Passes the Bechdel test
Wall Street
1987. Directed by Oliver Stone, written by Stanley Weiser and Oliver Stone.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
30 women characters. 11 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 170. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
On the Wall Street of the 1980s, Bud Fox is a stockbroker full of ambition, doing whatever he can to make his way to the top. Admiring the power of unsparing corporate raider Gordon Gekko, Fox entices Gekko into mentoring him by providing insider trading. As Fox becomes embroiled in greed and underhanded schemes, his decisions eventually threaten the livelihood of his scrupulous father. Faced with this dilemma, Fox questions his loyalties.
- Released
- 11 Dec 1987
- Genres
- Crime, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.3 / 10
- Metascore
- 56 / 100
- Awards
- Won 1 Oscar. 9 wins & 4 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Bud 307 lines, man
- Gekko 160 lines, man
- Darien 56 lines, woman
- Carl 50 lines, man
- Marv 40 lines, man
- Roger 17 lines, man
- Wildman 13 lines, man
- Kate 12 lines, woman
- Lynch 12 lines, man
- Natalie 11 lines, woman
Full cast, 96 people
- Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko
- Charlie Sheen as Bud Fox
- Martin Sheen as Carl Fox
- Daryl Hannah as Darien Taylor
- John C. McGinley as Marvin
- Hal Holbrook as Lou Mannheim
- Sean Young as Kate Gekko
- Terence Stamp as Sir Larry Wildman
- James Spader as Roger Barnes
- Lauren Tom as Lady Broker
- Chuck Pfeiffer as Chuckie
- Tamara Tunie as Carolyn
- Franklin Cover as Dan
- James Karen as Lynch
- Saul Rubinek as Harry Salt
- Leslie Lyles as Natalie
- Faith Geer as Natalie's Assistant
- Frank Adonis as Charlie
- John Capodice as Dominick
- Suzen Murakoshi as Girl in Bed
- Dani Klein as Receptionist
- François Giroday as Alex
- Paul Guilfoyle as Stone Livingston
- Monique van Vooren as Woman at '21'
- Sylvia Miles as Dolores the Realtor
- Annie McEnroe as Muffie Livingston
- Josh Mostel as Ollie
- Ann Talman as Susan
- Lisa Zebro as Gina
- Rocco Ancarola as Maitre'd '21'
- Martin Sherman as Banker at '21'
- Derek Keir as Busboy at '21'
- Andrea Thompson as Hooker
- George Blumenthal as Broker in Locker Room
- George Vlachos as Maitre'd 'Le Cirque'
- Liliane Montevecchi as Woman at 'Le Cirque'
- Ronald von Klaussen as Airline Mechanic
- Michael O'Donoghue as Reporter
- Pirie MacDonald as TV Business Analyst
- Thomas Anderson as Butler
- Cecilia Peck as Candice Rogers
- Jack Pruett as Sam Ruspoli
- Ronald Yamamoto as Houseboy
- Yanni Sfinias as Panos
- Grant Shaud as Young Broker
- Carol Schneider as Paralegal
- Sean Stone as Rudy Gekko
- Astrid De Richemonte as Nicole
- Adelle Lutz as Janet
- Christopher Burge as Auctioneer
- Richard Feigen as Bidder at Auction
- James Rosenquist as Artist at Auction
- John Galateo as SEC Man
- Richard Dysart as Cromwell
- Marlena Bielinska as Woman in Plane
- William G. Knight as Duncan Wilmore
- Jean De Baer as Toni Carpenter
- Bruce Daniel Diker as Young Lawyer
- Jeff Beck as Investment Banker
- Diego Del Vayo as Commercial Banker
- Millie Perkins as Mrs. Fox
- Pat Skipper as Postal Inspector
- John Deyle as U.S. Attorney
- Michael A. Raymond as Trader - New York Stock Exchange
- Eugene Dumaresq as Trader - New York Stock Exchange
- Lefty Lewis as Trader - New York Stock Exchange
- Mike Rutigliano as Trader - New York Stock Exchange
- Heather Evans as Trader - Office
- Ken Lipper as Trader - Office
- Donnie Kehr as Trader - Office
- Elise Richmond as Trader - Office
- David Logan as Trader - Office
- Paul Kawecki as Trader - Office
- Dickson Shaw as Trader - Office
- Patrick Weathers as Trader - Office
- Jill Dalton as Trader - Office
- Allan Salkin as Trader - Office
- Oliver Stone as Trader - Office
- Michael C. Mahon as Trader - Office
- Jeff Rector as Trader - Office
- Pamela Riley as Trader - Office
- Jon Wool as Trader - Office
- James Bulleit as Elevator Person
- Alexandra Neil as Elevator Person
- Sam Ingraffia as Elevator Person
- Anna Thomson as Elevator Person
- Byron Utley as Elevator Person
- J. Adam Glover as Evan Morrissey (uncredited)
- David Hummel as Stock Broker (uncredited)
- Erville Light as Herself (uncredited)
- Kevin Michael Moran as Business Man (uncredited)
- Chris Nelson Norris as Health Club Attendant (uncredited)
- Bill Phillips as Chronicle Reporter (uncredited)
- Helen Proimos as Race Fan (uncredited)
- Ron Turek as Stock Broker (uncredited)
- Eric Kramer as Trader - Office (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 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 170
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 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 to 8 | 2 | 46 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 39 |
| 13 to 16 | 7 | 47 |
| 17 to 20 | 2 | 18 |
| 21 to 24 | 0 | 7 |
| 25 to 28 | 3 | 37 |
| 29 to 32 | 3 | 19 |
| 33 to 36 | 0 | 19 |
| 37 to 40 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 to 44 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 to 48 | 0 | 2 |
| 49 to 52 | 0 | 5 |
| 53 to 56 | 0 | 19 |
| 57 to 60 | 0 | 0 |
| 61 to 64 | 2 | 31 |
| 65 to 68 | 7 | 21 |
| 69 to 72 | 18 | 41 |
| 73 to 76 | 0 | 24 |
| 77 to 80 | 0 | 5 |
| 81 to 84 | 0 | 0 |
| 85 to 88 | 1 | 6 |
| 89 to 92 | 10 | 26 |
| 93 to 96 | 1 | 16 |
| 97 to 100 | 6 | 7 |
| 101 to 104 | 1 | 3 |
| 105 to 108 | 0 | 3 |
| 109 to 112 | 4 | 11 |
| 113 to 116 | 6 | 52 |
| 117 to 120 | 1 | 20 |
| 121 to 124 | 0 | 9 |
| 125 to 128 | 1 | 32 |
| 129 to 132 | 10 | 10 |
| 133 to 136 | 3 | 4 |
| 137 to 140 | 11 | 21 |
| 141 to 144 | 1 | 20 |
| 145 to 148 | 1 | 4 |
| 149 to 152 | 4 | 20 |
| 153 to 156 | 0 | 7 |
| 157 to 160 | 0 | 4 |
| 161 to 164 | 0 | 14 |
| 165 to 168 | 1 | 5 |
| 169 to 170 | 4 | 8 |
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.
MUFFIE: ...there I am in St. Kitt's in my new Kamali leopard skin V-cut bikini which is going to turn back the clock on our marriage five years, you… CANDICE: Oh my god, how ghastly, you should sue her...
MUFFIE: So, I had to sit around the beach wearing a moo-moo for 10 days, my whole vacation ruined. You just spilled your wine. CANDICE: You're just making it worse.
KATE: ...excuse me. DARIEN: Call me next week, I'll give you an estimate...
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 14 are women's.
110 lines from women, 683 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
30 women and 66 men in the cast. 11 women and 27 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 12 of 829.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 76 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 11% of the words (1,678), men 89% (13,770). Women have 14% 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
5
Two men
71
Exhibit F: behind the camera
1 of the 9 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 9% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Oliver Stone (man)
- Written by
- Oliver Stone (man), Stanley Weiser (man)
- Produced by
- Edward R. Pressman (man)
- Shot by
- Robert Richardson (man)
- Edited by
- Claire Simpson (woman)
- Music by
- Stewart Copeland (man)
- Production design by
- Stephen Hendrickson (man)
- Cast by
- Billy Hopkins (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Art
0 women, 4 men
-
Sound
0 women, 4 men
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 2 men
-
Editing
1 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Production
0 women, 3 men
-
Writing
0 women, 2 men
-
Other crew
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 27 on average. Men: 40 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Lauren Tom 26, Daryl Hannah 27, Sean Young 28
Men
Charlie Sheen 22, James Spader 27, John C. McGinley 28, Michael Douglas 43, Martin Sheen 47, Terence Stamp 49, Hal Holbrook 62
Exhibit H: the money
It made 2.9 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $15 million
- Box office
- $43.9 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 170 scenes and 829 lines of dialogue. How the test works
