Passes the Bechdel test
Pretty Woman
1990. Directed by Garry Marshall, written by J.F. Lawton.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
25 women characters. 8 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 1. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
Replete with extreme wealth and suave good looks, Edward Lewis could seemingly have any woman he wants, a committed significant other needed on his arm at social events to further how he makes his money as a corporate raider, but since he focuses more on his corporate-raiding pursuits with his lawyer of 10 years and partner-in-crime Philip Stuckey than any woman, every significant other he's had in his life has felt neglected and eventually left him, the fact of which he is just realizing. In Beverly Hills, still in need of a woman on his arm as he and Philip work toward taking over a company owned by the increasingly insolvent James Morse, he decides, from a chance encounter, to hire Hollywood Boulevard hooker Vivian Ward as his escort for the week. It makes sense: a professional who would be committed to the work without having any relationship issues after the week is done. Beyond their chance encounter, he also makes this decision because she surprises him about how unhookerish she is in certain respects. Vivian, relatively new to Los Angeles and the business, must still look and act the part, with Edward, beyond giving her money, leaving her largely to her own devices to do so. She finds a somewhat-unlikely Henry Higgins in Barney Thompson, manager of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel where Edward is staying. Barney draws that fine line of keeping the hotel's upscale clients happy while maintaining the posh decorum of the upper class, which does not include people to the hotel looking for rooms with hourly rates. As Barney and his associates are able to transform Vivian into a Cinderella, the questions become whether Vivian can go back to her Hollywood Boulevard life and whether she does have her Prince Charming beyond this week in the form of Edward (or anyone else) who truly does see her as Cinderella as opposed to a Hollywood Boulevard streetwalker.
- Released
- 23 Mar 1990
- Genres
- Comedy, Romance
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.1 / 10
- Metascore
- 51 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 Oscar. 8 wins & 11 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Edward 466 lines, man
- Vivian 449 lines, woman
- Philip 125 lines, man
- Kit 89 lines, woman
- Barney 68 lines, man
- Lyrics 62 lines
- James Morse 25 lines, man
- Hollister 23 lines, man
- Carlos 12 lines, man
- Saleswoman # 1 12 lines, woman
Full cast, 75 people
- Julia Roberts as Vivian Ward
- Richard Gere as Edward Lewis
- Ralph Bellamy as James Morse
- Jason Alexander as Philip Stuckey
- Laura San Giacomo as Kit De Luca
- Héctor Elizondo as The Hotel Manager
- Alex Hyde-White as David Morse
- Amy Yasbeck as Elizabeth Stuckey
- Elinor Donahue as Bridget
- Judith Baldwin as Susan
- Jason Randal as Magician
- Bill Applebaum as Howard
- Tracy Bjork as Female Guest
- Gary Greene as Male Guest
- Billy Gallo as Carlos
- Abdul Salaam El Razzac as Happy Man
- Hank Azaria as Detective
- Larry Hankin as Landlord
- Julie Paris as Rachel
- Rhonda Hansome as Bermuda
- Harvey Keenan as Man in Car
- Marty Nadler as Tourist Man
- Lynda Goodfriend as Tourist Woman
- Reed Anthony as Cruiser
- Frank Campanella as Pops
- Jackie O'Brien as Artist
- Cheri Caspari as Angel
- Scott Marshall as Skateboard Kid
- Patrick Richwood as Night Elevator Operator Dennis
- Kathleen Marshall as Day Desk Clerk
- Laurelle Mehus as Night Desk Clerk
- Don Feldstein as Male Desk Clerk
- Marvin Braverman as Room Service Waiter
- Al Sapienza as Night Doorman
- Jeff Michalski as Day Doorman
- James Patrick Stuart as Day Bellhop
- Lloyd T. Williams as Bellhop
- R. Darrell Hunter as Darryl The Limo Driver
- James Patrick Dunne as Lounge Pianist
- Valorie Armstrong as Woman in Lobby
- Steve Restivo as Italian Businessman
- Rodney Kageyama as Japanese Businessman
- Douglas Stitzel as American Businessman
- Larry Miller as Mr. Hollister
- Dey Young as Snobby Saleswoman
- Shane Ross as Marie
- Carol Williard as Saleswoman
- Minda Burr as Saleswoman
- Robyn Peterson as Saleswoman
- Mariann Aalda as Saleswoman
- RC Everbeck as Tie Salesman
- Michael French as Maitre D'
- Allan Kent as Waiter
- Stacy Keach Sr. as Senator Adams
- Lucinda Crosby as Olsen Sister
- Nancy Locke as Olsen Sister
- Calvin Remsberg as Sod Stomping Announcer
- Lloyd Nelson as Game Announcer
- Norman Large as Polite Husband
- Tracy Reiner as Woman at Car
- Tom Nolan as Vance
- John David Carson as Mark
- Daniel Bardol as Jake
- Karin Calabro as "Violetta"
- Bruce Eckstut as "Alfredo"
- Amzie Strickland as Matron
- Mychael Bates as Usher
- Garry Marshall as Bum Tour Guide (uncredited)
- Rio Hackford as Street Junkie (uncredited)
- Paul Bradley as Man in Theatre Box (uncredited)
- Charles Minsky as Janitor with Water Hose (uncredited)
- Randall Rutledge as Security Guard (uncredited)
- John Simone as Waiter (uncredited)
- Robert Buckingham as Party Guest (uncredited)
- Françoise Ruggieri as Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
We couldn't read who says what in this film's script, so there's no dialogue chart for it yet.
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.
VIVIAN: Irritate you ? Irritate you ? I just saw a girl pulled out of a Dumpster. KIT: I know. Skinny Marie. But... she was a... a flake. She was a crack head. Dominic was trying to straighten her out for months. VIVIAN: Don't you want to get out of here ? KIT: Get out of where ? Where the fuck you wanna go ?
VIVIAN: Hi. MISS WILSON: Yes, ma'am. May I help you ? VIVIAN: Yeah, I'm leaving this here for Kit De Luca. She's gonna pick it up. VIVIAN: Don't open that.
VIVIAN: It's new. ELIZABETH: What are you looking at ?
VIVIAN: Mmm. DORIS: Did you enjoy the opera, dear ? VIVIAN: Oh, it was so good, I almost peed in my pants. DORIS: What ?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 43 are women's.
602 lines from women, 791 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
25 women and 46 men in the cast. 8 women and 18 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 5 of 1,477.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 44 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 43% of the words (5,077), men 57% (6,656).
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
14
Two men
39
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 24% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Garry Marshall (man)
- Written by
- J.F. Lawton (man)
- Produced by
- Steven Reuther (man), Arnon Milchan (man)
- Shot by
- Charles Minsky (man)
- Edited by
- Priscilla Nedd-Friendly (woman), Raja Gosnell (man)
- Music by
- James Newton Howard (man)
- Production design by
- Albert Brenner (man)
- Costumes by
- Marilyn Vance (woman)
- Cast by
- Dianne Crittenden (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
4 women, 9 men, 5 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 10 men, 3 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 9 men, 3 not listed
-
Other crew
4 women, 5 men, 3 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 3 men, 7 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
2 women, 3 men
-
Editing
1 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 34 on average. Men: 48 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Julia Roberts 22, Laura San Giacomo 27, Amy Yasbeck 27, Judith Baldwin 43, Elinor Donahue 52
Men
Jason Alexander 30, Alex Hyde-White 31, Richard Gere 40, Héctor Elizondo 53, Ralph Bellamy 85
Exhibit H: the money
It made 33.1 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $14 million
- Box office
- $463 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 1 scenes and 1,477 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
