Passes the Bechdel test
Norma Rae
1979. Directed by Martin Ritt, written by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr..
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
7 women characters. 6 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 5 scenes out of 57. -
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
Like a lot of her family before her, Norma Rae works at the local textile mill, where the pay is hardly commensurate with the long hours and lousy working conditions. But after hearing a rousing speech by labor activist Reuben, Norma is inspired to rally her fellow workers behind the cause of unionism. Her decision rankles her family, especially her fiancé, Sonny, and provokes no shortage of contempt from her employers.
- Released
- 02 Mar 1979
- Genres
- Drama
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 7.3 / 10
- Metascore
- 61 / 100
- Awards
- Won 2 Oscars. 13 wins & 6 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Norma 297 lines, woman
- Reuben 174 lines, man
- Sonny 60 lines, man
- Vernon 37 lines, man
- Another 20 lines
- Mason 15 lines, man
- Leona 12 lines, woman
- Dakin 11 lines, man
- James 8 lines, man
- Bonnie 7 lines, woman
Full cast, 50 people
- Sally Field as Norma Rae
- Ron Leibman as Reuben
- Beau Bridges as Sonny
- Pat Hingle as Vernon
- Barbara Baxley as Leona
- Gail Strickland as Bonnie Mae
- Morgan Paull as Wayne Billings
- Robert Broyles as Sam Bolen
- John Calvin as Ellis Harper
- Booth Colman as Dr. Watson
- Lee de Broux as Lujan
- James Luisi as George Benson
- Vernon Weddle as Reverend Hubbard
- Gilbert Green as Al Landon
- Bob Minor as Lucius White
- Grace Zabriskie as Linette Odum
- Stuart Culpepper as Ray Towner
- Mary Munday as Mrs. Johnson
- Jack Stryker as J.J. Davis
- Gregory Walcott as Lamar Miller
- Noble Willingham as Leroy Mason
- Lonny Chapman as Gardner
- Bert Freed as Sam Dakin
- Bob Hannah as Jed Buffum
- Edith Ivey as Louise Pickens
- Scott Lawton as Craig
- Frank McRae as James Brown
- Gerry Okuneff as Pinkerton Man
- Gina Kaye Pounders as Millie
- Henry Slate as Policeman
- Melissa Ann Wait as Alice
- Joe Dorsey as Woodrow Thompson
- Sherry Velvet Foster as Velma Stackhouse
- Weona T. Brown as Hot Dog Vendor
- Carolyn Danforth as Mavis Pruitt
- James W. Harris as Mill Worker
- Charlie Briggs as Warren Latting
- Billie Joyce Buck as Agnes Roy
- Fred Covington as Alston Purvis
- J. Don Ferguson as Peter Gallat
- Sandra Dorsey as Jail Matron
- Harold E. Finch as Agent
- Clayton Landey as Teddy Bob Keeler
- Bill Pannell as Billy Stettin
- George R. Robertson as Farmer
- Thomas D. Samford III as Justice of the Peace
- Roy Tatum as Woodrow Bowser
- Paul Ellen as TV Reporter (uncredited)
- Jerry Michael Ray as TV Reporter (uncredited)
- Martin Ritt as Factory Worker (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 8% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 57
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 2 | 10 | 0 |
| 3 to 4 | 5 | 3 |
| 5 to 6 | 16 | 27 |
| 7 to 8 | 8 | 9 |
| 9 to 10 | 17 | 21 |
| 11 to 12 | 9 | 9 |
| 13 to 14 | 18 | 13 |
| 15 to 16 | 12 | 14 |
| 17 to 18 | 31 | 29 |
| 19 to 20 | 7 | 3 |
| 21 to 22 | 8 | 5 |
| 23 to 24 | 3 | 10 |
| 25 to 26 | 3 | 3 |
| 27 to 28 | 17 | 49 |
| 29 to 30 | 16 | 14 |
| 31 to 32 | 13 | 12 |
| 33 to 34 | 18 | 10 |
| 35 to 36 | 24 | 21 |
| 37 to 38 | 4 | 23 |
| 39 to 40 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 to 42 | 22 | 23 |
| 43 to 44 | 3 | 4 |
| 45 to 46 | 11 | 11 |
| 47 to 48 | 30 | 22 |
| 49 to 50 | 3 | 4 |
| 51 to 52 | 0 | 2 |
| 53 to 54 | 1 | 2 |
| 55 to 56 | 7 | 8 |
| 57 to 57 | 13 | 16 |
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.
NORMA: Momma, you haven't opened your NORMA: Momma, don't you want your lunch? NORMA: Momma! NORMA: What is it, Momma? Don't you feel good?
NORMA: You all right out there? Without turning, Leona responds in her quiet, patient vc,ice. LEONA: Yes. I'm all right • LEONA: I'm coming in soon. NORMA: I'm gonna let this pot soak.
NORMA: 'C' in writing, 'C' in spelling, tn• in reading -- you haven't been doing too much homework. MILLIE: Sssshhh. I wanna hear. NORMA: I'll ssshhh you.
NORMA: Roll the window down if you're hot. MILLIE: I wanna sit up front. NORMA: Well, you can't.
BONNIE: Roscoe says I shouldn't go -- but I'm going. NORMA: I'm not asking anybody.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 47 are women's.
329 lines from women, 367 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
7 women and 30 men in the cast. 6 women and 24 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
A woman speaks the first line.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 43 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 47% of the words (5,081), men 53% (5,710).
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
10
Two men
20
Exhibit F: behind the camera
4 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 25% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Martin Ritt (man)
- Written by
- Irving Ravetch (man), Harriet Frank Jr. (woman)
- Produced by
- Tamara Asseyev (woman), Alexandra Rose (woman)
- Shot by
- John A. Alonzo (man)
- Edited by
- Sidney Levin (man)
- Music by
- David Shire (man)
- Production design by
- Walter Scott Herndon (gender not listed)
- Cast by
- Jane Feinberg (woman), Mike Fenton (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
0 women, 6 men, 4 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 1 men, 3 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 1 men
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Writing
1 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 40 on average. Men: 43 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Sally Field 32, Gail Strickland 33, Barbara Baxley 56
Men
John Calvin 31, Morgan Paull 34, Beau Bridges 37, Ron Leibman 41, Robert Broyles 46, Pat Hingle 54, Booth Colman 55
Exhibit H: the money
It made 4.9 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $4.5 million
- Box office
- $22.2 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 57 scenes and 756 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
