Fails the Bechdel test
Newsies
1992. Directed by Kenny Ortega, written by Bob Tzudiker and Noni White.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
6 women characters. 3 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
July, 1899: When Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst raise the distribution price one-tenth of a cent per paper, ten cents per hundred, the newsboys, poor enough already, are outraged. Inspired by the strike put on by the trolley workers, Jack "Cowboy" Kelly (Christian Bale) organizes a newsboys' strike. With David Jacobs (David Moscow) as the brains of the new union, and Jack as the voice, the weak and oppressed found the strength to band together and challenge the powerful.
- Released
- 10 Apr 1992
- Genres
- Drama, Family, History
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 6.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 46 / 100
- Awards
- 1 win & 6 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Jack 205 lines, man
- David 121 lines, man
- Pulitzer 44 lines, man
- Les 39 lines, man
- Denton 33 lines, man
- Crutchy 30 lines, man
- Racetrack 30 lines, man
- Medda 29 lines, woman
- Sarah 28 lines, woman
- Spot 22 lines, man
Full cast, 67 people
- Christian Bale as Jack 'Cowboy' Kelly
- Bill Pullman as Bryan Denton
- Ann-Margret as Medda Larkson
- Robert Duvall as Joseph Pulitzer
- David Moscow as David Jacobs
- Luke Edwards as Les Jacobs
- Max Casella as Racetrack Higgins
- Gabriel Damon as Spot Conlon
- Marty Belafsky as Crutchy
- Aaron Lohr as Mush
- Dee Caspary as Snitch
- Shon Greenblatt as Oscar Delancey
- Trey Parker as Kid Blink
- Michael A. Goorjian as Skittery
- Dominic Lucero as Bumlets
- David Sidoni as Pie-Eater
- Kevin Alexander Stea as Swifty the Rake
- Ele Keats as Sarah Jacobs
- Jeffrey DeMunn as Mayer Jacobs
- Deborra-Lee Furness as Esther Jacobs
- Marc Lawrence as Kloppman
- Michael Lerner as Weasel
- Kevin Tighe as Snyder
- Charles Cioffi as Seitz
- William Boyett as Judge Movealong Monahan
- Shay Duffin as Captain McSwain
- Tom Finnegan as Bunsen
- Frank Novak as Policeman
- Arvie Lowe, Jr. as Boots
- Mark David as Specs
- Eric Clarke as Thug
- Lois Young as Nun
- Joseph Conrad as Jake
- Dominic Maldonado as Itey
- Matt Schoenfeld as Snipeshooter (as Matthew Fields)
- Ivan Dudynsky as Dutchy
- Robert Feeney as Snoddy
- Kevin Smets as Ten-Pin (as Kevin Michaels)
- Sylvia Short as Nun
- Melody Santangello as Nun
- David James Alexander as Gov. Theodore Roosevelt
- David Sheinkopf as Morris Delancey
- Mark Lowenthal as Jonathan
- Ryan MacDonald as Mayor Robert Van Wyck
- Frank Girardeau as Chief of Police Devery
- Terry Kohl as Bailiff
- I.M. Hobson as Gammon, Sun Publisher
- Ogie Banks as Newsies Dancer (as Ogie Banks III)
- Travis Payne as Newsies Dancer
- Jim Raposa as Newsies Dancer
- Scott Caudill as Newsies Dancer
- Damon Butler as Newsies Dancer
- D.J. Dellos as Newsies Dancer
- Gregg Russell as Newsies Dancer
- Chris Bonomo as Newsies Dancer
- Chris Dupre as Newsies Dancer
- Josh Keaton as Newsies Dancer (as Joshua Wiener)
- Jesus Fuentes as Newsies Dancer
- Brian Friedman as Newsies Dancer
- Tony Gonzalez as Newsies Dancer
- Will Jenkins as Newsies Dancer (as Todd Jenkins)
- Terry Lindholm as Newsies Dancer
- Alan James Luzietti as Newsies Dancer
- David Larson as Newsies Dancer
- Wes Veldink as Newsies Dancer
- Michael Warwick as Newsies Dancer
- Jason Yribar as Newsies Dancer
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 14% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 112
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 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 16 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 6 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 8 |
| 13 to 15 | 1 | 17 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 9 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 35 |
| 25 to 27 | 1 | 34 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 10 |
| 31 to 33 | 8 | 25 |
| 34 to 36 | 4 | 26 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 4 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 19 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 81 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 31 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 19 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 17 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 14 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 6 |
| 61 to 63 | 6 | 24 |
| 64 to 66 | 10 | 17 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 10 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 3 |
| 73 to 75 | 11 | 17 |
| 76 to 78 | 4 | 9 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 45 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 5 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 19 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 25 |
| 91 to 93 | 3 | 6 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 3 |
| 97 to 99 | 10 | 25 |
| 100 to 102 | 2 | 22 |
| 103 to 105 | 3 | 27 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 12 |
| 109 to 111 | 1 | 51 |
| 112 to 112 | 0 | 2 |
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, 8 are women's.
64 lines from women, 699 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
6 women and 44 men in the cast. 3 women and 33 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 56 of 890.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 266 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 8% of the words (795), men 92% (9,103).
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
106
Exhibit E: behind the camera
3 of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 27% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Kenny Ortega (man)
- Written by
- Noni White (woman), Bob Tzudiker (man)
- Produced by
- Michael Finnell (man)
- Shot by
- Andrew Laszlo (man)
- Edited by
- William Reynolds (man)
- Music by
- J.A.C. Redford (man)
- Production design by
- William Sandell (man)
- Costumes by
- May Routh (woman)
- Cast by
- Elisabeth Leustig (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Art
1 women, 4 men
-
Production
1 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 0 men, 2 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 3 men
-
Writing
1 women, 2 men
-
Other crew
0 women, 2 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 50 on average. Men: 24 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Ann-Margret 50
Men
Luke Edwards 12, Gabriel Damon 15, Marty Belafsky 16, Aaron Lohr 16, David Moscow 17, Christian Bale 18, Max Casella 24, Bill Pullman 38, Robert Duvall 61
Exhibit G: the money
It made 19% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $15 million
- Box office
- $2.8 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 112 scenes and 890 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
