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Passes the Bechdel test

Meet John Doe

1941. Directed by Frank Capra, written by Richard Connell and Robert Presnell Sr. and Robert Riskin.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    5 women characters. 0 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 1 scene out of 1.
  3. 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.

Poster for Meet John Doe

The film

As a parting shot, fired reporter Ann Mitchell (Barbara Stanwyck) prints a fake letter from unemployed "John Doe," who threatens suicide in protest of social ills. The paper is forced to rehire Ann and hires John Willoughby (Gary Cooper) to impersonate "Doe." Ann and her bosses cynically milk the story for all it's worth, until the made-up "John Doe" philosophy starts a whole social movement. At last everyone, even Ann, takes her creation seriously...but publisher D.B. Norton (Edward Arnold) has a secret plan.

Released
03 May 1941
Genres
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Rated
Approved
IMDb
7.6 / 10
Metascore
63 / 100
Awards
Nominated for 1 Oscar. 4 wins & 1 nomination total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Ann 163 lines, woman
  2. John 135 lines, man
  3. Connell 92 lines, man
  4. Colonel 52 lines
  5. Beany 40 lines, man
  6. Dissolve To 30 lines
  7. Bert 28 lines, man
  8. Cut To 20 lines
  9. Mayor 17 lines
  10. Mother 15 lines, woman
Full cast, 53 people
  • Gary Cooper as Long John Willoughby
  • Barbara Stanwyck as Ann Mitchell
  • Edward Arnold as D.B. Norton
  • Walter Brennan as The Colonel
  • Spring Byington as Mme Mitchell
  • James Gleason as Henry Connell
  • Gene Lockhart as Mayor Lovett
  • Rod La Rocque as Ted Sheldon
  • Irving Bacon as Beany
  • Regis Toomey as Bert Hansen
  • J. Farrell MacDonald as 'Sourpuss'
  • Warren Hymer as Angelface
  • Harry Holman as Mayor Hawkins
  • Andrew Tombes as Spencer
  • Pierre Watkin as Hammett
  • Stanley Andrews as Weston
  • Mitchell Lewis as Bennett
  • Charles Cahill Wilson as Charlie Dawson
  • Vaughan Glaser as Governor
  • Sterling Holloway as Dan
  • M.J. Frankovich as Radio Announcer
  • Knox Manning as Radio Announcer
  • John B. Hughes as Radio Announcer
  • Harry Davenport as Former Bulletin Owner (uncredited)
  • Ann Doran as Mrs. Hansen (uncredited)
  • Franklyn Farnum as (uncredited)
  • Pat Flaherty as Mike (uncredited)
  • Bess Flowers as Mattie (uncredited)
  • Hank Mann as Eddie (uncredited)
  • James Millican as Photographer (uncredited)
  • Bert Moorhouse as Man at Stadium Rally (uncredited)
  • Frank Moran as (uncredited)
  • Bert Stevens as Radio Station Audience Member (uncredited)
  • Jack Wise as Delegate (uncredited)
  • Henry Roquemore as Chamber of Commerce Member (uncredited)
  • Forbes Murray as Legislator (uncredited)
  • Selmer Jackson as Radio Announcer at Convention (uncredited)
  • John Hamilton as Jim (uncredited)
  • William Forrest as Governor's Associate (uncredited)
  • Tina Thayer as Ann's Sister (uncredited)
  • Benny Bartlett as Red (uncredited)
  • Edward Earle as Radio Master of Ceremonies (uncredited)
  • Eddie Kane as Wall Street Tycoon (uncredited)
  • Richard Kipling as Police Commissioner (uncredited)
  • Jack Mower as Guard (uncredited)
  • Paul Panzer as (uncredited)
  • Russell Simpson as (uncredited)
  • Charles Trowbridge as (uncredited)
  • Edmund Cobb as Cop Guarding Ann (uncredited)
  • George Melford as Chamber of Commerce Member (uncredited)
  • George Pembroke as (uncredited)
  • Bob Perry as Delegate (uncredited)
  • Jim Thorpe as Extra (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 scenes

The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
JOE: You're a couple o' sticks[2] shy in your column, Ann. JOE: Did you get it, too? ANN: Yeah. You, too? Oh, Joe . . . oh, I'm sorry darling . . . why don't we tear the building down! JOE: Before you do, Ann, perhaps you'd better finish this column.
ANN: If you're thinking of that thousand dollars, forget it. It's practically gone. We owed everybody in town. Now, you've just gotta stop giving… MRS. MITCHELL: Oh, Ann, dear! ANN: Oh, I'm sorry, Ma. Oh, don't pay any attention to me. I guess I'm just upset about all this. Gee whiz, here I am with a great opportunity to…
ANN: Oh—they're laughing at me! MRS. MITCHELL: Whom are you calling now? You called that number not ten minutes ago!
ANN: Thank you. MRS. MITCHELL: Why, Ann! . . .

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 34 are women's.

212 lines from women, 415 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

5 women and 46 men in the cast. 0 women and 19 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 4 of 782. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 59 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

  • First line by a woman
  • Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 28% of the words (2,324), men 72% (5,937). Women have 34% 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

Exhibit F: behind the camera

1 of the 10 people in these jobs is a woman. Across the whole crew, 7% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Frank Capra (man)
Written by
Robert Riskin (man)
Story by
Robert Presnell Sr. (man), Richard Connell (man)
Produced by
Frank Capra (man), Robert Riskin (man)
Shot by
George Barnes (man)
Edited by
Daniel Mandell (man)
Music by
Dimitri Tiomkin (man)
Costumes by
Natalie Visart (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Writing

    0 women, 4 men

  • Sound

    0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed

  • Directing

    0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed

  • Production

    0 women, 2 men

  • Art

    0 women, 1 men

  • Camera

    0 women, 1 men

  • Costume & Make-Up

    1 women, 0 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: 47 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Barbara Stanwyck 33, Spring Byington 54

Men

Gary Cooper 39, Rod La Rocque 42, Regis Toomey 42, Walter Brennan 46, Irving Bacon 47, Gene Lockhart 49, Edward Arnold 51, James Gleason 58

Exhibit H: the money

What it cost and made, where TMDB lists it.

Budget
Not listed
Box office
$2 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 1 scenes and 782 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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