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Fails the Bechdel test

The French Connection

1971. Directed by William Friedkin, written by Ernest Tidyman and Robin Moore and William Friedkin.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    The film has at least two women characters.
  2. No 2. Who talk to each other
    Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other.
  3. 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.

Poster for The French Connection

The film

William Friedkin's gritty police drama portrays two tough New York City cops trying to intercept a huge heroin shipment coming from France. An interesting contrast is established between 'Popeye' Doyle, a short-tempered alcoholic bigot who is nevertheless a hard-working and dedicated police officer, and his nemesis Alain Charnier, a suave and urbane gentleman who is nevertheless a criminal and one of the largest drug suppliers of pure heroin to North America. During the surveillance and eventual bust, Friedkin provides one of the most gripping and memorable car chase sequences ever filmed.

Released
09 Oct 1971
Genres
Action, Crime, Drama
Rated
R
IMDb
7.6 / 10
Metascore
94 / 100
Awards
Won 5 Oscars. 22 wins & 13 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Doyle 157 lines, man
  2. Russo 92 lines, man
  3. Charnier 54 lines, man
  4. Sal 27 lines, man
  5. Mulderig 20 lines, man
  6. La Valle 18 lines, man
  7. Marie 18 lines
  8. Simonson 18 lines, man
  9. Devereaux 16 lines, man
  10. Mutchie 15 lines, man
Full cast, 21 people
  • Gene Hackman as Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle
  • Roy Scheider as Buddy Russo
  • Fernando Rey as Alain Charnier
  • Tony Lo Bianco as Sal Boca
  • Marcel Bozzuffi as Pierre Nicoli
  • Frédéric de Pasquale as Devereaux
  • Bill Hickman as Mulderig
  • Ann Rebbot as Marie Charnier
  • Harold Gary as Weinstock
  • Arlene Farber as Angie Boca
  • Eddie Egan as Simonson
  • André Ernotte as La Valle
  • Sonny Grosso as Klein
  • Benny Marino as Lou Boca
  • Patrick McDermott as Chemist
  • Alan Weeks as Pusher
  • Al Fann as Informant
  • Irving Abrahams as Police Mechanic
  • Randy Jurgensen as Police Sergeant
  • William Coke as Motorman
  • Charles McGregor as "Baldy" (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 15% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 183

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers
ScenesWomen's linesMen's lines
1 to 400
5 to 800
9 to 1201
13 to 16032
17 to 2009
21 to 24010
25 to 2801
29 to 3206
33 to 3600
37 to 4004
41 to 4405
45 to 48011
49 to 5206
53 to 5608
57 to 60216
61 to 64056
65 to 68125
69 to 7208
73 to 76628
77 to 80538
81 to 84017
85 to 88120
89 to 9201
93 to 9603
97 to 10000
101 to 10402
105 to 108024
109 to 112031
113 to 11604
117 to 12000
121 to 12400
125 to 128018
129 to 132026
133 to 13602
137 to 14004
141 to 14406
145 to 14801
149 to 15200
153 to 15600
157 to 16000
161 to 16409
165 to 168034
169 to 17200
173 to 17601
177 to 18002
181 to 18305

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, 3 are women's.

15 lines from women, 474 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

1 women and 15 men in the cast. 1 women and 11 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 121 of 572. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 231 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

  • First line by a woman
  • Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 2% of the words (108), men 98% (5,089). Women have 3% 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

Exhibit E: behind the camera

None of the 8 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 0% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
William Friedkin (man)
Written by
Ernest Tidyman (man)
Produced by
Philip D'Antoni (man)
Shot by
Owen Roizman (man)
Edited by
Gerald B. Greenberg (man)
Music by
Don Ellis (man)
Costumes by
Joseph Fretwell III (gender not listed)
Cast by
Robert Weiner (gender not listed)

The crew, department by department

  • Other crew

    0 women, 13 men, 2 not listed

  • Production

    0 women, 5 men, 2 not listed

  • Directing

    0 women, 4 men, 1 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    0 women, 1 men, 3 not listed

  • Sound

    0 women, 4 men

  • Art

    0 women, 0 men, 3 not listed

  • Camera

    0 women, 3 men

  • Editing

    0 women, 2 men

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit F: how old the stars were

Women: 24 on average. Men: 46 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Arlene Farber 24

Men

Tony Lo Bianco 34, Roy Scheider 38, Frédéric de Pasquale 40, Gene Hackman 41, Marcel Bozzuffi 42, Bill Hickman 50, Fernando Rey 54, Harold Gary 65

Exhibit G: the money

It made 22.9 times what it cost.

Budget
$1.8 million
Box office
$41.2 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 183 scenes and 572 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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