Fails the Bechdel test

Quiz Show

Name: Quiz Show
Released: 1994

1994. Directed by Robert Redford, written by Paul Attanasio and Richard N. Goodwin.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
19 women characters. 10 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 2 out of 3.

The film

An idealistic young lawyer working for a Congressional subcommittee in the late 1950s discovers that TV quiz shows are being fixed. His investigation focuses on two contestants on the show "Twenty-One": Herbert Stempel, a brash working-class Jew from Queens, and Charles Van Doren, the patrician scion of one of America's leading literary families. Based on a true story.

Released: 07 Oct 1994
Genres: Biography, Drama, History
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 7.5 / 10
Metascore: 92 / 100
Awards: Nominated for 4 Oscars. 6 wins & 37 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Goodwin 255 lines, man
Charlie 253 lines, man
Herbie 168 lines, man
Enright 112 lines, man
Barry 82 lines, man
Mark 80 lines, man
Freedman 41 lines, man
Sandra 34 lines, woman
Toby 31 lines, woman
Kintner 27 lines, man

Full cast, 103 people

John Turturro as Herb Stempel
Rob Morrow as Dick Goodwin
Ralph Fiennes as Charles Van Doren
Paul Scofield as Mark Van Doren
David Paymer as Dan Enright
Hank Azaria as Albert Freedman
Christopher McDonald as Jack Barry
Johann Carlo as Toby Stempel
Elizabeth Wilson as Dorothy Van Doren
Allan Rich as Robert Kintner
Mira Sorvino as Sandra Goodwin
George Martin as Chairman
Paul Guilfoyle as Lishman
Griffin Dunne as Account Guy
Michael Mantell as Pennebaker
Byron Jennings as Moomaw
Ben Shenkman as Childress
Timothy Busfield as Fred
Jack Gilpin as Jack
Bruce Altman as Gene
Martin Scorsese as Sponsor
Joseph Blaire as Lester Stempel
Ernie Sabella as Car Salesman
Barry Levinson as Dave Garroway
Debra Monk as Kintner's Secretary
Mario Cantone as Passerby
Timothy Britten Parker as Researcher
Grace Phillips as Mrs. Nearing
Jerry Grayson as Limo Driver
Scott Lucy as NBC Page
Matt Keeslar as NBC Page
Ron Scott Bertozzi as NBC Page
Harriet Sansom Harris as Enright's Secretary
Mary Shultz as Freedman's Secretary
Dave Wilson as Director
Robert Caminiti as Associate Director
Eddie Korbich as Lighting Director
Le Clanché du Rand as Cornwall Neighbor
Carole Shelley as Cornwall Aunt
Shawn Batten as Cornwall Cousin
Cornelia Ryan as Cornwall Cousin
Jeffrey Nordling as John Van Doren
Gina Rice as Mrs. John Van Doren
Vince O'Brien as Bunny Wilson
Adam Kilgour as Thomas Merton
Richard Seff as Congressman Devine
Bill Moor as Congressman Rogers
Nicholas Kepros as Congressman Flynt
Barry Snider as Congressman Springer
Chuck Adamson as Congressman Mack
Joseph Attanasio as Congressman Derounian
Dan Wakefield as Professor at Book Party
Hamilton Fish as Professor at Book Party
Merwin Goldsmith as Writer at Book Party
Illeana Douglas as Woman at Book Party
Gretchen Egolf as Student at Book Party
Stephen Pearlman as Judge Schweitzer
Anthony Fusco as Librarian
Douglas McGrath as Snodgrass
Calista Flockhart as Barnard Girl
Alysa Shwedel as Barnard Girl
Kelly Coffield Park as Queens Neighbor
Dede Pochos as Queens Neighbor
Maria Radman as Queens Neighbor
David Stepkin as Queens Neighbor
Steve Roland as Today Announcer (voice)
Bernie Sheredy as Reporter
Joe Lisi as Reporter
Greg Martin as Reporter
Reno as Woman at Door
Neil Leifer as Psychoanalyst
Caryn Krooth as Blonde
Mario Contacessi as Waiter
Patricia Geri Russell as Challenger
Bill Cwikowski as Challenger
William Fichtner as Stage Manager
Vincent J. Burns as Crew Member
Katherine Borowitz as #1 Mom
Ray Abbott as Photographer (uncredited)
Ted Brunson as Reporter (uncredited)
Michael J. Burg as Student (uncredited)
Hélène Cardona as Student (Uncredited)
Richard Council as Reporter #1 (uncredited)
Jerry Griffin as Doorman (uncredited)
David Hausen as Camera Operator (uncredited)
Ethan Hawke as Don Quixote Student (uncredited)
Christopher King as Congressional Hearing Reporter (uncredited)
Stas Kmiec as Man in Glasses (uncredited)
Michael Luceri as Student (uncredited)
Owen Lund as Techincal Director (uncredited)
Gerald McCullouch as Bus Boy (uncredited)
Peter Morse as Student (uncredited)
Ron Ostrow as Photographer (uncredited)
John Ponzio as NBC Page (uncredited)
James Prendergast as Lawyer (uncredited)
Steve Ryan as NBC Employee (uncredited)
Jonathan Marc Sherman as Don Quixote Student #2 (uncredited)
Nick Taylor as Herbie's Neighbor (uncredited)
Glenn Zarr as Press Phtographer (uncredited)
John D. Bair as Grad Student (uncredited)
Thomas Callahan as Press Photographer (uncredited)
Skip Rose as Reporter (uncredited)
Billy Marshall Thompson as Student (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 5% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 141

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 3	0	31
4 to 6	0	0
7 to 9	0	2
10 to 12	0	5
13 to 15	0	3
16 to 18	1	17
19 to 21	0	11
22 to 24	3	19
25 to 27	0	5
28 to 30	8	10
31 to 33	1	6
34 to 36	0	59
37 to 39	13	41
40 to 42	6	65
43 to 45	0	12
46 to 48	1	14
49 to 51	0	18
52 to 54	1	11
55 to 57	0	3
58 to 60	0	4
61 to 63	0	5
64 to 66	0	18
67 to 69	1	14
70 to 72	0	1
73 to 75	3	43
76 to 78	0	101
79 to 81	0	11
82 to 84	0	3
85 to 87	5	42
88 to 90	12	51
91 to 93	4	65
94 to 96	0	8
97 to 99	7	31
100 to 102	11	59
103 to 105	0	37
106 to 108	3	3
109 to 111	1	17
112 to 114	1	24
115 to 117	1	10
118 to 120	0	6
121 to 123	1	43
124 to 126	0	60
127 to 129	5	49
130 to 132	9	16
133 to 135	3	24
136 to 138	0	64
139 to 141	0	94

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, 8 are women's.

101 lines from women, 1235 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

19 women and 60 men in the cast. 10 women and 47 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 64 of 1,409. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 168 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 6% of the words (988), men 94% (15,849). Women have 8% 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

Two men

117

Exhibit E: behind the camera

2 of the 12 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 35% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Robert Redford (man)
Written by: Paul Attanasio (man)
Produced by: Michael Jacobs (man), Julian Krainin (gender not listed), Michael Nozik (man), Robert Redford (man)
Shot by: Michael Ballhaus (man)
Edited by: Stu Linder (man)
Music by: Mark Isham (man)
Production design by: Jon Hutman (man)
Costumes by: Kathy O'Rear (woman)
Cast by: Bonnie Timmermann (woman)