Passes the Bechdel test
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
1986. Directed by John Hughes, written by John Hughes.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
17 women characters. 4 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 262. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
High school student Ferris Bueller wants a day off from school and he's developed an incredibly sophisticated plan to pull it off. He talks his friend Cameron and his girlfriend Sloane into heading to Chicago for the day. While they are taking in what the city has to offer, Dean of Students Ed Rooney is convinced that Ferris is, not for the first time, playing hooky for the day and is hell-bent to catch him out. Ferris has anticipated that, much to Rooney's chagrin.
- Released
- 11 Jun 1986
- Genres
- Comedy
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 61 / 100
- Awards
- 3 wins & 2 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Ferris 268 lines, man
- Cameron 139 lines, man
- Sloane 103 lines, woman
- Jeanie 69 lines, woman
- Rooney 45 lines, man
- Joyce 38 lines
- Tom 29 lines, man
- Boy 26 lines, man
- Ferris' Voice 25 lines, man
- Secretary 20 lines, woman
Full cast, 66 people
- Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller
- Alan Ruck as Cameron Frye
- Mia Sara as Sloane Peterson
- Jeffrey Jones as Ed Rooney
- Jennifer Grey as Jeanie Bueller
- Cindy Pickett as Katie Bueller
- Lyman Ward as Tom Bueller
- Edie McClurg as Grace, School Secretary
- Charlie Sheen as Boy in Police Station
- Ben Stein as Economics Teacher
- Del Close as English Teacher
- Virginia Capers as Florence Sparrow
- Richard Edson as Garage Attendant
- Larry Jenkins as Attendant's Co-Pilot
- Kristy Swanson as Economics Student - Simone Adamley
- Lisa Bellard as Economics Student
- Max Perlich as Economics Student - Anderson
- Scott Coffey as Economics Student - Adams
- Eric Saiet as Shermerite
- Jason Alderman as Shermerite
- Joey Garfield as Shermerite
- Kristin Graziano as Shermerite
- Bridgett Baron as Shermerite
- Annie Ryan as Shermerite
- Eric Edidin as Shermerite
- Brendan Baber as Shermerite
- Tiffany Chance as Shermerite
- Jonathan Schmock as Chez Quis Maitre d'
- Tom Spratley as Men's Room Attendant
- Dave Silvestri as Businessman
- Debra Montague as Girl in Pizza Joint
- Joey D. Vieira as Pizza Man
- Louie Anderson as Flower Deliveryman
- Stephanie Blake as Singing Nurse
- Robert McKibbon as Balloon Man
- Paul Manzanero as Pumpkin Head
- Miranda Whittle as Girl on Trampoline
- Robert Kim as Police Officer - Det. Steven Lim
- Dick Sollenberger as Politician at Parade
- Bob Parkinson as Minister at Parade
- Richard Rohrbough as Minister at Parade
- Edward Le Beau as Gym Teacher
- Polly Noonan as Girl on Bus
- DeeDee Rescher as Bus Driver
- Heidi Meyer as Parade Participant
- Lee Ann Marie as Parade Participant
- Annette Thurman as Parade Participant
- Gail Tangeros as Parade Participant
- Tricia Fastabend as Parade Participant
- Sue Cronin as Parade Participant
- Vlasta Krsek as Parade Participant
- South Shore Drill Team as Parade Participant
- The Lockport High School Band as Parade Participant
- Katie Barberi as Economics Student (uncredited)
- Kevin Bassett as Extra (uncredited)
- Tim Boxell as Man on MTV (uncredited)
- Ken Hudson Campbell as Car Guy (uncredited)
- Harry Caray as TV Broadcaster (voice, uncredited)
- Joe DeBartolo as Business Man (uncredited)
- John Hughes as Guy Running Between Cabs (uncredited)
- Joseph P. McDonnell as Dancer (uncredited)
- Robert Minkoff as Bit (uncredited)
- John Richard Petersen as Parade Spectator (uncredited)
- John B. Ruane as Boyfriend (uncredited)
- Jimmy Star as Parade Spectator (uncredited)
- Geoff Vanderstock as Police Officer in Station (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 6 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 13% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 262
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 6 | 9 | 33 |
| 7 to 12 | 0 | 11 |
| 13 to 18 | 0 | 19 |
| 19 to 24 | 4 | 19 |
| 25 to 30 | 0 | 1 |
| 31 to 36 | 0 | 5 |
| 37 to 42 | 8 | 13 |
| 43 to 48 | 3 | 13 |
| 49 to 54 | 0 | 30 |
| 55 to 60 | 6 | 13 |
| 61 to 66 | 3 | 8 |
| 67 to 72 | 0 | 66 |
| 73 to 78 | 7 | 10 |
| 79 to 84 | 2 | 8 |
| 85 to 90 | 8 | 2 |
| 91 to 96 | 7 | 17 |
| 97 to 102 | 0 | 0 |
| 103 to 108 | 3 | 10 |
| 109 to 114 | 21 | 38 |
| 115 to 120 | 21 | 21 |
| 121 to 126 | 1 | 25 |
| 127 to 132 | 0 | 0 |
| 133 to 138 | 11 | 19 |
| 139 to 144 | 8 | 9 |
| 145 to 150 | 5 | 7 |
| 151 to 156 | 13 | 13 |
| 157 to 162 | 1 | 0 |
| 163 to 168 | 0 | 2 |
| 169 to 174 | 0 | 12 |
| 175 to 180 | 5 | 12 |
| 181 to 186 | 6 | 15 |
| 187 to 192 | 0 | 17 |
| 193 to 198 | 0 | 5 |
| 199 to 204 | 3 | 0 |
| 205 to 210 | 0 | 1 |
| 211 to 216 | 5 | 8 |
| 217 to 222 | 4 | 12 |
| 223 to 228 | 8 | 3 |
| 229 to 234 | 6 | 14 |
| 235 to 240 | 22 | 35 |
| 241 to 246 | 12 | 20 |
| 247 to 252 | 1 | 4 |
| 253 to 258 | 5 | 4 |
| 259 to 262 | 3 | 13 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scene
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
SECRETARY: And her grandmother, too. SLOANE: We can't come to the phone right now. We've had a death in the family. If you need to reach us we'll be at the following number...
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 27 are women's.
221 lines from women, 587 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
17 women and 31 men in the cast. 4 women and 11 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 4 of 925.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 73 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 22% of the words (1,999), men 78% (7,179). Women have 27% 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
2
Two men
56
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 21% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- John Hughes (man)
- Written by
- John Hughes (man)
- Produced by
- John Hughes (man), Tom Jacobson (man)
- Shot by
- Tak Fujimoto (man)
- Edited by
- Paul Hirsch (man)
- Music by
- Ira Newborn (man)
- Production design by
- John W. Corso (man)
- Costumes by
- Marilyn Vance (woman)
- Cast by
- Janet Hirshenson (woman), Jane Jenkins (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
7 women, 6 men, 8 not listed
-
Other crew
2 women, 10 men, 8 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 16 men, 3 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 9 men, 4 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 3 men, 6 not listed
-
Directing
2 women, 6 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 29 on average. Men: 33 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Mia Sara 18, Jennifer Grey 26, Edie McClurg 34, Cindy Pickett 39
Men
Charlie Sheen 20, Matthew Broderick 24, Alan Ruck 29, Jeffrey Jones 39, Ben Stein 41, Lyman Ward 44
Exhibit H: the money
It made 11.7 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $6 million
- Box office
- $70.1 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 262 scenes and 925 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
