Fails the Bechdel test
Spartacus
1960. Directed by Stanley Kubrick, written by Dalton Trumbo and Howard Fast and Plutarch.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
15 women characters. 8 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
In 73 B.C., a Thracian slave leads a revolt at a gladiatorial school run by Lentulus Batiatus (Sir Peter Ustinov). The uprising soon spreads across the Italian Peninsula involving thousand of slaves. The plan is to acquire sufficient funds to acquire ships from Silesian pirates who could then transport them to other lands from Brandisium in the south. The Roman Senator Gracchus (Charles Laughton) schemes to have Marcus Publius Glabrus (John Dall), Commander of the garrison of Rome, lead an army against the slaves who are living on Vesuvius. When Glabrus is defeated his mentor, Senator and General Marcus Licinius Crassus (Sir Laurence Olivier) is greatly embarrassed and leads his own army against the slaves. Spartacus and the thousands of freed slaves successfully make their way to Brandisium only to find that the Silesians have abandoned them. They then turn north and must face the might of Rome.
- Released
- 17 Nov 1960
- Genres
- Adventure, Biography, Drama
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 87 / 100
- Awards
- Won 4 Oscars. 12 wins & 11 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Crassus 131 lines, man
- Batiatus 103 lines, man
- Spartacus 99 lines, man
- Gracchus 77 lines, man
- Varinia 44 lines, woman
- Antoninus 36 lines, man
- Caesar 32 lines, man
- Glabrus 24 lines, man
- Marcellus 21 lines, man
- David 16 lines, man
Full cast, 118 people
- Kirk Douglas as Spartacus
- Laurence Olivier as Marcus Licinius Crassus
- Jean Simmons as Varinia
- Charles Laughton as Sempronius Gracchus
- Peter Ustinov as Lentulus Batiatus
- John Gavin as Julius Caesar
- Tony Curtis as Antoninus
- Nina Foch as Helena Glabrus
- John Ireland as Crixus
- Herbert Lom as Tigranes Levantus
- John Dall as Marcus Publius Glabrus
- Woody Strode as Draba
- Harold J. Stone as David
- Charles McGraw as Marcellus
- Joanna Barnes as Claudia Marius
- Peter Brocco as Ramon
- Paul Lambert as Gannicus
- Robert J. Wilke as Guard captain
- Nick Dennis as Dionysius
- John Hoyt as Caius
- Frederick Worlock as Laelius
- Paul Baxley as Gladiator (uncredited)
- Louie Elias as Gladiator (uncredited)
- Brad Harris as Gladiator (uncredited)
- Hubie Kerns as Gladiator (uncredited)
- Gordon Mitchell as Gladiator (uncredited)
- Regis Parton as Gladiator (uncredited)
- Victor Paul as Gladiator (uncredited)
- Jack Perkins as Gladiator (uncredited)
- Wally Rose as Gladiator (uncredited)
- Aaron Saxon as Gladiator (uncredited)
- Tom Steele as Gladiator (uncredited)
- Jerry Summers as Gladiator (uncredited)
- Shari Lee Bernath as Little Girl (uncredited)
- Bill Blackburn as Prisoner (uncredited)
- David Bond as Slave (uncredited)
- Polly Burson as Slave (uncredited)
- Carol Daniels as Slave Girl (uncredited)
- Lila Finn as Slave (uncredited)
- Harold Goodwin as Slave (uncredited)
- Sol Gorss as Slave Leader (uncredited)
- Betty Harford as Slave (uncredited)
- Harry Harvey Jr. as Slave (uncredited)
- Wayne Heffley as Slave Guard (uncredited)
- Lars Hensen as Slave (uncredited)
- Charles Horvath as Slave Leader (uncredited)
- Shep Houghton as Slave (uncredited)
- Pete Kellett as Slave (uncredited)
- Joan McKellen as Slave (uncredited)
- Eddie Parker as Slave (uncredited)
- Gil Perkins as Slave Leader (uncredited)
- Chuck Roberson as Slave (uncredited)
- Frosty Royce as Slave (uncredited)
- Autumn Russell as Slave Girl (uncredited)
- Kay Stewart as Slave (uncredited)
- Kay Stewart as Slave Girl (uncredited)
- Helen Thurston as Slave (uncredited)
- Louise Vincent as Slave at Gracchus' Home (uncredited)
- Joe Canutt as Soldier (uncredited)
- Bill Catching as Soldier (uncredited)
- Chuck Courtney as Soldier (uncredited)
- Chuck Hayward as Soldier (uncredited)
- Robert F. Hoy as Soldier (uncredited)
- Valley Keene as Soldier (uncredited)
- Cliff Lyons as Soldier (uncredited)
- Bill Raisch as Soldier Whose Arm is Hacked Off (uncredited)
- Buddy Van Horn as Soldier (uncredited)
- Jack Williams as Soldier (uncredited)
- Paul E. Burns as Fimbria (uncredited)
- Wayne Burson as Guard (uncredited)
- Dick Crockett as Guard (uncredited)
- John Daheim as Capua Guard (uncredited)
- Carey Loftin as Guard (uncredited)
- Harvey Parry as Guard (uncredited)
- Ronnie Rondell Jr. as Guard (uncredited)
- Don Turner as Guard (uncredited)
- Peter Virgo as Guard (uncredited)
- Fred Zendar as Guard (uncredited)
- Ted de Corsia as Legionnaire (uncredited)
- Terence de Marney as Majordomo (uncredited)
- Johnny Duncan as Beheaded Man (uncredited)
- Roy Engel as Roman Businessman (uncredited)
- Paul Keast as Roman Businessman (uncredited)
- Kenner G. Kemp as Roman Senator (uncredited)
- Paul Kruger as Roman Senator (uncredited)
- Otto Malde as Roman General (uncredited)
- Scott Seaton as Roman Senator (uncredited)
- Richard Farnsworth as Salt Mine Slave / Gladiator / Slave General (uncredited)
- Logan Field as Centurion (uncredited)
- John Stephenson as Centurion (uncredited)
- Robert Fuller as Extra (uncredited)
- Jeanne Gerson as Woman Selling Chestnuts (uncredited)
- Seamon Glass as Pirate (uncredited)
- Preston Peterson as Pirate (uncredited)
- George Robotham as Pirate (uncredited)
- James Griffith as Otho (uncredited)
- Jack Grinnage as Petitioner (uncredited)
- Anthony Jochim as Petitioner (uncredited)
- Joe Haworth as Marius (uncredited)
- Vinton Hayworth as Metallius (uncredited)
- Loren Janes as Salt Mine Slave / Gladiator / Slave General (uncredited)
- Jil Jarmyn as Julia (uncredited)
- Aron Kincaid as Crassus' Standard-Bearer (uncredited)
- Dayton Lummis as Symmachus (uncredited)
- Bob Morgan as Galeno (uncredited)
- Tracy Olsen as Girl (uncredited)
- Leonard Penn as Garrison Officer (uncredited)
- Vic Perrin as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
- Larry Thor as Staff Officer (uncredited)
- Dale Van Sickel as Trainer (uncredited)
- Carleton Young as Herald (uncredited)
- Duke Fishman as Roman Senator (uncredited)
- Robert Stevenson as Legionnaire (uncredited)
- John Barton as Slave (uncredited)
- Jerry Brown as Soldier (uncredited)
- John Benson as Guard (uncredited)
- Arthur Batanides as Legionnaire (uncredited)
- Rudy Germane as Soldier (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 17% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 48
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 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 to 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 to 3 | 0 | 34 |
| 4 to 4 | 0 | 9 |
| 5 to 5 | 0 | 9 |
| 6 to 6 | 1 | 18 |
| 7 to 7 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 to 8 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 to 9 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 to 10 | 0 | 3 |
| 11 to 11 | 0 | 11 |
| 12 to 12 | 1 | 13 |
| 13 to 13 | 0 | 4 |
| 14 to 14 | 5 | 7 |
| 15 to 15 | 6 | 16 |
| 16 to 16 | 3 | 2 |
| 17 to 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 to 18 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 to 19 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 to 20 | 0 | 4 |
| 21 to 21 | 0 | 5 |
| 22 to 22 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 to 23 | 1 | 6 |
| 24 to 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 to 25 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 to 26 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 to 27 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 to 28 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 to 29 | 0 | 5 |
| 30 to 30 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 to 31 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 to 32 | 7 | 10 |
| 33 to 33 | 1 | 35 |
| 34 to 34 | 0 | 35 |
| 35 to 35 | 0 | 65 |
| 36 to 36 | 0 | 17 |
| 37 to 37 | 6 | 27 |
| 38 to 38 | 0 | 55 |
| 39 to 39 | 10 | 7 |
| 40 to 40 | 0 | 8 |
| 41 to 41 | 7 | 62 |
| 42 to 42 | 0 | 10 |
| 43 to 43 | 5 | 58 |
| 44 to 44 | 11 | 42 |
| 45 to 45 | 0 | 1 |
| 46 to 46 | 0 | 11 |
| 47 to 47 | 3 | 20 |
| 48 to 48 | 6 | 48 |
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, 10 are women's.
73 lines from women, 664 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
15 women and 94 men in the cast. 8 women and 53 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 99 of 889.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 157 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 9% of the words (1,183), men 91% (12,590). Women have 10% 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
73
Exhibit E: behind the camera
None of the 13 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 4% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Stanley Kubrick (man)
- Written by
- Dalton Trumbo (man), Peter Ustinov (man)
- From the novel by
- Howard Fast (man)
- Produced by
- Edward Lewis (man)
- Shot by
- Russell Metty (man)
- Edited by
- Robert Lawrence (man), Irving Lerner (man)
- Music by
- Alex North (man)
- Production design by
- Alexander Golitzen (man), Roger K. Furse (man)
- Costumes by
- Bill Thomas (man), Fred Valles (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
1 women, 16 men, 1 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 8 men
-
Art
1 women, 5 men
-
Production
0 women, 6 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 4 men
-
Writing
0 women, 4 men
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 34 on average. Men: 44 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Jean Simmons 31, Nina Foch 36
Men
John Gavin 29, Tony Curtis 35, Peter Ustinov 39, Kirk Douglas 43, Herbert Lom 43, John Ireland 46, Laurence Olivier 53, Charles Laughton 61
Exhibit G: the money
It made 5.0 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $12 million
- Box office
- $60 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 48 scenes and 889 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
