Passes the Bechdel test
Philadelphia
1994. Directed by Jonathan Demme, written by Ron Nyswaner.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
25 women characters. 11 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 5. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.
The film
Fearing compromise to his career, lawyer Andrew Beckett hides his homosexuality and HIV status at a powerful Philadelphia law firm, but his secret is exposed when a colleague spots the illness' telltale lesions. Fired shortly afterwards, Beckett resolves to sue for discrimination, and teams up with Joe Miller (Denzel Washington), the only lawyer willing to help. In court, they face one of his ex-employers' top litigators, Belinda Conine.
- Released
- 14 Jan 1994
- Genres
- Drama
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 66 / 100
- Awards
- Won 2 Oscars. 21 wins & 23 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Andrew 272 lines, man
- Joe 233 lines, man
- Miguel 48 lines, man
- Wheeler 48 lines, man
- Belinda 47 lines, woman
- Seidman 34 lines, man
- Judge Garnett 28 lines, man
- Kenton 28 lines, man
- Lisa 21 lines
- Image 14 lines
Full cast, 86 people
- Tom Hanks as Andrew Beckett
- Denzel Washington as Joe Miller
- Jason Robards as Charles Wheeler
- Mary Steenburgen as Belinda Conine
- Antonio Banderas as Miguel Alvarez
- Ron Vawter as Bob Seidman
- Robert Ridgely as Walter Kenton
- Charles Napier as Judge Garnett
- Lisa Summerour as Lisa Miller
- Obba Babatundé as Jerome Green
- Andre B. Blake as Young Man in Pharmacy
- Robert W. Castle as Bud Beckett
- Daniel Chapman as Clinic Storyteller
- Roger Corman as Mr. Laird
- Ann Dowd as Jill Beckett
- David Drake as Bruno
- Karen Finley as Dr. Gillman
- Charles Glenn as Kenneth Killcoyne
- Peter Jacobs as Peter / Mona Lisa
- Paul Lazar as Dr. Klenstein
- John Bedford Lloyd as Matt Beckett
- Roberta Maxwell as Judge Tate
- Warren Miller as Mr. Finley
- Harry Northup as Juror
- Dan Olmstead as Randy Beckett
- Joey Perillo as Filko
- Lauren Roselli as Iris
- Bill Rowe as Dr. Armbruster
- Anna Deavere Smith as Anthea Burton
- Lisa Talerico as Shelby
- Daniel von Bargen as Jury Foreman
- Tracey Walter as Librarian
- Bradley Whitford as Jamey Collins
- Chandra Wilson as Chandra
- Kathryn Witt as Melissa Benedict
- Joanne Woodward as Sarah Beckett
- Buzz Kilman as Crutches
- Mark Sorensen Jr. as Clinic Patient
- Jeffrey Williamson as Tyrone
- Stephanie Roth Haberle as Rachel Smilow
- Ford Wheeler as Alan
- Julius Erving as Julius Erving
- Adam LeFevre as Jill's Husband
- Gary Goetzman as Guido Paonessa
- Kenneth Utt as Juror
- Lawrence T. Wrentz as Juror
- Charles Techman as Ralph Peterson
- Jim Roche as Not Adam and Steve
- Tony Fitzpatrick as Bartender
- Gene Borkan as Bailiff
- Q Lazzarus as Party singer
- Lucas Platt as Robert
- José Castillo as Miguel's Dad
- Roy Blount Jr. as Partygoer (uncredited)
- Bob Bowersox as PR Director (uncredited)
- Quentin Crisp as Guest at Party (uncredited)
- Tom Detrik as Reporter (uncredited)
- Tony Devon as Security Guard (uncredited)
- Tak Fujimoto as Doctor (uncredited)
- Ana Leza as Guest (uncredited)
- Jaime Gomez as Guy in Library (uncredited)
- Elizabeth Roby as Elizabeth Beckett
- Jane Moore as Lydia Glines
- Dennis Radesky as Santa Claus
- Glen Hartell as Library Guard
- Richard Ehrlich as Young Man in Library
- Ann Howard as Bronte Sister
- Peg French as Bronte Sister
- Molly Hickok as Molly Beckett
- Melissa Fraser Brown as The Jury
- Jordan Cael as The Jury
- Dorothy Demme as The Jury (as Dodie Demme)
- Donovan Mannato as The Jury
- Steven Scales as The Jury
- Billy Ray Tyson as The Jury
- Steve Vignari as The Jury
- James B. Howard as Dexter Smith
- Donna Hamilton as Angela Medina
- Edward Rendell as Mayor Edward Rendell
- Daniel Wolff as Filko's Buddy
- Ira Flitter as Andrew's Friend
- Michael Callen as The Flirtations
- Cliff Townsend as The Flirtations
- Lewis 'Jiggs' Walker as Punchline (as Lewis Walker)
- Carmen Mahiques as Miguel's Mom
- Leigh Smiley as Younger Sarah Beckett
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 9% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 5
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 1 | 67 | 506 |
| 2 to 2 | 7 | 144 |
| 3 to 3 | 37 | 163 |
| 4 to 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 to 5 | 0 | 0 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scene
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
ANTHEA: Didn't expect to see you... ? SHELBY: I'm looking through the files but...
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 12 are women's.
111 lines from women, 814 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
25 women and 52 men in the cast. 11 women and 47 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 3 of 1,021.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 119 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 12% of the words (1,283), men 88% (9,619).
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
3
Two men
62
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 29% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Jonathan Demme (man)
- Written by
- Ron Nyswaner (man)
- Produced by
- Jonathan Demme (man), Edward Saxon (man)
- Shot by
- Tak Fujimoto (man)
- Edited by
- Craig McKay (man)
- Music by
- Howard Shore (man)
- Production design by
- Kristi Zea (woman)
- Costumes by
- Colleen Atwood (woman), Lisa R. Frucht (woman)
- Cast by
- Howard Feuer (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
4 women, 10 men, 1 not listed
-
Production
2 women, 9 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 7 men, 3 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 5 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
3 women, 2 men
-
Editing
1 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 40 on average. Men: 48 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Mary Steenburgen 40
Men
Antonio Banderas 33, Tom Hanks 37, Denzel Washington 38, Obba Babatundé 42, Ron Vawter 45, Charles Napier 57, Robert Ridgely 61, Jason Robards 71
Exhibit H: the money
It made 7.9 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $26 million
- Box office
- $207 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 5 scenes and 1,021 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
