I’ve got a gun out there in my purse. Until now I’ve been forgiving and forgetting because of the way I was brought up, but I’ll tell you one thing. If you say another word about me or make an indecent proposal, I’m going to get that gun of mine and I’m going to change you from a rooster to a hen with one shot. And don’t think I won’t do it!

(Dolly Parton as Doralee Rhodes)

Yikes. I surely wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of that line if I were a man. I’m so glad that instead Dabney Coleman (Major Dad on TV), kicking butt as the chauvinistic, bigoted boss Franklin Hart, receives it as he well deserves. Sexual harassment laws were still only female fantasies, you see, and the poor women who worked for him could only suffer, get high (down?) on pot and enjoy their dreams. Directed by Colin Higgins, the now-deceased screenwriter/director of such comedy classics as Harold And Maude, The Best Little Wh*rehouse In Texas and Foul Play, 9 To 5 crazily spins forth with three of the girls’ fantasies.

Secretary Doralee Rhodes, spunkily played by Dolly Parton (The Best Little Wh*rehouse In Texas), has already been mentioned, but her fame as a country singer inspires her dream of lassoing and barbequing the boss. Yes, you heard me right. Barbequing Mr. Hart, since they are soaring in the clouds on pot.

Jane Fonda (Barefoot In The Park), demure and flustered as newly-divorced and new employee, Judy Bernly, and Lily Tomlin (Ernestine on Saturday Night Live) as long-time assistant to Hart tired of being passed over for a promotion, Violet Newstead, dream of shooting and poisoning him. The next day after Violet brings him accidentally-poisoned coffee, Hart tips over his broken chair and hits his head, falling unconscious.

Naturally when she stares at the rat poison she used (“it looks just like Skinny And Sweet, except for the crossbones...”), she believes he drank the coffee and may die in the hospital he was taken to. Violet and a horrified Judy peel off to the hospital, find Doralee there waiting for Hart, but she has missed seeing him leave and they overhear a doctor saying the patient is dead, probably poisoned! Chaos erupts as Violet pretends to be a mortician and steals the covered stretcher.


And Then What?


They plan to dump the body in the river, then must dupe a motorcycle cop from checking their trunk, return the corpse without being caught (there’s another stiff in the bathroom!) and stop Hart from turning them in when a snoopy, rat-like employee overhears them in the office bathroom. Part of Doralee’s and Judy’s fantasies now come into play.

Finally the working girls have their chance to get even with the mean-spirited, unrespectful, sexist boss. They devise a very bizarre-looking harness for Hart to wear that keeps him chained up like a dog in his home while his wife indulges in a six-week cruise. Hopefully an invoice arrives within that time to enable the girls to prove his criminal activities.

A Colonel Sanders-like Chairman of the Board (Sterling Hayden) plays a key role in the riotous conclusion. He’s very impressed with the improvements the girls have made in the job and their environment, Doralee signing Hart’s name to them. Will they be found out? Will Hart have the last laugh?

And will Hart’s wife have the pleasure of seeing her husband swing up to the ceiling in that harness?


My Comments


I don’t listen to country music much, but I do love Dolly’s Oscar-nominated title song, 9 To 5. It’s not the only thing worth renting this comedy for, though. The AFI (American Film Industry) has it seventy-fourth in their top one hundred best comedies of last century and the WGA (Writer’s Guild of America) nominated it in 1981 as Best Comedy Written For The Screen.

Perhaps it’s a bit dated and even ridiculous, but 9 To 5 shouldn’t be taken seriously. If you want a romantic comedy, you would be wise to look elsewhere. The "slaving" girls, if anything, set out to prove here that they can make it without a man. 9 To 5 could rather be called a comedy’s comedy, if that makes sense, laughing at itself with gusto.

Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dabney Coleman all pack their characters with so much life that you will never forget them. The image of Fonda losing a battle with a huge Xerox machine, Parton hogtieing Coleman and stuffing the scarf in his mouth, Tomlin zipping down hallways with a stretcher and Coleman in his get-up forced to watch “Days Of Our Lives” still tickle me just remembering them!

The DVD in anamorphic widescreen and dolby digital can be yours today for your even greater pleasure than the VHS copy I viewed. Colin Higgins with Patricia Resnick collaborated on the screenplay and Charles Fox lent his musical vibes to tease and cajole us when Parton did not.

Could something like this ever really happen? Not in today’s world, but in 1980? Maybe. And maybe the pot worked overtime...and the whole goofy mishap was three girls' dreams!

Ha ha ha. One thing's for certain. I didn't need pot to enrich my experience of this "chick flick."


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: None of the Above
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12