Fails the Bechdel test
North by Northwest
1959. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, written by Ernest Lehman.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
18 women characters. 13 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
Madison Avenue advertising man Roger Thornhill is thrust into the world of spies when he is mistaken for a man named George Kaplan. Foreign spy Philip Vandamm and his henchman Leonard try to eliminate him, but when he tries to make sense of the case, he is framed for murder. Now on the run from the police, he manages to board the 20th Century Limited bound for Chicago where he meets beautiful blonde Eve Kendall, who helps him evade the authorities. His world is turned upside-down yet again when he learns that Eve isn't the innocent bystander he thought she was. Nothing is as it seems, leading to a dramatic rescue and escape at the top of Mt. Rushmore.
- Released
- 18 Dec 1959
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Drama
- Rated
- Approved
- IMDb
- 8.2 / 10
- Metascore
- 98 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 3 Oscars. 9 wins & 7 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Thornhill 281 lines, man
- Eve 145 lines, woman
- Professor 52 lines, man
- Vandamm 29 lines, man
- Man 23 lines, man
- Girl 22 lines, woman
- Leonard 22 lines, man
- Woman 15 lines, woman
- Mrs. Thornhill 13 lines, woman
- Auctioneer 11 lines, man
Full cast, 96 people
- Cary Grant as Roger Thornhill
- Eva Marie Saint as Eve Kendall
- James Mason as Phillip Vandamm
- Jessie Royce Landis as Clara Thornhill
- Leo G. Carroll as Professor
- Josephine Hutchinson as Mrs. Townsend
- Philip Ober as Lester Townsend
- Martin Landau as Leonard
- Adam Williams as Valerian
- Edward Platt as Victor Larrabee
- Robert Ellenstein as Licht
- Les Tremayne as Auctioneer
- Philip Coolidge as Dr. Cross
- Patrick McVey as Sergeant Flamm
- Edward Binns as Captain Junket
- Ken Lynch as Charley
- Nora Marlowe as Anna, the Menacing Housekeeper (uncredited)
- Doreen Lang as Maggie - Thornhill's Secretary (uncredited)
- John Beradino as Sergeant Emile Klinger (uncredited)
- Ned Glass as Ticket Seller (uncredited)
- Tol Avery as State Police Detective (uncredited)
- Malcolm Atterbury as Man at Prairie Crossing (uncredited)
- Maudie Prickett as Hotel Maid Elsie (uncredited)
- Bess Flowers as Plaza Hotel Lounge Patron (uncredited)
- Stanley Adams as Lieutenant Harding (uncredited)
- Andy Albin as Farmer (uncredited)
- Ernest Anderson as Porter on Twentieth Century Ltd. (uncredited)
- Frank Wilcox as Herman Weltner (uncredited)
- Brandon Beach as Man at Auction (uncredited)
- Steve Carruthers as Man at Auction (uncredited)
- Taggart Casey as Shaving Man (uncredited)
- Bill Catching as Auction Attendant (uncredited)
- Walter Coy as U.S. Intelligence Agency Official (uncredited)
- Jimmy Cross as Taxi Driver #1 (uncredited)
- Patricia Cutts as Hospital Patient (uncredited)
- Jack Daly as Train Steward (uncredited)
- John Damler as Police Lieutenant (uncredited)
- Lawrence Dobkin as U.S. Intelligence Agency Official (uncredited)
- Tommy Farrell as Eddie - Elevator Starter (uncredited)
- Jesslyn Fax as Train Passenger (uncredited)
- Adolph Faylauer as Bald Bidder (uncredited)
- Sally Fraser as Second United Nations Receptionist (uncredited)
- Paul Genge as Lieutenant Hagerman (uncredited)
- James Gonzalez as Man at Auction (uncredited)
- Tom Greenway as Silent State Police Detective (uncredited)
- Robert Haines as Man at United Nations Building (uncredited)
- Stuart Hall as Train Passenger (uncredited)
- Alfred Hitchcock as Man Who Misses Bus (uncredited)
- Stuart Holmes as Hotel Lounge Patron (uncredited)
- Eugene Jackson as Security Guard at Auction (uncredited)
- Bobby Johnson as Waiter (uncredited)
- Kenner G. Kemp as Man Leaving Office Building (uncredited)
- Madge Kennedy as Mrs. Finlay (uncredited)
- Colin Kenny as Man at Auction (uncredited)
- Carl M. Leviness as Man at United Nations Building (uncredited)
- Alexander Lockwood as Judge Anson B. Flynn (uncredited)
- Frank Marlowe as Taxi Driver (uncredited)
- Baynes Barron as Taxi Driver #2 (uncredited)
- Thomas Martin as Train Passenger (uncredited)
- James McCallion as Plaza Valet (uncredited)
- Maura McGiveney as Attendant (uncredited)
- Carl Milletaire as Hotel Clerk (uncredited)
- Hans Moebus as Man at United Nations Building (uncredited)
- Howard Negley as Conductor on Twentieth Century, Ltd. (uncredited)
- Monty O'Grady as Man at United Nations Building (uncredited)
- Ralph Reed as Bellhop (uncredited)
- John Roy as Train Passenger (uncredited)
- Jeffrey Sayre as Hotel Lounge Patron / Man at Mt. Rushmore Cafeteria (uncredited)
- Scott Seaton as Man at Auction (uncredited)
- Harry Seymour as Victor - Captain of Waiters (uncredited)
- Robert Shayne as Larry Wade (uncredited)
- Jeremy Slate as Policeman at Grand Central Station (uncredited)
- Olan Soule as Assistant Auctioneer (uncredited)
- Helen Spring as Bidder (uncredited)
- Harvey Stephens as Stockbroker (uncredited)
- Harry Strang as Assistant Conductor (uncredited)
- Arthur Tovey as Man at Auction (uncredited)
- Dale Van Sickel as Ranger (uncredited)
- Lloyd Williams as Minor Role (uncredited)
- Robert B. Williams as Patrolman Waggoner (uncredited)
- Paula Winslowe as Woman at Auction (uncredited)
- Wilson Wood as Photographer at United Nations (uncredited)
- Carleton Young as Fanning Nelson (uncredited)
- Dick Johnstone as Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
- Bert Stevens as Man at United Nations Building (uncredited)
- Cosmo Sardo as Worker (uncredited)
- Don Anderson as Worker (uncredited)
- Alphonso DuBois as Man at United Nations Building (uncredited)
- Len Hendry as Police Lieutenant (uncredited)
- Anne Anderson as Woman (uncredited)
- Rama Bai as Woman at United Nations Building (uncredited)
- Finn Zirzow as Worker (uncredited)
- Roger C. Carmel as Tall Man in Crowd (uncredited)
- Donna Douglas as Woman on Sidewalk (uncredited)
- Caryl Lincoln as Auction Guest (uncredited)
- Bill Rebane as Extra
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 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 66
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 | 0 | 5 |
| 3 to 4 | 6 | 8 |
| 5 to 6 | 1 | 2 |
| 7 to 8 | 0 | 21 |
| 9 to 10 | 0 | 4 |
| 11 to 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 to 14 | 5 | 47 |
| 15 to 16 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 to 18 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 to 20 | 0 | 39 |
| 21 to 22 | 3 | 5 |
| 23 to 24 | 15 | 11 |
| 25 to 26 | 1 | 0 |
| 27 to 28 | 7 | 2 |
| 29 to 30 | 13 | 26 |
| 31 to 32 | 0 | 6 |
| 33 to 34 | 6 | 3 |
| 35 to 36 | 8 | 15 |
| 37 to 38 | 0 | 1 |
| 39 to 40 | 3 | 8 |
| 41 to 42 | 3 | 2 |
| 43 to 44 | 49 | 45 |
| 45 to 46 | 11 | 8 |
| 47 to 48 | 3 | 1 |
| 49 to 50 | 11 | 9 |
| 51 to 52 | 7 | 27 |
| 53 to 54 | 27 | 20 |
| 55 to 56 | 8 | 80 |
| 57 to 58 | 4 | 13 |
| 59 to 60 | 23 | 49 |
| 61 to 62 | 15 | 34 |
| 63 to 64 | 7 | 12 |
| 65 to 66 | 12 | 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, 32 are women's.
248 lines from women, 519 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
18 women and 76 men in the cast. 13 women and 29 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 11 of 893.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 86 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 26% of the words (2,236), men 74% (6,376). Women have 32% 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
28
Exhibit E: behind the camera
None of the 7 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 0% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Alfred Hitchcock (man)
- Written by
- Ernest Lehman (man)
- Produced by
- Alfred Hitchcock (man)
- Shot by
- Robert Burks (man)
- Edited by
- George Tomasini (man)
- Music by
- Bernard Herrmann (man)
- Production design by
- Robert F. Boyle (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Art
0 women, 6 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 2 men
-
Other crew
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 2 men
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Production
0 women, 2 men
-
Sound
0 women, 2 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 51 on average. Men: 49 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Eva Marie Saint 35, Josephine Hutchinson 55, Jessie Royce Landis 62
Men
Martin Landau 31, Adam Williams 36, Edward Platt 43, James Mason 50, Cary Grant 55, Philip Ober 57, Leo G. Carroll 72
Exhibit G: the money
It made 3.3 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $4 million
- Box office
- $13.3 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 66 scenes and 893 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
