Fails the Bechdel test
Midnight Cowboy
1969. Directed by John Schlesinger, written by Waldo Salt and James Leo Herlihy.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
21 women characters. 4 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
Texas greenhorn Joe Buck arrives in New York City for the first time. Preening himself as a real "hustler", he finds that he is the one getting "hustled" until he teams up with down-and-out but resilient outcast Ratso Rizzo. The initial "country cousin meets city cousin" relationship deepens. In their efforts to bilk a hostile world rebuffing them at every turn, this unlikely pair progress from partners in shady business to comrades. Each has found his first real friend.
- Released
- 25 May 1969
- Genres
- Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 79 / 100
- Awards
- Won 3 Oscars. 28 wins & 16 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Joe 210 lines, man
- Ratso 121 lines, man
- Shirley 31 lines, woman
- Towny 25 lines, man
- Cass 21 lines, woman
- O'Daniel 17 lines, man
- Sally Buck 13 lines, woman
- Driver 9 lines, man
- Ralph 7 lines, man
- Jackie 5 lines, man
Full cast, 62 people
- Dustin Hoffman as Ratso
- Jon Voight as Joe Buck
- Sylvia Miles as Cass
- John McGiver as Mr. O'Daniel
- Brenda Vaccaro as Shirley
- Barnard Hughes as Towny
- Ruth White as Sally Buck
- Jennifer Salt as Annie
- Gilman Rankin as Woodsy Niles
- Gary Owens as Little Joe
- T. Tom Marlow as Little Joe
- George Eppersen as Ralph
- Al Scott as Cafeteria Manager
- Linda Davis as Mother on the Bus
- J.T. Masters as Old Cow-Hand
- Arlene Reeder as The Old Lady
- Georgann Johnson as Rich Lady
- Jonathan Kramer as Jackie
- Anthony Holland as TV Bishop
- Bob Balaban as The Young Student
- Jan Tice as Freaked-Out Lady
- Paul Benjamin as Bartender
- Peter Scalia as Vegetable Grocer
- Vito Siracusa as Vegetable Grocer
- Peter Zamagias as Hat Shop Owner
- Arthur Anderson as Hotel Clerk
- Tina Scala as Laundromat Lady
- Alma Felix as Laundromat Lady
- Richard Clarke as Escort Service Man
- Ann Thomas as The Frantic Lady
- Viva as Gretel McAlbertson
- Paul Rossilli as Hansel McAlbertson
- Ultra Violet as The Party
- Paul Jabara as The Party
- Susan Bottomly as The Party
- Cecelia Lipson as The Party
- Taylor Mead as The Party
- Paul Morrissey as The Party
- Joan Murphy as The Waitress
- Al Stetson as Bus Driver
- M. Emmet Walsh as Bus Passenger (uncredited)
- Sandy Duncan as Woman in TV Montage (uncredited)
- Philip Bruns as Man in TV Montage (uncredited)
- Waldo Salt as Joe Pyne on TV Show (uncredited)
- Bill Walters as St. Bernard Owner (uncredited)
- Jay Morran as Pimp (uncredited)
- Renee Semes as Hippie in Coffee Shop (uncredited)
- Jeffrey Walker as Hippie (uncredited)
- Mary Boylan as Old Lady in Subway (uncredited)
- Marlene Clark as Party Guest (uncredited)
- Paul Jasmin as Party Guest (uncredited)
- Pat Ast as Party Guest (uncredited)
- Randall Carver as Rapist in Flashback (uncredited)
- Robert Dahdah as Bus Passenger (uncredited)
- Trent Gough as Man at Lunch Counter (uncredited)
- Larry Sherman as Homeless Man (uncredited)
- Barbara Maggio as Gina (uncredited)
- James Miller as Cowboy (uncredited)
- Lucian Addario as Sailor in Bar (uncredited)
- William Door as Man at Party (uncredited)
- Jed Johnson as Party Guest (uncredited)
- Jay Johnson as Party Guest (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 7% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 237
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 5 | 3 | 0 |
| 6 to 10 | 3 | 1 |
| 11 to 15 | 1 | 3 |
| 16 to 20 | 1 | 16 |
| 21 to 25 | 0 | 2 |
| 26 to 30 | 3 | 7 |
| 31 to 35 | 4 | 10 |
| 36 to 40 | 0 | 5 |
| 41 to 45 | 1 | 0 |
| 46 to 50 | 0 | 0 |
| 51 to 55 | 0 | 0 |
| 56 to 60 | 3 | 0 |
| 61 to 65 | 1 | 4 |
| 66 to 70 | 0 | 2 |
| 71 to 75 | 8 | 6 |
| 76 to 80 | 17 | 9 |
| 81 to 85 | 1 | 34 |
| 86 to 90 | 0 | 32 |
| 91 to 95 | 0 | 4 |
| 96 to 100 | 0 | 2 |
| 101 to 105 | 0 | 2 |
| 106 to 110 | 0 | 7 |
| 111 to 115 | 2 | 4 |
| 116 to 120 | 0 | 8 |
| 121 to 125 | 0 | 0 |
| 126 to 130 | 0 | 16 |
| 131 to 135 | 0 | 7 |
| 136 to 140 | 0 | 20 |
| 141 to 145 | 0 | 16 |
| 146 to 150 | 0 | 15 |
| 151 to 155 | 0 | 5 |
| 156 to 160 | 0 | 0 |
| 161 to 165 | 1 | 1 |
| 166 to 170 | 0 | 0 |
| 171 to 175 | 0 | 9 |
| 176 to 180 | 0 | 10 |
| 181 to 185 | 2 | 27 |
| 186 to 190 | 14 | 18 |
| 191 to 195 | 15 | 15 |
| 196 to 200 | 0 | 23 |
| 201 to 205 | 0 | 5 |
| 206 to 210 | 0 | 8 |
| 211 to 215 | 0 | 3 |
| 216 to 220 | 0 | 22 |
| 221 to 225 | 0 | 1 |
| 226 to 230 | 0 | 15 |
| 231 to 235 | 1 | 13 |
| 236 to 237 | 0 | 15 |
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, 16 are women's.
81 lines from women, 422 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
21 women and 27 men in the cast. 4 women and 10 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 538.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 98 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 16% of the words (1,059), men 84% (5,594).
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
42
Exhibit E: behind the camera
1 of the 9 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 3% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- John Schlesinger (man)
- Written by
- Waldo Salt (man)
- From the novel by
- James Leo Herlihy (man)
- Produced by
- Jerome Hellman (man)
- Shot by
- Adam Holender (man)
- Edited by
- Hugh A. Robertson (man)
- Music by
- John Barry (man)
- Production design by
- John Robert Lloyd (gender not listed)
- Costumes by
- Ann Roth (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
0 women, 6 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 4 men
-
Editing
0 women, 4 men
-
Production
0 women, 4 men
-
Art
0 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 3 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 36 on average. Men: 45 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Jennifer Salt 24, Brenda Vaccaro 29, Sylvia Miles 36, Ruth White 55
Men
Jon Voight 30, Dustin Hoffman 31, Barnard Hughes 53, John McGiver 55, Gilman Rankin 58
Exhibit G: the money
It made 12.4 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $3.6 million
- Box office
- $44.8 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 237 scenes and 538 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
