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Passes the Bechdel test

White Christmas

1954. Directed by Michael Curtiz, written by Norman Krasna and Norman Panama and Melvin Frank.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    11 women characters. 5 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 4 scenes out of 22.
  3. 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.

Poster for White Christmas

The film

Having left the Army following W.W.II, Bob Wallace and Phil Davis team up to become a top song-and-dance act. Davis plays matchmaker and introduces Wallace to a pair of beautiful sisters (Betty and Judy) who also have a song-and-dance act. When Betty and Judy travel to a Vermont lodge to perform a Christmas show, Wallace and Davis follow, only to find their former commander, General Waverly, as the lodge owner. A series of romantic mix-ups ensue as the performers try to help the General.

Released
05 Nov 1954
Genres
Comedy, Musical, Romance
Rated
Approved
IMDb
7.6 / 10
Metascore
56 / 100
Awards
Nominated for 1 Oscar. 3 wins & 2 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Bob 181 lines, man
  2. Phil 127 lines, man
  3. Betty 94 lines, woman
  4. Waverly 69 lines, man
  5. Judy 60 lines, woman
  6. Martha 35 lines
  7. Sheriff 19 lines
  8. Susan 14 lines, woman
  9. Ed 13 lines, man
  10. Novello 11 lines, man
Full cast, 35 people
  • Bing Crosby as Bob Wallace
  • Danny Kaye as Phil Davis
  • Rosemary Clooney as Betty Haynes
  • Vera-Ellen as Judy Haynes
  • Dean Jagger as General Waverly
  • Mary Wickes as Emma Allen
  • John Brascia as John
  • Anne Whitfield as Susan Waverly
  • Bea Allen as Dancer (uncredited)
  • Frank Baker as Anniversary Party Guest (uncredited)
  • Glen Cargyle as Jeep Driver (uncredited)
  • George Chakiris as Dancer (uncredited)
  • Barrie Chase as Doris Lenz (uncredited)
  • Lorinne Crawford as Rita (uncredited)
  • Franklyn Farnum as Club Patron (uncredited)
  • Bess Flowers as Club Patron (uncredited)
  • Gavin Gordon as General Carlton (uncredited)
  • Johnny Grant as Ed Harrison (uncredited)
  • Percy Helton as Train Conductor (uncredited)
  • I. Stanford Jolley as Station Master (uncredited)
  • Sig Ruman as Landlord (uncredited)
  • Grady Sutton as Mr. Herring (uncredited)
  • Herb Vigran as Novello (uncredited)
  • Robert Crosson as Albert (uncredited)
  • Chuck Hicks as Anniversary Party Guest (uncredited)
  • Barry Norton as Carousel Club Diner (uncredited)
  • Hal Taggart as Anniversary Party Guest (uncredited)
  • Carl Switzer as Bennie Haynes (uncredited)
  • Charles Fogel as Anniversary Party Guest (uncredited)
  • George Ford as Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
  • Rudy Germane as Anniversary Party Guest (uncredited)
  • Joe Gilbert as Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
  • Joan Bayley as Dancer
  • Trudy Erwin as Judy Haynes (Singing) (Uncredited)
  • Gloria Wood as Judy Haynes (Singing) (Uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 11% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 22

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers
ScenesWomen's linesMen's lines
1 to 1017
2 to 200
3 to 34481
4 to 414
5 to 501
6 to 6024
7 to 703
8 to 81935
9 to 9732
10 to 102036
11 to 113748
12 to 12416
13 to 13112
14 to 14033
15 to 1500
16 to 1620
17 to 172264
18 to 1883
19 to 1940
20 to 20625
21 to 2100
22 to 2200

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.
JUDY: They're both very cute, aren't they? BETTY: Both? JUDY: Uh huh. BETTY: Which one do you like best?
BETTY: Maybe it'll snow in New York for Christmas. If it doesn't, we'll mail you a snowball from Vermont. JUDY: I haven't been on ice skates in years.
JUDY: I don't understand it. BETTY: There has to be snow! This place is advertised as America's Snow Playground!
BETTY: We're the Stewart sisters. JUDY: Your floor show.
JUDY: Oh, Betty! I'm sorry! I misunderstood! BETTY: Now, baby! It's all right!

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 29 are women's.

175 lines from women, 434 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

11 women and 24 men in the cast. 5 women and 11 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 31 of 687. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 51 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

  • First line by a woman
  • Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 23% of the words (1,440), men 77% (4,948). Women have 29% 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

Exhibit F: behind the camera

1 of the 11 people in these jobs is a woman. Across the whole crew, 7% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Michael Curtiz (man)
Written by
Melvin Frank (man), Norman Krasna (man), Norman Panama (man)
Produced by
Robert Emmett Dolan (man)
Shot by
Loyal Griggs (man)
Edited by
Frank Bracht (man)
Music by
Van Cleave (man), Gus Levene (man), Joseph J. Lilley (man)
Costumes by
Edith Head (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Sound

    0 women, 9 men

  • Art

    1 women, 3 men

  • Writing

    0 women, 3 men

  • Camera

    0 women, 2 men

  • Costume & Make-Up

    1 women, 1 men

  • Other crew

    0 women, 2 men

  • Directing

    0 women, 2 men

  • Editing

    0 women, 1 men

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 30 on average. Men: 46 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Anne Whitfield 16, Rosemary Clooney 26, Vera-Ellen 33, Mary Wickes 44

Men

John Brascia 22, Danny Kaye 43, Dean Jagger 50, Bing Crosby 51, Frank Baker 62

Exhibit H: the money

What it cost and made, where TMDB lists it.

Budget
Not listed
Box office
$1.1 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 22 scenes and 687 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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