Fails the Bechdel test
Reds
1981. Directed by Warren Beatty, written by Warren Beatty and Trevor Griffiths.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
13 women characters. 5 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
Women do talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Every conversation between women that our parser found mentions a man.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
American journalist John Reed journeys to Russia to document the Bolshevik Revolution and returns a revolutionary. His fervor for left-wing politics leads him to Louise Bryant, then married, who will become a feminist icon and activist. Politics at home become more complicated as the rift grows between reality and Reed's ideals. Bryant takes up with a cynical playwright, and Reed returns to Russia, where his health declines.
- Released
- 25 Dec 1981
- Genres
- Biography, Drama, History
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 7.3 / 10
- Metascore
- 76 / 100
- Awards
- Won 3 Oscars. 25 wins & 41 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Jack 323 lines, man
- Louise 297 lines, woman
- Emma 42 lines, woman
- O'Neill 42 lines, man
- Zinoviev 16 lines, man
- Whigham 13 lines, man
- Vasili Ev 11 lines
- Man 9 lines, man
- Max 9 lines, man
- Pete 9 lines, man
Full cast, 85 people
- Warren Beatty as John Reed
- Diane Keaton as Louise Bryant
- Edward Herrmann as Max Eastman
- Jerzy Kosiński as Grigory Zinoviev
- Jack Nicholson as Eugene O'Neill
- Paul Sorvino as Louis Fraina
- Maureen Stapleton as Emma Goldman
- Nicolas Coster as Paul Trullinger
- M. Emmet Walsh as Speaker at Liberal Club
- Ian Wolfe as Mr. Partlow
- Bessie Love as Mrs. Partlow
- MacIntyre Dixon as Carl Walters
- Pat Starr as Helen Walters
- Eleanor D. Wilson as Mrs. Reed
- Max Wright as Floyd Dell
- George Plimpton as Horace Whigham
- Harry Ditson as Maurice Becker
- Leigh Curran as Ida Rauh
- Kathryn Grody as Crystal Eastman
- Brenda Currin as Marjorie Jones
- Nancy Duiguid as Jane Heap
- Norman Chancer as Barney
- Dolph Sweet as Big Bill Haywood
- Ramon Bieri as Police Chief
- Jack O'Leary as Pinkerton Guard
- Gene Hackman as Pete van Wherry
- Gerald Hiken as Dr. Lorber
- William Daniels as Julius Gerber
- Dave King as Allan Benson
- Joseph Buloff as Joe Volski
- Stefan Gryff as Alex Gomberg
- Denis Pekarev as Interpreter in Factory
- Roger Sloman as Vladimir I. Lenin
- Stuart Richman as Leon Trotsky
- Oleg Kerensky as Alexander Kerensky / Himself - Witness
- Nikko Seppala as Young Bolshevik Soldier
- John J. Hooker as Senator Overman
- Shane Rimmer as MacAlpine
- Jerry Hardin as Harry
- Jack Kehoe as Eddie
- Christopher Malcolm as CLP Party Member #1
- Tony Sibbald as CLP Party Member #2
- R.G. Armstrong as Government Agent
- Josef Sommer as State Department Official
- Jan Tříska as Karl Radek
- Åke Lindman as Scandinavian Escort
- Pertti Weckström as Finnish Doctor
- Nina Macarova as Russian Nurse
- Jose De Fillippo as Russian Doctor
- Andreas La Casa as Little Boy
- Roger Baldwin as Himself - Witness
- Henry Miller as Himself - Witness
- Adela Rogers St. Johns as Herself - Witness
- Dora Russell as Herself - Witness
- Scott Nearing as Himself - Witness
- Tess Davis as Herself - Witness
- Heaton Vorse as Herself - Witness
- Hamilton Fish as Himself - Witness
- Isaac Don Levine as Himself - Witness
- Rebecca West as Herself - Witness
- Will Durant as Himself - Witness
- Will Weinstone as Himself - Witness
- Emmanuel Herbert as Himself - Witness
- Arne Swabeck as Himself - Witness
- Adele Gutman Nathan as Herself - Witness
- George Seldes as Himself - Witness
- Kenneth Chamberlain as Himself - Witness
- Blanche Hays Fagen as Herself - Witness
- Galina von Meck as Herself - Witness
- Art Shields as Himself - Witness
- Andrew Dasburg as Himself - Witness
- Hugo Gellert as Himself - Witness
- Dorothy Frooks as Herself - Witness
- George Jessel as Himself - Witness
- Jacob Bailin as Himself - Witness
- John Ballato as Himself - Witness
- Lucita Williams as Herself - Witness
- Bernadine Szold-Fritz as Herself - Witness
- Jessica Smith as Herself - Witness
- Harry Carlisle as Himself - Witness
- Arthur Mayer as Himself - Witness
- Miriam Margolyes as Woman with Notebook (uncredited)
- John Ratzenberger as Communist Leader (uncredited)
- Simon Jones as Louise Bryant's Colleague in France (uncredited)
- Jill Goldston as Dancing Woman (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 12% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 113
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 | 0 |
| 4 to 6 | 60 | 48 |
| 7 to 9 | 20 | 23 |
| 10 to 12 | 24 | 26 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 12 |
| 16 to 18 | 1 | 5 |
| 19 to 21 | 11 | 14 |
| 22 to 24 | 19 | 15 |
| 25 to 27 | 31 | 33 |
| 28 to 30 | 17 | 23 |
| 31 to 33 | 3 | 4 |
| 34 to 36 | 26 | 23 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 2 |
| 40 to 42 | 1 | 16 |
| 43 to 45 | 19 | 26 |
| 46 to 48 | 6 | 11 |
| 49 to 51 | 4 | 6 |
| 52 to 54 | 1 | 12 |
| 55 to 57 | 1 | 4 |
| 58 to 60 | 2 | 4 |
| 61 to 63 | 15 | 2 |
| 64 to 66 | 14 | 34 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 2 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 3 |
| 73 to 75 | 12 | 17 |
| 76 to 78 | 2 | 11 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 2 |
| 82 to 84 | 4 | 11 |
| 85 to 87 | 12 | 14 |
| 88 to 90 | 6 | 26 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 13 |
| 94 to 96 | 8 | 10 |
| 97 to 99 | 5 | 8 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 0 |
| 103 to 105 | 33 | 11 |
| 106 to 108 | 14 | 19 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 0 |
| 112 to 113 | 3 | 0 |
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, 43 are women's.
374 lines from women, 490 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
13 women and 40 men in the cast. 5 women and 19 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
A woman speaks the first line.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 48 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 38% of the words (3,698), men 62% (6,100). Women have 43% 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
4
Two men
22
Exhibit E: behind the camera
8 of the 20 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 23% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Warren Beatty (man)
- Written by
- Warren Beatty (man), Trevor Griffiths (man), Elaine May (woman)
- Produced by
- Warren Beatty (man)
- Shot by
- Vittorio Storaro (man)
- Edited by
- Dede Allen (woman), Craig McKay (man)
- Music by
- Stephen Sondheim (man), Dave Grusin (man)
- Production design by
- Richard Sylbert (man)
- Costumes by
- Shirley Russell (woman)
- Cast by
- Patsy Pollock (woman), Noel Davis (man), Marion Dougherty (woman), Gretchen Rennell (woman), Kathy Talbert (gender not listed), Jane Jenkins (woman) and 2 more
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
1 women, 17 men, 19 not listed
-
Production
7 women, 11 men, 11 not listed
-
Editing
6 women, 8 men, 5 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 6 men, 8 not listed
-
Directing
2 women, 14 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 10 men, 6 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 2 men, 10 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 5 men, 7 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 46 on average. Men: 49 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Diane Keaton 35, Maureen Stapleton 56
Men
Edward Herrmann 38, Paul Sorvino 42, Warren Beatty 44, Jack Nicholson 44, M. Emmet Walsh 46, Nicolas Coster 47, Jerzy Kosiński 48, Ian Wolfe 85
Exhibit G: the money
It made 1.2 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $35 million
- Box office
- $40.4 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 113 scenes and 987 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
