Fails the Bechdel test

Manhunter

Name: Manhunter
Released: 1986

1986. Directed by Michael Mann, written by Thomas Harris and Michael Mann.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
15 women characters. 6 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 1 out of 3.

The film

Will Graham (William Petersen) is a former F.B.I. Agent who recently retired to Florida with his wife Molly (Kim Greist) and their young son, Kevin (David Seaman). Graham was a "profiler", one who profiles criminal's behavior and tries to put his mind into the minds of criminals to examine their thoughts while visiting crime scenes. Will is called out of his self-imposed retirement at the request of his former boss Jack Crawford (Dennis Farina) to help the F.B.I. catch an elusive serial killer, known to the press as the "Tooth Fairy" (Tom Noonan), who randomly kills whole families in their houses during nights of the full moon and leaves bite marks on his victims. To try to search for clues to get into the mind of the killer, Will has occasional meetings with Dr. Hannibal Lecktor (Brian Cox), a charismatic, but very dangerous imprisoned serial killer that Will captured years earlier which nearly drove him insane from the horrific encounter that nearly cost Will's life. With some help and hindrance, Will races against the clock before the next full moon when the "Tooth Fairy" will strike again. Elsewhere, a local photographer named Francis Dollarhyde, the killer for whom Will is looking, struggles to stay undetected while seeing a hope of redemption when be begins a relationship with a blind woman (Joan Allen) who is not aware of his double life.

Released: 15 Aug 1986
Genres: Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Rated: R
IMDb: 7.2 / 10
Metascore: 75 / 100
Awards: 1 win & 1 nomination total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Graham 287 lines, man
Crawford 114 lines, man
Dollarhyde 73 lines, man
Molly 60 lines, woman
Lecktor 49 lines, man
Reba 43 lines, woman
Lounds 37 lines, man
Kevin 23 lines, man
Springfield 20 lines, man
Bowman 17 lines, man

Full cast, 71 people

William L. Petersen as Will Graham
Tom Noonan as Francis Dollarhyde
Dennis Farina as Jack Crawford
Brian Cox as Dr. Hannibal Lecktor
Kim Greist as Molly Graham
Joan Allen as Reba McClane
Stephen Lang as Freddy Lounds
David Seaman as Kevin Graham
Benjamin Hendrickson as Dr. Frederick Chilton
Chris Elliott as Zeller
Michael Talbott as Geehan
Dan Butler as Jimmy Price
Paul Perri as Dr. Sidney Bloom
Patricia Charbonneau as Mrs. Sherman
Alexandra Neil as Eileen
Frankie Faison as Lt. Fisk
Garcelle Beauvais as Young Housebuyer
Joanne Camp as Mother on Plane
David Allen Brooks as Mr. Leeds
Kin Shriner as Mr. Sherman
John Posey as Mr. Jacobi
Kristin Holby as Mrs. Jacobi
Bill Smitrovich as Lloyd Bowman
Peter Maloney as Dr. Dominick Princi
Michael D. Roberts as The Runner
Marshall Bell as Atlanta Policeman
Annie McEnroe as Stewardess
Michele Shay as Beverly Katz
Robin Moseley as Sarah
Bill Cwikowski as Ralph Dandridge
Norman Snow as Springfield
Jim Zubiena as Spurgen
Elisabeth Ryall as Mrs. Leeds
Gary Chavaras as Guard
Chris Cianciolo as Attendant
Ken Colquitt as Housebuyer
Ron Fitzgerald as Storage Guard #1
Dennis Quick as Storage Guard #2
David Meeks as Dr. Warfield
Sherman Michaels as Technician
Robin Trapp as Secretary #1
LA Winters as Secretary #2
Daniel T. Snow as State Trooper
Cynthia Chvatal as Airport Waitress
King White as SWAT Man
Mickey Lloyd as Atlanta Detective
Dawn Carmen as Child on Plane
David Fitzsimmons as Bill
Robert A. Burton as Doctor
Steve Hogan as Helicopter Pilot
Mickey Pugh as Lear Jet Technician
Greg Kelly as Jacobi Child #1
Brian Kelly as Jacobi Child #2
Ryan Langhorne as Jacobi Boy #3
Hannah Caggiano as Sherman Child #1
Lindsey Fonora as Sherman Child #2
Jason Frair as Leeds Child #1
Bryant Arrants as Leeds Child #2
Christopher Arrants as Leeds Child #3
Melvin Clark as SWAT Member
Renee Ayala as SWAT Member
Dana Dewey as SWAT Member
Stephen Hawkins as SWAT Member
Leonard Johnson as SWAT Member
Keith Pyles as SWAT Member
Michael Russell as SWAT Member
Michael Vitug as SWAT Member
Pat Williams as SWAT Member
Charles Yarbaugh as SWAT Member
Gusmano Cesaretti as National Tattler Photographer
Melody Gold as Airport Passenger

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 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 127

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	7	33
4 to 6	5	13
7 to 9	0	2
10 to 12	2	11
13 to 15	11	81
16 to 18	0	68
19 to 21	0	0
22 to 24	0	0
25 to 27	3	15
28 to 30	0	1
31 to 33	0	4
34 to 36	1	7
37 to 39	2	13
40 to 42	2	2
43 to 45	1	14
46 to 48	4	19
49 to 51	1	18
52 to 54	3	50
55 to 57	4	4
58 to 60	3	33
61 to 63	5	41
64 to 66	0	8
67 to 69	1	7
70 to 72	0	58
73 to 75	12	16
76 to 78	11	9
79 to 81	6	6
82 to 84	2	0
85 to 87	5	1
88 to 90	6	22
91 to 93	0	14
94 to 96	4	13
97 to 99	0	1
100 to 102	5	5
103 to 105	4	58
106 to 108	0	5
109 to 111	0	5
112 to 114	0	0
115 to 117	0	7
118 to 120	0	11
121 to 123	10	11
124 to 126	5	6
127 to 127	2	2

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, 15 are women's.

127 lines from women, 694 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

15 women and 31 men in the cast. 6 women and 19 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 28 of 947. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 79 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 13% of the words (1,341), men 87% (8,775). Women have 15% of the lines, so their lines run shorter 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

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

2 of the 11 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 13% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Michael Mann (man)
Written by: Michael Mann (man)
From the novel by: Thomas Harris (man)
Produced by: Richard A. Roth (man)
Shot by: Dante Spinotti (man)
Edited by: Dov Hoenig (man)
Music by: Michel Rubini (man), The Reds (man)
Production design by: Mel Bourne (man)
Costumes by: Colleen Atwood (woman)
Cast by: Bonnie Timmermann (woman)

The crew, department by department

Sound

1 women, 21 men, 4 not listed
Art

1 women, 5 men, 5 not listed
Camera

0 women, 3 men, 5 not listed
Costume & Make-Up

2 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
Directing

2 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
Production

1 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
Other crew

0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
Lighting

0 women, 1 men, 2 not listed

Women
Men
Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit F: how old the stars were

Women: 29 on average. Men: 35 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Kim Greist 28, Joan Allen 29

Men

Chris Elliott 26, William L. Petersen 33, Stephen Lang 34, Tom Noonan 35, Benjamin Hendrickson 35, Brian Cox 40, Dennis Farina 42

Exhibit G: the money

It made 57% of what it cost.

Budget: $15 million
Box office: $8.6 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 127 scenes and 947 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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