Passes the Bechdel test
The Apartment
1960. Directed by Billy Wilder, written by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
9 women characters. 8 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 102. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
As of November 1, 1959, mild mannered C.C. Baxter has been working at Consolidated Life, an insurance company, for close to four years, and is one of close to thirty-two thousand employees located in their Manhattan head office. To distinguish himself from all the other lowly cogs in the company in the hopes of moving up the corporate ladder, he often works late, but only because he can't get into his apartment, located off of Central Park West, since he has provided it to a handful of company executives - Mssrs. Dobisch, Kirkeby, Vanderhoff and Eichelberger - on a rotating basis for their extramarital liaisons in return for a good word to the personnel director, Jeff D. Sheldrake. When Baxter is called into Sheldrake's office for the first time, he learns that it isn't just to be promoted as he expects, but also to add married Sheldrake to the list to who he will lend his apartment. Dobisch, Kirkeby, Vanderhoff and Eichelberger are now feeling neglected as Baxter no longer needs their assistance in moving up.
- Released
- 29 Jun 1960
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Rated
- Approved
- IMDb
- 8.3 / 10
- Metascore
- 94 / 100
- Awards
- Won 5 Oscars. 26 wins & 8 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Bud 453 lines, man
- Fran 262 lines, woman
- Sheldrake 162 lines, man
- Dr. Dreyfuss 63 lines, man
- Kirkeby 56 lines, man
- Dobisch 39 lines, man
- Margie 33 lines, woman
- Sylvia 23 lines, woman
- Matuschka 22 lines, man
- Miss Olsen 18 lines, woman
Full cast, 38 people
- Jack Lemmon as C.C. Baxter
- Shirley MacLaine as Fran Kubelik
- Fred MacMurray as Jeff D. Sheldrake
- Ray Walston as Joe Dobisch
- Jack Kruschen as Dr. Dreyfuss
- David Lewis as Al Kirkeby
- Hope Holiday as Margie MacDougall
- Joan Shawlee as Sylvia
- Naomi Stevens as Mrs. Mildred Dreyfuss
- Johnny Seven as Karl Matuschka
- Joyce Jameson as The Blonde
- Willard Waterman as Mr. Vanderhoff
- David White as Mr. Eichelberger
- Edie Adams as Miss Olsen
- Dorothy Abbott as Office Worker (uncredited)
- Ralph Moratz as Office Worker (uncredited)
- Joe Palma as Office Maintenance Man (uncredited)
- Bill Baldwin as TV Movie Host (uncredited)
- Benny Burt as Charlie (uncredited)
- Lynn Cartwright as Elevator Supervisor with Clicker (uncredited)
- Mason Curry as (uncredited)
- David Macklin as Messenger (uncredited)
- Hal Smith as Man in Santa Claus Suit (uncredited)
- Paul Bradley as Office Worker (uncredited)
- Steve Carruthers as Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
- Dick Cherney as Bar Patron (uncredited)
- Franklyn Farnum as Office Worker (uncredited)
- Herschel Graham as Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
- Lars Hensen as Office Worker (uncredited)
- Eugene Jackson as Office Worker (uncredited)
- Frances Weintraub Lax as Mrs. Lieberman (uncredited)
- William Meader as Executive (uncredited)
- Monty O'Grady as Office Worker (uncredited)
- Paul Power as Bar Patron (uncredited)
- Tony Regan as Executive (uncredited)
- Clark Ross as Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
- Norman Stevans as Office Worker (uncredited)
- Sid Troy as Williams (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 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 102
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 | 8 |
| 4 to 6 | 9 | 10 |
| 7 to 9 | 6 | 8 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 30 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 6 |
| 16 to 18 | 2 | 8 |
| 19 to 21 | 3 | 11 |
| 22 to 24 | 6 | 9 |
| 25 to 27 | 10 | 27 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 11 |
| 31 to 33 | 10 | 17 |
| 34 to 36 | 5 | 43 |
| 37 to 39 | 13 | 46 |
| 40 to 42 | 27 | 28 |
| 43 to 45 | 14 | 17 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 48 |
| 49 to 51 | 39 | 32 |
| 52 to 54 | 23 | 28 |
| 55 to 57 | 8 | 9 |
| 58 to 60 | 28 | 55 |
| 61 to 63 | 5 | 25 |
| 64 to 66 | 13 | 36 |
| 67 to 69 | 55 | 62 |
| 70 to 72 | 6 | 8 |
| 73 to 75 | 12 | 13 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 7 |
| 79 to 81 | 7 | 7 |
| 82 to 84 | 25 | 27 |
| 85 to 87 | 20 | 65 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 7 |
| 91 to 93 | 1 | 24 |
| 94 to 96 | 10 | 44 |
| 97 to 99 | 8 | 26 |
| 100 to 102 | 10 | 9 |
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.
FRAN: Well -- thank you. MISS OLSEN: Always happy to do something for our girls in uniform.
MRS. DREYFUSS: So where is the victim? Max the Knife! MRS. DREYFUSS: Nu, little lady, how are we feeling today? FRAN: I don't know -- kind of dizzy. MRS. DREYFUSS: Here. The best thing for dizzy is a little noodle soup with chicken -- white meat -- and a glass tea.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 32 are women's.
375 lines from women, 811 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
9 women and 27 men in the cast. 8 women and 10 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 12 of 1,215.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 54 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 26% of the words (3,725), men 74% (10,415). Women have 32% 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
6
Two men
43
Exhibit F: behind the camera
None of the 7 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 0% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Billy Wilder (man)
- Written by
- Billy Wilder (man), I. A. L. Diamond (man)
- Produced by
- Billy Wilder (man)
- Shot by
- Joseph LaShelle (man)
- Edited by
- Daniel Mandell (man)
- Music by
- Adolph Deutsch (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
0 women, 4 men
-
Sound
0 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Writing
0 women, 2 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 1 men
-
Other crew
0 women, 0 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 29 on average. Men: 41 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Hope Holiday 21, Shirley MacLaine 26, Naomi Stevens 33, Joan Shawlee 34
Men
Johnny Seven 34, Jack Lemmon 35, Jack Kruschen 38, David Lewis 43, Ray Walston 45, Fred MacMurray 51
Exhibit H: the money
It made 8.3 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $3 million
- Box office
- $25 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 102 scenes and 1,215 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
