Passes the Bechdel test
The Wizard of Oz
1939. Directed by Victor Fleming and George Cukor and Norman Taurog, written by Noel Langley and Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
8 women characters. 4 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 1. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
When a tornado rips through Kansas, Dorothy Gale and her dog, Toto, are whisked away from their house to the magical Land of Oz. They follow the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City to meet the Wizard, and on the way, they meet a Scarecrow who wants a brain, a Tin Man who wants a heart, and a Cowardly Lion who wants courage. The Wizard asks them to bring him the Wicked Witch of the West's broom to earn his help.
- Released
- 25 Aug 1939
- Genres
- Adventure, Family, Fantasy
- Rated
- G
- IMDb
- 8.1 / 10
- Metascore
- 92 / 100
- Awards
- Won 2 Oscars. 16 wins & 14 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Dorothy 303 lines, woman
- Scarecrow 151 lines, man
- Lion 116 lines, man
- Tin Man 111 lines, man
- Witch 48 lines, woman
- Oz 47 lines, man
- Wizard 41 lines, man
- Glinda 35 lines, woman
- Professor 35 lines
- Aunt Em 24 lines, woman
Full cast, 27 people
- Judy Garland as Dorothy
- Ray Bolger as Scarecrow / Hunk
- Jack Haley as Tin Man / Hickory
- Bert Lahr as Cowardly Lion / Zeke
- Frank Morgan as Oz / Professor Marvel
- Margaret Hamilton as The Wicked Witch of the West / Miss Gulch
- Billie Burke as Glinda
- Clara Blandick as Auntie Em
- Charley Grapewin as Uncle Henry
- Pat Walshe as Nikko
- Terry as Toto
- Adriana Caselotti as Juliet (voice) (uncredited)
- Harry Earles as Lollipop Guild Member (uncredited)
- Jerry Maren as Lollipop Guild Member (uncredited)
- Buddy Ebsen as Tin Man (singing voice) (uncredited)
- Parnell St. Aubin as Munchkin (uncredited)
- Billy Bletcher as Mayor / Lollipop Guild Member (voice) (uncredited)
- Pinto Colvig as Munchkins (voice) (uncredited)
- Charles Becker as Munchkin Mayor (uncredited)
- Mitchell Lewis as Captain of the Winkie Guard (uncredited)
- Buster Brodie as Winged Monkey (uncredited)
- Ethelreda Leopold as Emerald City Manicurist (uncredited)
- Billy Curtis as Munchkin (uncredited)
- Eleanor Keaton as Ozmite (uncredited)
- Angelo Rossitto as Munchkin Villager (uncredited)
- Meinhardt Raabe as Coroner Munchkin (uncredited)
- Elaine Merk Binder as Munchkin (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
We couldn't read who says what in this film's script, so there's no dialogue chart for it yet.
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scenes
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
GLINDA: She brings you good news. Or haven't you heard? DOROTHY: It really was no miracle. What happened was just this:
DOROTHY: I thought you said she was dead. GLINDA: That was her sister -- the Wicked Witch of the East. This is the Wicked Witch of the West. And she's worse than the other one was.
GLINDA: It's too late! There they.... DOROTHY: Oh!
DOROTHY: I'm frightened, I'm frightened, Auntie Em -- I'm frightened! AUNTIE EM: Dorothy -- Dorothy -- where are you? It's me -- it's Auntie Em. We're trying to find you. Where are you? DOROTHY: I -- I'm here in Oz, Auntie Em. I'm locked up in the Witch's castle....and I'm trying to get home to you, Auntie Em! Oh, Auntie Em, don't go…
WINKIES: Hail! Hail to Dorothy -- The Wicked Witch is dead! DOROTHY: You mean, you're...you're all happy about it?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 42 are women's.
426 lines from women, 578 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
8 women and 18 men in the cast. 4 women and 16 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
A woman speaks the first line.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 39 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 46% of the words (4,847), men 54% (5,773). Women have 42% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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
19
Two men
65
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 12% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Victor Fleming (man)
- Written by
- Florence Ryerson (woman), Noel Langley (man), Edgar Allan Woolf (man)
- From the novel by
- L. Frank Baum (man)
- Produced by
- Mervyn LeRoy (man), Victor Fleming (man)
- Shot by
- Harold Rosson (man)
- Edited by
- Blanche Sewell (woman)
- Music by
- Harold Arlen (man)
- Costumes by
- Adrian (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
0 women, 6 men
-
Writing
1 women, 5 men
-
Art
0 women, 4 men
-
Other crew
1 women, 2 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 2 men
-
Production
0 women, 2 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 43 on average. Men: 46 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Judy Garland 17, Margaret Hamilton 36, Billie Burke 55, Clara Blandick 63
Men
Ray Bolger 35, Pat Walshe 39, Jack Haley 42, Bert Lahr 44, Frank Morgan 49, Charley Grapewin 69
Exhibit H: the money
It made 12.2 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $2.8 million
- Box office
- $33.8 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 1 scenes and 1,108 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
