Passes the Bechdel test
Marty
1955. Directed by Delbert Mann, written by Paddy Chayefsky.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
7 women characters. 3 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 1. -
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
Stuck as the last of six children at home with an overbearing Italian mother, the only child still unmarried, 34 year old socially awkward Bronx butcher Marty faces middle age with no prospects of marriage, and he faces permanent bachelorhood. But when he is goaded by his mother into going to the Stardust Ballroom one Saturday night, Marty unexpectedly meets Clara, a lonely teacher. Suddenly, Marty's future seems bright.
- Released
- 10 Jun 1955
- Genres
- Drama, Romance
- Rated
- Approved
- IMDb
- 7.6 / 10
- Metascore
- 82 / 100
- Awards
- Won 4 Oscars. 19 wins & 6 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Marty 210 lines, man
- Mrs. Pilletti 104 lines, woman
- Clara 56 lines, woman
- Angie 53 lines, man
- Thomas 42 lines, man
- Catherine 34 lines, woman
- Virginia 29 lines, woman
- Ralph 23 lines, man
- Dr. Keegan 16 lines
- Joe 16 lines, man
Full cast, 30 people
- Ernest Borgnine as Marty
- Betsy Blair as Clara
- Esther Minciotti as Mrs. Piletti
- Augusta Ciolli as Aunt Catherine
- Joe Mantell as Angie
- Karen Steele as Virginia
- Jerry Paris as Tommy
- James Bell as Mr. Snyder (uncredited)
- John Beradino as Man in Bar (uncredited)
- Charles Cane as Lou (uncredited)
- Paddy Chayefsky as Leo (uncredited)
- John Dennis as Andy (uncredited)
- Walter Kelley as Kid (uncredited)
- Doris Kemper as (uncredited)
- John Milford as (uncredited)
- Silvio Minciotti as Butcher (uncredited)
- Robin Morse as Joe (uncredited)
- Kathleen Mulqueen as Irish Lady Talking in Bar (uncredited)
- George Nardelli as Bar Patron (uncredited)
- Jerry Orbach as Ballroom Patron (uncredited)
- Edwin Rochelle as Hotel Clerk (uncredited)
- Glenn Strange as (uncredited)
- Frank Sutton as Ralph (uncredited)
- Hal Taggart as Churchgoer (uncredited)
- Minerva Urecal as Mrs. Rosari (uncredited)
- Waclaw Rekwart as Bar Patron (uncredited)
- Arthur Tovey as Man on Church Steps (uncredited)
- Alan Wells as Jerry (uncredited)
- Jack Klugman as Bar Patron (uncredited)
- Clark Ross as Bar Patron (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
We couldn't read who says what in this film's script, so there's no dialogue chart for it yet.
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.
FIRST IRISH WOMAN: ...so she told me that the doctor told her that if she had any more babies, she would do so at the risk of her life... SECOND IRISH WOMAN: She was always a bit thin in the hips... FIRST IRISH WOMAN: Well, at the time she told me this, she already had six. Every time I saw the woman, she was either...
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 41 are women's.
253 lines from women, 364 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
7 women and 23 men in the cast. 3 women and 6 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
A woman speaks the first line.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 53 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 37% of the words (3,660), men 63% (6,282). Women have 41% 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
3
Two men
23
Exhibit F: behind the camera
1 of the 8 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 11% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Delbert Mann (man)
- Written by
- Paddy Chayefsky (man)
- Story by
- Paddy Chayefsky (man)
- Produced by
- Harold Hecht (man), Burt Lancaster (man)
- Shot by
- Joseph LaShelle (man)
- Music by
- Roy Webb (man)
- Costumes by
- Norma Koch (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
0 women, 4 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Production
0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 2 men
-
Writing
0 women, 2 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
-
Other crew
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 44 on average. Men: 44 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Karen Steele 24, Betsy Blair 31, Augusta Ciolli 53, Esther Minciotti 67
Men
Jerry Paris 29, John Beradino 37, Ernest Borgnine 38, Joe Mantell 39, Charles Cane 55, James Bell 63
Exhibit H: the money
It made 8.7 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $343,000
- Box office
- $3 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 1 scenes and 653 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
