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Nine to Five (1980) (aka 9
to 5)
In director Colin Higgins' feminist-leaning workplace
farcical comedy - so successful that it was the basis for a short-lived
ABC-TV sitcom and a 2009 Broadway show of the same name:
- the catchy Oscar-nominated title song sung and
lyrics written by Dolly Parton during the opening title credits
montage of hustle-bustle scenes (of getting to work by 9 am) -
filmed and located in downtown San Francisco: "Tumble out
of bed and stumble to the kitchen Pour myself a cup of ambition
And yawn and stretch and try to come to life. Jump in the shower
and the blood starts pumpin' Out on the street the traffic starts
jumpin' With folks like me on the job from nine to five. Workin'
nine to five what a way to make livin' Barely gettin' by, it's
all takin' and no givin'. They just use your mind and they never
give you credit. It's enough to drive you crazy if you let it..."
Opening Title Credits Montage
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- the main characters: three secretaries who were
harrassed by their sexist corporate boss Franklin Hart, Jr. (Dabney
Coleman) during their 9 to 5 job at Consolidated Companies, Inc.:
- Doralee Rhodes (singer/songwriter Dolly Parton in her film debut),
the well-endowed secretary of Hart, tired of being sexually-harrassed
and hearing rumors about her affair with her boss
- Judy Bernly (Jane Fonda), a new secretary, mousy, compelled to
work after divorce proceedings against her cheating husband Dick
(Lawrence Pressman); she was nervous, agitated in the new job by
all her duties, and unable to manage the xerox machine
- Violet Newstead (Lily Tomlin), senior office manager, a long-time
worker, and a widow with four children
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Judy Bernly
(Jane Fonda)
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Violet Newstead
(Lily Tomlin)
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Doralee Rhodes
(Dolly Parton)
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- the scene of male-dominated, married personal secretary
Doralee Rhodes' threatening tirade to get her gun and fire at lecherous,
chauvinistic and harrassing corporate boss Franklin Hart after
being ogled one too many times, her compromised reputation and
his bragging about their having an affair: ("Well, that explains
it. That's why these people treat me like some dime store floozy...They
think I'm screwin' the boss...And you just love it, don't ya? It
gives you some sort of cheap thrill like knockin' over pencils
and pickin' up papers...Get your scummy hands off of me. Look,
I've been straight with you from the first day I got here. And
I put up with all your pinchin' and starin' and chasin' me around
the desk 'cause I need this job, but this is the last straw...Look,
I got a gun out there in my purse, and up until now, I've been
forgivin' and forgettin' because of the way I was brought up. But
I'll tell you one thing: if you ever say another word about me
or make another indecent proposal, I'm gonna get that gun of mine
and I'm gonna change you from a rooster to a hen with one shot!
Don't think I can't do it!") - his one word response after
she left his office was "s--t!"
- the three commiserated at a bar about their jobs and
detestable boss (Judy: "We've got to do something. He can’t
treat people like that"); Violet pulled out a "gift" from
her son - a "marijuana cigarette" and challenged them to
smoke it: "Would you two show a little spunk? I mean, what are
you, a man or a mouse? I mean, a woman or a "wouse"?";
they decided to retreat to Doralee's house for what Violet termed "an
old fashioned ladies' pot party"
- the sequence of the three elaborate revenge fantasies
(while giggling and stoned with very strong "Maui Wowie")
of Doralee, Judy and Violet about killing their boss in various ways,
while labeling him as "a lying, sexist, egotistical, hypocritical
bigot"
- Judy hunted him down in his office and threatened him with a rifle
("You're foul, Hart - a wart on the nose of humanity, and I'm
going to blast it off...Goodbye, boss man. It's quittin' time")
- she counted to ten and then began firing as he fled; she pursued
him into the women's room where he was hiding in a toilet stall - he
became a plaque on the wall
- Doralee fantasized riding up in a Western scenario ("I think
I'd like to ride up one day and give him a taste of his own medicine");
she arrived on a horse (to the tune of the "Lone Ranger" theme
song); she pretended that she was his boss and shamed him by objectifying
his body and sexually-harrassing him (as he often did to her) ("You're
my boy from 9 to 5...You need to be a little more cooperative if you
want to keep this job...One little kiss? What's that gonna hurt? Who's
gonna know?"); then when he resisted, she roped and hog-tied him
and put him on a BBQ spit
- Violet portrayed Disney's fanciful Snow White ("For me, it would
have to be like a fairy tale. You know, something gruesome and horrible
and real gory. But kinda cute...) - with plans to poison Hart through
his coffee; after he drank the coffee, he admitted that he deserved
it, and was ejected from his desk chair out the skyscraper window
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Judy - Hunting Him Down With a Rifle in the Office
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Doralee - Abusing, Roping and Spit-Roasting Him
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Violet - As Snow White, Poisoning Him With Coffee
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- back in reality, Violet wrongly thought she had
actually poisoned Hart's coffee with Rid-O-Rat powdered poison
rather than sweetener, when he fell from his chair, knocked himself
out and was quickly whisked off to the hospital; when Hart recovered
and left the hospital without the threesome's knowledge, the threesome
was in the middle of endeavoring to cover up Violet's possible
crime of murder (and prevent an autopsy) by getting rid of the
body; Violet mistakenly stole the corpse of a police witness from
the hospital, stashed it in her trunk, and drove off; when they
realized their mistake, they had to re-smuggle the body back into
the hospital (and avoid a suspicious motorcycle cop who stopped
them for a defective tail-light)
- the sequence of Hart kidnapped and held captive by
the trio in a bizarre suspension and chain system in his own bedroom,
while the ladies sought evidence to charge him with embezzlement
- in Hart's absence, improvements in office procedures
("changes that really count") instituted by the ladies
led to increased productivity and positive morale, such as job-sharing,
a day-care center, a rehabilitation program for recovering alcoholics,
and more
- in the triumphant finale after Hart escaped and was
about to send the threesome to jail, the company's impressed, white-haired
chairman Russell Tinsworthy (Sterling Hayden) arrived for an unexpected
visit to congratulate Hart for all of the improvements - except one
("that equal pay thing, though, that's got to go!"), and
promoted him for a transfer to run Consolidated's Brazilian operation
for the next two to three years; Hart reacted to the unwanted "chance
of a lifetime" transfer: "Brazil, sir?"
- in the last scene, the champagne drinking trio congratulated
each other on getting rid of Hart:
- Judy: "We did it! We actually pulled it off, and we didn't panic."
- Doralee: "And Tinsworthy loved what we did."
- Violet: "Yeah, everything except that part about the money."
- Judy: "What are we gonna do about that?"
- Violet: "Hey, we've come this far, haven't we? This is just
the beginning."
- Doralee: (toasting) "And here's to the beginning."
- Violet: "I'll drink to that."
- Judy: "The beginning!"
- Doralee: "Yeah!"
- "Monsieur Hart. Holy merde!" (the reaction of Hart's
deferential and loyal assistant Roz Keith (Elizabeth Wilson), speaking
French after returning from a French language seminar)
- the film's final caption: "Franklin Hart was
abducted by a tribe of Amazons in the Brazilian jungle and was never
heard from again"
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Franklin Hart, Jr.
(Dabney Coleman)
Hart Looking Down Buxom Doralee's Dress
Judy's Problems with the Xerox Machine
Doralee to Hart: "I'm gonna change you from a rooster
to a hen with one shot!"
Plans to Seek Revenge: At a Bar and at Doralee's Home
While Smoking Pot
Unrealistic Fairy-Tale Dreams
Hart Knocked Out, Not Poisoned!
Violet Stealing the Wrong Corpse From the Hospital
Hart Chained, Detained and Suspended From the
Ceiling In His Own Home
Impressed Chairman Russell Tinsworthy - Hart
Promoted to Brazil
Triumphant Threesome Drinking Champagne
Roz: "Holy merde!"
Franklin Hart Caption
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