Fails the Bechdel test
Life Stinks
1991. Directed by Mel Brooks, written by Mel Brooks and Ron Clark and Rudy De Luca.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
0 / 3
Fails
-
No
1. At least two women
Fewer than two women characters. -
No
2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 0 out of 3.
The film
Sticking to great comedy in a way no one else can, Mel Brooks plays a wealthy businessman who finds himself getting suckered into a bet with a rival business over the worst slum area of L.A. They both want to develop on it and both own half. Mel agrees to living as a homeless person in this neighborhood. If he can make it 30 days without his wallet or anything else, then the rival will sign over his half of the property. It's full of visual gags, one-liners, and even some heartwarming scenes. Mel's character learns a lot along the way.
- Released
- 26 Jul 1991
- Genres
- Comedy
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 5.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 54 / 100
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Bolt 266 lines, man
- Molly 159 lines, woman
- Sailor 57 lines, man
- Crasswell 54 lines, man
- J. Paul Getty 43 lines, man
- Fumes 39 lines, man
- Pritchard 30 lines, man
- Dr. Kahahn 17 lines, man
- Flop House Owner 13 lines, man
- Fergueson 8 lines, man
Full cast, 56 people
- Mel Brooks as Goddard Bolt
- Lesley Ann Warren as Molly
- Jeffrey Tambor as Vance Crasswell
- Stuart Pankin as Pritchard
- Michael Ensign as Knowles
- Howard Morris as Sailor
- Matthew Faison as Stevens
- Rudy De Luca as J. Paul Getty
- Teddy Wilson as Fumes
- Stanley Brock as Store Owner
- Billy Barty as Willy
- Raymond O'Connor as Yo
- Brian Thompson as Mean Victor
- Sammy Shore as Reverend at Wedding
- Robert Ridgely as Fergueson
- James Van Patten as Wheelchair Attendant
- Mike Pniewski as Male Nurse
- Marianne Muellerleile as Head Nurse
- Anne Betancourt as Nurse
- Darrow Igus as Maynard
- Anthony Thomas Mitchell as Nibbler Driver
- Kathryn Skatula as Nurse
- Angela Gordon as Capacity Nurse
- Danny Wells as Mercedes Driver
- Larry Cedar as Paramedic
- Christopher Birt as Paramedic
- Brad Grunberg as Burrito-Eating Bum
- Clifton Wells as Taco Stand Owner
- Paul Brinegar as Old Bellboy
- George Berkeley as Derelict Outside Flophouse
- David Correia as Policeman
- Anthony J. Messina as Policeman
- Helene Winston as Society Patron
- Terrence Williams as Boy Dancing in Doorway
- Joan Crosby as Woman at Fire
- Ira Miller as Man at Fire
- Jim Mapp as Blind Man
- Ralph Ahn as Chinese Cook
- Stu Gilliam as Desmond
- Raf Mauro as Hors d'Oeuvres Vagrant at Party
- Danny Dayton as Dirty Bum at Party
- Jack DeLeon as Pompous Party Guest
- Carmen Filpi as Pops (elevens-up)
- Casey King as Shopping Cart Chauffeur
- Jere Laird as Stock Market Reporter
- Ronny Graham as Priest (voice)
- Mary Watson as Newscaster
- Saida Pagan as Newscaster
- Tamara Taylor as Newscaster
- Henry Kaiser as Newscaster
- Martin Charles Warner as Dirty-Faced Vagrant at Party
- S. Scott Bullock as Outraged Party Guest
- Cullen G. Chambers as Party Guest (uncredited)
- Doshia Darmane as Upscale Ceremony Guest (uncredited)
- Robert Gatewood as Homeless Bum (uncredited)
- Marvin Braverman as Dr. Kahahn
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 15% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 76
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 | 0 |
| 3 to 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 to 6 | 0 | 47 |
| 7 to 8 | 0 | 37 |
| 9 to 10 | 0 | 5 |
| 11 to 12 | 0 | 16 |
| 13 to 14 | 0 | 16 |
| 15 to 16 | 0 | 5 |
| 17 to 18 | 0 | 23 |
| 19 to 20 | 0 | 5 |
| 21 to 22 | 0 | 30 |
| 23 to 24 | 0 | 1 |
| 25 to 26 | 0 | 18 |
| 27 to 28 | 42 | 30 |
| 29 to 30 | 11 | 58 |
| 31 to 32 | 16 | 16 |
| 33 to 34 | 9 | 13 |
| 35 to 36 | 5 | 3 |
| 37 to 38 | 0 | 3 |
| 39 to 40 | 5 | 16 |
| 41 to 42 | 0 | 15 |
| 43 to 44 | 4 | 11 |
| 45 to 46 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 to 48 | 1 | 5 |
| 49 to 50 | 1 | 8 |
| 51 to 52 | 5 | 27 |
| 53 to 54 | 0 | 5 |
| 55 to 56 | 7 | 10 |
| 57 to 58 | 18 | 15 |
| 59 to 60 | 2 | 24 |
| 61 to 62 | 4 | 46 |
| 63 to 64 | 1 | 20 |
| 65 to 66 | 14 | 5 |
| 67 to 68 | 23 | 48 |
| 69 to 70 | 0 | 8 |
| 71 to 72 | 0 | 8 |
| 73 to 74 | 0 | 2 |
| 75 to 76 | 7 | 8 |
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, 22 are women's.
175 lines from women, 607 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
10 women and 38 men in the cast. 4 women and 36 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 246 of 920.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 245 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 24% of the words (2,412), men 76% (7,615). Women have 22% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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
0
Two men
58
Exhibit E: behind the camera
1 of the 18 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 16% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Mel Brooks (man)
- Written by
- Mel Brooks (man), Steve Haberman (man), Rudy De Luca (man)
- Story by
- Mel Brooks (man), Rudy De Luca (man), Steve Haberman (man), Ron Clark (man)
- Produced by
- Mel Brooks (man)
- Shot by
- Steven Poster (man)
- Edited by
- Michael Mulconery (gender not listed), David Rawlins (man), Anthony Redman (man)
- Music by
- John Morris (man)
- Production design by
- Peter S. Larkin (man)
- Costumes by
- Mary Malin (woman)
- Cast by
- Bill Shepard (man), Todd M. Thaler (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
0 women, 10 men, 8 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 10 men, 3 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 5 men, 4 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 4 men, 3 not listed
-
Production
1 women, 4 men, 2 not listed
-
Writing
0 women, 7 men
-
Art
1 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 44 on average. Men: 53 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Lesley Ann Warren 44
Men
Stuart Pankin 45, Jeffrey Tambor 46, Michael Ensign 47, Matthew Faison 47, Teddy Wilson 47, Rudy De Luca 48, Stanley Brock 59, Mel Brooks 64, Howard Morris 71
Exhibit G: the money
It made 32% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $13 million
- Box office
- $4.1 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 76 scenes and 920 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
