 |
| 29 to 32 | 10 | 6 |
| 33 to 36 | 6 | 14 |
| 37 to 40 | 2 | 2 |
| 41 to 44 | 10 | 11 |
| 45 to 48 | 10 | 21 |
| 49 to 52 | 7 | 28 |
| 53 to 56 | 8 | 35 |
| 57 to 60 | 0 | 10 |
| 61 to 64 | 4 | 3 |
| 65 to 68 | 3 | 17 |
| 69 to 72 | 4 | 9 |
| 73 to 76 | 11 | 20 |
| 77 to 80 | 7 | 4 |
| 81 to 84 | 11 | 22 |
| 85 to 88 | 15 | 24 |
| 89 to 92 | 0 | 8 |
| 93 to 96 | 2 | 10 |
| 97 to 100 | 1 | 21 |
| 101 to 104 | 6 | 14 |
| 105 to 108 | 0 | 9 |
| 109 to 112 | 4 | 8 |
| 113 to 116 | 23 | 20 |
| 117 to 120 | 8 | 8 |
| 121 to 124 | 0 | 0 |
| 125 to 128 | 0 | 0 |
| 129 to 132 | 0 | 0 |
| 133 to 136 | 10 | 10 |
| 137 to 140 | 3 | 14 |
| 141 to 144 | 7 | 1 |
| 145 to 147 | 7 | 6 |
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.
POLLY: Elsie! ELSIE: Yes, Mum? POLLY: Elsie, where have you been? ELSIE: In the garden...
POLLY: Excuse me. ELSIE: Joseph hated soccer.
POLLY: How exciting! ELSIE: Would you like to knit now, Mum?
ELSIE: Frances, please... POLLY: What do they look like, Frances?
POLLY: I don't know, I can't think! ELSIE: Oh, I wish she could see them...
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 35 are women's.
275 lines from women, 501 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
7 women and 19 men in the cast. 3 women and 10 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 32 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 30% of the words (1,894), men 70% (4,379). Women have 35% 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
17
Two men
42
Exhibit F: behind the camera
4 of the 13 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 25% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Charles Sturridge (man)
- Written by
- Albert Ash (man), Ernie Contreras (man), Tom McLoughlin (man)
- Produced by
- Wendy Finerman (woman), Bruce Davey (man)
- Shot by
- Michael Coulter (man)
- Edited by
- Peter Coulson (man)
- Music by
- Zbigniew Preisner (man)
- Production design by
- Michael Howells (man)
- Costumes by
- Shirley Russell (woman)
- Cast by
- Mary Selway (woman), Sarah Trevis (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
3 women, 4 men
-
Art
1 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 2 men
-
Writing
0 women, 3 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men
-
Sound
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 27 on average. Men: 44 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Florence Hoath 13, Phoebe Nicholls 40
Men
Joseph May 23, Paul McGann 37, Peter Mullan 37, Tim McInnerny 41, Bill Nighy 47, Harvey Keitel 58, Peter O'Toole 65
Exhibit H: the money
What it cost and made, where TMDB lists it.
- Budget
- Not listed
- Box office
- $14.1 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 147 scenes and 828 lines of dialogue. How the test works
