Passes the Bechdel test
The Bonfire of the Vanities
1990. Directed by Brian De Palma, written by Michael Cristofer and Tom Wolfe.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
22 women characters. 9 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 101. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.
The film
Financial "Master of the Universe" Sherman McCoy sees his life unravel when his mistress Maria Ruskin hits a Black boy with his car. When journalist Peter Fallow enflames public opinion with a series of distorted tabloid articles on the accident, the case is seized upon by opportunists like Reverend Bacon and mayoral candidate D.A. Abe Weiss.
- Released
- 21 Dec 1990
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 5.6 / 10
- Metascore
- 27 / 100
- Awards
- 1 win & 5 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Sherman 289 lines, man
- Peter 135 lines, man
- Maria 117 lines, woman
- Kramer 69 lines, man
- Judy 46 lines, woman
- Martin 36 lines, man
- Judge White 35 lines, man
- Killian 33 lines, man
- Weiss 32 lines, man
- Bacon 23 lines, man
Full cast, 86 people
- Tom Hanks as Sherman McCoy
- Bruce Willis as Peter Fallow
- Melanie Griffith as Maria Ruskin
- Kim Cattrall as Judy McCoy
- Saul Rubinek as Jed Kramer
- Morgan Freeman as Judge Leonard White
- John Hancock as Reverend Bacon
- Kevin Dunn as Tom Killian
- Clifton James as Albert Fox
- Louis Giambalvo as Ray Andruitti
- Barton Heyman as Det. Martin
- Norman Parker as Det. Goldberg
- Donald Moffat as Mr. McCoy
- Alan King as Arthur Ruskin
- Beth Broderick as Caroline Heftshank
- Kurt Fuller as Pollard Browning
- Adam LeFevre as Rawlie Thorpe
- Richard Libertini as Ed Rifkin
- Andre Gregory as Aubrey Buffing
- Mary Alice as Annie Lamb
- Robert Stephens as Sir Gerald Moore
- Marjorie Monaghan as Evelyn Moore
- Rita Wilson as P.R. Woman
- Kirsten Dunst as Campbell McCoy
- Troy Winbush as Roland Auburn
- Patrick Malone as Henry Lamb
- Emmanuel Xuereb as Filippo Chirazzi
- Scotty Bloch as Sally Rawthrote
- Hansford Rowe as Leon Bavardage
- Elizabeth Owens as Inez Bavardage
- Malachy McCourt as Tony - Doorman
- John Eric Bentley as Bill - Doorman
- William Clark as Eddie - Doorman
- Jeff Brooks as Bondsman
- Brennan McKay as Bondsman
- Don McManus as Bondsman
- James Lally as Bondsman
- Marcia Mitzman Gaven as Bondsman
- William Woodson as Gene Lopwitz (voice)
- Nelson Vasquez as Pimp
- Fanni Green as Prostitute
- Roy Milton Davis as Latino
- Shiek Mahmud-Bey as Lockwood
- Stewart J. Zully as Court Clerk
- Helen Stenborg as Mrs. McCoy
- Timothy Jenkins as Billy Cortez
- Sam Sorbo as Fox's Assistant
- Vito D'Ambrosio as Intercom Man
- Paul Bates as Buck
- Camryn Manheim as Poe Picketer
- J.D. Wyatt as Poe Picketer
- Eyde Byrde as Poe Picketer
- David Lipman as Poe Picketer
- George Merritt as Poe Picketer
- Kirk Taylor as Aide
- Richard Belzer as Television Producer
- Oliver Dixon as Lawyer
- George Plimpton as Well Wisher
- Connie Sawyer as Ruskin Family Member
- F. Murray Abraham as D.A. Abe Weiss (uncredited)
- Sharmagne Leland-St. John as Woman in Restaurant (uncredited)
- Terry Farrell as Party Guest Listening to Aubrey Buffing (uncredited)
- Geraldo Rivera as Robert Corso (uncredited)
- John Blyth Barrymore as Restaurant Manager (uncredited)
- Ted Otis as Photographer (uncredited)
- Renna Bartlett as Party Guest (uncredited)
- Debbie Lee Carrington as Crying Midget (uncredited)
- Dave Droge as Bond Floor Trader (uncredited)
- Cynthia Elane as Court Officer (uncredited)
- Sarah Essex as (uncredited)
- Gary Jones as Waiter in Elevator (uncredited)
- Doris McCarthy as Park Avenue Lady (uncredited)
- Michael Merton as DMV Informant (uncredited)
- Jack Mulcahy as Newspaper Reporter (uncredited)
- Denise Nelan as Attorney (uncredited)
- Kariim Ratcliff as Photographer (uncredited)
- John Reidy as Broker (uncredited)
- Joey Sontz as Courtroom Extra (uncredited)
- Daisy Alexandra Sylbert-Torres as Ruskin Family Member (uncredited)
- Curt Truman as Head Waiter (uncredited)
- Ron Turek as Trial Attendant (uncredited)
- Clinton H. Wallace as Latino Kid (uncredited)
- Judith Burke as French Restaurant Patron
- Adina Winston as Female Guest
- Barry Michlin as Funeral Director
- Dog (uncredited) as Marshall
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 7% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 101
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 | 5 | 11 |
| 4 to 6 | 17 | 30 |
| 7 to 9 | 1 | 39 |
| 10 to 12 | 4 | 3 |
| 13 to 15 | 5 | 6 |
| 16 to 18 | 7 | 8 |
| 19 to 21 | 3 | 2 |
| 22 to 24 | 10 | 15 |
| 25 to 27 | 13 | 13 |
| 28 to 30 | 1 | 79 |
| 31 to 33 | 13 | 20 |
| 34 to 36 | 4 | 17 |
| 37 to 39 | 1 | 20 |
| 40 to 42 | 2 | 28 |
| 43 to 45 | 18 | 20 |
| 46 to 48 | 1 | 37 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 26 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 20 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 38 |
| 58 to 60 | 13 | 28 |
| 61 to 63 | 18 | 45 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 21 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 65 |
| 70 to 72 | 1 | 28 |
| 73 to 75 | 4 | 35 |
| 76 to 78 | 19 | 26 |
| 79 to 81 | 3 | 33 |
| 82 to 84 | 8 | 18 |
| 85 to 87 | 2 | 31 |
| 88 to 90 | 8 | 9 |
| 91 to 93 | 19 | 20 |
| 94 to 96 | 10 | 45 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 16 |
| 100 to 101 | 0 | 0 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scene
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
JUDY: Campbell! CAMPBELL: She's crying on the lifecycle.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 20 are women's.
210 lines from women, 852 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
22 women and 48 men in the cast. 9 women and 28 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 9 of 1,146.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 130 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 (3,044), men 80% (12,259).
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
4
Two men
59
Exhibit F: behind the camera
1 of the 11 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 11% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Brian De Palma (man)
- Written by
- Michael Cristofer (man)
- From the novel by
- Tom Wolfe (man)
- Produced by
- Brian De Palma (man)
- Shot by
- Vilmos Zsigmond (man)
- Edited by
- Bill Pankow (man), Beth Jochem Besterveld (woman), David Ray (man)
- Music by
- Dave Grusin (man)
- Production design by
- Richard Sylbert (man)
- Cast by
- Lynn Stalmaster (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
0 women, 6 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 6 men
-
Camera
0 women, 6 men
-
Editing
2 women, 3 men
-
Art
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 1 men
-
Other crew
0 women, 2 men
-
Sound
0 women, 2 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 34 on average. Men: 45 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Melanie Griffith 33, Kim Cattrall 34
Men
Tom Hanks 34, Kevin Dunn 34, Bruce Willis 35, Saul Rubinek 42, Louis Giambalvo 45, John Hancock 49, Morgan Freeman 53, Clifton James 70
Exhibit H: the money
It made 33% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $47 million
- Box office
- $15.7 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 101 scenes and 1,146 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
