Fails the Bechdel test
The Long Goodbye
1973. Directed by Robert Altman, written by Leigh Brackett and Raymond Chandler.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
0 / 3
Fails
-
No
1. At least two women
Fewer than two women characters. -
No
2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
In the middle of the night, private eye Philip Marlowe drives his friend Terry Lennox to the Mexican border. When Marlowe returns home police are waiting for him and learns that Terry's wife Sylvia has been killed. He's arrested as an accessory but released after a few days and is told the case is closed since Terry Lennox has seemingly committed suicide in Mexico. Marlowe is visited by mobster Marty Augustine who wants to know what happened to the $350,000 Lennox was supposed to deliver for him. Meanwhile, Marlowe is hired by Eileen Wade to find her husband Roger who has a habit of disappearing when he wants to dry out but she can't find him in any any of his usual haunts. He finds him at Dr. Veringer's clinic and brings him. It soon becomes obvious to Marlowe that Terry's death, the Wades and Augustine are all somehow interconnected. Figuring out just what those connections are however will be anything but easy.
- Released
- 08 Mar 1973
- Genres
- Comedy, Crime, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.5 / 10
- Metascore
- 87 / 100
- Awards
- 2 wins & 1 nomination total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Marlowe 188 lines, man
- Eileen 64 lines, woman
- Roger 61 lines, man
- Terry 26 lines, man
- Farmer 19 lines, man
- Augustine 15 lines, man
- Verringer 14 lines, man
- Green 11 lines, man
- Jefe 11 lines, man
- Woman 11 lines, woman
Full cast, 30 people
- Elliott Gould as Philip Marlowe
- Nina van Pallandt as Eileen Wade
- Sterling Hayden as Roger Wade
- Mark Rydell as Marty Augustine
- Henry Gibson as Dr. Verringer
- David Arkin as Harry
- Jim Bouton as Terry Lennox
- Warren Berlinger as Morgan
- Jo Ann Brody as Jo Ann Eggenweiler
- Stephen Coit as Detective Farmer
- Jack Knight as Mabel
- Pepe Callahan as Pepe
- Vincent Palmieri as Vince
- Pancho Córdova as Doctor
- Enrique Lucero as Jeffe
- Rutanya Alda as Rutanya Sweet
- Tammy Shaw as Dancer
- Jack Riley as Riley
- Ken Sansom as Colony Guard
- Jerry Jones as Detective Green
- John Davies as Det. Dayton
- Rodney Moss as Supermarket Clerk
- Sybil Scotford as Real Estate Lady
- Herb Kerns as Herbie
- Robert Altman as Ambulance Driver (uncredited)
- David Carradine as Dave aka Socrates (uncredited)
- Carl Gottlieb as Wade Party Guest (uncredited)
- George Wyner as Cop at Beach (uncredited)
- Leslie McRay as Lucille (uncredited)
- Arnold Schwarzenegger as Hood in Augustine's Office (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 22% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 27
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 1 | 0 | 9 |
| 2 to 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 to 3 | 0 | 23 |
| 4 to 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 to 5 | 0 | 29 |
| 6 to 6 | 0 | 26 |
| 7 to 7 | 0 | 25 |
| 8 to 8 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 to 9 | 24 | 17 |
| 10 to 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 to 11 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 to 12 | 2 | 20 |
| 13 to 13 | 6 | 42 |
| 14 to 14 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 to 15 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 to 16 | 0 | 6 |
| 17 to 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 to 18 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 to 19 | 0 | 4 |
| 20 to 20 | 0 | 38 |
| 21 to 21 | 3 | 13 |
| 22 to 22 | 4 | 3 |
| 23 to 23 | 35 | 66 |
| 24 to 24 | 0 | 1 |
| 25 to 25 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 to 26 | 0 | 39 |
| 27 to 27 | 1 | 0 |
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, 17 are women's.
76 lines from women, 362 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
5 women and 24 men in the cast. 1 women and 14 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 137 of 560.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 136 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 17% of the words (1,320), men 83% (6,397).
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
0
Two men
42
Exhibit E: behind the camera
2 of the 9 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 19% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Robert Altman (man)
- Written by
- Leigh Brackett (woman)
- From the novel by
- Raymond Chandler (man)
- Produced by
- Jerry Bick (man)
- Shot by
- Vilmos Zsigmond (man)
- Edited by
- Lou Lombardo (man)
- Music by
- John Williams (man)
- Costumes by
- Marjorie Wahl (woman), Kent James (gender not listed)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
1 women, 4 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 0 men, 2 not listed
-
Production
0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 3 men
-
Editing
0 women, 3 men
-
Sound
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Writing
1 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 40 on average. Men: 40 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Nina van Pallandt 40
Men
David Arkin 31, Elliott Gould 34, Jim Bouton 34, Warren Berlinger 35, Henry Gibson 37, Mark Rydell 43, Stephen Coit 52, Sterling Hayden 56
Exhibit G: the money
It made 56% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $1.7 million
- Box office
- $959,000
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 27 scenes and 560 lines of dialogue. How the test works
