Fails the Bechdel test
Young Frankenstein
1974. Directed by Mel Brooks, written by Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks and Mary Shelley.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
4 women characters. 8 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 2 out of 3.
The film
As a respected researcher and physician, Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, the grandson of the more famous Dr. Victor Frankenstein, who did experiments on bringing back the dead, tries to disassociate himself from his more famous relative, even to the point of pronouncing their surname differently. Regardless, Frederick is drawn back to the small Transylvannian town and castle where Victor conducted his experiments, he leaving behind his somewhat standoffish and "untouchable" fiancée, Elizabeth, back in the US. He also slowly begins to get drawn into the research that his grandfather conducted, he eventually learns not by accident. As Frederick tries to reanimate his dead subject with the help of his hunchbacked aide Igor and his beautiful assistant Inga, rumors abound in the town of what he is doing, they who have been trying to disassociate themselves from the work of the former Dr. Frankenstein generations ago. Inspector Kemp is tasked with stopping any work if it is indeed happening. All these issues collide as Frederick and team try to hide their work from the Inspector while hitting some technical roadblocks, and as Elizabeth comes to Transylvannia and accidentally gets caught up in the experiment.
- Released
- 15 Dec 1974
- Genres
- Comedy
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 8 / 10
- Metascore
- 83 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 2 Oscars. 10 wins & 8 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Freddy 232 lines, man
- Igor 66 lines, man
- Inga 44 lines, woman
- Frau Blucher 32 lines, woman
- Elizabeth 28 lines, woman
- Monster 25 lines, man
- Herr Falkstein 14 lines, man
- Kemp 10 lines, man
- Cornelius Waldman 8 lines
- Medical Student 8 lines, man
Full cast, 40 people
- Gene Wilder as Dr. Frankenstein
- Peter Boyle as Monster
- Marty Feldman as Igor
- Madeline Kahn as Elizabeth
- Cloris Leachman as Frau Blücher
- Teri Garr as Inga
- Kenneth Mars as Inspector Kemp
- Richard Haydn as Herr Falkstein
- Liam Dunn as Mr. Hilltop
- Danny Goldman as Medical Student
- Oscar Beregi Jr. as Sadistic Jailor
- Arthur Malet as Village Elder
- Anne Beesley as Little Girl
- Monte Landis as Gravedigger
- Rusty Blitz as Gravedigger
- John Madison as Villager
- John Dennis as Orderly in Frankenstein's Class
- Rick Norman as Villager
- Rolfe Sedan as Train Conductor
- Terrence Pushman as Villager
- Randolph Dobbs as Villager
- Norbert Schiller as Emcee at Frankenstein's Show
- Pat O'Hara as Villager
- Michael Fox as Helga's Father
- Lidia Kristen as Helga's Mother
- Richard A. Roth as Inspector Kemp's Aide
- Gene Hackman as Blindman
- Berry Kroeger as First Village Elder (uncredited)
- Ian Abercrombie as Second Villager (uncredited)
- Mel Brooks as Werewolf / Cat / Victor Frankenstein (voice) (uncredited)
- Lou Cutell as Frightened Villager (uncredited)
- Leoda Richards as Theatre Goer (uncredited)
- Clement von Franckenstein as Villager Screaming at Monster (uncredited)
- Jeff Maxwell as Medical Student (uncredited)
- Lars Hensen as Theatre Goer (uncredited)
- Johnny Marlin as Spectator (uncredited)
- Maida Severn as Train Passenger (uncredited)
- Arthur Tovey as Member of Angry Mob (uncredited)
- Max Wagner as Villager (uncredited)
- Gary Wright as Villager (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 10% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 58
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 2 | 0 | 74 |
| 3 to 4 | 11 | 10 |
| 5 to 6 | 3 | 15 |
| 7 to 8 | 2 | 14 |
| 9 to 10 | 17 | 16 |
| 11 to 12 | 1 | 4 |
| 13 to 14 | 4 | 15 |
| 15 to 16 | 3 | 33 |
| 17 to 18 | 1 | 16 |
| 19 to 20 | 0 | 3 |
| 21 to 22 | 0 | 2 |
| 23 to 24 | 3 | 19 |
| 25 to 26 | 11 | 51 |
| 27 to 28 | 2 | 21 |
| 29 to 30 | 11 | 12 |
| 31 to 32 | 7 | 9 |
| 33 to 34 | 4 | 0 |
| 35 to 36 | 1 | 2 |
| 37 to 38 | 0 | 14 |
| 39 to 40 | 3 | 42 |
| 41 to 42 | 7 | 9 |
| 43 to 44 | 7 | 10 |
| 45 to 46 | 7 | 17 |
| 47 to 48 | 4 | 0 |
| 49 to 50 | 0 | 0 |
| 51 to 52 | 0 | 1 |
| 53 to 54 | 0 | 1 |
| 55 to 56 | 4 | 7 |
| 57 to 58 | 7 | 6 |
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, 22 are women's.
120 lines from women, 423 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
4 women and 27 men in the cast. 8 women and 32 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 105 of 600.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 104 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 (1,703), men 81% (7,115). Women have 22% 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
5
Two men
48
Exhibit E: 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
- Mel Brooks (man)
- Written by
- Gene Wilder (man), Mel Brooks (man)
- Produced by
- Michael Gruskoff (man)
- Shot by
- Gerald Hirschfeld (man)
- Edited by
- John C. Howard (man)
- Music by
- John Morris (man)
- Production design by
- Dale Hennesy (man)
- Costumes by
- Dorothy Jeakins (woman)
- Cast by
- Jane Feinberg (woman), Mike Fenton (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 1 men, 5 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 5 men, 2 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 7 men
-
Writing
1 women, 4 men
-
Directing
0 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Production
1 women, 3 men
-
Other crew
0 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 3 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 37 on average. Men: 46 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Teri Garr 30, Madeline Kahn 32, Cloris Leachman 48
Men
Danny Goldman 35, Peter Boyle 39, Kenneth Mars 39, Marty Feldman 40, Gene Wilder 41, Liam Dunn 58, Richard Haydn 69
Exhibit G: the money
It made 30.8 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $2.8 million
- Box office
- $86.3 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 58 scenes and 600 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
