Passes the Bechdel test
The King of Comedy
1982. Directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Paul D. Zimmerman.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
14 women characters. 4 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 145. -
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 1 out of 3.
The film
Rupert Pupkin is obsessed with becoming a comedy great. However, when he confronts his idol, talk show host Jerry Langford, with a plea to perform on the Jerry's show, he is only given the run-around. He does not give up, but persists in stalking Jerry until he gets what he wants. Eventually he must team up with his psychotic Langford-obsessed friend Masha to kidnap the talk show host in hopes of finally getting to perform his stand-up routine.
- Released
- 18 Dec 1982
- Genres
- Comedy, Crime, Drama
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 7.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 73 / 100
- Awards
- Won 1 BAFTA Award. 3 wins & 11 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Pupkin 399 lines, man
- Rita 167 lines, woman
- Langford 75 lines, man
- Marsha 65 lines, woman
- Young Man 35 lines, man
- Patten 34 lines, man
- Cathy Long 28 lines, woman
- Receptionist 23 lines, woman
- Thomas 15 lines, man
- Mae 14 lines
Full cast, 75 people
- Robert De Niro as Rupert Pupkin
- Jerry Lewis as Jerry Langford
- Diahnne Abbott as Rita
- Sandra Bernhard as Masha
- Shelley Hack as Cathy Long
- Frederick de Cordova as Bert Thomas
- Ed Herlihy as Ed Herlihy
- Lou Brown as Band Leader
- Loretta Tupper as Stage Door Fan
- Peter Potulski as Stage Door Fan
- Vinnie Gonzales as Stage Door Fan
- Whitey Ryan as Stage Door Guard
- Doc Lawless as Chauffeur
- Marta Heflin as Young Girl
- Katherine Wallach as Autograph Seeker
- Charles Kaleina as Autograph Seeker
- Richard Baratz as Caricaturist
- Catherine Scorsese as Rupert's Mom (voice)
- Cathy Scorsese as Dolores
- Chuck Low as Man in Chinese Restaurant
- Liza Minnelli as Liza Minnelli
- Leslie Levinson as Roberta Posner
- Alan Potashnick as Man at Telephone
- Michael Kolba as Man at Telephone
- Robert Colston as Man at Telephone
- Ramon Rodriguez as Man at Telephone
- Chuck Coop as Man at Telephone
- Sel Vitella as Man at Telephone
- Margo Winkler as Receptionist
- Tony Boschetti as Mr. Gangemi
- Mick Jones as Street Scum
- Joe Strummer as Street Scum
- Paul Simonon as Street Scum
- Kosmo Vinyl as Street Scum
- Ellen Foley as Street Scum
- Pearl Harbour as Street Scum
- Gaby Salter as Street Scum
- Jerry Baxter-Worman as Street Scum
- Don Letts as Street Scum
- Matt Russo as Cabbie
- Thelma Lee as Woman in Telephone Booth
- Joyce Brothers as Dr. Joyce Brothers
- George Kapp as Mystery Guest
- Victor Borge as Victor Borge
- Ralph Monaco as Raymond Wirtz
- Rob-Jamere Wess as Security Guard
- Kim Chan as Jonno
- Audrey Dummett as Cook
- June Prud'Homme as Audrey
- Edgar J. Scherick as Wilson Crockett
- Thomas M. Tolan as Gerrity
- Ray Dittrich as Giardello
- Richard Dioguardi as Captain Burke
- Jay Julien as Langford's Lawyer
- Harry J. Ufland as Langford's Agent
- Scotty Bloch as Crockett's Secretary
- Jim Lyness as Ticket Taker
- Bill Minkin as McCabe
- Diane Rachell as McCabe's Wife
- Dennis Mulligan as Plainclothesman
- Tony Devon as Plainclothesman
- Peter Fain as Plainclothesman
- Michael F. Stodden as Plainclothesman
- Gerard Murphy as Plainclothesman
- Jimmy Raitt as Stage Manager
- Martin Scorsese as TV Director
- Tony Randall as Tony Randall
- Charles Scorsese as First Man at Bar
- Mardik Martin as Second Man at Bar
- William Jorgensen as Newsman (voice)
- Marvin Scott as Newsman (voice)
- Chuck Stevens as Newsman (voice)
- William Littauer as Newsman (voice)
- Jeff David as Announcer (voice)
- Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Crowd Extra (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 5% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 145
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 4 | 7 | 84 |
| 5 to 8 | 2 | 6 |
| 9 to 12 | 36 | 51 |
| 13 to 16 | 49 | 55 |
| 17 to 20 | 12 | 16 |
| 21 to 24 | 14 | 19 |
| 25 to 28 | 6 | 5 |
| 29 to 32 | 9 | 13 |
| 33 to 36 | 0 | 1 |
| 37 to 40 | 32 | 31 |
| 41 to 44 | 0 | 8 |
| 45 to 48 | 6 | 26 |
| 49 to 52 | 21 | 26 |
| 53 to 56 | 16 | 21 |
| 57 to 60 | 10 | 9 |
| 61 to 64 | 2 | 9 |
| 65 to 68 | 7 | 21 |
| 69 to 72 | 15 | 12 |
| 73 to 76 | 13 | 43 |
| 77 to 80 | 12 | 13 |
| 81 to 84 | 1 | 8 |
| 85 to 88 | 0 | 11 |
| 89 to 92 | 0 | 8 |
| 93 to 96 | 7 | 23 |
| 97 to 100 | 0 | 13 |
| 101 to 104 | 4 | 16 |
| 105 to 108 | 0 | 0 |
| 109 to 112 | 0 | 0 |
| 113 to 116 | 0 | 6 |
| 117 to 120 | 1 | 7 |
| 121 to 124 | 6 | 25 |
| 125 to 128 | 0 | 4 |
| 129 to 132 | 2 | 4 |
| 133 to 136 | 2 | 8 |
| 137 to 140 | 2 | 17 |
| 141 to 144 | 6 | 17 |
| 145 to 145 | 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.
RITA: Okay. HALF-STEWED WOMAN: It's okay to talk about my sister, but we can't say nuthin' about Phil, is that it?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 32 are women's.
300 lines from women, 636 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
14 women and 29 men in the cast. 4 women and 22 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 4 of 981.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 66 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 (2,712), men 74% (7,671). 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
2
Two men
40
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 9 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 26% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Martin Scorsese (man)
- Written by
- Paul D. Zimmerman (man)
- Produced by
- Arnon Milchan (man)
- Shot by
- Fred Schuler (man)
- Edited by
- Thelma Schoonmaker (woman)
- Music by
- Robbie Robertson (man)
- Production design by
- Boris Leven (man)
- Costumes by
- Richard Bruno (man)
- Cast by
- Cis Corman (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
4 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 8 men
-
Camera
3 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 6 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 3 men
-
Editing
2 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 44 on average. Men: 60 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Sandra Bernhard 27, Shelley Hack 35, Diahnne Abbott 37, Loretta Tupper 76
Men
Robert De Niro 39, Jerry Lewis 56, Frederick de Cordova 72, Ed Herlihy 73
Exhibit H: the money
It made 13% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $19 million
- Box office
- $2.5 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 145 scenes and 981 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
