Passes the Bechdel test

Platinum Blonde

Name: Platinum Blonde
Released: 1931

1931. Directed by Frank Capra, written by Harry Chandlee and Douglas W. Churchill and Robert Riskin.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
5 women characters. 2 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 4 scenes out of 54.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.

The film

Reporter Gallagher loves reporter Smith who marries Ann. He's soon bored being married to a socialite and asks Gallagher to help him write a play. She arrives with a bunch of reporters and the mansion turns into a party. Ann arrives and orders them out and Smith goes with them.

Released: 31 Oct 1931
Genres: Comedy, Romance
Rated: Approved
IMDb: 6.7 / 10
Awards: 2 wins total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

Stew 276 lines, man
Anne 91 lines, woman
Gallagher 69 lines, woman
Bingy 41 lines, man
Grayson 41 lines, man
Smythe 39 lines, man
Conroy 36 lines, man
Mrs. Schuyler 26 lines, woman
Dawson 20 lines, man
Miss Wilson 10 lines, woman

Full cast, 38 people

Jean Harlow as Ann Schuyler
Robert Williams as Stewart Smith
Loretta Young as Gallagher
Halliwell Hobbes as Smythe
Reginald Owen as Dexter Grayson
Louise Closser Hale as Mrs. Schuyler
Don Dillaway as Michael Schuyler
Edmund Breese as Conroy
Walter Catlett as Bingy Baker
Claud Allister as Dawson - the Valet
Wilson Benge as Butler (uncredited)
Vance Carroll as Reporter (uncredited)
Eddy Chandler as Hank (uncredited)
Richard Cramer as Speakeasy Proprietor (uncredited)
Oliver Eckhardt as Reporter (uncredited)
Bill Elliott as Ann's Beau (uncredited)
Adolph Faylauer as Party Guest (uncredited)
J.C. Fowler as Reporter (uncredited)
Constant Franke as Party Guest (uncredited)
Dannie Mac Grant as Office Boy (uncredited)
Frank Holliday as Reporter (uncredited)
Olaf Hytten as Mr. Radcliffe (uncredited)
Charles Jordan as Reporter (uncredited)
Carl M. Leviness as Party Guest (uncredited)
Tom London as Reporter (uncredited)
Adolph Milar as Doorman (uncredited)
Edmund Mortimer as Party Guest (uncredited)
George Nardelli as Party Guest (uncredited)
Richard Powell as Reporter (uncredited)
Hal Price as Joe (uncredited)
Dick Prichard as Minor Role (uncredited)
Harry Semels as Waiter (uncredited)
Edgar Sherrod as Party Guest (uncredited)
Harry Strang as Reporter (uncredited)
Ellinor Vanderveer as Party Guest (uncredited)
William Wagner as Typist (uncredited)
Florence Wix as Party Guest (uncredited)
Suzanne Wood as Dowager (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 54

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	1	28
3 to 4	0	0
5 to 6	7	8
7 to 8	1	44
9 to 10	15	36
11 to 12	13	19
13 to 14	18	13
15 to 16	2	3
17 to 18	11	52
19 to 20	28	63
21 to 22	0	13
23 to 24	0	0
25 to 26	2	2
27 to 28	19	1
29 to 30	15	17
31 to 32	1	10
33 to 34	0	1
35 to 36	7	16
37 to 38	7	13
39 to 40	10	14
41 to 42	0	37
43 to 44	4	24
45 to 46	3	11
47 to 48	11	12
49 to 50	15	17
51 to 52	2	3
53 to 54	4	21

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.

MRS. SCHUYLER: Imbecile! ANNE: You should have known better than to write, Romeo. I found that out a long time ago. MRS. SCHUYLER: I should say you had. At the rate you two are going, we'll have to leave the country to save our faces. ANNE: Splendid, Mother. Let's hop over to Monte Carlo. It's a great place to save a face.

ANNE: Wait a minute— ANNE: Don't mind Mother. MRS. SCHUYLER: Anne! ANNE: I'm sure you're quite willing to be decent about this.

MRS. SCHUYLER: That's an excellent idea. ANNE: Oh, hello Mother! MRS. SCHUYLER: What is this person doing here? ANNE: Why—

MRS. SCHUYLER: Get out of here. ANNE: Please go. I'll explain to Mother.

GALLAGHER: Eurek—! ANNE: That's ridiculous.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 29 are women's.

196 lines from women, 478 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

5 women and 29 men in the cast. 2 women and 11 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 7 of 677. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 39 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 23% of the words (1,793), men 77% (5,908). Women have 29% 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

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

None of the 11 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 6% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Frank Capra (man)
Story by: Douglas W. Churchill (gender not listed), Harry Chandlee (man)
Produced by: Frank Capra (man), Harry Cohn (man)
Shot by: Joseph Walker (man)
Edited by: Gene Milford (man)
Music by: David Broekman (man), Irving Bibo (gender not listed), Bernhard Kaun (man)
Costumes by: Edward Stevenson (man)