Passes the Bechdel test
Moonstruck
1988. Directed by Norman Jewison, written by John Patrick Shanley.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
18 women characters. 13 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 8 scenes out of 125. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
No sooner does Italian-American widow Loretta accept a marriage proposal from her doltish boyfriend, Johnny, then she finds herself falling for his younger brother, Ronny. She tries to resist, but Ronny lost his hand in an accident he blames on his brother, and has no scruples about aggressively pursuing her while Johnny is out of the country. As Loretta falls deeper in love, she comes to learn that she's not the only one in her family with a secret romance.
- Released
- 15 Jan 1988
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 7.2 / 10
- Metascore
- 83 / 100
- Awards
- Won 3 Oscars. 19 wins & 20 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Loretta 265 lines, woman
- Ronny 133 lines, man
- Rose 105 lines, woman
- Mr. Johnny 82 lines, man
- Cosmo 68 lines, man
- Perry 43 lines, man
- Raymond 30 lines, man
- Rita 24 lines, woman
- Old Man 23 lines, man
- Chrissy 15 lines, woman
Full cast, 57 people
- Cher as Loretta Castorini
- Nicolas Cage as Ronny Cammareri
- Vincent Gardenia as Cosmo Castorini
- Olympia Dukakis as Rose Castorini
- Danny Aiello as Mr. Johnny Cammareri
- Julie Bovasso as Rita Cappomaggi
- John Mahoney as Perry
- Louis Guss as Raymond Capomaggi
- Feodor Chaliapin Jr. as Old Man
- Anita Gillette as Mona
- Leonardo Cimino as Felix
- Paula Trueman as Lucy
- Nada Despotovich as Chrissy
- Joe Grifasi as Shy Waiter
- Gina DeAngeles as Old Crone
- Robin Bartlett as Barbara
- Helen Hanft as Lotte
- David S. Howard as Irv
- Robert Weil as Bobo
- Amy Aquino as Bonnie
- Tony Azito as Conti
- Frank Gio as Florist
- Ann McDonough as Nancy
- John Christopher Jones as Lowell
- Lisa Howard as Patricia
- Cynthia Dale as Sheila
- Anthony Messuri as Priest
- Martha Collins as Mimi
- John Fanning as Rodolfo
- Antonia Minella as Vesta
- Nicholas Pasco as Eddie
- Al Therrien as Bob
- Lou Pitoscia as Mook
- Gilberto Godoy as Rocco
- Louis Di Bianco as Jimmy
- Betti Orsatti as Woman in Hair Salon
- Michael Barbaro as Pietro
- Antonio Pariselli as Franco
- Corrado Gianna as Old Man
- Tommy Hollis as Parking Attendant
- Matt Myers as Cab Driver
- Michael Dunster as P.A. Announcer
- Stella Bruno as Old Woman
- Mimi Cecchini as Old Woman
- Mimi Lizio as Ruby
- Tim Koetting as Al
- Gerard Flannery as Harvey
- Robert Payson as Man at Bar
- Catherine Scorsese as Customer at Bakery
- Jack K. Tsirakis as Bar Patron
- Stephany Hitchcock as Flight Attendant (uncredited)
- David Hummel as Opera Patron (uncredited)
- Cathy Ladman as Beautician in Hair Salon (uncredited)
- Peter Austin Noto as Opera Patron (uncredited)
- Helen Proimos as Opera Patron (uncredited)
- Charles Scorsese as Customer at Bakery (uncredited)
- Bret McCormick as Angry Passenger (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, 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 125
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 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 to 6 | 4 | 2 |
| 7 to 9 | 2 | 2 |
| 10 to 12 | 32 | 61 |
| 13 to 15 | 10 | 5 |
| 16 to 18 | 2 | 0 |
| 19 to 21 | 7 | 7 |
| 22 to 24 | 32 | 26 |
| 25 to 27 | 5 | 13 |
| 28 to 30 | 27 | 6 |
| 31 to 33 | 3 | 3 |
| 34 to 36 | 5 | 0 |
| 37 to 39 | 16 | 17 |
| 40 to 42 | 7 | 8 |
| 43 to 45 | 32 | 32 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 to 51 | 10 | 13 |
| 52 to 54 | 4 | 5 |
| 55 to 57 | 6 | 8 |
| 58 to 60 | 20 | 19 |
| 61 to 63 | 26 | 6 |
| 64 to 66 | 19 | 22 |
| 67 to 69 | 6 | 0 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 0 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 0 |
| 76 to 78 | 1 | 0 |
| 79 to 81 | 5 | 5 |
| 82 to 84 | 2 | 4 |
| 85 to 87 | 20 | 31 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 0 |
| 91 to 93 | 6 | 4 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 0 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 0 |
| 100 to 102 | 1 | 1 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 0 |
| 106 to 108 | 27 | 27 |
| 109 to 111 | 18 | 16 |
| 112 to 114 | 0 | 1 |
| 115 to 117 | 3 | 3 |
| 118 to 120 | 19 | 28 |
| 121 to 123 | 17 | 0 |
| 124 to 125 | 49 | 61 |
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.
LORETTA: A split of Moet. LOTTE: Like a wolf.
ROSE: It's not like her not to call. RITA: Well, she's got a lot on her mind. RITA: I mean, can we talk about it, Rose? Everybody's heard. She's getting married again.
LORETTA: I got things to do. RITA: Sure you do. You got all that wedding stuff. LORETTA: Right.
RITA: What's the matter? You look crazy. LORETTA: I got a lot on my mind, Aunt Rita.
LORETTA: Bye, Aunt Rita. RITA: Bye, bye, honey. See you tomorrow? LORETTA: Yeah, I'll be in.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 50 are women's.
444 lines from women, 436 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
18 women and 22 men in the cast. 13 women and 15 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 4 of 905.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 13 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 48% of the words (3,689), men 52% (4,001). Women have 50% 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
28
Two men
21
Exhibit F: behind the camera
None of the 9 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 24% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Norman Jewison (man)
- Written by
- John Patrick Shanley (man)
- Produced by
- Norman Jewison (man), Patrick J. Palmer (man)
- Shot by
- David Watkin (man)
- Edited by
- Lou Lombardo (man)
- Music by
- Dick Hyman (man)
- Production design by
- Philip Rosenberg (man)
- Cast by
- Howard Feuer (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
3 women, 8 men, 21 not listed
-
Sound
2 women, 8 men, 8 not listed
-
Other crew
2 women, 3 men, 11 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 5 men, 10 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 8 men, 5 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 5 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
2 women, 5 men, 3 not listed
-
Editing
2 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 51 on average. Men: 57 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Cher 41, Anita Gillette 51, Olympia Dukakis 56, Julie Bovasso 57
Men
Nicolas Cage 23, John Mahoney 47, Danny Aiello 54, Vincent Gardenia 67, Louis Guss 69, Feodor Chaliapin Jr. 82
Exhibit H: the money
It made 8.1 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $15 million
- Box office
- $122 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 125 scenes and 905 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
