Fails the Bechdel test
Lost Horizon
1937. Directed by Frank Capra, written by Robert Riskin and James Hilton and Sidney Buchman.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
4 women characters. 3 of them speak. -
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 2 out of 3.
The film
British diplomat Robert Conway and a small group of civilians crash land in the Himalayas, and are rescued by the people of the mysterious, Eden-like valley of Shangri-la. Protected by the mountains from the world outside, where the clouds of World War II are gathering, Shangri-la provides a seductive escape for the world-weary Conway.
- Released
- 01 Sep 1937
- Genres
- Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
- Rated
- Approved
- IMDb
- 7.6 / 10
- Awards
- Won 2 Oscars. 3 wins & 6 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Conway 206 lines, man
- George 115 lines, man
- Barnard 100 lines, man
- Lovett 96 lines, man
- Chang 79 lines, man
- Sondra 30 lines, woman
- Maria 15 lines, woman
- Gloria 14 lines, woman
- High Lama 14 lines, man
- Ad-Lib 8 lines
Full cast, 26 people
- Ronald Colman as Robert " Bob " Conway
- Jane Wyatt as Sondra Bizet
- Edward Everett Horton as Alexander P. " Lovey " Lovett
- John Howard as George Conway
- Thomas Mitchell as Henry Barnard
- Margo as Maria
- Isabel Jewell as Gloria Stone
- H.B. Warner as Chang
- Sam Jaffe as High Lama
- John Burton as Wynant (uncredited)
- Milton Owen as Fenner (uncredited)
- John T. Murray as Meeker (uncredited)
- Victor Wong as Bandit Leader (uncredited)
- Carl Stockdale as Missionary (uncredited)
- David Torrence as Prime Minister (uncredited)
- Wedgwood Nowell as Englishman (uncredited)
- Richard Loo as Shanghai Airport Official (uncredited)
- Margaret McWade as Missionary (uncredited)
- Willie Fung as Bandit Leader at Fuel Stop-over (uncredited)
- George Chan as Chinese Priest (uncredited)
- Wyrley Birch as Missionary (uncredited)
- Norman Ainsley as Embassy Club Steward (uncredited)
- David Clyde as Embassy Club Steward (uncredited)
- Noble Johnson as Leader of Porters (uncredited)
- Chief John Big Tree as Porter (uncredited)
- Harold Lishman as Porter (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 3% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 118
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 | 2 |
| 4 to 6 | 1 | 16 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 8 |
| 10 to 12 | 1 | 51 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 56 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 3 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 2 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 9 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 2 |
| 37 to 39 | 1 | 3 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 1 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 12 |
| 49 to 51 | 1 | 8 |
| 52 to 54 | 1 | 15 |
| 55 to 57 | 1 | 12 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 1 |
| 61 to 63 | 0 | 8 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 10 |
| 67 to 69 | 3 | 46 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 28 |
| 73 to 75 | 3 | 13 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 32 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 4 |
| 82 to 84 | 2 | 29 |
| 85 to 87 | 1 | 29 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 24 |
| 91 to 93 | 5 | 6 |
| 94 to 96 | 15 | 23 |
| 97 to 99 | 2 | 15 |
| 100 to 102 | 8 | 32 |
| 103 to 105 | 1 | 35 |
| 106 to 108 | 14 | 80 |
| 109 to 111 | 1 | 3 |
| 112 to 114 | 0 | 0 |
| 115 to 117 | 0 | 11 |
| 118 to 118 | 0 | 0 |
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, 9 are women's.
61 lines from women, 629 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
4 women and 20 men in the cast. 3 women and 8 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 22 of 712.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 90 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 10% of the words (878), men 90% (7,918). Women have 9% 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
54
Exhibit E: behind the camera
None of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 7% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Frank Capra (man)
- Written by
- Sidney Buchman (man), Robert Riskin (man)
- From the novel by
- James Hilton (man)
- Produced by
- Frank Capra (man)
- Shot by
- Joseph Walker (man)
- Edited by
- Gene Havlick (man), Gene Milford (man)
- Music by
- Dimitri Tiomkin (man)
- Costumes by
- Ernest Dryden (gender not listed)
The crew, department by department
-
Writing
0 women, 3 men
-
Art
1 women, 1 men
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 2 men
-
Editing
0 women, 2 men
-
Sound
0 women, 2 men
-
Production
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 25 on average. Men: 43 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Margo 19, Jane Wyatt 26, Isabel Jewell 29
Men
John Howard 23, John Burton 32, Thomas Mitchell 44, Sam Jaffe 45, Ronald Colman 46, Edward Everett Horton 50, H.B. Warner 60
Exhibit G: the money
What it cost and made, where TMDB lists it.
- Budget
- $4 million
- Box office
- Not listed
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 118 scenes and 712 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
