Fails the Bechdel test
Miller's Crossing
1990. Directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, written by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen and Dashiell Hammett.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
0 / 3
Fails
-
No
1. At least two women
Fewer than two women characters. -
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 0 out of 3.
The film
Tom Reagan (played by Gabriel Byrne) is the right-hand man, and chief adviser, to a mob boss, Leo (Albert Finney). Trouble is brewing between Leo and another mob boss, Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito), over the activities of a bookie, Bernie Bernbaum (John Turturro) and Leo and Tom are at odds on how to deal with it. Meanwhile, Tom is in a secret relationship with Leo's girlfriend, Verna (Marcia Gay Harden), who happens to be the sister of Bernie. In trying to resolve the issue, Tom is cast out from Leo's camp and ultimately finds himself stuck in the middle between several deadly, unforgiving parties.
- Released
- 05 Oct 1990
- Genres
- Crime, Drama, Thriller
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 66 / 100
- Awards
- 4 wins & 16 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Tom 382 lines, man
- Leo 95 lines, man
- Verna 94 lines, woman
- Caspar 83 lines, man
- Bernie 51 lines, man
- Bluepoint 44 lines, man
- Tony 20 lines, man
- Terry 14 lines, man
- Frankie 13 lines, man
- Mayor 13 lines
Full cast, 44 people
- Gabriel Byrne as Tom Reagan
- Marcia Gay Harden as Verna
- John Turturro as Bernie Bernbaum
- Jon Polito as Johnny Caspar
- J.E. Freeman as Eddie Dane
- Albert Finney as Leo
- Mike Starr as Frankie
- Al Mancini as Tic-Tac
- Steve Buscemi as Mink
- Richard Woods as Mayor Dale Levander
- Tom Toner as O'Doole
- Mario Todisco as Clarence 'Drop' Johnson
- Olek Krupa as Tad
- Michael Jeter as Adolph
- Lanny Flaherty as Terry
- Jeanette Kontomitras as Mrs. Caspar
- Louis Charles Mounicou III as Johnny Caspar, Jr.
- John McConnell as Cop - Brian
- Danny Aiello III as Cop - Delahanty
- Helen Jolly as Screaming Lady
- Hilda McLean as Landlady
- Monte Starr as Gunman in Leo's House
- Don Picard as Gunman in Leo's House
- Salvatore H. Tornabene as Rug Daniels
- Kevin Dearie as Street Urchin
- Michael Badalucco as Caspar's Driver
- Charles Ferrara as Caspar's Butler
- Esteban Fernández as Caspar's Cousin
- George Fernández as Caspar's Cousin
- Charles Gunning as Hitman at Verna's
- Dave Drinkx as Hitman #2
- David Darlow as Lazarre's Messenger
- Robert LaBrosse as Lazarre's Tough
- Carl Rooney as Lazarre's Tough
- Jack Harris as Man with Pipe Bomb
- Jery Hewitt as Son of Erin
- Sam Raimi as Snickering Gunman
- John Schnauder Jr. as Cop with Bullhorn
- Zolly Levin as Rabbi
- Joey Ancona as Boxer
- Bill Raye as Boxer
- William Preston Robertson as Voice (voice)
- Frances McDormand as Mayor's Secretary (uncredited)
- Michael P. Cahill as Casino Patron (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, 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 27
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 1 | 5 | 125 |
| 2 to 2 | 7 | 6 |
| 3 to 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 to 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 to 5 | 2 | 25 |
| 6 to 6 | 0 | 36 |
| 7 to 7 | 15 | 18 |
| 8 to 8 | 0 | 26 |
| 9 to 9 | 0 | 38 |
| 10 to 10 | 0 | 13 |
| 11 to 11 | 17 | 17 |
| 12 to 12 | 0 | 11 |
| 13 to 13 | 19 | 102 |
| 14 to 14 | 0 | 8 |
| 15 to 15 | 4 | 54 |
| 16 to 16 | 0 | 7 |
| 17 to 17 | 0 | 19 |
| 18 to 18 | 0 | 14 |
| 19 to 19 | 0 | 2 |
| 20 to 20 | 6 | 32 |
| 21 to 21 | 0 | 20 |
| 22 to 22 | 0 | 11 |
| 23 to 23 | 0 | 7 |
| 24 to 24 | 3 | 27 |
| 25 to 25 | 0 | 69 |
| 26 to 26 | 0 | 23 |
| 27 to 27 | 25 | 91 |
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, 11 are women's.
103 lines from women, 801 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
5 women and 39 men in the cast. 2 women and 15 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 76 of 930.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 103 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 (1,007), men 90% (9,074). Women have 11% 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
0
Two men
29
Exhibit E: behind the camera
1 of the 13 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 14% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Joel Coen (man), Ethan Coen (man)
- Written by
- Ethan Coen (man), Joel Coen (man)
- Produced by
- Ethan Coen (man)
- Shot by
- Barry Sonnenfeld (man)
- Edited by
- Michael R. Miller (man)
- Music by
- Carter Burwell (man)
- Production design by
- Dennis Gassner (man)
- Costumes by
- Richard Hornung (man)
- Cast by
- Donna Isaacson (woman), John S. Lyons (man), Jane Brody (gender not listed)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
1 women, 4 men, 4 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 5 men, 3 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 6 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 5 men
-
Art
2 women, 2 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 31 on average. Men: 45 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Marcia Gay Harden 31
Men
Steve Buscemi 32, John Turturro 33, Jon Polito 39, Gabriel Byrne 40, Mike Starr 40, J.E. Freeman 44, Albert Finney 54, Al Mancini 57, Richard Woods 67
Exhibit G: the money
It made 36% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $14 million
- Box office
- $5.1 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 27 scenes and 930 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
