Passes the Bechdel test

Lenny

Name: Lenny
Released: 1974

1974. Directed by Bob Fosse, written by Julian Barry.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
10 women characters. 6 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 173.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

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

The film

Interview-style biography of controversial and pioneering stand-up comedian Lenny Bruce. The film traces Bruce from his beginnings as a Catskills comic to his later underground popularity based on his anti-establishment politics and his scatological humor.

Released: 07 Feb 1975
Genres: Biography, Drama
Rated: R
IMDb: 7.5 / 10
Metascore: 61 / 100
Awards: Nominated for 6 Oscars. 7 wins & 17 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Lenny 263 lines, man
Honey 144 lines, woman
Sally 38 lines, woman
Artie 32 lines, man
Judge 24 lines
Interviewer 17 lines, man
Cop 13 lines
Sherman 13 lines, man
Marty 10 lines, man
Defense Attorney 7 lines, man

Full cast, 48 people

Dustin Hoffman as Lenny Bruce
Valerie Perrine as Honey Bruce
Jan Miner as Sally Marr
Stanley Beck as Artie Silver
Frankie Man as Baltimore Comic
Rashel Novikoff as Aunt Mema
Gary Morton as Sherman Hart
Guy Rennie as Jack Goldstein
Michele Yonge as Nurse
Kathryn Witt as Girl
Monroe Myers as Hawaiin Judge
John DiSanti as John Santi
Mickey Gatlin as San Francisco Policeman
Martin Begley as San Francisco Judge
Mark Harris as Defense Attorney
Richard Friedman as San Francisco Prosecutor
Lee Sandman as 2nd San Francisco Judge
Jack Nagle as Reverend Mooney
Phil Philbin as New York Plainclothesman
Bruce McLaughlin as New York Judge
Ted Sorel as New York Attorney
Clarence Thomas as New York Attorney
Mike Murphy as New York Prosecutor
Susan Malnik as Kitty (age twelve)
George DeWitt as Comic
Judy LaScala as Chorus Girl
Don Newsome as Connection
Allison Goldstein as Kitty (age one)
Winston Lee as Chinese Waiter
Bridghid Glass as Kitty (age two)
Joe Mencel as Court Reporter
Richard O'Barry as Court Clerk
Beth Challis as Club Owner
Robert Parsons as Chicago Plainclothesman
Cecil Seay as Chicago Plainclothesman
Bob Collins as New York Assistant DA
Lynette Bernay as Girl in Dressing Room (uncredited)
Bob Fosse as The Interviewer (voice) (uncredited)
Phyllis Hyman as Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
Lillian Zuckerman as Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
Mal Jones as New York Court Clerk (uncredited)
David Joseph Martinez as Marine Private (uncredited)
Alan Ormsby as Man in Audience of Cellar Club (uncredited)
Frank Orsatti as Hunter (uncredited)
Glenn R. Wilder as Hunter (uncredited)
Zorita as Nightclub Owner (uncredited)
Cindy Embers as Opening Stripper (uncredited)
Rod Ball as Man in Audience of Cellar Club

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 11% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 173

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	1	3
5 to 8	3	9
9 to 12	13	11
13 to 16	5	7
17 to 20	5	16
21 to 24	3	1
25 to 28	16	18
29 to 32	9	34
33 to 36	0	9
37 to 40	0	2
41 to 44	1	9
45 to 48	0	9
49 to 52	2	3
53 to 56	10	9
57 to 60	7	2
61 to 64	7	7
65 to 68	8	6
69 to 72	3	6
73 to 76	5	2
77 to 80	0	6
81 to 84	13	17
85 to 88	5	14
89 to 92	6	4
93 to 96	0	14
97 to 100	1	3
101 to 104	9	14
105 to 108	1	2
109 to 112	0	12
113 to 116	0	22
117 to 120	0	7
121 to 124	10	11
125 to 128	14	27
129 to 132	6	14
133 to 136	2	11
137 to 140	11	6
141 to 144	4	4
145 to 148	4	10
149 to 152	0	27
153 to 156	5	11
157 to 160	2	3
161 to 164	2	1
165 to 168	4	3
169 to 172	1	2
173 to 173	0	3

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.

MEMA: But what can they be talking about? SALLY: About us, Dummy.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 33 are women's.

198 lines from women, 411 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

10 women and 19 men in the cast. 6 women and 27 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 5 of 686. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 66 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 (2,615), men 78% (9,092). Women have 33% 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

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

3 of the 11 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 15% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Bob Fosse (man)
Written by: Julian Barry (man)
Produced by: Marvin Worth (man)
Shot by: Bruce Surtees (man)
Edited by: Alan Heim (man)
Music by: Ralph Burns (man)
Production design by: Joel Schiller (man)
Costumes by: Albert Wolsky (man)
Cast by: Beverly McDermott (woman), Marion Dougherty (woman), Lynette Bernay (woman)