Passes the Bechdel test
Trumbo
2015. Directed by Jay Roach, written by John McNamara and Bruce Cook.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
10 women characters. 4 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 3 scenes out of 214. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3, though someone marked that rating as dubious.
The film
In 1947, Dalton Trumbo (Bryan Cranston) was Hollywood's top screenwriter until he and other artists were jailed and blacklisted for their political beliefs. This movie recounts how Dalton used words and wit to win two Academy Awards and expose the absurdity and injustice under the blacklist, which entangled everyone from gossip columnist Hedda Hopper (Dame Helen Mirren) to John Wayne (David James Elliott), Kirk Douglas (Dean O'Gorman), and Otto Preminger (Christian Berkel).
- Released
- 27 Nov 2015
- Genres
- Biography, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.4 / 10
- Metascore
- 60 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 Oscar. 8 wins & 45 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Dalton Trumbo 303 lines, man
- Cleo 62 lines, woman
- Niki 62 lines, woman
- Hedda Hopper 58 lines, woman
- Arlen Hird 56 lines, man
- Edward G. Robinson 56 lines, man
- Frank King 44 lines, man
- John Wayne 30 lines, man
- Kirk Douglas 26 lines, man
- Ian Mclellan Hunter 23 lines, man
Full cast, 54 people
- Bryan Cranston as Dalton Trumbo
- Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Virgil Brooks
- Louis C.K. as Arlen Hird
- David James Elliott as John Wayne
- Elle Fanning as Niki Trumbo
- John Goodman as Frank King
- Diane Lane as Cleo Trumbo
- Michael Stuhlbarg as Edward G. Robinson
- Alan Tudyk as Ian McLellan Hunter
- Helen Mirren as Hedda Hopper
- Dan Bakkedahl as Roy Brewer
- Roger Bart as Buddy Ross
- Christian Berkel as Otto Preminger
- Peter MacKenzie as Robert Kenny
- Dean O'Gorman as Kirk Douglas
- Richard Portnow as Louis B. Mayer
- Stephen Root as Hymie King
- Dave Maldonado as Rocco
- John Getz as Sam Wood
- Laura Flannery as Party Goer
- Toby Nichols as Chris Trumbo (age 6-10)
- Joseph Martino as Rally Participant
- Madison Wolfe as Niki Trumbo (age 8-11)
- Jason Bayle as Young Father
- James DuMont as J. Parnell Thomas
- Johnny Sneed as Robert Stripling
- Rio Hackford as Reporter
- Dane Rhodes as Reporter
- John Neisler as Jury Foreman
- Sean Bridgers as Jeff Krandall
- J.D. Evermore as Prison Guard
- PJ Marshall as Prison Guard
- Meghan Wolfe as Mitzi Trumbo (age 6-8)
- Mitchell Zakocs as Chris Trumbo (age 10-12)
- Jason Kirkpatrick as Mover
- Wayne Péré as Next Door Neighbor
- A.J. Allegra as Messenger
- Mattie Liptak as Chris Trumbo (age 13-17)
- Becca Nicole Preston as Mitzi Trumbo (age 9-12)
- Garrett Hines as Andrew Hird
- Mark Harelik as Ed Muhl
- Chris LeBlanc as Niki's Friend
- Ron Fassler as Journalist
- Jim Gleason as TV Interviewer
- Rick Kelly as John F. Kennedy
- Billy Slaughter as DC Reporter
- Griff Furst as Master of Ceremonies
- John Mark Skinner as Chris Trumbo (age 29)
- Jaclyn Bethany as Starlet (uncredited)
- Kate Kuen as Ethel (uncredited)
- Suzanne LaChasse as Showgirl (uncredited)
- Rhonda Laizer as Trumbo Friend (uncredited)
- Veronica Parks as Showgirl (uncredited)
- Anne Speed as Juror (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 214
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 5 | 0 | 13 |
| 6 to 10 | 22 | 48 |
| 11 to 15 | 8 | 49 |
| 16 to 20 | 7 | 5 |
| 21 to 25 | 2 | 19 |
| 26 to 30 | 2 | 24 |
| 31 to 35 | 10 | 40 |
| 36 to 40 | 3 | 13 |
| 41 to 45 | 0 | 10 |
| 46 to 50 | 3 | 28 |
| 51 to 55 | 4 | 22 |
| 56 to 60 | 24 | 8 |
| 61 to 65 | 2 | 21 |
| 66 to 70 | 0 | 11 |
| 71 to 75 | 6 | 12 |
| 76 to 80 | 0 | 7 |
| 81 to 85 | 0 | 8 |
| 86 to 90 | 4 | 11 |
| 91 to 95 | 1 | 10 |
| 96 to 100 | 0 | 29 |
| 101 to 105 | 2 | 7 |
| 106 to 110 | 1 | 2 |
| 111 to 115 | 0 | 25 |
| 116 to 120 | 0 | 14 |
| 121 to 125 | 4 | 6 |
| 126 to 130 | 4 | 24 |
| 131 to 135 | 0 | 29 |
| 136 to 140 | 4 | 9 |
| 141 to 145 | 0 | 10 |
| 146 to 150 | 10 | 4 |
| 151 to 155 | 7 | 4 |
| 156 to 160 | 21 | 40 |
| 161 to 165 | 13 | 31 |
| 166 to 170 | 2 | 9 |
| 171 to 175 | 7 | 28 |
| 176 to 180 | 3 | 21 |
| 181 to 185 | 0 | 27 |
| 186 to 190 | 4 | 11 |
| 191 to 195 | 0 | 7 |
| 196 to 200 | 1 | 4 |
| 201 to 205 | 2 | 10 |
| 206 to 210 | 4 | 6 |
| 211 to 214 | 0 | 28 |
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.
NIKI: Mom, please...? CLEO: Not now, honey.
CLEO: Till I was 15. And it was more “show-forced-labor.” NIKI: She never drops one, ever. CLEO: Mom had a little saying. “Drop it, you lose your next meal.”
NIKI: I need to know when I can do homework. And I’m on a fundraising committee for Negro Voting Rights, plus -- CLEO: All right, honey, we’ll work it out. CLEO: Won’t we.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 20 are women's.
187 lines from women, 744 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
10 women and 36 men in the cast. 4 women and 34 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 28 of 948.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 55 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 19% of the words (1,874), men 81% (8,089). Women have 20% 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
12
Two men
79
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 16 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 39% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Jay Roach (man)
- Written by
- John McNamara (man)
- Produced by
- Jay Roach (man), Kevin Kelly Brown (man), Monica Levinson (woman), Michael London (man), Nimitt Mankad (gender not listed), John McNamara (man) and 2 more
- Shot by
- Jim Denault (man)
- Edited by
- Alan Baumgarten (man)
- Music by
- Theodore Shapiro (man)
- Production design by
- Mark Ricker (man)
- Costumes by
- Daniel Orlandi (man)
- Cast by
- David Rubin (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
7 women, 5 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 2 men
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men
-
Directing
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 2 men
-
Other crew
2 women, 0 men
-
Writing
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 46 on average. Men: 52 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Elle Fanning 17, Diane Lane 50, Helen Mirren 70
Men
Alan Tudyk 44, Michael Stuhlbarg 47, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje 48, Louis C.K. 48, David James Elliott 55, Bryan Cranston 59, John Goodman 63
Exhibit H: the money
It made 55% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $15 million
- Box office
- $8.2 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 214 scenes and 948 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
