Fails the Bechdel test
Sweet Smell of Success
1957. Directed by Alexander Mackendrick, written by Clifford Odets and Ernest Lehman and Alexander Mackendrick.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
10 women characters. 5 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
J.J. Hunsecker, the most powerful newspaper columnist in New York, is determined to prevent his sister from marrying Steve Dallas, a jazz musician. He therefore covertly employs Sidney Falco, a sleazy and unscrupulous press agent, to break up the affair by any means possible.
- Released
- 04 Jul 1957
- Genres
- Drama, Film-Noir
- Rated
- Approved
- IMDb
- 8 / 10
- Metascore
- 100 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award. 3 wins & 3 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Sidney 305 lines, man
- Hunsecker 222 lines, man
- Susan 98 lines, woman
- Steve 76 lines, man
- D'Angelo 49 lines, man
- Rita 32 lines, woman
- Kello 24 lines, man
- Sally 24 lines, woman
- Elwell 19 lines, man
- Wife 18 lines, woman
Full cast, 69 people
- Burt Lancaster as J.J. Hunsecker
- Tony Curtis as Sidney Falco
- Susan Harrison as Susan Hunsecker
- Martin Milner as Steve Dallas
- Jeff Donnell as Sally
- Sam Levene as Frank D' Angelo
- Joe Frisco as Herbie Temple
- Barbara Nichols as Rita
- Emile Meyer as Lt. Harry Kello
- Edith Atwater as Mary
- Chico Hamilton as The Chico Hamilton Quintet
- Paul Horn as The Chico Hamilton Quintet
- Fred Katz as The Chico Hamilton Quintet
- Buddy Clark as The Chico Hamilton Quintet
- Jay Adler as Manny Davis (uncredited)
- Mary Bayless as Bar Patron (uncredited)
- Nicky Blair as Toots Shor's Patron (uncredited)
- Nick Borgani as Waiter (uncredited)
- Ralph Brooks as Patron at 21 (uncredited)
- Brad Brown as Patron at 21 (uncredited)
- Steve Carruthers as Patron at 21 (uncredited)
- Robert Carson as Lou (Toots Shor's Headwaiter) (uncredited)
- Lewis Charles as Al Evans (uncredited)
- Dick Cherney as Toots Shor's Patron (uncredited)
- Paul Cristo as Toots Shor's Patron (uncredited)
- Joe Di Reda as Toots Shor's Patron (uncredited)
- Lawrence Dobkin as Leo Bartha (uncredited)
- Tom Ferrandini as Patron at 21 (uncredited)
- John Fiedler as Hot Dog Stand Counterman (uncredited)
- Bess Flowers as Patron at 21 (uncredited)
- William Forrest as Sen. Harvey Walker (uncredited)
- Joseph Forte as Toots Shor's Waiter (uncredited)
- Raoul Freeman as Waiter at 21 (uncredited)
- Kay Garrett as Patron at 21 (uncredited)
- Joe Gray as Patron at 21 (uncredited)
- Marion Gray as Patron at 21 (uncredited)
- James Hill as Man Outside Theatre (uncredited)
- Charles Jordan as Man at Hot Dog Stand (uncredited)
- Colin Kenny as Patron at 21 (uncredited)
- Joseph La Cava as Waiter at 21 (uncredited)
- Mike Lally as Toots Shor's Patron (uncredited)
- Joseph Leon as Joe Robard (uncredited)
- King Lockwood as Bar Patron (uncredited)
- Thomas Martin as Waiter at 21 (uncredited)
- Hans Moebus as Patron at 21 (uncredited)
- King Mojave as Waiter at 21 (uncredited)
- Sol Murgi as Waiter (uncredited)
- Forbes Murray as Toots Shor's Patron (uncredited)
- George Nardelli as Waiter at 21 (uncredited)
- William H. O'Brien as Waiter at 21 (uncredited)
- Clifford Odets as Man Outside Theatre (uncredited)
- Charles Perry as Stage Hand (uncredited)
- Bill Raisch as Toots Shor's Patron (uncredited)
- Waclaw Rekwart as Waiter at 21 (uncredited)
- Edward Rickard as Bar Patron (uncredited)
- Jane Ross as Woman (uncredited)
- Autumn Russell as Linda James (uncredited)
- Charles Sherlock as Toots Shor's Bartender (uncredited)
- Carson Smith as Self (uncredited)
- Queenie Smith as Mildred Tam (uncredited)
- Bert Stevens as Patron at 21 (uncredited)
- Arthur Tovey as Elysian Club Patron (uncredited)
- James Turley as Check Man (uncredited)
- Lurene Tuttle as Loretta Bartha (uncredited)
- Harry Tyler as Coffee Shop Counter Man (uncredited)
- Philip Van Zandt as Radio Program Director (uncredited)
- George Washburn as Patron at 21 (uncredited)
- David White as Otis Elwell (uncredited)
- H.M. Wynant as Toots Shor's Patron (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 5% 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 | 1 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 4 |
| 7 to 9 | 8 | 9 |
| 10 to 12 | 12 | 37 |
| 13 to 15 | 13 | 36 |
| 16 to 18 | 25 | 29 |
| 19 to 21 | 1 | 15 |
| 22 to 24 | 6 | 55 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 27 |
| 28 to 30 | 18 | 71 |
| 31 to 33 | 17 | 26 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 1 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 2 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 to 45 | 15 | 13 |
| 46 to 48 | 1 | 43 |
| 49 to 51 | 1 | 25 |
| 52 to 54 | 7 | 15 |
| 55 to 57 | 1 | 5 |
| 58 to 60 | 14 | 37 |
| 61 to 63 | 9 | 99 |
| 64 to 66 | 2 | 53 |
| 67 to 69 | 15 | 28 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 0 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 0 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 4 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 23 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 4 |
| 85 to 87 | 5 | 11 |
| 88 to 90 | 1 | 2 |
| 91 to 93 | 16 | 27 |
| 94 to 96 | 8 | 24 |
| 97 to 99 | 1 | 9 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 9 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 5 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 3 |
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, 21 are women's.
196 lines from women, 752 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
10 women and 52 men in the cast. 5 women and 12 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 7 of 1,000.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 97 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 16% of the words (2,065), men 84% (10,735). Women have 21% 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
59
Exhibit E: behind the camera
None of the 9 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 5% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Alexander Mackendrick (man)
- Written by
- Clifford Odets (man), Ernest Lehman (man)
- From the novel by
- Ernest Lehman (man)
- Produced by
- James Hill (man)
- Shot by
- James Wong Howe (man)
- Edited by
- Alan Crosland, Jr. (man)
- Music by
- Elmer Bernstein (man)
- Costumes by
- Mary Grant (gender not listed)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
0 women, 4 men, 3 not listed
-
Production
1 women, 5 men
-
Writing
0 women, 3 men
-
Art
0 women, 2 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 2 men
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 2 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 32 on average. Men: 44 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Susan Harrison 18, Barbara Nichols 28, Jeff Donnell 35, Edith Atwater 46
Men
Martin Milner 25, Tony Curtis 32, Burt Lancaster 43, Emile Meyer 46, Sam Levene 51, Joe Frisco 67
Exhibit G: the money
It made 74% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $3.4 million
- Box office
- $2.5 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 108 scenes and 1,000 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
