Passes the Bechdel test
Peggy Sue Got Married
1986. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, written by Jerry Leichtling and Arlene Sarner.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
12 women characters. 10 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 21 scenes out of 147. -
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
Peggy Sue Bodell (Turner) attends her 25-year high school reunion after separating from her cheating husband, Charlie (Cage). She regrets the decisions she has made in her life, such as getting pregnant by Charlie in high school. When she faints at the reunion, she wakes up in 1960 - and is given the chance to relive her life.
- Released
- 10 Oct 1986
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 6.4 / 10
- Metascore
- 75 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 3 Oscars. 4 wins & 14 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Peggy 399 lines, woman
- Charlie 146 lines, man
- Richard 81 lines, man
- Mr. Kelcher 51 lines, man
- Mrs. Kelcher 48 lines, woman
- Carol 46 lines, woman
- Michael 31 lines, man
- Maddy 25 lines, woman
- Arthur 21 lines, man
- Nancy 20 lines, woman
Full cast, 50 people
- Kathleen Turner as Peggy Sue
- Nicolas Cage as Charlie Bodell
- Barry Miller as Richard Norvik
- Catherine Hicks as Carol Heath
- Joan Allen as Maddy Nagle
- Kevin J. O'Connor as Michael Fitzsimmons
- Jim Carrey as Walter Getz
- Lisa Jane Persky as Delores Dodge
- Lucinda Jenney as Rosalie Testa
- Wil Shriner as Arthur Nagle
- Barbara Harris as Evelyn Kelcher
- Don Murray as Jack Kelcher
- Sofia Coppola as Nancy Kelcher
- Maureen O'Sullivan as Elizabeth Alvorg
- Leon Ames as Barney Alvorg
- Randy Bourne as Scott Bodell
- Helen Hunt as Beth Bodell
- Don Stark as Doug Stell
- Marshall Crenshaw as Reunion Band
- Chris Donato as Reunion Band
- Robert Crenshaw as Reunion Band
- Tom Teeley as Reunion Band
- Graham Maby as Reunion Band
- Ken Grantham as Mr. Snelgrove
- Sigrid Wurschmidt as Sharon
- Glenn Withrow as Terry
- Harry Basil as Leon
- John Carradine as Leo
- Sachi Parker as Lisa
- Vivien Straus as Sandy
- Morgan Upton as Mr. Gilfond
- Lewis Leibovich as Dr. Daly
- Bill Bonham as Drunk
- Joe Lerer as Drunk Creep
- Barbara Oliver as Nurse
- Martin Scott as The Four-Mations
- Marcus Scott as The Four-Mations
- Carl Lockett as The Four-Mations
- Tony Saunders as The Four-Mations
- Vincent Lars as The Four-Mations
- Larry E. Vann as The Four-Mations
- Lawrence Menkin as Elderly Gentleman
- Daniel R. Suhart as Chinese Waiter
- Leslie Hilsinger as Majorette
- Al Nalbandian as Lodge Member
- Dan Leegant as Lodge Member
- Ron Cook as Lodge Member
- Mary Leichtling as Reunion Receptionist
- Harrod Blank as Dancer (uncredited)
- Anna Ferguson as Nurse (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 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 147
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 4 | 6 | 7 |
| 5 to 8 | 1 | 3 |
| 9 to 12 | 8 | 9 |
| 13 to 16 | 8 | 0 |
| 17 to 20 | 20 | 5 |
| 21 to 24 | 16 | 13 |
| 25 to 28 | 22 | 4 |
| 29 to 32 | 4 | 4 |
| 33 to 36 | 38 | 28 |
| 37 to 40 | 7 | 0 |
| 41 to 44 | 37 | 1 |
| 45 to 48 | 35 | 11 |
| 49 to 52 | 8 | 10 |
| 53 to 56 | 6 | 7 |
| 57 to 60 | 23 | 27 |
| 61 to 64 | 18 | 20 |
| 65 to 68 | 24 | 4 |
| 69 to 72 | 9 | 13 |
| 73 to 76 | 5 | 7 |
| 77 to 80 | 28 | 24 |
| 81 to 84 | 9 | 10 |
| 85 to 88 | 16 | 8 |
| 89 to 92 | 0 | 0 |
| 93 to 96 | 23 | 20 |
| 97 to 100 | 24 | 19 |
| 101 to 104 | 17 | 21 |
| 105 to 108 | 37 | 5 |
| 109 to 112 | 20 | 20 |
| 113 to 116 | 27 | 19 |
| 117 to 120 | 13 | 15 |
| 121 to 124 | 25 | 18 |
| 125 to 128 | 21 | 7 |
| 129 to 132 | 2 | 2 |
| 133 to 136 | 9 | 5 |
| 137 to 140 | 12 | 6 |
| 141 to 144 | 7 | 10 |
| 145 to 147 | 28 | 32 |
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.
PEGGY: If the pastries aren't here by nine thirty, call Monica and threaten her life. PEGGY: I'll be back by noon. BETH: Hi Monica. You just missed Mom. MONICA: Sorry I'm late. My Bobo's back in town.
PEGGY: Carol! CAROL: Peggy Sue!
CAROL: I haven't seen you in years. In all that time, haven't you at least tried another hair style? PEGGY: 1 just did it for the reunion. I thought it would be fun. CAROL: You're probably the only one who could carry it off.
PEGGY: I feel ridiculous. Maybe I should go home and change. BETH: Why are you so nervous? What is the matter with you today? PEGGY: I don't know. Reunions do funny things to people. MADDY: You two look like that soap commercial. Which one's the daughter and which one's the mother?
MADDY: Peggy, would you find a table? We'll see you in a little while. PEGGY: Okay.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 60 are women's.
613 lines from women, 414 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
12 women and 19 men in the cast. 10 women and 14 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 1,054.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 12 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 53% of the words (6,528), men 47% (5,786). Women have 60% 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
44
Two men
16
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 31% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Francis Ford Coppola (man)
- Written by
- Arlene Sarner (woman), Jerry Leichtling (man)
- Produced by
- Paul R. Gurian (man), Francis Ford Coppola (man)
- Shot by
- Jordan Cronenweth (man)
- Edited by
- Barry Malkin (man)
- Music by
- John Barry (man)
- Production design by
- Dean Tavoularis (man)
- Cast by
- Pennie DuPont (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
2 women, 7 men, 7 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 6 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 7 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 6 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Other crew
2 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 32 on average. Men: 26 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Joan Allen 30, Lisa Jane Persky 31, Kathleen Turner 32, Lucinda Jenney 32, Catherine Hicks 35
Men
Nicolas Cage 22, Kevin J. O'Connor 22, Jim Carrey 24, Barry Miller 28, Wil Shriner 32
Exhibit H: the money
It made 2.3 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $18 million
- Box office
- $41.4 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 147 scenes and 1,054 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
