Fails the Bechdel test
The Mask of Zorro
1998. Directed by Martin Campbell, written by Johnston McCulley and Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
6 women characters. 5 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 1821 Old California, mysterious black-caped masked avenger of the oppressed, Don Diego de la Vega--Zorro--lands in jail after once again humiliating the evil Spanish governor Don Rafael Montero. With his only daughter raised by Don Rafael as his own, the grizzled swordsman makes a daring escape nearly two decades later, and takes under his wing the unrefined outlaw Alejandro Murietta to teach him the ropes and hopefully become the next Zorro. Now, the stage is set for a ferocious final confrontation, as the new young rapier-wielder prepares to thwart the despicable governor's sinister plans. Can Alejandro live up to legendary Zorro's name?
- Released
- 17 Jul 1998
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Comedy
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 6.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 62 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 2 Oscars. 9 wins & 18 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Diego 148 lines, man
- Alejandro 124 lines, man
- Montero 123 lines, man
- Elena 85 lines, woman
- Love 64 lines, man
- Zorro 55 lines, man
- Don Luiz 32 lines, man
- Joaquin 22 lines, man
- Felipe 14 lines, man
- Soldier 11 lines, man
Full cast, 48 people
- Antonio Banderas as Alejandro Murrieta / Zorro
- Anthony Hopkins as Don Diego de la Vega / Zorro
- Catherine Zeta-Jones as Elena Montero / Elena Murrieta
- Stuart Wilson as Don Rafael Montero
- Matt Letscher as Capt. Harrison Love
- L.Q. Jones as Three-Fingered Jack
- Diego Sieres as Young Joaquín Murrieta
- José María de Tavira as Young Alejandro Murrieta
- Tony Amendola as Don Luiz
- Emiliano Guerra as Boy Crying
- Yolanda Orizaga as Woman Crying
- Paco Morayta as Undertaker
- William Marquez as Fray Felipe
- Pedro Altamirano as Squad Leader
- Luisa Huertas as Nanny
- María Fernández Cruz as Baby Elena de la Vega
- Mónica Fernández Cruz as Baby Elena de la Vega
- Julieta Rosen as Esperanza de la Vega
- Raúl Martínez as Heavyset Lieutenant
- Victor Rivers as Joaquín Murrieta
- José Pérez as Cpl. Armando Garcia
- Tony Cabral as Soldier Holding 'Wanted' Poster
- Tony Genaro as Watering Station Owner
- Iván Rafael as Small Boy at Watering Station
- David Villalpando as Stupid Soldier
- Maury Chaykin as Prison Warden
- Paul Ganus as Prison Guard
- Sergio Espinoza as Leper Zorro
- Conrad Roberts as Black Zorro
- Abel Woolrich as Ancient Zorro
- Pedro Armendáriz Jr. as Don Pedro
- Moisés Suárez as Don Hector
- Humberto Elizondo as Don Julio
- Fernando Becerril as One of the Six Dons
- Alberto Carrera as One of the Six Dons
- Eduardo López as One of the Six Dons
- Vanessa Bauche as Indian Girl
- Gonzalo Lora as One of the Six Dons
- Rudy Miller as One of the Six Dons
- Manolo Pastor as One of the Six Dons
- Diego Sandoval as Padre at the Beach
- Enrike Palma as Bartender
- Erika Carlsson as Don Pedro's Wife
- Manuel de Jesús Vásquez Morales as Guitar-Playing Soldier
- Óscar Zerafín González as Giant Soldier
- Kelsie Kimberli Garcia as Baby Joaquín
- Kaylissa Keli Garcia as Baby Joaquín
- Gheorghe Mureșan as Giant Man Zorro Beats Up (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 4% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 106
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 | 0 | 17 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 22 |
| 7 to 9 | 7 | 35 |
| 10 to 12 | 1 | 40 |
| 13 to 15 | 7 | 10 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 16 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 24 |
| 22 to 24 | 3 | 45 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 19 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 31 |
| 31 to 33 | 2 | 23 |
| 34 to 36 | 5 | 3 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 4 |
| 40 to 42 | 13 | 20 |
| 43 to 45 | 3 | 16 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 18 |
| 49 to 51 | 9 | 64 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 5 |
| 55 to 57 | 4 | 21 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 23 |
| 61 to 63 | 13 | 31 |
| 64 to 66 | 7 | 10 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 11 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 2 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 8 |
| 76 to 78 | 1 | 7 |
| 79 to 81 | 8 | 15 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 4 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 26 |
| 88 to 90 | 1 | 16 |
| 91 to 93 | 1 | 0 |
| 94 to 96 | 2 | 3 |
| 97 to 99 | 5 | 19 |
| 100 to 102 | 4 | 18 |
| 103 to 105 | 7 | 42 |
| 106 to 106 | 0 | 2 |
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, 13 are women's.
103 lines from women, 670 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
6 women and 27 men in the cast. 5 women and 26 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 42 of 805.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 69 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 12% of the words (974), men 88% (6,861). Women have 13% 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
Two women
1
Two men
81
Exhibit E: behind the camera
2 of the 16 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 14% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Martin Campbell (man)
- Written by
- John Eskow (man), Ted Elliott (man), Terry Rossio (man)
- Story by
- Ted Elliott (man), Terry Rossio (man), Randall Jahnson (man)
- From the novel by
- Johnston McCulley (man)
- Produced by
- Doug Claybourne (man), David Foster (man)
- Shot by
- Phil Meheux (man)
- Edited by
- Thom Noble (man)
- Music by
- James Horner (man)
- Production design by
- Cecilia Montiel (woman)
- Costumes by
- Graciela Mazón (gender not listed)
- Cast by
- Pam Dixon (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
3 women, 32 men, 8 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 5 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 6 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 4 men, 2 not listed
-
Writing
0 women, 7 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 3 men
-
Sound
1 women, 4 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 28 on average. Men: 44 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Catherine Zeta-Jones 28
Men
José María de Tavira 14, Matt Letscher 28, Antonio Banderas 37, Tony Amendola 46, Stuart Wilson 51, Anthony Hopkins 60, L.Q. Jones 70
Exhibit G: the money
It made 2.6 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $95 million
- Box office
- $250 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 106 scenes and 805 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
