Fails the Bechdel test
Rocky
1976. Directed by John G. Avildsen, written by Sylvester Stallone.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
7 women characters. 4 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 1 out of 3.
The film
Rocky Balboa is a struggling boxer trying to make the big time, working as a debt collector for a pittance. When heavyweight champion Apollo Creed visits Philadelphia, his managers want to set up an exhibition match between Creed and a struggling boxer, touting the fight as a chance for a "nobody" to become a "somebody". The match is supposed to be easily won by Creed, but someone forgot to tell Rocky, who sees this as his only shot at the big time.
- Released
- 03 Dec 1976
- Genres
- Drama, Sport
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 8.1 / 10
- Metascore
- 70 / 100
- Awards
- Won 3 Oscars. 23 wins & 23 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Rocky 333 lines, man
- Mickey 93 lines, man
- Adrian 88 lines, woman
- Paulie 78 lines, man
- Apollo 55 lines, man
- Jergens 24 lines, man
- Gazzo 22 lines, man
- Trainer 22 lines, man
- Commentator #1 16 lines
- Cleaner 15 lines
Full cast, 47 people
- Sylvester Stallone as Robert 'Rocky' Balboa
- Talia Shire as Adrianna 'Adrian' Pennino
- Burt Young as Paulie
- Carl Weathers as Apollo
- Burgess Meredith as Mickey
- Thayer David as Jergens
- Joe Spinell as Gazzo
- Jimmy Gambina as Mike
- Bill Baldwin as Fight Announcer
- Al Silvani as Cut Man
- George Memmoli as Ice Rink Attendant
- Jodi Letizia as Marie
- Diana Lewis as TV Commentator
- George O'Hanlon as TV Commentator
- Larry Carroll as TV Interviewer
- Stan Shaw as Dipper
- Don Sherman as Bartender
- Billy Sands as Club Fight Announcer
- Pedro Lovell as Club Fighter
- DeForest Covan as Apollo's Corner
- Simmy Bow as Club Corner Man
- Tony Burton as Apollo's Trainer
- Hank Rolike as Apollo Corner Man
- Shirley O'Hara as Secretary
- Kathleen Parker as Paulie's Date
- Frank Stallone Sr. as Timekeeper
- Lloyd Kaufman as Drunk
- Jane Marla Robbins as Owner of Pet Shop
- Jack Hollander as Fats
- Joe Sorbello as Bodyguard
- Christopher Avildsen as Chiptooth
- Frankie Van as Club Fight Referee
- Lou Fillipo as Championship Fight Announcer
- Paris Eagle as Fighter
- Frank Stallone Jr. as Streetcorner Singer
- Robert L. Tangrea as Streetcorner Singer
- Peter Glassberg as Streetcorner Singer
- William E. Ring as Streetcorner Singer
- Joseph C. Giambelluc as Streetcorner Singer
- Joe Frazier as Himself
- Butkus Stallone as Dog
- Michael Dorn as Apollo's Bodyguard (uncredited)
- Stu Nahan as Fight Commentator (uncredited)
- Lavelle Roby as Mary Anne Creed (uncredited)
- Arthur Tovey as Reporter (uncredited)
- Arnold Johnson as Apollo's Lawyer (uncredited)
- Frank Pesce as Spectator (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 8% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 108
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 | 10 |
| 4 to 6 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 24 |
| 13 to 15 | 9 | 24 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 15 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 42 |
| 22 to 24 | 1 | 4 |
| 25 to 27 | 4 | 62 |
| 28 to 30 | 11 | 64 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 29 |
| 34 to 36 | 10 | 29 |
| 37 to 39 | 32 | 45 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 12 |
| 43 to 45 | 3 | 21 |
| 46 to 48 | 9 | 52 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 57 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 0 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 0 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 29 |
| 61 to 63 | 6 | 61 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 5 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 13 |
| 70 to 72 | 14 | 30 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 0 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 6 |
| 79 to 81 | 4 | 11 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 0 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 1 |
| 88 to 90 | 5 | 8 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 0 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 0 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 0 |
| 100 to 102 | 1 | 7 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 48 |
| 106 to 108 | 1 | 38 |
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, 13 are women's.
111 lines from women, 749 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
7 women and 36 men in the cast. 4 women and 21 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 18 of 934.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 150 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 8% of the words (713), men 92% (8,738). Women have 13% 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
0
Two men
42
Exhibit E: behind the camera
1 of the 10 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 11% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- John G. Avildsen (man)
- Written by
- Sylvester Stallone (man)
- Produced by
- Irwin Winkler (man), Robert Chartoff (man)
- Shot by
- James Crabe (man)
- Edited by
- Scott Conrad (man), Richard Halsey (man)
- Music by
- Bill Conti (man)
- Production design by
- William J. Cassidy (man)
- Cast by
- Caro Jones (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
1 women, 4 men, 3 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 5 men
-
Directing
1 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 3 men
-
Art
0 women, 3 men
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men
-
Sound
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 30 on average. Men: 48 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Talia Shire 30
Men
Carl Weathers 28, Sylvester Stallone 30, Burt Young 36, Joe Spinell 40, Thayer David 49, Bill Baldwin 63, Al Silvani 66, Burgess Meredith 69
Exhibit G: the money
It made 117.3 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $1 million
- Box office
- $117 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 108 scenes and 934 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
