The country music icon joins co-stars Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda in a documentary about the classic 1980 comedy now available for streaming.
Dolly Parton is still working 9 to 5. The beloved living legend, country music superstar and magnanimous humanitarian has joined Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, her co-stars in the classic movie comedy 9 to 5, for Still Working 9 to 5, Camille Hardman and Gary Lane’s splendidly entertaining documentary about the making of that enduringly popular and widely influential 1980 box-office smash. It’s available for streaming starting this weekend on Apple TV, Google Play and Amazon Prime.
Parton, Tomlin and Fonda were perfectly cast in the original 1980 comedy as grossly underpaid and insultingly undervalued secretaries who rebel against their sexist boss (Dabney Coleman). In their documentary, Hardman and Lane show how that film (originally envisioned as a socially conscious drama) improbably came together — and why, for better or worse, it’s still so relevant.
Says Dolly: “Who knew that 44 years later, I’d still be working 9 to 5? I believed then, and I believe now that every person deserves to be paid fairly for their work… no matter who they are. I think this documentary (Still Working 9 to 5) shows that the struggle continues and that we all need to do our part to help make things better for everybody.”
Previously screened at the SXSW and Nashville Film Festivals, Still Working 9 to 5 showcases interviews with the cast of the original film — Parton, Fonda, Tomlin, and Dabney Coleman — as well as Rita Moreno from the 9 to 5 TV series spinoff, and Allison Janney from the 9 to 5 Broadway musical. But this isn’t your garden-variety “making of” documentary.
As I noted in my review from SXSW, “Your enjoyment of Still Working From 9 to 5 likely will depend on your regard for 9 to 5, which received mixed notices during its initial theatrical release. But there’s more to the documentary than mere nostalgia. Hardman and Lane interweave throughout their behind-the-scenes narrative interviews and archival footage to demonstrate that the movie helped galvanize the public, and that you can easily connect the dots between its empowerment themes and the contemporary #MeToo and #TimesUp movements.”
By the way: Parton also recorded a new version of her theme for the 1980 movie — this one more pensive than defiant — with no less a notable than Kelly Clarkson.
“It was so great getting to sing the reimagined version of ‘9 to 5’,” Clarkson says. “It was amazing — not only the new song, but the documentary Still Working 9 to 5 is also amazing.”
PHOTOGRAPHY: Steve Schapiro/Corbis via Getty Images
