Fails the Bechdel test

The Black Dahlia

Name: The Black Dahlia
Released: 2006

2006. Directed by Brian De Palma, written by Josh Friedman and James Ellroy.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

2 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
10 women characters. 9 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
Women do talk to each other.
No 3. About something besides a man
Every conversation between women that our parser found mentions a man.

Second opinion

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.

The film

In 1946, the former boxers Dwight "Bucky" Bleichert and Lee Blanchard are policemen in Los Angeles. Lee has a good relationship with his chief and uses a box fight between them to promote the department and get a raise to the police force. They succeed and are promoted to homicide detectives, working together. Bucky becomes a close friend of Lee and his girlfriend Kay Lake, forming a triangle of love. When the corpse of the aspirant actress Elizabeth Short is found mutilated, Lee becomes obsessed to solve the case called by the press Black Dahlia. Meanwhile, Bucky's investigation leads him to a Madeleine Linscott, the daughter of a powerful and wealthy constructor that resembles the Black Dahlia. In an environment of corruption and lies, Bucky discloses hidden truths.

Released: 15 Sep 2006
Genres: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Rated: R
IMDb: 5.6 / 10
Metascore: 49 / 100
Awards: Nominated for 1 Oscar. 4 wins & 16 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Bucky 381 lines, man
Lee 93 lines, man
Voice Over 91 lines, man
Russ Millard 83 lines, man
Kay 63 lines, woman
Madeleine 62 lines, woman
Jane Chambers 32 lines
Vogel 26 lines, man
Cleo Short 25 lines, woman
Ellis Loew 23 lines, man

Full cast, 43 people

Josh Hartnett as Bucky Bleichert
Scarlett Johansson as Kay Lake
Aaron Eckhart as Lee Blanchard
Hilary Swank as Madeleine Linscott
Mia Kirshner as Elizabeth Short
Mike Starr as Russ Millard
Fiona Shaw as Ramona Linscott
Patrick Fischler as Ellis Loew
James Otis as Dolph Bleichert
John Kavanagh as Emmett Linscott
Troy Evans as Chief Green
Anthony Russell as Morrie Friedman
Pepe Serna as Dos Santos
Angus MacInnes as John Tierney
Rachel Miner as Martha Linscott
Victor McGuire as Bill Koenig
Gregg Henry as Pete Lukins
Jemima Rooper as Lorna Mertz
Rose McGowan as Sheryl Saddon
Dan Ponce as Mp
Graham Norris as Cop
Mike O'Connell as Shore Patrol
Michael P. Flannigan as Desk Officer
John Solari as Baxter Fitch
Stephanie L. Moore as Baxter Fitch's Girlfriend
Noel Arthur as Gunman #1
Todd Thomas as Gunman #2
Steve Eastin as Detective
Ian McNeice as Coroner
Claudia Katz Minnick as Frolic Bartender
Mia Frye as Laverne Bartender
Richard Brake as Bobby DeWitt
William Finley as George Tilden
Joost Scholte as Madeleine's GI
Terrell J. Ramsey as Dealer
Teo as Friedman's Tough Guy #1
Kiril Efremov as Friedman's Tough Guy #2
Petar Milchev as Perp
Désirée Cyganek as Lesbian Bar Dancer (uncredited)
Brian De Palma as Screen Test Director (voice) (uncredited)
Kevin Dunn as Elizabeth Short's Father (uncredited)
K.D. Lang as Lesbian Bar Singer (uncredited)
David Raibon as Man (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 6 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 10% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 277

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 6	0	20
7 to 12	3	39
13 to 18	0	21
19 to 24	6	14
25 to 30	0	22
31 to 36	1	28
37 to 42	2	24
43 to 48	3	17
49 to 54	0	26
55 to 60	16	42
61 to 66	9	29
67 to 72	7	23
73 to 78	4	5
79 to 84	3	3
85 to 90	2	43
91 to 96	22	29
97 to 102	24	34
103 to 108	16	32
109 to 114	5	5
115 to 120	7	19
121 to 126	5	39
127 to 132	0	38
133 to 138	2	7
139 to 144	0	13
145 to 150	0	31
151 to 156	0	39
157 to 162	5	8
163 to 168	0	9
169 to 174	2	19
175 to 180	0	26
181 to 186	5	10
187 to 192	6	13
193 to 198	5	19
199 to 204	0	0
205 to 210	2	3
211 to 216	0	4
217 to 222	5	10
223 to 228	0	3
229 to 234	16	7
235 to 240	0	11
241 to 246	0	7
247 to 252	0	8
253 to 258	11	35
259 to 264	12	11
265 to 270	8	13
271 to 276	0	6
277 to 277	0	1

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, 20 are women's.

214 lines from women, 865 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

10 women and 25 men in the cast. 9 women and 20 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 55 of 1,194. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 104 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 23% of the words (3,139), men 77% (10,673). Women have 20% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

3 of the 16 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 27% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Brian De Palma (man)
Written by: Josh Friedman (man)
From the novel by: James Ellroy (man)
Produced by: Avi Lerner (man), Rudy Cohen (gender not listed), Moshe Diamant (man), Art Linson (man), T. Rafael Cimino (man)
Shot by: Vilmos Zsigmond (man)
Edited by: Bill Pankow (man)
Music by: Mark Isham (man)
Production design by: Dante Ferretti (man)
Costumes by: Jenny Beavan (woman)
Cast by: Johanna Ray (woman), Teresa Razzauti (woman), Lucy Boulting (gender not listed)