Passes the Bechdel test

St. Elmo's Fire

Name: St. Elmo's Fire
Released: 1985

1985. Directed by Joel Schumacher, written by Joel Schumacher and Carl Kurlander.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
17 women characters. 12 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 133.
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.

The film

Seven friends - Alec, Billy, Jules, Kevin, Kirby, Leslie and Wendy - are trying to navigate through life and their friendships following college graduation. Alec, who aspires to political life, has just shown his true colors by changing his allegiance from Democrat to Republican, which freaks out girlfriend Leslie, who he wants to marry. Budding architect Leslie, on the other hand, has an independent streak. She believes she has to make a name for herself to find out who she is before she can truly commit to another person in marriage. But Leslie and Alec have decided to live together. Because Leslie refuses to marry Alec, he believes that justifies certain behavior. Kirby, who wants to become a lawyer and who pays for his schooling by working as a waiter at their local hangout called St. Elmo's Bar, and struggling writer Kevin are currently roommates. They are on opposite extremes of the romance spectrum. Kirby has just reconnected with Dale Biberman, a slightly older woman he knew in college who is now a doctor. He is madly in love with her and will do *anything* to impress her. Kevin, on the other hand, doesn't date and states he doesn't believe in love, making his friends speculate that he's a closet homosexual who is secretly in love with Alec. Kevin will eventually open himself up to the one friend who matters the most. Billy, married with a child, is the irresponsible one of the group who would rather sleep around and play the saxophone than face the realities of being an adult with family commitments. He still lives for the memory of his fraternity glory days. Virginal and sheltered Wendy, who comes from a wealthy family, works in a low paying social services job. Her family provides for all her financial needs. She is in love with Billy, who in turn takes advantage of her adoration of him. And most are concerned about Jules, who works in a bank, lives a life of excess in all facets and doesn't have the financial means to live that lifestyle. The question for all seven becomes whether their friendship can survive adult real life.

Released: 28 Jun 1985
Genres: Drama, Romance
Rated: R
IMDb: 6.4 / 10
Metascore: 35 / 100
Awards: 1 win & 1 nomination total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Leslie 129 lines, woman
Alec 115 lines, man
Kevin 115 lines, man
Billy 85 lines, man
Kirbo 85 lines, man
Jules 81 lines, woman
Wendy 69 lines, woman
Dale 43 lines, woman
Ki Rbo 18 lines
Felicia 11 lines, woman

Full cast, 41 people

Andrew McCarthy as Kevin Dolenz
Emilio Estevez as Kirby Keger
Rob Lowe as Billy Hicks
Demi Moore as Jules
Judd Nelson as Alec Newbary
Ally Sheedy as Leslie Hunter
Mare Winningham as Wendy Beamish
Martin Balsam as Mr. Beamish
Andie MacDowell as Dale Biberman
Joyce Van Patten as Mrs. Beamish
Jenny Wright as Felicia
Jon Cutler as Howie Krantz
Blake Clark as Wally
Matthew Laurance as Ron Dellasandro
Gina Hecht as Judith
Anna Maria Horsford as Naomi
James Carrington as Guy
Kaaren Lee as Welfare Woman
Nora Meerbaum as Myra
Don Moss as Maître d'
Whip Hubley as Felicia's Date
Michele Winding as Chauffeur
Jim Turner as Postgrad
Mario Machado as Kim Sung Ho
Judy Kain as Woman Banker
Seth Jaffe as Brother-in-Law
Jeffrey Lampert as Brother-in-Law
Elizabeth Arlen as Libby
Scott Nemes as Nephew
Bernadette Birkett as Rachael
Vincent J. Isaac as Cop
Dean R. Miller as Clayton
Cindi Dietrich as Flirt
David Lain Baker as Jules' Date
Daniel Eden as Street Tough
Laurel Page as Nurse
Thom Bierdz as Rowdy Undergrad
Jamie Anders as Tommy Bancroft
J.T. Solomon as Hysterical Woman
Stephanie Feury as Jules' Friend (uncredited)
Richard Patrick as Waiter (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 11% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 133

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	14	12
4 to 6	6	9
7 to 9	23	26
10 to 12	16	20
13 to 15	11	25
16 to 18	2	1
19 to 21	12	33
22 to 24	10	17
25 to 27	8	7
28 to 30	13	17
31 to 33	6	5
34 to 36	9	11
37 to 39	1	3
40 to 42	17	18
43 to 45	6	13
46 to 48	0	0
49 to 51	0	7
52 to 54	36	6
55 to 57	0	1
58 to 60	0	0
61 to 63	12	4
64 to 66	2	8
67 to 69	4	6
70 to 72	8	8
73 to 75	8	16
76 to 78	17	22
79 to 81	6	6
82 to 84	5	6
85 to 87	13	10
88 to 90	8	12
91 to 93	0	3
94 to 96	2	12
97 to 99	3	2
100 to 102	2	4
103 to 105	18	12
106 to 108	13	3
109 to 111	9	17
112 to 114	0	4
115 to 117	4	4
118 to 120	4	3
121 to 123	0	1
124 to 126	2	12
127 to 129	9	14
130 to 132	7	8
133 to 133	6	6

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.

LESLIE: I think they're okay. JULES: Thank God.

JULES: When are you going to get a new car? One that truly expresses your lifestyle as the perfect couple. LESLIE: Not everybody got recruited out of school into international banking, 'moneybags.'

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 45 are women's.

352 lines from women, 434 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

17 women and 20 men in the cast. 12 women and 18 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 4 of 885. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 27 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 (4,961), men 58% (6,734). Women have 45% 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

Two women

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

3 of the 9 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 22% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Joel Schumacher (man)
Written by: Carl Kurlander (man), Joel Schumacher (man)
Produced by: Lauren Shuler Donner (woman)
Shot by: Stephen H. Burum (man)
Edited by: Richard Marks (man)
Music by: David Foster (man)
Cast by: Marci Liroff (woman), Jennifer Shull (woman)

The crew, department by department

Sound

0 women, 13 men, 3 not listed
Production

7 women, 3 men, 4 not listed
Art

0 women, 9 men, 3 not listed
Camera

0 women, 4 men, 3 not listed
Other crew

0 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
Directing

1 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
Editing

1 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
Costume & Make-Up

2 women, 1 men

Women
Men
Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 30 on average. Men: 31 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Demi Moore 22, Ally Sheedy 23, Mare Winningham 26, Andie MacDowell 27, Joyce Van Patten 51

Men

Rob Lowe 21, Andrew McCarthy 22, Emilio Estevez 23, Judd Nelson 25, Martin Balsam 65

Exhibit H: the money

It made 3.8 times what it cost.

Budget: $10 million
Box office: $37.8 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 133 scenes and 885 lines of dialogue. How the test works

Related films

Back to the whole shelf