A Dolly Parton Comedy Would Have Been 1980's Biggest Movie If It Weren't For George Lucas
by Jeremy Smith · /FilmIf you gave a casual moviegoer an alphabetically-ordered list of the top 20 grossing films of 1980 and asked them to rank the titles via their final domestic grosses, there is an excellent chance they'd get everything wrong save for the top of the heap. "Caddyshack" has to be a top five movie, right? Nope, it finished 17th behind "Cheech and Chong's Next Movie." What's Randall Kleiser's reviled "The Blue Lagoon" doing in the top 20? Ranking ninth for the year ahead of "The Blues Brothers."
1980 was a big year for comedy, but films featuring the "Saturday Night Live" gang couldn't keep up with "Private Benjamin," "Smokey and the Bandit II," "Any Which Way You Can," "Airplane!," or "Stir Crazy." And no one could keep pace with the box office behemoth that was "Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back." Even with its downbeat ending, the highly anticipated sequel to the film that had reshaped the motion picture industry ran over $100 million ahead of the pack. But what would've happened had, say, George Lucas fallen way behind schedule on the sequel, thus forcing a move into 1981? Which movie would've finished the year as the box office champ?
1980 would've belonged to Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda, who had theaters across the country roaring that year as a trio of overworked and mistreated secretaries in Colin Higgins' sensationally funny "9 to 5." And in 1980, that would've been a tremendous source of comfort.
The Empire struck back at Dolly, but Dolly held her own
In 1980, Colin Higgins was a cult film hero for writing the black comedy "Harold and Maude," and a sought-after writer-director for making the hugely profitable "Foul Play," starring Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn. He had other ambitions after "Foul Play," but when Fonda came calling with "9 to 5," he couldn't say no — especially when Tomlin and Parton (making her acting debut) were attached.
"9 to 5" casts a spell over its opening credits via Parton's brilliant theme song. There's a defiant bounce and a cheesed-off attitude suffusing that track, and it instantly places you in the uncomfortable work heels of the three protagonists. Then we get to meet Dabney Coleman's lecherous executive, and all you want is for this trio of abused assistants to take the battle to the boss.
When "9 to 5" came out, you knew Fonda and Tomlin would bring the heat. What no one expected was that Parton would equal their comedic genius as the buxom secretary who angrily resists Coleman's cloddish advances. Fonda, an Oscar-winner, was the star, but Parton anchored the righteous grievance that powered the movie toward its stand-and-cheer finale. It was all Dolly. You don't mess with Dolly.
"9 to 5" grossed $103 million against a $10 million budget, ending a run in which a film barely cresting the century mark at the box office could top the box office ("Kramer vs. Kramer" won 1979 with a $106 million take). But it was a must-see for working women who felt undervalued, or, worse, abused, by their bosses. It's an important film. And Dolly as the tip of the f***-you spear made it sting. Pour yourself a cup of ambition, and destroy the patriarchy.