Fails the Bechdel test
Taxi Driver
1976. Directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Paul Schrader.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
12 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
Travis Bickle is an ex-Marine and Vietnam War veteran living in New York City. As he suffers from insomnia, he spends his time working as a taxi driver at night, watching porn movies at seedy cinemas during the day, or thinking about how the world, New York in particular, has deteriorated into a cesspool. He's a loner who has strong opinions about what is right and wrong with mankind. For him, the one bright spot in humanity is Betsy, a worker on the presidential nomination campaign of Senator Charles Palantine. After an incident, he believes he has to do whatever he needs to make the world a better place.
- Released
- 09 Feb 1976
- Genres
- Crime, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 8.2 / 10
- Metascore
- 94 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 4 Oscars. 22 wins & 21 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Travis 277 lines, man
- Betsy 96 lines, woman
- Iris 66 lines, woman
- Wizard 46 lines, man
- Tom 39 lines, man
- Dough-Boy 29 lines, man
- Andy 21 lines, man
- Sport 20 lines, man
- Personnel Officer 18 lines, man
- Palantine 17 lines, man
Full cast, 53 people
- Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle
- Jodie Foster as Iris
- Cybill Shepherd as Betsy
- Harvey Keitel as Sport
- Peter Boyle as Wizard
- Leonard Harris as Charles Palantine
- Albert Brooks as Tom
- Diahnne Abbott as Concession Girl
- Frank Adu as Angry Black Man
- Victor Argo as Melio
- Gino Ardito as Policeman at Rally
- Garth Avery as Iris' Friend
- Harry Cohn as Cabbie in Bellmore
- Cooper Cunningham as Hooker in Cab
- Brenda Dickson as Soap Opera Woman
- Harry Fischler as Dispatcher
- Nat Grant as Stick-Up Man
- Richard Higgs as Tall Secret Service Man
- Beau Kayser as Soap Opera Man
- Victor Magnotta as Secret Service Photographer
- Bob Maroff as Mafioso
- Norman Matlock as Charlie T.
- Bill Minkin as Tom's Assistant
- Murray Moston as Iris' Time Keeper
- Harry Northup as Doughboy
- Gene Palma as Street Drummer
- Harlan Cary Poe as Campaign Worker
- Steven Prince as Andy, Gun Salesman
- Peter Savage as The John
- Martin Scorsese as Passenger Watching Silhouette
- Nicholas Shields as Palantine Aide
- Ralph S. Singleton as T.V. Interviewer
- Joe Spinell as Personnel Officer
- Maria Turner as Angry Hooker on Street
- Robin Utt as Campaign Worker
- Tommy Ardolino as Boy on Sidewalk (uncredited)
- Joseph Bergmann as Movie House Patron (uncredited)
- Robert P. Cohen as Cab Passenger (uncredited)
- William Donovan as Police Officer (uncredited)
- Jean Elliott as Clerk at Sam Goody Store (uncredited)
- Annie Gagen as Campaign Worker (uncredited)
- Trent Gough as Political Rally Attendee (uncredited)
- Carson Grant as Political Rally Attendee (uncredited)
- Mary-Pat Green as Campaign Aide (uncredited)
- Robert John Keiber as Political Rally Attendee (uncredited)
- James Mapes as CIA Agent (uncredited)
- Debbi Morgan as Girl at Columbus Circle (uncredited)
- David Nichols as Political Rally Attendee (uncredited)
- Antone Pagán as Boy on Sidewalk (uncredited)
- Billie Perkins as Iris' Friend (uncredited)
- Michael Phillips as Political Rally Attendee (uncredited)
- Frankie Verroca as Campaign Worker (uncredited)
- Lionel Douglass as Sam Goody Store Customer (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, 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 35
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 | 58 |
| 2 to 2 | 6 | 3 |
| 3 to 3 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 to 4 | 16 | 15 |
| 5 to 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 to 6 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 to 7 | 0 | 50 |
| 8 to 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 to 9 | 12 | 12 |
| 10 to 10 | 15 | 18 |
| 11 to 11 | 25 | 47 |
| 12 to 12 | 0 | 2 |
| 13 to 13 | 20 | 24 |
| 14 to 14 | 0 | 5 |
| 15 to 15 | 0 | 8 |
| 16 to 16 | 0 | 12 |
| 17 to 17 | 0 | 5 |
| 18 to 18 | 0 | 33 |
| 19 to 19 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 to 20 | 1 | 3 |
| 21 to 21 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 to 22 | 1 | 40 |
| 23 to 23 | 0 | 25 |
| 24 to 24 | 34 | 87 |
| 25 to 25 | 0 | 11 |
| 26 to 26 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 to 27 | 31 | 30 |
| 28 to 28 | 2 | 4 |
| 29 to 29 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 to 30 | 0 | 3 |
| 31 to 31 | 0 | 2 |
| 32 to 32 | 1 | 22 |
| 33 to 33 | 1 | 0 |
| 34 to 34 | 3 | 11 |
| 35 to 35 | 3 | 4 |
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, 24 are women's.
171 lines from women, 539 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
12 women and 40 men in the cast. 5 women and 23 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 66 of 728.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 69 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 20% of the words (1,717), men 80% (6,707). Women have 24% 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
27
Exhibit E: behind the camera
3 of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 17% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Martin Scorsese (man)
- Written by
- Paul Schrader (man)
- Produced by
- Julia Phillips (woman), Michael Phillips (man)
- Shot by
- Michael Chapman (man)
- Edited by
- Tom Rolf (man), Melvin Shapiro (man)
- Music by
- Bernard Herrmann (man)
- Costumes by
- Ruth Morley (woman)
- Cast by
- Juliet Taylor (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
4 women, 9 men, 10 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 12 men, 11 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 7 men, 4 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 10 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 5 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 23 on average. Men: 37 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Jodie Foster 13, Cybill Shepherd 25, Diahnne Abbott 30
Men
Albert Brooks 28, Robert De Niro 32, Harvey Keitel 36, Frank Adu 38, Peter Boyle 40, Victor Argo 41, Leonard Harris 46
Exhibit G: the money
It made 15.0 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $1.9 million
- Box office
- $28.6 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 35 scenes and 728 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
