Passes the Bechdel test

Shampoo

1975. Directed by Hal Ashby, written by Robert Towne and Warren Beatty.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    28 women characters. 14 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 5 scenes out of 77.
  3. 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.

Poster for Shampoo

The film

Thirty-something George Roundy is a Beverly Hills hairdresser, who spends as much time sleeping with his female clients as he does doing their hair. Whether they want to admit it, all the women in his life are for the most part aware that they are are not the only one with whom he is sleeping. And some, such as the wealthy and married Felicia Karpf, have a stronger emotional dependence on George than they would like to admit. George's current girlfriend is Jill, an up and coming actress. Jill's best friend is Jackie Shawn, one of George's old girlfriends who left him because he couldn't make a true commitment to her. In turn, Jackie is currently having an affair with Lester Karpf, Felicia's wealthy businessman husband. George is unhappy working at a salon owned by Norman, with whom he is constantly butting heads. In his first act of wanting finally to be a grown up, George wants to open his own salon, but doesn't have the financial resources to do it, and no bank will lend him money for the venture. Felicia at least convinces Lester to consider investing in George. On Monday, November 4, 1968, the eve of the presidential election, this group spends the evening together, first at a dinner party hosted by Lester, and then another private party. Lester asks his potential new business partner, George, to accompany his mistress Jackie, not knowing that George and Jackie know each other. Jill, who is invited to the party by Jackie, invites director Johnny Pope as her date, he who is considering her for a role in his next movie filming in Egypt and perhaps more. Over the course of the evening, George may come to the realization of what he wants in life both professionally and personally, but achieving happiness will depend upon others in his life, they who have known George up to this time only as an uncommitted narcissist.

Released
13 Mar 1975
Genres
Comedy, Drama
Rated
R
IMDb
6.4 / 10
Metascore
65 / 100
Awards
Won 1 Oscar. 3 wins & 11 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. George 476 lines, man
  2. Jackie 207 lines, woman
  3. Jill 199 lines, woman
  4. Lester 187 lines, man
  5. Felicia 112 lines, woman
  6. Pope 50 lines, man
  7. Lorna 32 lines, woman
  8. Pettis 14 lines, man
  9. Mary 13 lines, woman
  10. Tina 11 lines
Full cast, 67 people
  • Warren Beatty as George Roundy
  • Julie Christie as Jackie Shawn
  • Goldie Hawn as Jill Haynes
  • Lee Grant as Felicia Karpf
  • Jack Warden as Lester Karpf
  • Tony Bill as Johnny Pope
  • George Furth as Mr. Pettis
  • Jay Robinson as Norman
  • Ann Weldon as Mary
  • Luana Anders as Devra
  • Randy Scheer as Dennis
  • Susanna Moore as Gloria
  • Carrie Fisher as Lorna
  • Mike Olton as Ricci
  • Richard E. Kalk as Detective Younger
  • Ronald Dunas as Nate
  • Hal Buckley as Kenneth
  • Jack Bernardi as Izzy
  • William Castle as Sid Roth
  • Brad Dexter as Senator East
  • Doris Packer as Rozalind
  • Faye Michael Nuell as Norma
  • Howard Hesseman as Red Dog
  • Cherie Latimer as Girl in Car
  • George Justin as Producer
  • Lesley Evans as Secretary
  • Brunetta Barnett as Mona
  • Joan Marshall as Mrs. Schumann
  • Kathleen Miller as Anjanette
  • Janice Baker as Model #1
  • April Ross as Model #2
  • Paula Warner as Model #3
  • Luis Delgado as Waiter at Bistro
  • Dina Ousley as Hairdresser
  • Mack Eden as Hairdresser
  • Daryl Keith Roach as Boy at Party
  • Melinda Smith as Twin #1
  • Constance Smith as Twin #2
  • Sean Walsh as Boy with Twins
  • Gary Marsh as Boy #1
  • Andrew Stevens as Boy #2
  • Colleen Brennan as Painted Lady
  • Larry Bischof as Guest
  • Wally Crowder as Malone's Delivery Boy
  • Cynthia Wood as Beauty Shop Customer
  • Jimmie Cannon as Beauty Shop Customer
  • Susan McIver as Beauty Shop Customer
  • Kimberly McGowen as Beauty Shop Customer
  • Gail Landry as Beauty Shop Customer
  • Annalee Coyle as Beauty Shop Customer
  • Jack Berle as Party Guest (uncredited)
  • Susan Blakely as Girl on Street (uncredited)
  • Howard Culver as Newscaster (uncredited)
  • Bob Harks as Chauffer (uncredited)
  • George Holmes as Party Guest (uncredited)
  • Marlene Kisker as Party Guest (uncredited)
  • Tom McDonough as Party Guest (uncredited)
  • Richard Monahan as Waiter (uncredited)
  • Michelle Phillips as Girl at Party (uncredited)
  • Tony Regan as Party Guest (uncredited)
  • Arnold Roberts as Party Guest (uncredited)
  • Hank Robinson as Party Guest (uncredited)
  • Clark Ross as Party Guest (uncredited)
  • Norman Stevans as Party Guest (uncredited)
  • Robert Strong as Party Guest (uncredited)
  • Arthur Tovey as Party Guest (uncredited)
  • Robert Towne as Party Guest (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 77

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers
ScenesWomen's linesMen's lines
1 to 24448
3 to 43334
5 to 6024
7 to 8212
9 to 108098
11 to 1200
13 to 141840
15 to 16415
17 to 184119
19 to 20180
21 to 221932
23 to 24169
25 to 261512
27 to 2843
29 to 3087
31 to 325161
33 to 341017
35 to 362115
37 to 381016
39 to 401725
41 to 4255
43 to 44816
45 to 462425
47 to 481011
49 to 5054
51 to 5268
53 to 54127
55 to 5648
57 to 58512
59 to 60918
61 to 6203
63 to 6413
65 to 662329
67 to 6804
69 to 7024
71 to 723538
73 to 74077
75 to 761121
77 to 772120

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.

JILL: Commercials. JACKIE: Feel better? Let's go.
JACKIE: Hello, Felicia. FELICIA: ... hello. FELICIA: I'm so glad you could make it. I've been looking forward to seeing you.
FELICIA: Oh. JACKIE: No thanks.
FELICIA: We've met. JACKIE: Yes.
JILL: Somebody's mother. JACKIE: Waiter! JACKIE: One word out of you and I'll gargle with it.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 44 are women's.

611 lines from women, 790 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

28 women and 36 men in the cast. 14 women and 13 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

A woman speaks the first line. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 80 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

  • First line by a woman
  • Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 42% of the words (4,392), men 58% (6,127). Women have 44% 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

Exhibit F: behind the camera

2 of the 11 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 14% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Hal Ashby (man)
Written by
Robert Towne (man), Warren Beatty (man)
Produced by
Warren Beatty (man)
Shot by
László Kovács (man)
Edited by
Robert C. Jones (man)
Music by
Paul Simon (man)
Production design by
Richard Sylbert (man)
Costumes by
Anthea Sylbert (woman)
Cast by
Mike Fenton (man), Jane Feinberg (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Sound

    0 women, 6 men

  • Production

    1 women, 4 men

  • Directing

    0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed

  • Art

    0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed

  • Camera

    0 women, 3 men

  • Costume & Make-Up

    2 women, 0 men, 1 not listed

  • Other crew

    1 women, 2 men

  • Writing

    0 women, 2 men

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 38 on average. Men: 42 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Goldie Hawn 29, Julie Christie 34, Luana Anders 36, Ann Weldon 41, Lee Grant 49

Men

Tony Bill 34, Warren Beatty 37, George Furth 42, Jay Robinson 44, Jack Warden 54

Exhibit H: the money

It made 15.0 times what it cost.

Budget
$4 million
Box office
$60 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 77 scenes and 1,436 lines of dialogue. How the test works

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